Category Archives: Freedom

Global academics have rallied around Anne-Marie Brady, a professor at the University of Canterbury, in New Zealand, who has been under review by her institution since August and has been told not to speak publicly about her case, according to her lawyer.

Her research, Holding a pen in one hand, gripping a gun in the other, co-authored by Jichang Lulu and Sam Pheloung, investigated alleged links between New Zealand universities and the Chinese military. The paper was submitted to Parliament in July and also published by the Wilson Center, a U.S. think tank.

In the paper, Brady outlines the high stakes for China-New Zealand relations. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] was also New Zealands largest market for foreign students, largest tourism market, and sixth largest foreign scientific research partner.

Complainants claim that Bradys work cited manifest errors of fact and misleading inferences, Canterburys deputy vice chancellor (research), Ian Wright, said to the media.

However, nearly 200 international academics have signed an open letter saying that Bradys ground-breaking research has had a profound impact internationally, based as it is on meticulous research and her analytical insights over 20 years of scholarship in this area.

They urged the university to apologize, and for complainants to practice the normal way of disagreeing with a paper -- publishing their criticism.

Stephen Franks, Bradys lawyer, told Times Higher Education that Canterbury has ordered her not to communicate about their review and the complaint.

The universitys failure to direct the complainants to normal academic remedies -- publish their criticisms if they had confidence in them -- is generating significant disquiet and internal protest from staff at her university, and elsewhere in New Zealand, he said, adding that the university would be a laughingstock if the chilling effect was not so obvious.

A Canterbury spokesperson confirmed that it was responding to four formal complaints from academic staff at Canterbury and other universities. The review, which is being held as reputations of academics are in question, was initially planned for September but has been postponed due to a request by Brady, the spokesperson said.

Canterbury responded in a statement about the case that it supported the freedom of academic staff and students.

Times Higher Education understands that Bradys paper is being reviewed to determine whether it complies with the universitys academic freedom policy, which upholds academics right to express their views freely on all topics without fear of discrimination or disadvantage.

A Canterbury colleague, who asked not to be named, said that administrators would only be able to take action under the policy if they could prove that Brady had not acted in good faith -- which they wont be able to do.

The colleague said the universitys action meant Brady was now gagged and unable to defend herself after raising valid questions about Chinese defense spending.

However, a Canterbury spokesperson said that the university has not gagged Professor Brady and any suggestion that it has is incorrect.

Catherine Churchman, an Asian studies lecturer at the Victoria University of Wellington and an acquaintance of Bradys, wrote that government actions showed that Bradys broader concerns have been taken seriously.

She said that the complaint should have been addressed through more transparent channels.

If there really were defamation issues, then the university could have taken up a court case against her, but this would have caused them severe reputational damage, she said. The proper way to deal with it would have been through a point-by-point academic rebuttal, but this would mean examining the paper and the larger issue in great detail and drawing more attention to the issue. The point of the 'review' seems to have been to shut Professor Brady up with the minimum of fuss and outside scrutiny.

More here:

Paper on Chinese influence tests academic freedom in New Zealand - Inside Higher Ed

Live webcast: Wednesday, November 18 12:30 p.m. (Pacific)

Add to Calendar

The year 2019 represented the 400th anniversary of the forced arrival of enslaved Africans in the English colonies at Point Comfort, Virginia in 1619. In the history of the African-American experience throughout this period there have been many gains in the liberation of the formerly enslaved. However, with the continuation of the conditions of structural impoverishment and systemic and violent racism, the ultimate liberation for African-Americans remains to be realized. In the event, The Future of Freedom: Reparations after 400, a distinguished panel of scholars will consider what the question of reparations means for this freedoms fulfillment and what kind of future could follow for African-Americans beyond 400.

Speakers: Katherine Franke, James L. Dohr Professor of Law, Columbia University;Jovan Scott Lewis, Assistant Professor of African American Studies & Geography, UC Berkeley;Michael Ralph, Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University

Moderator:Bertrall Ross, Chancellors Professor of Law, UC Berkeley

This event is sponsored by Othering & Belonging Institute.

Making requests for event accommodationsIf you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact Marc Abizeid marcabizeid@berkeley.edu, 510-643-9724 with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.

Original post:

The Future of Freedom: Reparations after 400 Years - UC Berkeley

Two years ago Ashley Peacock, 42, was released from a life of hell after being confined in a cell-like room for at least 23 hours a day and subjected to frequent abuse. Now he lives in his own house on the Kpiti Coast. Carolyne Meng-Yee reports.

Ashley Peacock is free from his prison cell - but not from the invisible friends in his head.

The voices have followed him to freedom - Abdullah was a family friend, Maz Quinn the surfer is Ashley's idol, Pluto is from another planet, and the dentist hurt him.

Their imaginary voices in his head are not always friendly.

"The dentist" provokes Ashley to lash out.

But there are people watching over Ashley now, carers who are in his corner.

His best friend, carer, and neighbour, Glenn Buglass, who Ashley calls "Andy" knows the warning signs to watch for.

"He has all these ghosts in his head. He talks about being shot and people trying to break in to get him. He has different names for his different personalities. They are generally people he has met in the past or dealt with him," Buglass said.

"He can be psychotic. His eyes glaze, he stares blankly there's a look on his face, then he's gone. When he's violent he shows remorse - we have a wonderful staff who calm him.

"He has never been hurt by us and doesn't lie on the ground anymore. "

Ashley has an intellectual disability, autism, and a schizophrenic illness.

He had been detained as a compulsory patient under the Mental Health Act. For nearly 20 years he was institutionalised, and for much of that time he was at Tawhirimtea, a psychiatric hospital in Porirua he was kept in "cruel" confines in a 10sq m seclusion room.

Buglass says it was "heartbreaking" the first time Ashley lay on the ground after being released in 2018.

"He was waiting for us to jump on him and when we didn't, he burst into tears. It's been a while getting his trust - he doesn't trust anyone."

Two years after his release from "prison" Ashley lives in his own trailer home on wheels on the Kpiti Coast.

He looks out onto a picturesque valley with gigantic hills, native bush, and a nearby river. It is a life he loves. He has a goat to feed, vegetables to harvest, and fish to catch.

He is house-proud and has learned how to use a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, and a microwave. Most mornings he fries his own bacon in a pan.

He still can't shake off the fear of returning to Tawhirimtea.

"Are they going to send me back to prison?" he regularly asks.

For much of the time, Ashley spent up to 23 hours in an isolation wing, costing the public health system nearly $1 million a year.

He was confined to a cell-like room for nearly three years with only a mattress, no bathroom facilities, and comic books.

His mother Marlena Peacock says sometimes her son was forced to "pee "in a cup, and at times he used to drink it.

His living situation was labelled "cruel, inhuman and degrading" in an Ombudsman report.

"He certainly doesn't want to go back to that dump; he is frightened of that place but isn't able to articulate that. I think he knows a lot has gone on up there. You just don't shake that off because you are in a new environment," Marlena and Dave said.

Community Connections executive director John Taylor told the Herald the first year was a "big test" for everyone.

"No one knew how it would work or if the wheels would come off whether Ashley was going to be as difficult as he was at Tawhirimatea. I expect it will take between five and 10 years before he gets over the previous 20 years in institutionalised care."

David and Marlena Peacock say their son is damaged and his health has deteriorated.

"He has no motivation and has put on weight. He sits around watching too much TV and cogitates. Doing nothing is not good for his mental health; he gets depressed. He can fish next door but he rarely does that unless we encourage him," David says.

Ashley has two full-time carers who cook and care for him 24/7.

They have set routines for him, and he is slowly learning about boundaries.

He writes a "to do" list that's reliably predictable: Get up. Meditate. Drink tea. Drink tea. Drink tea ...

Marlena says Ashley's obsession with drinking tea stems from Polydipsia - a condition where you are constantly thirsty.

"At one point when he was in a psychiatric ward, he was drinking up to 25 cups of tea a day," Marlena says.

He phones his parents twice a day, sometimes just five minutes after the first call.

And he is obsessive about locking doors.

"That's his protection. I suppose in the past he's had stuff stolen and nothing has been sacred in his room, so he carries these keys like no one I've seen," Buglass says.

But what has always been predictably unreliable is Ashley's behaviour.

"You tend to be on edge waiting for something to happen. He can be delightful, but he can also be atrocious. You can be talking to him one minute then he'll tell you to piss off," Marlena says.

Two weeks ago, Ashley randomly pushed a female carer to the ground and assaulted the male carer.

Buglass says "the dentist" got into Ashley's head.

"We are gutted. He got a real hammering from me and said it wasn't 'him' that did it. I told him, 'you don't ever hit women'. This was the first time," Marlena says.

"He has written apology letters to the two carers who got hurt. He came here to mow the lawns, and I didn't speak to him. When Dave gave him $7, he insisted on giving it to me. He knows what he did was wrong. There have to be consequences even at his level."

Taylor says there have been three assaults over the past 10 months.

"When we see an outburst coming, we put our hand on his arm and say 'Mate you are OK' then he snaps out of it. It's incredibly quick when it happens. He would've retaliated in the past because he was maltreated.

"The staff deal with a fair bit of anxiety too. I think to their credit they have never lost respect for Ashley. It is hard day after day to be on high alert with somebody like Ashley, and they are at the sharp end of it. But when he is part of this world, he is a really nice, funny, gentle sort of chap," Taylor says.

Ashley's carers are now being trained in Aikido - a form of martial arts that is a style of self-defence that keeps the carer and the person being supported safe.

"Most courses teach you how to strike, punch, and hurt someone but 'Quiet Confidence' teaches you how to get out of the way, calm and not restrain. Keeping Ashley safe is paramount," Buglass says.

Every Saturday, Ashley cleans the office at the Community Connection's office in Paraparaumu.

"It takes him about 2 minutes and sometimes 20 and he gets about $50 ( $25 for pocket money and the rest goes into his savings account). He's on the best hourly rate ever. I've asked to swap jobs with him," Buglass says.

John Taylor has recently facilitated a governance group that will focus on Ashley's future wellbeing.

"It's set up for when Dave and Marlena pass on. The reason why Ashley is still not in institutional care is entirely down to the advocacy of Dave and Marlena and Ashley's clinician, Doctor Rosie Edwards -they never gave up.

"All people like Ashley need someone in their life who are not paid to be. This group is to make sure Ashley is getting the best life he can get. You need a set of eyes over organisations like ours to keep us honest and make sure we are looking at things from Ashley's point of view," Taylor says.

His care costs over $700,000 a year. Taylor would like more funding for counselling and equine therapy for Ashley.

Marlena is concerned funding for her son keeps being reduced and might eventually cease.

Taylor would like government agencies to be held accountable for the trauma Ashley and his parents have endured.

"His parents have suffered 20 years of stress and financial hardship through the inappropriate application of state power. Despite a directive from the Prime Minister to 'be kind', the state officials are doing nothing."

David and Marlena, who are both in their mid-s70s, have filed a complaint to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historical abuse in state care.

"We think that there needs to be accountability and transparency. We fought for 20 years to get Ashley out of the mental health system- he shouldn't have been there in the first place, they said.

"I am still stroppy but not nearly as much as I used to be," Marlena says.

"After all the hassles I never gave up hope, so I suppose that kept us going. I felt distraught at what happened to him from being a lively, healthy fit young guy to what he is now is beyond words really."

Marlena and David are thankful Ashley lives in a "beautiful" environment and is well-cared for. But he is lonely.

Ashley has never fallen in love. The only intimacy he has experienced is with sex workers.

"He did go to prostitutes that I paid for and he was very well behaved. One woman said 'How do I deal with this one?' But I think he coped well and I found the girls quite nice," Marlena said.

Buglass says he'd love Ashley to find a girlfriend.

"He's not shy; he flirts with the girl at Subway and the girls at the supermarket. He'll ask for their phone number but not in a creepy way.

"He has a friendly smile on his face, and he knows exactly what he's doing, I'd love to see him find a girlfriend and settle down."

Buglass says he would be happy to care for Ashley indefinitely.

"We're in it for the long haul. Ash is awesome. He is his own person. He can be as funny as he wants but you still have to take it minute by minute.

"Everyone deserves a chance, and I don't think he has had that. I don't believe people should be locked up because they are different."

Read the original post:

Freedom after 20 years: Autistic man learning to live his own life - New Zealand Herald

Photo from the Muleshoe Police Department

LUBBOCK, Texas Mark Lucio, 39, accepted a plea deal last week for escaping from federal custody.

Federal records said Lucio was held in the Bailey County Jail on behalf of the federal government. Court records said Lucio and Juan Anthony Cordero, 25, came up with a plan.

On August 29, Lucio called Cordero with instructions, official records said. Lucio escaped through a sally port door at the Bailey County Jail and ran to Corderos car. They drove off.

A sally port is a secured area often used to drop off or pick up prisoners. Lucio was located near Abernathy about nine hours later. Cordero was also found and arrested.

If a judge accepts Lucios plea deal, he will be sentenced at a later date to no more than five years in prison. Prosecutors recommend in writing that his time for escape run concurrently with any federal time he must serve on drug charges. However, the judge overseeing the case is not obligated to do it that way.

Read the original:

9 hours of freedom will cost local jail escapee up to five years - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

A drawing of the mob that gathered outside Winthrop Gilman'swarehouse at the foot of William Street in Alton on Nov. 7, 1837.Inside the warehouse was editor Elijah P. Lovejoy's fourth press,which had been delivered by steamboat earlier in the day. Mobs haddestroyed the other three. When several men tried to set fire tothe roof, some of Lovejoy's supporters stepped out of the warehouseand fired at the mob. In the ensuing quiet, Lovejoy took a lookoutside at the front door and was hit by five shots. He collapsedand died. (Missouri History Museum)

THIS IS NOT REALLY ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY It is probably his brotherOwen, but that is not certain -- there are no known photos ofElijah Lovejoy, who died in 1837, according to the Lovejoy SocietyOriginal photographer's caption: INPUT DEC. 23, 2005-- Elijah P.Lovejoy HANDOUT

Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois helps unveil a plaque honoringElijah P. Lovejoy at Riverside Park in Alton on Nov. 9, 1952. Withhim are (left) Elijah P. Lovejoy IV, then 11 years old, and GirlScout Naomi Wilson. The bronze marker was stolen several yearslater, and a replacement was moved to the foot of William Street,site of the warehouse where Lovejoy was shot to death. It then wasmoved to Lovejoy School, 1043 Tremont Street in Alton.(Post-Dispatch)

A statue of a trumpeting angel stands atop a tall monument toElijah P. Lovejoy near his grave in Alton City Cemetery. Themonument was built in 1897. (Wendi Fitzgerald/Post-Dispatch)

St. Louis County Judge Luke E. Lawless, whose instructions tothe grand jury looking into the lynching of McIntosh virtuallyassured there would be no charges. Lawless told the jurors that ifa mob committed the murder, "it would be impossible to punish, andabsurd to attempt it." The grand jury agreed, writing off the crimeas an unpunishable "act of the populace." Elijah P. Lovejoyattacked Lawless and his comments repeatedly in the Observer.(Missouri History Museum)

The Elijah P. Lovejoy Monument, honoring the publisher andmartyred abolitionist, is one of the most prominent landmarks inAlton. Photo by Martha Conzelman

BY TIM O'NEILSt. Louis Post-Dispatch

ALTON Besieged but defiant, the editor and his friends guarded the new printing press inside a riverfront warehouse. A mob surged toward them. Everybody had weapons.

"Burn 'em out," someone outside shouted. "Shoot every damned abolitionist as he leaves."

A drawing of Elijah P. Lovejoy, abolitionist editor in St. Louis who moved to Alton in 1836 after pro-slavery mobs ransacked his newspaper office. He was murdered outside a riverfront warehouse in Alton on Nov. 7, 1837, while trying to defend a fourth press that had been delivered by steamboat earlier in the day. He became a martyr for the nation's small but growing abolitionist cause. (Elijah P. Lovejoy Society)

When men with torches climbed onto the roof, defenders of the press opened fire, killing one rioter and forcing others to retreat. In the eerie quiet, editor Elijah P. Lovejoy stepped outside for a look.

Five shots riddled him. "Oh God, I am shot," he said as he fell.

Lovejoy, known for righteous and unforgiving prose against slavery, was almost 35 when he was killed Nov. 7, 1837. The mob tossed his press into the Mississippi River.

It was the fourth press that Lovejoy had lost to people who hated his words. He soon became a martyr to the nation's small but rising wave of abolitionism. In Illinois, a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln decried the mob violence.

Lovejoy, a native of Maine, drew public wrath in St. Louis in 1833 as editor of a Presbyterian newspaper. His object of vituperation was Catholicism. He soon expanded his list of targets to include "the Irish and pro-slavery Christians." The city's slaveholding leadership wasn't amused.

Most-read stories in this section

The final break came on April 28, 1836, when a mob dragged a free black man from the St. Louis jail and burned him to death on a tree near 10th and Market streets. The victim was Francis L. McIntosh, a steamboat cook who had stabbed a sheriff's deputy to death after being arrested in a scuffle on the levee.

Read more here:

Nov. 7, 1837 A crusading editor is killed defending the freedom of the press - STLtoday.com

A federal appeals court in Denver is considering a controversial question: Does a bump stock a firearm add-on that allows bullets to be fired in rapid succession turn an ordinary rifle into an illegal machine gun? In 2018, the federal agency that regulates firearms concluded that it does. A Utah gun lobbyist sued to challenge the agencys position in Aposhian v. Barr, a case now pending before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

But beneath the headline-grabbing gun issue, the case raises an even more important question: When Congress writes a law with more than one possible meaning, how should a court decide which interpretation is correct?

Answering that question will require the Tenth Circuit to resolve a clash between two important rules for how judges interpret unclear laws.

The first is known as the rule of lenity.

Lenity is a fundamental principle of American law passed down for hundreds of years even before our Constitution was adopted. It requires judges to interpret criminal laws in favor of the people and against the government that wrote the laws. So when Congress enacts a criminal law that is genuinely ambiguous (not just imprecise or poorly drafted), lenity requires courts to interpret it narrowly to favor freedom. The tie goes to the citizen.

Although the rule of lenity originated in criminal law, it also applies to the many laws that carry both criminal and non-criminal penalties for the same conduct such as the prohibition on the possession or use of a machine gun. As one federal judge put it, a law is not a chameleon whose meaning can change from case to case. The words that Congress enacts into law must be interpreted the same way whether the law is applied criminally or civilly. So if lenity requires a law to be read narrowly, it must be read narrowly in both criminal and non-criminal cases.

The second rule of interpretation is known as agency deference, sometimes called Chevron deference after a famous 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council. In that case, the court concluded that when a federal administrative agency interprets an ambiguous statute, courts must follow that interpretation as long as it is reasonable even if it is not the best or most natural reading of the law. Unlike the rule of lenity, Chevron deference only applies in non-criminal cases.

In the bump-stock case, these two rules conflict. Because the machine gun ban carries criminal penalties, the rule of lenity requires the court to read the law narrowly to exclude bump stocks. But because the agency has interpreted the ban to include bump stocks, Chevron deference requires the court to accept a broader interpretation. So, which rule wins?

The firm I work for, Pacific Legal Foundation, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the Tenth Circuit should follow the rule of lenity. That time-honored rule is essential for assuring that the people have fair notice about what is illegal. Equally important, the rule of lenity protects the governmental separation of powers. It requires that the decision about what conduct to criminalize comes from our elected representatives not from prosecutors who enforce the law, judges who apply the law, or bureaucrats in administrative agencies. The branch of government most accountable to the people is the one that decides what to prohibit.

In contrast, the relatively recent doctrine of Chevron deference undermines the separation of powers by giving federal agencies the power to revise the law even where the legislature is unwilling to do so. Before the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued the challenged bump stock ban in 2018, it had consistently and repeatedly concluded that the legal definition of machine gun does not include bump stocks. After the tragic 2017 Las Vegas shooting, in which the shooter reportedly used firearms equipped with bump stocks, Congress considered several bills to prohibit the use or possession of bump stocks. None of those bills succeeded. But faced with public pressure and an order from the president, the bureau decided to change its position and order that bump stocks be banned as machine guns.

In other words, after Congress declined to revise the law, the agency took matters into its own hands. Congress chose not to ban bump stocks, so the agency reversed its position and concluded that they already were banned under existing law. And now it asks the court to defer to its new interpretation.

No matter what you think of bump stocks, this is not how laws should be made, especially when criminal penalties are at stake. The Tenth Circuit should set things right by holding that when the rule of lenity and Chevron deference conflict, the rule of lenity must prevail.

Glenn Roper is an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, which litigates nationwide to achieve court victories enforcing the Constitutions guarantee of individual liberty.

The rest is here:

Courts should interpret unclear laws in favor of freedom, not bureaucratic preference | TheHill - The Hill

The gill net that was removed from the sea lions neck a the Marine Mammal Care Center, San Pedro.

Freedom was treated at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro for a gill net injury and was released back into the wild on Wednesday, Nov. 3, Election Day.

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Freedom, a sea lion found on Redondo Beach in August with a severe gill net injury, is taken in to the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro where he underwent treatment and rehabilitation. He was released back into the ocean on Wednesday, Nov. 3, Election Day.

Freedom heads for the ocean in San Pedro, his scars still visible from a gill net injury.

Marine Mammal Care staff members Kelsey Wong, left, and Mike Remski release Freedom, a sea lion that was injured in a gill net and nursed back to health at the center in San Pedro. The yearling was released at Royal Palms in San Pedro on Wednesday, Nov. 3, Election Day, earning him the special name.

Scars from his wounds were still visible when the sea lion named Freedom was sent back to his ocean home in San Pedro earlier this week. They will be with him for life.

But he was among the lucky ones.

When the Marine Animal Rescue found Freedom in August on the sands of Redondo Beach, the sea lion was severely malnourished and entangled in a gill net.

Sea lions are very playful and almost have kind of a dog-like behavior, said Amber Becerra, president of the Marine Mammal Care Centers Board of Directors. They see things like that almost as a toy and start playing with it.

The small yearling between 1 and 2 years old had a deep laceration and open wound when he arrived at the center. He was in need of bandages and antibiotics to prevent against infection.

We never know if an animal is going to make it or not, especially if theyre malnourished, Becerra said. There may be underlying conditions we dont know about, but in this particular case, this guy came back pretty quickly and the wound healed nicely.

But Freedom has a significant scar dish that could pose restrictions on the sea lions ability to move and forage for food, said Lauren Palmer, the centers veterinarian. So his ultimate prognosis is unclear.

An experimental surgery developed by the centers veterinarian surgeon, Tammy De Costa Gomez, was considered to try to remove some of that tissue. But it was ruled out as too risky, after the sea lion didnt stabilize well under anesthesia during a test run.

So as he grows older, that band of scar tissue could remain tight and pose mobility restrictions; but it also could stretch with him as he grows, Becerra said.

Were hopeful for the best and (the veterinarians) thought hed have a good chance for survival, Becerra said.

Many marine mammals that become entangled in nets die of starvation, infection and a lack of mobility, Becerra said.

While the animals that come in for treatment at the Marine Mammal Care Center arent typically named, Becerra said, some are given farewell monikers.

Since this one was released at Royal Palms Beach, in San Pedro, on Tuesday, Nov. 3 Election Day Freedom seemed appropriate, she said.

We usually dont name the animals; we dont want the staff to get too attached, Becerra said. But when we realized we were releasing him on Election Day, we thought we should name him something pertinent.

Link:

A sea lion named Freedom released from San Pedro into the wild - The Daily Breeze

Our ref: FOI20/21-095

Date: 28 October 2020

Thank you for your email of 30 September 2020 in which you requested the following from the Insolvency Service:

I would like to know the number of HR1 Advance Notice of Redundancy forms submitted in the UK in the month of September, for the years 2019 and 2020.

I would also like to know the aggregate number of positions mentioned as at risk of redundancy in those filings in the month of September, for the years 2019 and 2020.

Your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I can confirm the agency holds the information that you have requested, and the requested information is included in the tables in the annexe enclosed with this letter. Although the Insolvency Service does not publish these figures, they have been released under previous Freedom of Information requests.

Please note that employers are only required to file a Form HR1 where they are proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees at a single establishment.

Propose and establishment have distinct meanings in this context.

The aggregate number could include proposed dismissals due to insolvency, restructuring of a solvent/continuing business, changes to terms and conditions, proposed relocation of employees etc.

It should also be noted that a proposal to make a given number of dismissals does not necessarily result in all or any of the proposed dismissals occurring.

If you are not satisfied with the response we have provided you and would like us to reconsider our decision by way of an internal review (IR), please contact our Information Rights Team at foi@insolvency.gov.uk or by post at:

Information Rights TeamThe Insolvency Service3rd FloorCannon House18 Priory QueenswayBirminghamB4 6FDUnited Kingdom

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if you wish for them to investigate any complaint you may have in regards to our handling of your request. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect an IR to have been completed in the first instance.

Kind regards

Redundancy Payments Service

The Insolvency Service

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Official receivers and the Adjudicator are Data Controllers in respect of personal data processed by the Insolvency Service. For the details about how personal data is processed by the agency, please see the full Insolvency Service Personal Information Charter here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service/about/personal-information-charter

View original post here:

Response 95: Freedom of Information Act 2000 - GOV.UK - GOV.UK

The Chargers are looking to close out the 2020 regular season with a win over the Patriots in Dover.

Last weeks game against Bloomingdale did not go so well for Strawberry Crest the Chargers lost, 62-0 but that ones in the rearview mirror now. The Chargers last game of the 2020 regular season looks to be a much-needed break from what was one of the toughest four-game stretches any Hillsborough County team has had all season.

After taking on Lakeland, Plant City, Durant and Bloomingdale, Crest now has a Friday night showdown at home with Freedom to look forward to. This is going to be a battle between two teams looking for their first win of the season now that the Patriots are coming off a 47-8 loss to Gaither last week.

Freedoms offense does have a slight edge on the stat sheet, as the Patriots have only been shut out in their season opener against Wharton. Crest, meanwhile, was held scoreless through the entire month of October. It is, however, important to note that Crests schedule has been much tougher pound for pound.

The Patriots have had much more success through the air than on the ground. Theyre averaging 97.3 receiving yards per game and have six passing touchdowns against 56.7 rushing yards per game (including two games against Land O Lakes and Alonso with negative total rushing yardage) and three rushing touchdowns.

Two things do jump off the stat sheet, though. First, Freedom has blocked three field goal attempts this season (including two in their 45-6 loss to Robinson on Sept. 25). Second, and arguably more important for the Chargers, is that the Patriots have been very good at forcing turnovers. Freedom has forced 10 fumbles this year and has also recovered 10 (including five recoveries in their 40-19 loss to Land O Lakes, and two of those fumbles were forced by FHS). Two fumble recoveries turned into Freedom touchdowns.

Crests run-heavy offense should be able to get the Chargers back on the scoreboard this week. Freedom has given up more than 200 rushing yards in almost every game this season, with the exceptions of Gaither (64 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries) and Robinson (64 yards on 16 carries). Spotos stats from Sept. 17 were not available on MaxPreps.com. If the Chargers can establish the run and secure the football, theres a very real chance they can head into next weeks regional play-in game with a win to their name.

OTHER GAMES TO WATCH

Durant

@ Wharton, 7:30 p.m.

Last week, Durant took a 35-7 loss to Plant City in the Battle for the Redman Cup but, unlike many teams this year, was able to limit the Raiders aerial attack.

This week, Durant will travel to Wharton for the 2020 regular-season closer. The Wildcats are 6-0 after their 10-0 at Plant on Oct. 23, and last weeks scheduled game at Steinbrenner was canceled. The Wildcats 2020 record is impressive, but several of their wins have been decided by two or fewer scores. Those opponents (Plant, King and Palm Harbor University) are a combined 7-11 in 2020 and four of those wins belong to King. In short, dont look at Durants 3-4 record and count the Cougars out before kickoff they very well could play the spoiler to a perfect record on Friday.

Plant City

@ Hillsborough, 7:30 p.m.

Last week, the Raiders picked up a 35-7 win in the Battle for the Redman Cup thanks in large part to 203 rushing yards and five touchdowns from running back Romello Jones. Plant Citys passing attack wasnt quite as explosive as it can be (though 12.1 yards per completion for 169 total isnt bad by any means), but Joness breakout performance meant it didnt need to be on that night.

This week, Plant City will travel to Hillsborough High School to end the regular season against a 5-1 Terriers team coming off a 25-0 win at Middleton. Hillsborough has been on a scoring tear of late, beating its last four opponents by a 211-18 margin, but the Raiders have the kind of firepower on offense that could make this one a barnburner if Hillsborough can keep its rhythm against the PCHS defense.

Related Stories

Here is the original post:

Game of the Week: Freedom at Strawberry Crest - Plant City Observer

NORDIC COUNTRIES

Professor of Law at the University of Oslo, Hans Petter Graver, told Norwegian online newspaper for education Khrono that he thinks the discussion around grounding academic freedom in the constitution, which first arose in talks on reforming the constitution in 2014, should be taken up again.

He spoke at a seminar in Oslo on 21 October where Junior Minister in the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research Aase Marthe Johansen Horrigmo, together with top leaders at the National Research Council and several higher education institutions, discussed the issue of Academic freedom under pressure.

Horrigmo spoke on Academic freedom Why is it so important?, while the Executive Director of the Research Council of Norway, John-Arne Rttingen, addressed the issue, Is research funding challenging academic freedom?.

On the same day Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education Henrik Asheim said that he was worried that an increasingly politicised climate might lead to academic freedom being weakened and felt that it must not be taken as a given.

He said that he is in favour of the Bonn Declaration on Freedom of Scientific Research that Norway will support.

This means Norway will work for ring-fencing academic freedom around the world, Asheim said.

Sweden: Process towards new legislation

In Sweden, the government is digesting 97 responses to a consultation sent out in May for a proposal to re-introduce academic freedom in university law as of 1 July 2021 if endorsed by parliament. The majority of the responses endorse the governmental proposal.

Sweden took wording on academic freedom out of university law in 2007 and the government committee on the structuring of universities in 2018-19 proposed to reintroduce a specific paragraph on it.

On 5 May this year, the committee followed this up with a 27-page pro memoria on Changes in university law to support academic freedom and make higher educations role in lifelong learning more transparent.

In the pro memoria the government warns: Academic freedom is under threat. In Europe and other parts of the world universities and university colleges role as an independent and critical force in society is being threatened on a par with the freedom to research and educate.

As the governmental committee states, universities have been forced to reduce their activities because they are regarded as contradicting the values of those in power.

Even in Sweden, universities have reported increasing threats and hatred against scientists.

In a survey carried out by the Swedish Government Office for Public Services (2018), 21 out of 26 universities said that there is a risk that researchers will be exposed to harassment, threats and violence.

At the same time as the need for scientifically grounded knowledge is increasing, the preconditions for scientists to take part in debates in society have been radically altered by the internet and social media and thresholds have been lowered for those who want to set limits on free speech, they said.

Disinformation, propaganda and hatred on the internet today are spread faster and more easily than ever before, not least by individuals and groups that are resisting an open and democratic society.

Solid endorsement

The major effect of the Swedish government asking institutions for comments on their pro memoria is that it has spurred hundreds of top institutional leaders to thinking about, discussing and commenting on the issue of academic freedom.

The Swedish Association of Teachers and Researchers (SULF) said it strongly endorses the push to ensure that academic freedom permeates research, education and all activities at universities.

This is especially important in a time when we see a reduction of academic freedom internationally. Sweden ought to serve as a role model for a free academy as one of the foundations of a democracy.

We see threats against academic freedom in Hungary where the Central European University was forced to move out of the country to be able to continue research and higher education on a scientific basis.

The situation has deteriorated in Poland, Serbia and the Czech Republic, SULF said.

In Turkey, academic freedom is close to zero and university teachers are witnessing a hard government-directed research and education, SULF said.

Denmark: Pressure against researchers

In an op ed article in the summer, Camilla Gregersen, president of the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs (DM), which has 50,000 members, highlighted two concrete cases in which the funders did not like the research reports they had paid for and asked the researchers not to publish.

A survey among 5,000 of the DM members found that 13% of researchers felt pressed either to change, delay or withdraw the publishing of their research results. And, notably, 24% of scientists making analyses and reports for ministries and institutions reported facing such pressure.

This is a problem and the problem has to be lifted higher on the political agenda and academic freedom has to be secured by the law, Gregersen argued.

In the DM survey, 67% said that their immediate research leader was defending their research freedom, but only 35% reported feeling that legislation secured their academic freedom sufficiently, Gregersen argued.

She referred to a letter by the Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science, Ane Halsboe-Jrgensen, sent to the other ministries in November 2019 in which she sharpened the quest for government authorities to respect the independence of researchers when the authorities are ordering research tasks and funding them.

According to the letter, university rectors at Danish universities told the minister in a meeting that some of their researchers had reported that they had felt pressure to publish certain findings when they were collaborating with central government.

Gregersen said that she welcomes this initiative from the minister, but that it is not sufficient with regard to the researchers academic freedom and that stronger legislation and better working conditions are needed for researchers.

On the development towards new legislation in Sweden, Gregersen told University World News: It is absolutely good news that Sweden is considering strengthening the protection of academic freedom in their legislation.

It is for sure very much needed in the Danish context as well.

She said DM has been critical of the weak protection of academic freedom in the law since the changes in the Danish University Law were passed in 2003.

She pointed to Professor Terence Karrans analysis of compliance between national university systems and the international standards set in UNESCOs recommendation concerning the status of higher education teaching personnel and said Denmark and the UK are among the countries with the weakest protection, so we definitely need improved juridical protection in Denmark perhaps even more than in Sweden.

Agneta Bladh, who was secretary of state in Sweden (1998-2004) and special investigator for internationalisation in higher education in 2017-18, told University World News: All Nordic countries have similar legislation recognising academic freedom or research freedom. Finland and Sweden also have this freedom expressed in the constitution.

It mostly concerns research issues in all countries, but some Nordics have also freedom connected to the teaching situation. In Sweden, the research freedom is clearly expressed both in the constitution and in the higher education legislation.

She said that, in Sweden, the legislation says the following general principles shall apply to research:

Research issues may be freely selected;

Research methodologies may be freely developed; and

Research results may be freely published.

However, she said similar wording has not existed for teaching and learning in Sweden.

Academic freedom has been discussed frequently in the Nordic countries during recent years. Not least in Sweden. How come? Obviously, there has been a gap between the legislation on academic freedom and the need to have higher education institutions as effective means for promoting a democratic society.

Different kinds of threats towards the democratic society have increased in many democracies in recent years, which include the higher education sector. This development might explain why many politicians want the legislation to be sharpened in Sweden.

She said the current proposal from the Swedish government for a strengthened legislation on academic freedom is an important sign towards protecting both democratic and academic values.

You can say that universities as the guardians of a democratic society have come more into focus lately, she said. Formerly, the focus was very much on how universities could contribute to the growth and prosperity in the business sector and society at large. Nowadays, important fundamental values for democratic societies have come to the fore.

She added that it is a Swedish tradition to send proposed legislation for hearing to a broad spectrum of Swedish society, not only those most concerned. The answers might give a good perception of what kind of values Swedish society is embedding.

Read more:

Legislation on academic freedom set to be strengthened - University World News