Carey L. Biron

Carey L. Biron is a former Washington correspondent for MintPress and for Inter Press News focusing on issues of equity and accountability, environmental and corporate regulation, and international development and governance from Capitol Hill.

Record Response Urges SEC To Require Disclosure Of Corporate Political Spending

“What gets disclosed gets managed,” the Teamsters’ director of capital strategies tells MintPress. The union is one of more than a million groups and individuals formally urging the government to move forward on requiring publicly traded corporations to report their political contributions.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Chris Christie

WASHINGTON --- More than a million comments have been filed with federal regulators urging the government to begin requiring publicly traded corporations to report on their political spending. The response has been the largest ever received by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The million-plus petitions received by the commission

Read Full Article

UPDATE: Charges Dropped In Highly Anticipated Climate “Necessity” Case

With a small lobster boat and a massive anchor, two Massachusetts men blocked a coal shipment to one of New England’s largest coal-burners for one day. Their precedent-setting defense in the trial that starts this week could have far-reaching ramifications.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
lob boat

UPDATE: In a late series of events that surprised all observers on this case, state prosecutors on Monday reached a settlement with Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara, including dropping all criminal charges. The government dumped the only felony charge in the case, the men's lead attorney says, while the three misdemeanors will now be dealt with as civil

Read Full Article

Supporters Prepare For “Watershed” Vote On Overturning Citizens United

Across the country and the political spectrum, people support a constitutional amendment to reverse the SCOTUS decision which effectively removed the cap on anonymous political spending.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- Consumer advocates, election watchdogs and progressive action groups across the country are ratcheting up political pressure as the Senate prepares to vote on a constitutional amendment that would weaken the new, unprecedented power of outside money to influence U.S. elections. The vote, scheduled for Monday, comes four years

Read Full Article

Nestle’s Water-Bottling Activities Amid California Drought Underscore A Lack Of Policy Options

Due to crippling drought in California, there’s been a crackdown on watering lawns and washing cars. Yet Nestle has continued its bottling operations, adding to the national debate over corporate right and common good.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
California

WASHINGTON --- As large swathes of the western United States continue to wither under the effects of record-breaking drought, longstanding local concerns over water use are becoming increasingly contentious, adding to the national debate over corporate right and common good. In recent weeks, a desert area of Southern California has seen focus

Read Full Article

Government Sued Over Alleged “Deportation Mill”

Citing due process violations and systemic poor treatment at a newly opened immigration center, legal advocacy groups sue the Obama administration on behalf of women and children currently being held there and others who have already been deported.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Housing for immigrant children and families.

WASHINGTON --- Four legal advocacy groups are suing the federal government on behalf of women and children currently being held on immigration charges at a former law enforcement training center in rural New Mexico, as well as nearly 300 already deported from the facility. The lawsuit, filed Friday, accuses the government of failing to allow for

Read Full Article

US Has “Much Left To Do” On Racism: Segregation Worse Now Than In 70s

One UN committee member is shocked that “in spite of several decades of affirmative action in the United States to improve the mixing up of colors and races in schools … segregation [is] nowadays much worse than it was in the 1970s.”

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration last week sent a significant delegation to provide testimony to the United Nations on the United States’ progress in implementing a landmark international treaty barring racism and race-based discrimination. For two days, close to 30 representatives from 10 government agencies appeared before a U.N.

Read Full Article

Following Ferguson, Congress Revisits Its Own Role In Police Militarization

With U.S. police departments putting their military-grade hand-me-downs to use in places like Ferguson, Missouri, lawmakers are rethinking the laws that have made this possible.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron
Ferguson

WASHINGTON --- A flurry of policy discussions is focusing on the level of force and military-style weaponry used by local police in response to ongoing public demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri. Even as deep political, racial and socioeconomic divisions are now emerging around the Aug. 9 police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, images of

Read Full Article