MikeDunnAuthor<p>Today in Labor History December 23, 1921: President Warren Harding issued a "Christmas amnesty," freeing Eugene V. Debs and 23 other political prisoners who had been imprisoned for their opposition to World War I under the Sedition Act. Debs was a founding member of the IWW, a socialist, and a 5-time candidate for president of the US. In the 1912 election, he won 6% of the vote. He also led the 1894 Pullman Strike of over 250,000 railroad workers.</p><p>In 2023, the U.S. launched its <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WithoutJustCause" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WithoutJustCause</span></a> campaign to seek the release of the over 1 million political prisoners around the world, ignoring/denying the fact that it has its own political prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier, who have been in prison through eight different presidencies. None of these eight presidents even considered granting amnesty to them. Will Biden? Not likely.</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/workingclass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>workingclass</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LaborHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LaborHistory</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/prison" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>prison</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/union" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>union</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/strike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>strike</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/solidarity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>solidarity</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/socialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>socialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/sedition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sedition</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IWW</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/worldwarone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>worldwarone</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/antiwar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>antiwar</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/politicalprisoner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>politicalprisoner</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/eugenedebs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>eugenedebs</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mumia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mumia</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/leonardpeltier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>leonardpeltier</span></a></p>