#Clark Country District Court

[galleryyuhself]

Galleryyuhself - 2024 is just different.

extended video here-: https://youtu.be/-wQInf23DOo?si=zCKS4ovGInYoIZZZ

final sentancing here -: https://youtu.be/5ESFm-HXD0w?si=nKhPRnawlGBLhA7o

[reasonsforhope]

"In a 4-3 decision released on Friday afternoon December 22, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wisconsin’s voting maps as currently drawn violate the state constitution and must be redrawn in time for the 2024 election.

Under the Wisconsin Constitution, state legislative districts must consist of “contiguous territory.” [Meaning: continuous] Yet, the majority opinion states, “the number of state legislative districts containing territory completely disconnected from the rest of the district is striking.”

“At least fifty of ninety-nine assembly districts and at least twenty of thirty-three senate districts include separate, detached territory,” states the majority opinion, written by Justice Jill Karofsky.

Contiguous districts are a safeguard against gerrymandering and help keep together groups of voters who live in the same areas and have the same interests, explains the decision, which includes maps highlighting the islands of noncontiguous voting areas in the state’s current districts.

The voters who brought the lawsuit, Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, argued that the current districts violate the constitution and asked the court to  order the adoption of remedial maps. They also asked the court to declare the November 2022 state senate elections unlawful, and to order special elections for state senate seats that would otherwise not be on the ballot until November 2026.

The court’s ruling agrees with the petitioners that “Wisconsin’s state legislative districts must be composed of physically adjoining territory,” and enjoins the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in future elections. But it declined to invalidate the results of the 2022 state senate elections.

Acknowledging that it is the legislature’s role to draw voting maps, the majority opinion urges the legislature to draw new maps that comport with the constitution. However, it also states, since the legislature might not draw such maps or the governor might veto them, the court will plan to adopt remedial maps that can be used in time for the 2024 elections and unless and until new, constitutional maps are enacted through the legislative process...

Wisconsin’s voting maps are widely considered among the most politically gerrymandered in the country. This was reflected in 2018 when Democrats swept every statewide election and earned 53 percent of assembly votes cast statewide but only 36 percent of Assembly seats went to Democrats. Voters in Wisconsin are evenly split along partisan lines, and statewide races are often decided by slim margins. Currently, however, Republicans hold a 22-11 supermajority in the state senate and a 64-35 near-supermajority in the state assembly."

-via The Progressive Magazine

Note: Article is a bit wordy but this is a Big Deal. We're going to get fair election maps in an important swing state. The maps thrown out by this decision were deliberately designed to give Republicans a massive advantage in the election.

This WILL make a huge difference in who's elected in 2024.

[beardedmrbean]

A former Oregon Department of Corrections employee who worked as a nurse at Oregon’s only women’s prison has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually assaulting nine inmates while on the job.

The man, 39-year-old Tony Daniel Klein of Clackamas County, Oregon, worked as a nurse from 2010 until January 2018 at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon, when he abused his position of power and access to female inmates to engage in “nonconsensual sexual conduct with many female inmates entrusted to his care,” according to court documents per a statement released from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon.

“In his position, Klein interacted with female inmates who either sought medical treatment or worked as orderlies in the prison’s medical unit, aided by his access to the women and his position of power as a corrections employee,” officials said.

Klein, who was often alone with his victims, would “manufacture reasons to get them alone in secluded areas such as medical rooms, janitor’s closets, or behind privacy curtains,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in their statement regarding the case. “Klein made it clear to his victims that he was in a position of power over them, and they would not be believed if they tried reporting his abuse. Fearing punishment if they fought back against or reported his conduct, most of Klein’s victims submitted to his unwanted advances or endured his assaults.”MORE: Girl Scout troop treasurer arrested for stealing over $12,000: Police

A federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment on March 8, 2022, charging Klein with multiple civil rights crimes. On July 25, 2023, a federal jury in Portland found Klein “guilty of 17 counts of depriving his victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexual assault and four counts of perjury.”

Klein was ultimately sentenced to 360 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release for his crimes on Tuesday.

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that using a position of authority to prey on individuals in custody will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice. Holding Tony Klein accountable for his crimes would not have been possible without the courage and resolve of the women he abused and the dedication of our partners at the FBI and Civil Rights Division,” said Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division echoed Wight’s sentiments.

“The sentence in this case should send a significant message to any official working inside jails and prisons across our country, including those who provide medical care, that they will be held accountable when they sexually assault women inmates in their custody,” said Clarke. “Women detained inside jails and prisons should be able to turn to medical providers for care and not subjected to exploitation by those bent on abusing their power and position. We will listen to and investigate credible allegations put forward by people who are sexually assaulted and, where appropriate, bring federal prosecutions. The Justice Department stands ready to hold accountable those who abuse their authority by sexual assaulting people in their custody and under their care.”

The case against Klein was investigated by the FBI Portland Field Office and was prosecuted by Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Cameron A. Bell, Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

“We know this prison sentence cannot undo the trauma Tony Klein inflicted on numerous victims, but we hope this brings them one step closer to healing,” said Kieran L. Ramsey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Portland Field Office. “As a state prison nurse, Klein abused his position and abused multiple women, violating the public’s trust, while doing everything he could to avoid being caught. The investigators and prosecutors should be applauded for their efforts to hold Klein accountable, but we recognize this lengthy sentence is also because of a group of brave women who came forward and helped ensure that Klein was held accountable for being a sexual predator within Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.”

[dankusner]

Texas bar should act soon on Sidney Powell case

She admitted violating ethical standards and must be disciplined

One by one, the lawyers who helped Donald Trump try to steal the 2020 election are being held accountable.

The most recent example came a few weeks ago.

A California judge recommended permanent disbarment for John Eastman for his role in devising so-called legal strategy to overturn the election.

The judge faulted Eastman for “exceptionally serious ethical violations,” including false and misleading statements in court filings and public remarks.

Now Texas is on the clock.

It’s up to the State Bar to keep the momentum going and make clear that Texas lawyers must uphold the law.

Sidney Powell, a former Trump lawyer who practices in Dallas, is probably best known for her wild, conspiratorial statements after the 2020 election.

She infamously promised to “release the Kraken,” an onslaught of litigation that would supposedly prove Trump was the rightful winner.

The bar is already familiar with Powell’s antics.

It accused her of misconduct two years ago for filing frivolous lawsuits against four states after the 2020 election.

That disciplinary matter was an important starting point, and it is still active before an appeals court.

But Powell’s misconduct wasn’t limited to frivolous lawsuits, and the bar’s efforts at accountability can’t stop there.

Powell has now admitted she broke the law in Georgia in 2020.

So the bar’s disciplinary counsel must open new proceedings, seeking sanctions against her up to disbarment.

Last October, Powell pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy arising from Trump’s attempt to overturn Georgia’s election results.

According to a grand jury indictment, Powell directed others to break into election equipment and steal software, ballot images and personal voter information.

As part of a plea deal, Powell agreed to serve six years of probation, pay a fine and restitution, and apologize to the people of Georgia.

(She fulfilled this requirement with the absolute minimum — a single handwritten sentence.)

But that’s not the end of the matter.

By committing crimes in Georgia, Powell also violated the ethical standards that all Texas lawyers are bound to uphold.

Four of the six counts, covering conspiracy involving the theft of property, are classified under Texas law as “intentional” and “serious.”

When a lawyer commits such a crime, Texas’ rules for attorney conduct say the State Bar must seek professional discipline.

These rules exist for a good reason.

Lawyers have special responsibilities in our democracy.

They’re not just advocates for their clients.

As the Texas attorney conduct rules say, lawyers “play a vital role in the preservation of society.”

They are guardians of the law itself.

That is one reason prominent voices urged the bar to move quickly after Powell pleaded guilty.

A group of Texas lawyers, including three past presidents of the bar, noted in an open letter that Powell tried to thwart the will of Georgia voters.

“In a democracy,” they wrote, “few crimes are more consequential.”

And two organizations, the States United Democracy Center and Lawyers Defending American Democracy, asked the bar’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel to open new proceedings to disbar Powell altogether.

Prominent Texas legal experts, former Republican state officials, and former White House ethics advisers from both parties joined that request.

So far, though, the Texas State Bar has taken no action to address Powell’s criminal conduct in Georgia.

This is no time for delay.

State bar disciplinary authorities across the country, clearly understanding the stakes, are drawing a line against lawyers who took part in Trump’s plot.

Rudy Giuliani is facing potential disbarment in the District of Columbia after having his license suspended there and in New York.

Jeffrey Clark faces similar sanctions for using his role in the Justice Department to attempt to undermine the 2020 election results.

In Colorado, the office that regulates attorney misconduct filed four disciplinary claims against Jenna Ellis after she admitted she helped promote election lies to Georgia legislators.

So why the delay in Powell’s case here in Texas?

The bar has already moved against her once before for misconduct.

This decision should be straightforward:

She admits she broke the law, and the crimes were intentional and serious.

The bar must open a new disciplinary action.

If we believe in the rule of law, and if we believe that elections are decided by the will of the people, then the lawyers who took part in Trump’s unlawful scheme to stay in power, and thereby violated their ethical duties, must be held accountable.

There’s never been a more important time to enforce the obligations that all lawyers in Texas are required to uphold.

It’s well past time for the State Bar to act.

James C. Harrington is the retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project and a former adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

Gillian Feiner is senior counsel at the States United Democracy Center.

Lauren Stiller Rikleen is executive director and board member of Lawyers Defending American Democracy.

TODAY IN HISTORY 2023

Fox and Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787 million settlement in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit, averting a trial in a case that exposed how the top-rated network chased viewers by promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Texas appeals court agrees to toss Bar complaint against Trump lawyer Sidney Powell

Attorney Sidney Powell is a wrecking ball against the Georgia GOP.

A Dallas appeals court on Thursday upheld a decision not to discipline former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for her role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election, saying the complaint against her was riddled with errors.

In a scathing 25-page opinion, a panel of three Democratic judges criticized the State Bar for filing a complaint against Powell with mislabeled evidence.

A Collin County judge had tossed the case in early 2023, citing the disorganization.

“The Bar employed a ‘scattershot’ approach to the case, which left this court and the trial court ‘with the task of sorting through the argument to determine what issue ha(d) actually been raised,’” wrote Judge Dennise Garcia.

The appeals court agreed that the Bar had not met its burden of proof to show Powell knowingly made a false statement or used false evidence when she filed lawsuits to overturn the election results.

Powell’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The trial court declined to consider any evidence that the Bar failed to cite or identify, and the appeals court on Thursday said it would do the same.

A Bar committee, which declined to comment on the ruling, had asked the appeals court to consider all evidence even if citations were incorrect or missing.

BACKGROUND: Texas State Bar sues Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for professional misconduct in 2020 election cases

“Reference alone will not suffice,” Garcia wrote, adding that according to court precedent, the “court was not required to sift through plaintiff’s voluminous evidence to determine whether any of it raised (a) fact question.”

Claire Reynolds, a Bar spokesperson, said the commission has not yet decided whether it will appeal.

The Bar is also pursuing disciplinary action against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his top aide, First Assistant Brent Webster, for filing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn Biden’s wins in four battleground states.

Those cases have had opposing outcomes: A Collin County judge said Paxton ought to face trial, while a Milam County judge initially tossed the suit against Webster.

An appeals court revived the case against Webster in July of last year, and it’s now before the Texas Supreme Court.

A group of 18 Republican attorneys general last week wrote a brief in support of Webster, arguing that if the case is allowed to proceed, it would “open the floodgates to more like it and will undermine state attorneys general in the discharge of their constitutional duties.”

Meanwhile, the same Dallas appeals court that ruled in Powell’s favor Thursday has Paxton’s appeal pending before it now after hearing oral arguments in November.

Texas court agrees to toss suit against Trump lawyer Sidney Powel

In a scathing 25-page opinion, a panel of three Democratic judges criticized the state bar for filing a complaint against attorney Sidney Powell with mislabeled evidence.

A Dallas appeals court on Thursday upheld a decision not to discipline Sidney Powell, former lawyer for Donald Trump, for her role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election, saying the complaint against her was riddled with errors.

In a scathing 25-page opinion, a panel of three Democratic judges criticized the state bar for filing a complaint against Powell with mislabeled evidence.

A Collin County judge had tossed the case in early 2023, citing the disorganization.

“The Bar employed a ‘scattershot’ approach to the case, which left this court and the trial court ‘with the task of sorting through the argument to determine what issue ha(d) actually been raised,’” wrote Judge Dennise Garcia.

The appeals court agreed that the bar had not met its burden of proof to show Powell knowingly made a false statement or used false evidence when she filed lawsuits to overturn the election results.

Powell’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The trial court declined to consider any evidence that the bar failed to cite or identify, and the appeals court on Thursday said it would do the same.

A bar committee, which declined to comment on the ruling, had asked the appeals court to consider all evidence even if citations were incorrect or missing.

“Reference alone will not suffice,” Garcia wrote, adding that according to court precedent, the “court was not required to sift through plaintiff’s voluminous evidence to determine whether any of it raised (a) fact question.”

Claire Reynolds, a bar spokesperson, said the commission has not yet decided whether it will appeal.

The bar also is pursuing disciplinary action against Attorney General Ken Paxton and his top aide, First Assistant Brent Webster, for filing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn President Joe Biden’s wins in four battleground states.

Those cases have had opposing outcomes: A Collin County judge said Paxton ought to face trial, while a Milam County judge initially tossed the suit against Webster.

An appeals court revived the case against Webster in July of last year, and it’s now before the Texas Supreme Court.

A group of 18 Republican attorneys general last week wrote a brief in support of Webster, arguing that if the case is allowed to proceed, it would “open the floodgates to more like it and will undermine state attorneys general in the discharge of their constitutional duties.”

Meanwhile, the same Dallas appeals court that ruled in Powell’s favor Thursday has Paxton’s appeal pending before it now after hearing oral arguments in November.

Powell Law License Fight Can’t Be Over

Despite appeals court loss, the state bar must press on

The State Bar of Texas’ disciplinary committee has egg on its face after suffering an embarrassing appeals court loss in its case against former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.

The 5th District Court of Appeals recently sided with a lower court that tossed out the bar’s ethics case against Powell largely on procedural and clerical errors.

The court’s 24-page opinion scolded attorneys for the Commission for Lawyer Discipline for their “scattershot” handling of the case.

We’re troubled by the commission’s sloppiness in this high-profile, important case, which warranted much more careful handling.

But we urge it to regroup and continue seeking disciplinary action against Powell in connection with her far more egregious actions in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Let’s take a step back and recall some important facts.

Shortly after the election, Powell brought lawsuits against Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia alleging that a vast conspiracy between Dominion Voting Systems and foreign dictators resulted in hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes cast in favor of President Joe Biden.

None of the cases was successful.

Last year, Fox News agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation case brought by Dominion after the network repeatedly aired and promoted Powell and her claims.

And in October, the Dallas attorney pleaded guilty in Georgia to six reduced criminal charges accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties.

Back home, the state bar for two years has been trying to win sanctions against Powell for alleged ethical misconduct by filing frivolous suits in the battleground states.

But unfortunately the bar’s case was derailed before it ever made it to trial when Collin County state District Judge Andrea Bouressa granted Powell’s motion for summary judgment in February 2023.

That ruling was made in large part because the bar’s response to Powell’s motion was riddled with errors, including critical misnumbering and exclusion of exhibits.

We strongly criticized Bouressa’s ruling, and said she should have shown some latitude given the seriousness of the case.

There’s no excuse for the bar’s mistakes.

All it had to do was present “more than a scintilla” of evidence that the case should move forward.

It failed to do so, the 5th District court held, and it now appears the case has little hope.

What a dumbfounding result given all we’ve learned about Powell in the last couple of years.

A spokeswoman for the bar told us in an email she couldn’t comment on what the commission will do next.

Perhaps it will try to appeal the ruling or bring a new case against Powell based on her Georgia pleas, as some prominent lawyers have urged.

Whatever course it takes, we urge the bar to move forward and, this time, far more competently.

[mystlnewsonline]

Missouri - Nicholas John Prroffitt Sentenced - Arson

A Missouri man, Nicholas John Prroffitt, was sentenced Tuesday for the arson of the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. (STL.News) Nicholas John Proffitt, 44, of Missouri, was sentenced to 191 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $551,217.91 in restitution.  He previously pleaded guilty on December 12, 2022, to using fire to damage (arson) religious property and to using fire in the commission of a federal felony. According to court documents and statements made during the plea and sentencing hearings, Proffitt intentionally set fire to the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center on April 24, 2020, which was the first morning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, because of the building’s religious character.  The fire resulted in significant damage to the Islamic Center. “This defendant has now been held accountable for setting fire to an Islamic center that served as a meeting place for Muslim community members in Cape Girardeau, Missouri,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “Attacks on mosques in our country are attacks on people of faith that undermine the fundamental right to practice one’s religion free from fear or violence.  The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws that protect all houses of worship, regardless of denomination.” “This is the third time Nicholas Proffitt has attacked Islamic institutions, in Missouri and elsewhere,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri.  “He has now been sentenced to a significant prison term that will protect the community from further persecution for a long time.” “The right to pray as you wish is at the core of our nation’s ideals,” said ATF Director Steven Dettelbach. “When someone attacks a house of worship, they attack that American right, and they need to be held accountable.  I commend the work of the ATF and all our federal partners in bringing this defendant to Justice.” “Nicholas Proffitt destroyed a religious building, but he couldn’t take away the constitutional right to religious freedom,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Field Office.  “The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution.” The FBI St. Louis Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Cape Girardeau Police Department, the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Perryville Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn for the Eastern District of Missouri prosecuted the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice Read the full article

[theyoungturks]

Adrienne Lawrence, Jayar Jackson, and Sharon Reed discuss 32 Mississippi schools that were recently sent desegregation orders on TYT's Juneteenth special. Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/federal-government-orders-desegregation-32-mississippi-school-district-rcna87296 "There are 32 school districts in Mississippi still under federal desegregation orders, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s assistant attorney general said Thursday. Enforcing the open desegregation orders fit into a broader body of civil rights work launched in Mississippi that is examining jails, police departments and hate crimes in the state, according to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Referring to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation of public schools across the country, she said the Justice Department is ensuring school districts provide Black students in Mississippi with equal access to education programs."* *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt Unbossed with Nina Turner https://www.youtube.com/unbossedtyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #tyt #TheYoungTurks #juneteenth 230616__SE03Segregation by The Young Turks

[dnaamericaapp]

32 Mississippi School Districts Still Under Federal Desegregation Orders

There are 32 school districts in Mississippi still under federal desegregation orders, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s assistant attorney general said Thursday.

Enforcing the open desegregation orders fit into a broader body of civil rights work launched in Mississippi that is examining jails, police departments and hate crimes in the state, according to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Referring to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation of public schools across the country, she said the Justice Department is ensuring school districts provide Black students in Mississippi with equal access to education programs.

“In our ongoing efforts to fulfill the promise of Brown vs. Board of Education, we currently have 32 open cases with school districts here in Mississippi,” Clarke said. “And in each of those cases, we are working to ensure that these districts comply with desegregation orders from courts.”

Clarke spoke to a small group of residents, local leaders and reporters Thursday at the Holmes County Circuit Court Complex in Lexington, about 62 miles from Jackson, the state capital. Mississippi is the latest stop in Clarke’s “listening tour” throughout the Deep South. The Justice Department is learning where to direct resources and where it might need to mount civil rights lawsuits, she said.

Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black residents of any state. It has been home, as have other states, to legal fights over desegregation. In 2017, a Mississippi Delta school district agreed to merge two high schools after nearly 50 years of litigation in which the district sought to maintain historically Black and white schools.

In addition to school districts, Clarke said at least five Mississippi jails and prisons have come under federal scrutiny. The department is looking into whether the facilities protect prisoners from violence and meet housing standards. -(source: nbcnews)

DNA America

“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

#dna #dnaamerica #news #politics

[msclaritea]

Kemp signs bill allowing removal of local prosecutors in Georgia | The Hill

"Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill on Friday to establish a commission with the power to remove local prosecutors who “refuse to uphold the law.”

Kemp’s office said in a release that he established the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PACQ) with his signature to serve as “a valuable oversight mechanism” for district attorneys and solicitors-general throughout the state. The office said the commission will ensure these officials fulfill their constitutional and statutory responsibilities.

“As hardworking law enforcement officers routinely put their lives on the line to investigate, confront, and arrest criminal offenders, I won’t stand idly by as they’re met with resistance from rogue or incompetent prosecutors who refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said. “The creation of the PACQ will help hold prosecutors driven by out-of-touch politics than commitment to their responsibilities accountable and make our communities safer.”

The law establish several reasons for the commission to remove or force the “involuntary retirement” of prosecutors. They include willful misconduct in office, mental or physical incapacity interfering with duties that is likely permanent, willful and persistent failure to carry out statutory duties and conviction of a crime involving “moral turpitude.”

District attorneys and solicitors general could also be removed for conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that lowers the reputation of the office and for knowingly allowing an assistant district attorney or assistant solicitor general to commit any of the listed acts.

The commission will launch on July 1 and can start accepting complaints about prosecutors on Oct. 1.

The law is one of several efforts that some Republicans throughout the country have taken to go after Democratic and liberal-leaning prosecutors whom they have accused of being soft on crime and declining to prosecute certain crimes.

Georgia Democrats have accused the Republican-controlled legislature and Kemp of seeking to impose the legislature’s will on Democratic local areas.

Some observers have said the law could be used against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is considering charges against former President Trump and his allies over efforts to overturn the results of the state’s election in the 2020 presidential race.

Willis has denounced the law as racist, as it comes after voters elected 14 nonwhite district attorneys.

Republicans mentioned District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, who serves Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties, as a target of the law as she has declined to prosecute marijuana-related offenses. Seven district attorneys have also pledged to not prosecute abortion-related crimes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Georgia is not the only state where officials have taken action to try to remove prosecutors who they believe are not following their responsibilities. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) removed a prosecutor from office in August for signing a pledge to not prosecute women and doctors who violate abortion laws and families seeking gender-affirming care for minors."

Fascist are gonna fascist. Sue Kemp. Even the governor can't interfere with court cases. They're all afraid of the state going blue and unions get a foothold.

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current event 6apr23

There are plenty of fish; be selective!

A Minnesota appeals court has reversed the conviction of a Maple Grove mom who unloaded a handgun into her abusive boyfriend, picked up another and emptied that one too.

Stephanie Clark, 32, was convicted of the murder of Don Juan Butler last year and sentenced to 25 years in prison with 124 days of credit for time served for the March 2020 shooting. She has been in custody ever since, even after the court's reversal, according to her trial lawyer, Eric Doolittle of the Appelman Law Firm.

The case made national headlines when Hennepin County prosecutors alleged she gunned down Butler because she wanted him to "stop talking," but her defense argued there was much more to the shooting than that.

Clark was covered in bruises at the time of her arrest, some of which hadn't fully formed by the time she found herself in a county jail cell, according to her lawyers.***

The two met on the Plenty of Fish dating app, and Butler, a felon, moved into her apartment and "almost immediately" began a pattern of abusive and controlling behavior, her attorney wrote in court filings.

Butler wouldn't let her leave her own apartment without permission, beat her, cut her off from her friends and family and declared a "kneeling spot" in her apartment where he would order her to get on her knees and beat and abuse her, according to her attorneys. He held a gun to her head at least once there.

On the night of Butler's death, he ordered her to the kneeling spot and punched her in the face, according to court filings.

"Wait for tonight," Butler told her, according to court filings. "Wait for [your son] to go to bed. I’m going to break your ribs."

And he was pacing in and out of the bedroom, where the couple kept five loaded handguns.*** https://www.foxnews.com/us/minnesota-moms-murder-conviction-overturned-death-boyfriend-she-wanted-stop-talking

You darn kids... https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2023/04/03 

Douglass Mackey, 33, was convicted Friday on a charge of posting anti-Hillary memes.  A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted him; max sentence is 10 years in prison.

Blue_Fez -

In Idaho murder news

Bryan Kohberger’s two sisters were fired from their jobs over their familial relationship with their alleged killer brother, according to a report.

Melissa and Amanda Kohberger were canned in the months after their brother’s arrest for the quadruple slayings of four University of Idaho students last year, NewsNation reported.

Amanda was working as an actress, though NewsNation wasn’t sure whether it was the position from which she was reportedly fired.

She had starred in a gory, low-budget 2011 horror movie, “Two Days Back,” where her character was brutally stabbed, slashed and hacked to death with knives and hatchets.

Neither the sisters nor their parents have visited Kohberger since he’s been behind bars in Idaho, a roughly 2,500-mile drive from their family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.*** https://nypost.com/2023/03/28/bryan-kohbergers-sisters-were-fired-for-connection-to-alleged-killer/?dicbo=v2-6KLFpUe

And here I thought we didn’t have corruption of the blood in this country.

If anybody should have known...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Assistant U.S. Attorney Pleads Guilty to Conflict of Interest Violation

An Assistant U.S. Attorney pleaded guilty yesterday to illegally steering contracts to her spouse, in violation of the federal criminal conflict of interest statute. According to court documents, Kathryn Drey, 55, of Pensacola, Florida, directed contracts from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida to companies in which her spouse had a financial interest, including while she served as chief of the office’s Civil Division. Drey concealed her spouse’s financial interest in contracts to conduct title searches in litigation defended by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “Kathryn Drey committed a federal crime by enriching her family at the expense of her duty to the American people,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable public servants who act with unlawful conflicts of interest, prioritizing financial gain over their ethical duties.”*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/assistant-us-attorney-pleads-guilty-conflict-interest-violation

Too stupid to murder

Brian Walshe was indicted on Thursday by a grand jury in Massachusetts on charges related to the alleged murder of his wife.***

Ana Walshe has been missing since New Year's Day. Although her body has not been found, Brian Walshe's search engine history allegedly showed 14 suspicious Google queries from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3, such as, "How long before a body starts to smell?" "How to stop a body from decomposing?" and "10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to."

Other questions included how long DNA lasts, how to clean blood from a wooden floor, and whether it's better to throw away clothes from a crime scene or wash them.

Prosecutors also claimed they found physical evidence of a crime, including 10 trash bags filled with items that were allegedly stained with blood. The trash bags included a hacksaw, a hatchet, Ana Walshe's COVID-19 vaccination card, rags, towels, slippers, tape, gloves, and cleaning materials. The items were found during their search through several garbage disposal sites.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/brian-walshe-indicted-for-alleged-murder-wife

Not written by a conservative nor a repub....

Nellie Bowles notes

→ An inconvenient killer: The killer, Audrey Hale, was a biological female who identified as a man. My takeaway from this is murderous lunatics come in all shapes and sizes. And it seems likely that this person had some special animosity toward the religious school where they’d been a student.***

Here’s the Reuters headline: “Former Christian school student kills 3 children, 3 staff in Nashville shooting.” Hmm. Or: “CBS News is still working to confirm Hale’s gender identity.” From the NYT: “The suspect appeared to identify as a man in recent months.” Appeared to identify! According to the New Rules, followed strictly by the Times in all other cases, you’re actually not allowed to say someone “appears to identify as a woman.” The person simply is a woman. At worst, if you’re feeling heretical, you say they are a trans woman. Hale had his pronouns in his bio, for godsake (he/him). But the NYT throws all that out, distancing the shooter from anything trans-related.

Eli Erlick, one of America’s most prominent trans activists, argued that sometimes shooters only take on a trans identity for convenience: “The Colorado shooter only temporarily took on the identity to avoid hate crime charges.”** Weird to see Eli admitting that some people might take advantage of gender self-ID for their own nefarious purposes.** Now, let’s talk about a 45-year-old male convict who suddenly identifies as a woman. . . wait, where are you going, Eli?

Others blamed Nashville for bringing the slaughter on themselves.***

→ No one wants gun control: Don’t kill me, armed TGIF readers, but I’m for gun control. Yes, I think insane people and convicts should have to fight me with their bare hands (don’t worry, they’ll still win!). Here’s the funny thing: while conservatives balk at even the mildest gun control efforts on account of it being a slippery slope (fine), progressives have absolutely no intention of enforcing even existing gun control laws. What could I mean by this? Just listen to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner this week on how his office won’t prosecute illegal gun possession:

“We do not believe that arresting people and convicting them for illegal gun possession is a viable strategy to reduce shootings,” the DA’s office said. 

This is the ur-progressive prosecutor, saying gun control doesn’t stop shootings and that he’s just not going to do it. Because enforcing gun control laws would mean—it’s almost too terrible to say—enforcing laws. And that’s a line that America’s progressive prosecutors simply cannot cross.

Let’s look at Washington, D.C., where maybe it’s different? There, the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Matt Graves, has declined to prosecute 67 percent of all those arrested. So: nearly 70 percent of the people D.C. cops arrest are released and never prosecuted for anything. And Graves this week is defending that 67 percent “declination” rate. Here’s what he said in a sympathetic Washington Post piece: “[T]he declinations are mostly coming after arrests in cases such as gun possession, drug possession and misdemeanors — not in violent crimes.” Okay, so. . . illegal gun possession is something you will not be charged for, per Matt Graves. He is declining, as policy, even to enforce the basic gun control laws already on the books.***

→ We stand with Matt Taibbi: The day journalist Matt Taibbi testified in Congress about his ongoing work with the Twitter Files, something strange happened back at his home: The IRS showed up. Yes, the exact day. And yes, they showed up in person at his door. What was the IRS doing there? They said they had “concerns over identity theft.” What a farce. There’s nothing nastier than the White House using the IRS as a political tool (Trump had them audit James Comey and Andrew McCabe during Russiagate). And now it seems the IRS is coming for anyone who personally annoys Biden’s staff. This week, that was Matt Taibbi.

As The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote: “The bigger question is when did the IRS start to dispatch agents for surprise house calls? Typically when the IRS challenges some part of a tax return, it sends a dunning letter. Or it might seek more information from the taxpayer or tax preparer. If the IRS wants to audit a return, it schedules a meeting at the agent’s office. It doesn’t drop by unannounced.”

You might not have heard about the harassment of Taibbi until now. That’s because everyone who normally champions press freedom against government harassment actually loves when Biden does the harassing against a reporter who exercises the First Amendment a little too hard. Anyway: we stand with Taibbi. And to the IRS agents who will inevitably show up at our door, you’ve got the wrong Nellie! What’s TGIF and why are you chanting it? Bari? Like Barry White? Don’t know him. 

 https://www.thefp.com/p/tgif-showdown-edition

Are liberals & moderates allowed to speak such blasphemy?

Don’t mess w/ Grammy

A pistol-packing Texas granny turned the tables on an armed robber who tried to hold up her family-owned food truck — and fatally shot the crook when his gun jammed.

Keshondra Howard Turner, 53, was cooking soul food inside the “Elite Eats and Cold Treats” truck in a Houston parking lot when a 23-year-old man drove up alongside about 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to KHOU-11 TV.

The man asked what was on the menu, but when Turner showed him he suddenly pulled out a handgun, demanded cash and got out of his pickup truck the station said, citing Houston police Lt. Bryan Bui.

Turner shut the food truck’s window but the would-be robber pried it open, stuck his weapon inside and tried to fire at her.

However, the gun jammed and Turner — who’s licensed to carry a handgun — drew her own firearm and shot the man several times, KHOU said.

The man staggered away before collapsing about 50 feet from the truck, where authorities found him and pronounced him dead.

Turner suffered a panic attack following the shooting and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.*** https://nypost.com/2023/03/29/texas-granny-kills-armed-robber-who-targeted-her-food-truck/

AlleyCatter posted

in other memes,

Non-carceral?  How about perps being non-shootusall?

A toddler was killed by a stray bullet from a gang shooting. The district attorney in charge wants to make sure all the gang members involved get off with no jail time.

The crime occurred in Alameda County, California . The victim was Jasper Wu, who was shot and killed one month before his second birthday. According to Nancy O’Malley, who was the district attorney when the crime happened, the shooting was the result of “two rival gangs” having a “rolling gun battle on Highway 880.” Three men involved in the shooting are scheduled to have their preliminary hearing on charges of murder three weeks from now.

But there is a new district attorney in charge in Alameda County. Pamela Price replaced O’Malley in the November election***

And so, when a member of the community asked for an update on Wu’s case, Price responded in an email on Tuesday by saying: "Our office is currently working on a partnership with the Asian Law Caucus to support AAPI victims of violence in ways that open up broader possibilities for healing and non-carceral forms of accountability."

Yes, Price responded to an inquiry about a gang shooting that killed a toddler by saying that she wants “non-carceral forms of accountability.” In other words, she wants no jail time for gang members who participated in a gun battle that killed a toddler. (On top of this, the Asian Law Caucus says that it only had an introductory meeting with Price and has not discussed Wu’s case.)***  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/jail-time-for-gang-members-who-kill-toddlers-not-in-alameda-county

Justice, New York style

A Manhattan parking garage attendant who was shot twice while confronting an alleged thief — then wrestled the gun away and opened fire on the suspect — has been charged with attempted murder, police said.

The overnight worker, identified by cops as Moussa Diarra, 57, was also hit with assault and criminal possession of a weapon charge in the Saturday incident, which unfolded around 5:30 a.m. as the attendant saw a man peering into cars on the second floor of the West 31st Street garage, the sources said.

Believing the man was stealing, the attendant brought him outside and asked what was inside his bag.

Instead of cooperating, the man pulled out a gun, the sources said.

Diarra tried to grab for the weapon, and it went off — leaving him shot in the stomach and grazed in the ear by a bullet before he turned the firearm on the would-be thief and shot him in the chest, sources said.***

The initial charges against Diarra sparked outrage — and recalled the case of Manhattan bodega clerk Jose Alba, who was charged with murder after a fatal July 1 confrontation in his store with an angry customer who came behind his counter and accosted him.*** https://nypost.com/2023/04/01/nyc-garage-worker-charged-with-attempted-murder-for-shooting-thief/

NYC just gets safer and safer

Two separate gangs were apparently preying on both straight and gay club-goers in Manhattan, from the Lower East Side to Hell’s Kitchen, for months — drugging and then robbing them via their phones — before it became clear it was a pattern, some of the victims’ parents told The Post.

Cops are investigating at least 43 incidents that took place all over the city between September 2021 and December 2022. Ten men with lengthy rap sheets have been identified as part of one gang and five in the other one, police sources told The Post. A number of them are reportedly from the Farragut Houses in Brooklyn.

Up-and-coming fashion designer Kathryn “Katie” Gallagher was among the victims of one of the two gangs, police said. The 35-year-old, who dressed Lady Gaga and other celebrities, was found dead of an overdose in her Eldridge Street apartment last year. On March 24, cops publicly declared her death a homicide.

Six members of one gang who preyed on gay men at Hell’s Kitchen nightclubs were indicted last week for the so-called “roofie” murders of John Umberger, 33, and Julio Ramirez, 25, last year.

Late Friday, police said they were seeking three members of one crew, Jayquan Hamilton, 35, Robert DeMaio, 34, both of Brooklyn, and Jacob Barroso, 30, of Harlem, in connection with the deaths of Umberger and Ramirez.***

In most cases, the victims left bars with their assailants and were robbed after passing out from being drugged, or “roofied.” Even as they were unconscious, the suspects used facial recognition technology to unlock victims’ phones and then drained their bank accounts.

The only suspect arrested so far is Andre Butts, 28, who was caught using Ramirez’s credit card to buy two pairs of Nikes for $544.38 not long after Ramirez was found dead in a taxi in April 2022. Butts’ attorney, Terrence J. Grifferty, did not return calls from The Post.

“I think the police department and the mayor’s office knew that something like this was going on and they didn’t want to talk about it because New York was just coming out of the pandemic and people were going out again and they didn’t want to scare them off,” Clary said.*** https://nypost.com/2023/04/01/inside-nyc-roofie-murders-including-death-of-gaga-designer/

In other news, two pairs of sneakers cost >$500 while Nike pays Vietnamese women 50¢ per hour to make them.

George Will column about getting what you vote for

Chicago, a name said to derive from a Native American word meaning wild onion, has pungent politics. The mayoralty campaign that culminates Tuesday has featured, in Brandon Johnson, a comprehensively, almost exotically, inapt candidate. He was runner-up in February’s nine-candidate nonpartisan primary with 21.6 percent of the vote. Finishing first with 32.9 percent was Paul Vallas — another Democrat, of course. He resembles a remedy for Chicago, the nation’s worst-governed large city not named San Francisco.

The two dominant issues are rampant crime and execrable public schools.***

Today, Johnson says, “I never said defund the police.” Yet he has said of defunding the police, “I don’t look at it as a slogan, it’s an actual, real political goal.” And “there is no number big enough” for cutting the budget of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. At a 2020 panel on “a police-free future,” he condemned “state-sponsored policing.” The rioters that summer who, undeterred by the raising of the Chicago River drawbridges, ravaged Michigan Avenue’s “Magnificent Mile” were, Johnson said, driven by “frustration and anguish” and hunger. They assuaged their anguish by looting high-end handbags, electronics and other nourishment.

Last year, Chicago led the nation with 695 homicides, far more than New York (433) and Los Angeles (382), both with much larger populations. Of the nine first-round candidates, only Johnson did not pledge to increase the number of patrol police.

Progressive policies— e.g., Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2016 essentially decriminalizing shoplifting of less than $1,000 — have demoralized the police force, which experienced a net loss of 2,641 officers between 2020 and August 2022. This year, car thefts are up 151 percent, sexual assaults and robberies up 23 percent each, and major crime reports are up 104 percent above this point in 2021.*** https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/31/chicago-mayoral-election-stark-choice/?itid=ap_georgef.will

Setting the shameful meter to 11

Thieves steal, mangle and sell for scrap wheelchairs used by disabled Syracuse athletes https://www.syracuse.com/news/2023/04/thieves-steal-mangle-and-sell-for-scrap-wheelchairs-used-by-disabled-syracuse-athletes.html

Do you support a woman’s right to choose her light bulbs?

The Department of Energy finalized these plans back in April 2022, and full enforcement will begin on Aug. 1, 2023. From that date onward, you’ll be using LED lightbulbs whether you want to or not and whether you can afford them or not; LED bulbs are up to three times more expensive than other soon-to-be-illegal options.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/bidens-lightbulb-ban-is-an-attack-on-the-poor

***Wed

An Idaho couple convicted of starving their adopted daughter before she went into cardiac arrest won’t serve any prison time for the sickening crime, a judge reportedly ruled last week.

Byron and Gwendalyn Buthman were slapped with four years of probation and 300 hours of community service last Tuesday by Judge Darla Williamson, who ruled that jail time would hurt the four adoptive kids they still have.

The judge additionally withheld judgment, which means if the couple follows the rules of probation their conviction could be vacated — a ruling that led to some gasps in the courtroom, the Idaho Statesman reported.

The pair were convicted in June 2022 for mistreating the young girl and they were each previously in jail for one day and were credited with time served.

The judge’s decision comes after prosecutors requested the Buthmans face 20 years behind bars with at least five years in the slammer before parole could be considered, according to a news release from the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.  https://nypost.com/2023/04/03/byron-gwendalyn-buthman-get-no-prison-time-for-starving-adopted-daughter/?dicbo=v2-k6AQgjx

***

https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2023/04/04

***

Yes, it’s too soon.

It’s never going to be not too soon.

***

Holy smokes, be glad you’re not China’s CJ system

China arrested Mark Swidan in 2012 and fraudulently convicted him of making meth.  China sentenced him to death, but he has languished in a prison.

*** It is unclear whether the notes had eluded the guards who monitored outgoing mail, or whether they didn’t care. The notes were mostly garbled, rambling, fragmented—long lists of names, with lots of capital letters. But they contained important nuggets of information, too.

The most important nugget was about the factory next door. That was where, Swidan said, prisoners were forced to make silk flowers. The factory’s clients included Walmart and Hobby Lobby—or, at least, he had reason to assume as much. Jason Poblete, the president of Global Liberty Alliance, a nonprofit in Northern Virginia that lobbies for the release of Americans wrongly held overseas, told me he had seen notes in which Swidan described what can only be called slave labor but was not at liberty to share them.

In a July 2022 letter to Walmart’s general counsel, Poblete noted that Swidan had described “atrocious work conditions, including prisoner lashings and workers being forced to make silk flowers with bloody fingertips.” There was also, Poblete wrote, “a ruthless punishment” for prisoners who didn’t meet production quotas: “a ‘human clothesline’ where prisoners are tied to a rope line hands up, naked, and are then lashed.”

The letter went on: “While we cannot verify at this juncture all the information we have been provided by Mark and other sources, you need to know that a sign with Walmart’s name and logo, along with another American-based company is purportedly visible in the silk flower factory.”

Poblete sent a similar letter to Hobby Lobby’s attorney.

I reached out to representatives from both companies. Neither replied.*** https://www.thefp.com/p/a-prisoner-of-china-an-american-scandal

Why would you ever shop at Walmart or Hobby Lobby?

***

One way to enforce firearms laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, April 5, 2023 Justice Department Reaches Multimillion Dollar Civil Settlement in Principle in Sutherland Springs Mass Shooting

The Justice Department announced today an agreement in principle to settle the civil cases arising out of the tragic November 2017 mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, that killed 26 worshippers and injured 22 others.

These tentative settlements will resolve claims by more than 75 plaintiffs arising out of the shooting. Plaintiffs’ claims alleged that the Air Force was negligent when it failed to transmit to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) information about the shooter that would have prevented him from purchasing guns from a federally licensed firearms dealer. A federal district court in Texas concluded that the United States was liable for damages caused by the shooting. This tentative settlement would resolve the pending appeals.

The agreement in principle would settle all claims for a total of $144.5 million. The settlement agreement has been approved, subject to the plaintiffs’ securing the required court approvals. Under applicable law, a court must approve some aspects of the settlements.***  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-multimillion-dollar-civil-settlement-principle-sutherland-springs

***Thurs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, April 4, 2023 

Former San Diego Police Officer and Three Co-Defendants Plead Guilty to Multiple Crimes Stemming from Years-Long Operation of Illicit Massage Businesses

A former San Diego Police Department vice detective and his co-defendants each pleaded guilty today in connection with their operation of five illicit massage businesses in California and Arizona that profited for years by exploiting women to engage in commercial sexual services under the guise of offering therapeutic massage services.

According to court documents, Peter Griffin, 78, who left the department in 2002, Kyung Sook Hernandez, 58, Yu Hong Tan, 56, and Yoo Jin Ott, 46, owned and operated Genie Oriental Spa, Felicita Spa, Blue Green Spa, Maple Spa and Massage W Spa, located in the greater San Diego area and in Tempe, Arizona, between 2013 and August 2022. The criminal scheme included incorporating their businesses with state agencies, managing the finances of the businesses, advertising commercial sexual services online, recruiting and employing women to perform commercial sexual services in the businesses and benefiting financially from the illegal enterprises. The defendants leased multiple commercial properties as storefronts, leased and bought residential properties to use as housing for employees, and secured credit card processing equipment to operate the illicit massage businesses.

Griffin previously worked as a detective with the Vice Operations Unit of the San Diego Police Department, a unit tasked with dismantling the very businesses he operated and promoted for personal profit. Throughout the course of the scheme, Griffin used the experience and skills he acquired through his work as a vice detective – and in at least one instance, his badge – to help the businesses evade law enforcement, thwart regulatory inspections, investigations, and any official action against the businesses, conceal evidence, and maintain a façade of legitimacy. On another occasion, Griffin told an employee that he was a former police officer and instructed her not to “open [her] mouth” about her employment at the illicit massage business. Griffin also used resources he had access to by virtue of his private investigator license to obtain information on customers and employees on behalf of the illicit massage businesses. During the scheme, the defendants encouraged and expected employees to perform commercial sexual services inside the businesses and relied on Griffin’s law enforcement background to help conceal the criminal conduct. When one employee initially refused to perform commercial sexual services, one of the defendants instructed her to “leave [her] morals in China” in order to “make the customers happy.”*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-san-diego-police-officer-and-three-co-defendants-plead-guilty-multiple-crimes-stemming

***

alleycatter

***

Did you really think Babylon Bee wouldn’t meme this?

&

https://babylonbee.com

***

Proper karaoke etiquette does not include a machete

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Brevard County man accused of pulling an 18-inch machete at a bar after being denied another karaoke song was arrested Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies said Travis Jordan, 39, faces a breach of peace due to disorderly conduct charge in connection with the incident, which occurred at Kennedys Lamp Post Tavern, located at 7822 N. Atlantic Ave. in Cape Canaveral.

Deputies responded to the bar shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday and found Jordan unsteady on his feet with bloodshot and glassy eyes, smelling strongly of alcohol, a probable cause affidavit shows.

Deputies spoke with a person who said Jordan pulled out the machete, which was concealed on his body, after someone denied his request to sing another karaoke song. The woman, afraid for the safety of others, coaxed the suspect into peacefully handing over the machete, the affidavit stated.*** https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/04/03/brevard-man-wields-machete-at-bar-after-karaoke-request-denied-deputies-say/

***

[nityarawal]

1/8/22

Shark Bait- RIP Lori Clark Viviano

Morning Songs

On A Ranch

In The Country

On The Move

To A Farm

Got A Great

Sharkbait Fable

To Tell My Loves

Dealing With Cowgirls

Stalking Me

Hopefully Not

Meth Heads Again

Sharkbait

Mantra

Keeping Me Happy

Disclosing Songs

About Attys And Trolls

Creativity Flowing

Who Would've Thought

Secrets

Of Science Creative

Intelligence

Free For Our Lot

Tapping Into Genius

A Physicists'

Prerogative

S.C.I.

Singing

Science

Of Creative Intelligence

Reminded By A Love

Over And Over Again

Repeatedly 

Throughout My Life

Monks

Came 

Wondering In

Thankyou Buddha's

Dalai Lama

Rawal Gotra

Gautama

From Rawal

Village

Shantaram

Sang To Me

Pujas Of India

Can't Hate Him

You See

Buddha's Barefoot

Walking

Humbly

Compassionately

Eyes Wide

Brown Pools

Mystery

Sharkbait

Don't Want To Scare

You

Saucer Eyes

Got So Many Warnings

About Encinitas

Shark Attacks

In The Papers

From Detention

Centers

Shark Bait

They Like The Old

Attys

Crunchy

Shark Bait

Lagging Behind

Can't Make

These Miracles

Up

Sharkbait

"Barracuda Mamma"

Demise

In, "A Scuba Accident,"

Says Her Daughter

Morgan

Viviano

With A Fine Arts 

Degree

Do You Like My Photos

Darling

Do You Like My Songs

We Can See Rocks

Of Aguanga

Telling A Shark

Fable

Fertility Stories

Tadpoles

For Minions

Sharkbait

Baby

Don't Let That

Happen To You

Hmm

Shark Bait

How Many Attys

Swimming In Your

Pods

My Love

Sharkbait 

Judges Of Court

Perhaps

Judge Clark

Judge Davis

Nadia

Kelly Mok

Mathew Brower

Sawbraw

Sharkbait

Story

Killed Brown Kids

Don't You Know 

Thought Someone's

Plea Bargain

Better Than A

Caged Gag

Sharkbait 

Going Blue

Investigating

Scuba Diving 

Accidents

At Court

Aren't You

Don't See

Anything

On June 24, 2022

Sharkbait 

Foul Play

Where'd They Kill,

"Barracuda Mamma,"

Marilyn

Norma Jean

This Time

5 "W's" Please

Sharkbait 

Journalists

Full Disclosure

Need Stories

With Names

Accomplices

Pathology Reports

Autopsies

Lesbian Lovers

Did Charles Viviano

Her X husband Attorney

Have His Starter Wife

Snuffed

On A Gambling

#Trumpleberry Plea

With Secret Service

Oathkeeper

Proud Boyss

Class Action

Conservators'

Moles

In My Attys

Offices'

In Sandiego

333 Camino Del Norte

Gay Daddies

#PrinceOfPegging 

Voting With Their

Feet On Bribes

In Militia

Junkies

Don't Break Me

Please

Like You Smeared

Your Orange Troll

Like You Smeared

The District Attorney

Like You Smeared Her Daughter

Like You Drugged

My Kids And Me

Natives Make

Dolls Of Those

Pillow People And

Trolls

Still Sell 

Them Vintage

In The Stores'

Ebay Can Memoralise

Lori Clark Viviano

Her Demise

Troll Doll With A Shark

Mermaids Won

Lisbhet

Lizard Queen's 

Went To The 5th

Dimension

Too Rancid

With Stress

Ama

Toxins

Whales

Reptilian 

Whale

Sank In The Ocean

Moby Dick Proportion

Sank

Sharkbait 

Don't Eat Them

Or They'll Eat You

Attorneys

Don't Swim

With Them

The Fables

Are True

Paint Stories

Sing Legends

Listen

Babies 

Hear

My Darlings

Wonder

What Pope

Frances

Pontifex

Says About

Great Miracles

Of A, "Barracuda

Mamma,"

Surrendering

Her Body

Like A Deer To

The Lord Of

The Ocean

Like A Lamb At Sea

Our Mermaids

Rejoice Finally Free

Wondering 

You'll Write

Another Psalm

For Thee

Mermaids Of

The Ocean

Reportin' Foul Play

That's What

We Sang

Snow

Called 

My Daughter & Me

Mermaids 

Of The Ocean

Aguanga Rejoice Legends

Singin' 'Ya All

Free

Peace

Free

Shanti

Peace

Free

Nitya4Eternity 

Peace

Shanti

Free

Peace

Shanti

Free

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal 

[wolveswolves]

Gray Wolves Regain Federal Endangered Species Act Protections

February 10, 2022 — Victory: Court decision will prevent hunting, poisoning, and trapping in 44 states

OAKLAND, CA — A federal district court today struck down a 2020 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that removed federal protections from gray wolves across much of the U.S. The Trump administration delisted the gray wolf after 45 years of protection under the Endangered Species Act despite the strong disagreement from experts who noted that the wolf’s recovery hinged on continued protections. Although President Biden expressed personal concern for wolves, the Biden administration chose to defend the delisting decision.

Today’s ruling throws out the Trump administration delisting rule and reinstates federal protections for wolves in 44 states.

“Wolves need federal protection, period,” said Kristen Boyles, attorney at Earthjustice. “The Fish and Wildlife Service should be ashamed of defending the gray wolf delisting, and it should take immediate action to restore Endangered Species Act protections to all gray wolves, including those in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.”

“Today’s ruling is a significant victory for gray wolves and for all those who value nature and the public’s role in protecting these amazing creatures,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, CEO and president at Defenders of Wildlife. “Restoring federal protections means that these vitally important animals will receive the necessary support to recover and thrive in the years ahead.”

“Although we celebrate this win, my thoughts keep returning to the hundreds of wolves who suffered and died under state management,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I hope this ruling finally convinces the Fish and Wildlife Service to focus on recovering wolves, not prematurely removing their life-saving protections.”

“Last year we saw eight wolves illegally poisoned in Oregon with the perpetrator still at large,” said Danielle Moser, Wildlife Program Coordinator at Oregon Wild. “Restored protections are integral to making up for this devastating loss not only in our state but across the West.”

“Today is a monumental victory for wolves who will now be protected from state-sponsored bloodbaths,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. “After having yet another wolf delisting overturned in federal court, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should finally learn its lesson. Instead of continuing to devise convoluted excuses to strip these beloved animals of legal protections, the agency must develop a plan for meaningful recovery across the species’ range and ensure that states will not decimate their wolf populations.”

“In a year where many wolves have been killed near national parks, today’s decision provides tremendous hope for the future of these animals. Wolves are an iconic species and a key part of many national park ecosystems,” said Bart Melton, Wildlife Program Director with National Parks Conservation Association. “As wolves continue to return to national park landscapes, this decision will provide protections for them for generations to come.”

“Today's ruling restoring much-needed federal protections means that wolves will have a chance to fully recover and carry out their important ecological and cultural roles across the country,” said Bonnie Rice, senior representative for the Sierra Club. “Instead of prematurely removing protections for wolves, the Fish and Wildlife Service should once and for all commit to their full recovery, including immediately reinstating protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies.”

Earthjustice challenged the wolf delisting in a lawsuit on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, Oregon Wild, and the Humane Society of the United States in January of 2021; that lawsuit was joined by another coalition of conservation groups and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Gray wolf recovery in the United States should be an American conservation success story. Once found nationwide, gray wolves were hunted, trapped, and poisoned for decades; by 1967 there were fewer than 1,000 wolves in one isolated part of the upper Midwest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act in 1978. Today there are recovering wolf populations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho; wolves have begun to inhabit Washington, Oregon, and California; and unclaimed wolf habitat remains in states like Maine, Colorado, and Utah.

In 2020, 1.8 million Americans submitted comments opposing delisting. Additionally, 86 members of Congress (in both the House and Senate), 100 scientists, 230 businesses, Dr. Jane Goodall from the Jane Goodall Institute, and 367 veterinary professionals all submitted letters opposing the wolf delisting plan. Even the scientific peer reviews commissioned by the Fish and Wildlife Service itself found that the agency’s proposal ignored science and appeared to come to a predetermined conclusion, with inadequate scientific support.

After the gray wolf was removed from the protections of the Endangered Species Act, Wisconsin held a tragic wolf hunt, where hunters with dogs slaughtered 218 wolves in three days — exceeding the harvest quota by nearly 100 animals. In Idaho and Montana, where wolves were stripped of federal protections a decade ago, the states have allowed increased wolf slaughter.

(Source)

[thechloris]

So, why do people think the Democrats control the US government? Have you all been sleeping? (Talking to USians here.)

1. Democrats control 2/3 of the Federal Government.

This is important! As we can see 2/3 is NOT all! And our government is deliberately designed so that having most cannot control all.

2. We have a tie in the Senate.

The senate is the more powerful of the two legislative branches and having 50 can only do some things. Especially if 2 of them don’t wanna. More is better. Vote in more.

3. The Supreme Court can overturn ANYTHING.

All this talk about codifying this or codifying that and guess what? One meeting of the court and that’s gone. This is what we were talking about in 2016. I guess there was a difference between Clinton and Trump.

3. Republicans control the MAJORITY of governorships.

This is a country where states have a lot of power! A blue president isn’t enough. We need blue governors. Vote for them.

4. Republicans control the MAJORITY of state legislatures.

All those trigger laws? All those gerrymandered voting maps? All those voter id laws? All those anti voting rights laws? Here they are! We need more blue legislatures. Vote for them.

5. All politics is local. And all voting matters.

Where do members of congress come from? A lot of them come from local town and regional elected offices! Let’s just check a random member of the Massachusetts house delegation. Katherine Clark District 5. What was her first elected office? School committee. How about her predecessor? School committee.

VOTE. Vote in every election. No matter how small. Get your friends to vote. Support local politicians who share your views. And then volunteer, donate, agitate, protest...but still vote.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

An Open Letter Denouncing the [RACIST] Attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/07/13/an_open_letter_denouncing_the_attacks_on_justice_clarence_thomas_147879.html?mc_cid=e37b2b8113

An Open Letter Denouncing the Attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas

By Glenn Loury & Robert Woodson Sr.

July 13, 2022

White progressives do not have the moral authority to excommunicate a black man from his race because they disagree with him.

And those – regardless of background – who join in the charade or remain silent are guilty of enabling this abuse.

We, the undersigned, condemn the barrage of racist, vicious, and ugly personal attacks that we are witnessing on Clarence Thomas – a sitting Supreme Court justice. Whether it is calling him a racist slur, an “Uncle Tom” or questioning his “blackness” over his jurisprudence, the disparagement of this man, of his faith and of his character, is abominable.

Regardless of where one stands on Justice Thomas’ personal or legal opinions, he is among the pantheon of black trailblazers throughout American history and is a model of integrity, scholarship, steadfastness, resilience, and commitment to the Constitution of the United States of America. For three decades Justice Thomas has served as a model for our children. He has long been honored and celebrated by black people in this country and his attackers do not speak for the majority of blacks.

He is entirely undeserving of the vitriol directed at him. Character assassination has become too convenient a tool for eviscerating those who dare dissent from the prevailing agenda, especially when it is a black man who is dissenting.

This is not about the content of the court’s decisions or Justice Thomas’ personal views; some of the undersigned agree with his judicial decisions and some do not. We speak out – as black people and Americans – to condemn these attacks and support Justice Thomas, because to remain silent would be to implicitly endorse these poisonous schemes as well as his destruction.

Sincerely,

Glenn Loury

Professor of Economics

Brown University

Providence, RI

Robert Woodson Sr.

Founder and President

The Woodson Center

Washington, DC

Charles Love, Executive Director, Seeking Educational Excellence, New York, NY

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford, CA

W. Barclay Allen, Havre de Grace, MD

Christopher Arps, Co-founder, Move-On-Up.org, St. Louis, MO

Dr. Lisa Babbage, Babbage America, Suwanee, GA

Leon Benjamin, Pastor, Life Harvest Church, Richmond, VA

Claston Bernard , Olympian, Author, Former Congressional Candidate, Gonzales, LA

Shamike Bethea, Fredrick Douglass Foundation of NC, Fayetteville, NC

Harold A. Black, Emeritus Professor University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Kenneth Blackwell, Chairman, Conservative Action Project, OH

Tony Blount, Member / Coalition of Concerned Freedmen, New York, NY

Jordan R. Bolds ,New York, NY

Robert Bracy, President/Pinnacle Business Management, New York, NY

David Brooks, Former Rich Township IL Republican Committeeman, Indianapolis, IN

Janice Rogers Brown, Gardnerville, NV

John Sibley Butler, Austin, TX

Don Carey, City Councilman, Chesapeake, VA

Tess Chakkalakal, Associate Professor, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME

Jeff Charles, Podcaster, Writer, Political Commentator, Jacksonville, FL

Gabrielle Clark, Houston, TX

Adam B. Coleman, Founder of Wrong Speak Publishing, Piscataway, NJ

Melanie Collette, Host, Money Talk with Melanie Cape May Court House, NJ

Ward Connerly, President of the American Civil Rights Institute, Coeur d'Alene, ID

D. Daniels, GA

Kira A. Davis, Deputy Managing Editor, RedState, Ladera Ranch, CA

Rod Dorilás, GOP Candidate, Florida 22nd Congressional District, West Palm Beach, FL

Patricia Rae Easley, Black Excellence Media, Chicago, IL

Larry Elder, President of Elder for America PAC, Los Angeles, CA

Rev. Joe Ellison Jr., City Chaplain Ministries, Richmond, VA

Melvin Everson, Former State Rep, Snellville, GA

Nique Fajors, St. Louis, MO

Yaya J. Fanusie, Chief Strategist, Cryptocurrency AML Strategies, Columbia, MD

George Farrell, Chair of BlakPac,Washington, DC

Chavis Jennings, Highland, IN

Casey Felin, ThatGirlCasey Media, Philadelphia, PA

LaTasha H. Fields, Team Illinois, Chicago, IL

Marie Fischer, JEXIT, Baltimore, MD

Kali Fontanilla, Founder of Exodus Institute, Sarasota, FL

Roland Fryer, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Edwin A. Fynn, Merrillville, IN

Verlon Galloway, Gary, IN

Dr. Derryck Green, Sacramento, CA

Kermit E. Hairston, Stone Mountain, GA

Christopher Harris, Executive Director of Unhyphenated America, Fairfax County, VA

Clarence Henderson, President Frederick Douglass Foundation of N. Carolina, High Point, NC

Ismael Hernandez, Founder/President/Freedom & Virtue Institute, Fort Myers, FL

Curtis Hill, Former Indiana Attorney General, Elkhart, IN

Deidre Hulett, Gary, IN

Daniel Idfresne, 18-Year-Old Political Commentator, New York City, NY

Niger Innis, Chairman, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Las Vegas, NV

Kevin Jackson, Founder/The Kevin Jackson Network, Gilbert, AZ

Nikki Johnson, MD, Cleveland, OH

Leonydus Johnson, Host of Informed Dissent, Oak Hill, OH

Diante Johnson, President, Black Conservative Federation, Arlington, VA

Christopher Jones, Pastor, Atlanta, GA

Seneca Jones, Dallas, TX

Khansa Jones-Muhammad, Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Alveda King, Concerned Citizen, Atlanta, GA

Lisa Kinnemore, Stone Mountain, GA

Garry Kinnemore, Stone Mountain, GA

Matthew P. Kreutz, Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York, Medina, NY

Chaplain Ayesha Kreutz, Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York, Medina, NY 

Princess Kuevor, Columbus, OH

Michael Lancaster, Frederick Douglass Foundation, Stone Mountain, GA

Mitchell Lomax, Ellicott City, MD

Pamela Denise Long, Nat'l Coordinator, Coalition of Concerned Freedmen, St. Louis, MO

Barrington D. Martin II, Atlanta, GA

Linda Matthews, Frederick Douglass Foundation Ohio, Cincinnati, OH

Kevin McGary, Co-Founder Every Black Life Matters (EBLM), Dallas, TX

John McWhorter, New York, NY

Shemeka Michelle, Author, Durham, NC

Cashmere Miller, Atlanta, GA

Montrail Miller, FDF, GA

Lucas E. Morel, Professor of Politics, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA

Brian Mullins, Black Community Collaborative, Chicago, IL

Scherie Murray, Director, Unite the Fight PAC, Laurelton, NY

Dr. Lorenzo Neal, New Bethel AME Church, Jackson, MS

Dean Nelson, Frederick Douglass Foundation, Washington, DC

Morris W. O'Kelly, On-air personality, KFI AM640/iHeartRadio, Los Angeles, CA

Tim Parrish, Founder, Right Appeal PAC, Woodbridge, VA

Lonnie Poindexter, LionChasersNetwork.org, Washington, DC

Jon Ponder, Chief Executive Officer, Hope For Prisoners, Las Vegas, NV

Wilfred Reilly, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY

Deon Richmond, Studio City, CA

Donique Rolle, Educator, Orlando, FL

Ian V. Rowe, Senior Visiting Fellow, The Woodson Center, New York, NY

Sheryl R. Sellaway, Founder, Righteous PR Agency, Johns Creek, GA

Erec Smith, Assoc. Professor of Rhetoric/Co-founder Free Black Thought, York, PA

Dr. Felicity Joy Solomon, Shorewood, IL

Delano Squires, Contributor, Blaze Media, Washington, DC

Rebekah Star, New York, NY

Dr. Carol M. Swain, Be the People News, Nashville, TN

David Sypher Jr., Political Strategist, Rahway, NJ

Dr. Linda Lee Tarver, President, Tarver Consulting, Lansing, MI

Greg Thomas, Stratford, CT

Roderick Threats, Black Patriot Media Group, Palm Beach, FL

Jimmy Lee Tillman II, Founder/President, Martin Luther King Republicans, Chicago, IL

Stephanie W. Trussell, Republican Candidate for LTG Illinois, Lisle, IL

Jesse C. Turner, Senior Pastor, The Historic Elm Grove Baptist Church, Pine Bluff, AR

Bettye H. Tyler, Marvellous Works, Inc., Jackson, MS

Helen Tyner, Parents for a Better Englewood, Chicago, IL

Dr. Eric M. Wallace, Freedom's Journal Institute, Flossmoor, IL

Marcus Watkins, Michigan Republican Assembly, Romulus, MI

Curtis Watkins, Uplift & Restore Community Development Corp., Michigan City, IN

Cindy Werner, State Ambassador, Frederick Douglass Foundation-WI, Milwaukee, WI

Devon Westhill, President/General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity, Washington, DC

Jason Whitlock, Host of Fearless with Jason Whitlock, Nashville, TN

Christopher Wilson, Indianapolis, IN

Kuna Winding, Chicago, IL

Corrine Winding, Chicago, IL

Aryca Woodson, Communications Consultant, IN

John Wood Jr., Opinion Columnist, USA Today, Los Angeles, CA

Michael E. Wooten, Former Administrator, Federal Procurement Policy, Woodbridge, VA

Glenn Loury is professor of economics at Brown University.

Robert Woodson Sr. is founder and president of The Woodson Center.

Craig Shirley: Donations To Reagan Library Will Trickle Down After Liz Cheney Speech, "The Debates Are Over"

Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is usually correct) would say that Cheney saw the GOP departing from everything she represents and did her best to poison every Republican Institution she can touch before she's driven out into the wilderness.

FNC's Peter Doocy To White House: Does The President Think It Is Appropriate To Protest Outside A Supreme Court Justice's Home?

So the Biden Administration thinks it's OK to shadow these Justices, or any other public figure, from location to location to disrupt their lives and possibly expose them to threats. You have a right to peacefully protest but their are restrictions on time, place, and manner...and one of those is a restriction (a law against!) on protesting outside the homes of Justices. So, the Administration is approving and tacitly encouraging illegal behavior. The only reason to protest outside the homes of these Justices is to intimidate them; it certainly isn't aimed at persuading fellow Americans on the issue.

Zelensky: "The End Of The World Has Arrived" I'm Embarrassed This Is Happening In The 21st Century

Some may remember the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 60s. Castro was in power in Cuba and the Russians began bringing nuclear missiles into Cuba. JFK was President of the USA at the time. A nuclear was was barely averted and Russia took their missiles home, but exacted some concessions from Kennedy, one of which was pulling our missile capability out of Turkey. At the end of the Cold War promises were made to Russia that NATO would not expand into the Russian sphere of influence. That promise has been broken many times. Havana Cuba is a bit further from Washington, D.C., than Kiev is from Moscow. Biden signed a paper in Nov 2021 that invited Ukraine to join NATO. See " The Two Blunders That Caused the Ukraine War" in the March 4th WSJ. One might ask why Biden opened the door for Ukraine to join NATO? Did he think that Russia would do nothing with the prospect of being squeezed by another NATO country? Or did Biden want Russia to attack the Ukraine to take the heat off the dismal prospects of the mid-term elections?

Recall, Remove & Replace Every Last Soros Prosecutor | RealClearPolitic

Recall is not feasible particularly since many states do not have recall. But voters should pay more attention to these DA, AG, and prosecutor races. Republicans adopted a from the ground up strategy to win state legislator races and it was a spectacular success. Democrats, with Soros money are trying to do the same thing with DA races. Republicans should engage them and voters should pay more attention or we will end up with more non prosecution of crimes and release without bail.

Tucker Carlson: Arrest Of Bannon And Navarro Is A Huge Escalation In Democratic Party's Weaponization Of DOJ

The whole premise of the J6 witch hunt is that an insurrection to over-throw the US gov't was planned. Mind you, this was planned without a single weapon to be used, and relied on the police abandoning post, and the Capitol doors to somehow be opened from the inside. Once inside these "insurrectionists" took selfies. This narrative is so dead.

[news-of-the-day]

6/28/22

At least 16 are dead from the missile attack on the shopping center in the Ukraine yesterday, but there are still many missing. Russia is denying responsibility for the attack.

Here's an example on why it's hard to isolate Russia: Sri Lanka is quite simply completely screwed. It’s an island nation that can't provide for itself so it needs to import, but it has no money to buy stuff. They're running out of fuel. Well, Russia is willing to sell fuel for cheap, and now it has a customer.

It's the primaries today in NY, the biggest one being Governor Hochul defending her seat. Today is solely for the governor and state assembly, but the House had to be rescheduled to August because the Democrats gerrymandered the districts, which a judge later struck down and they had to scramble to remake it and allow time for campaigning.

Louisiana and Utah passed laws a long time ago to ban abortion that would enact the moment Roe v. Wade was overturned, but the courts blocked it.

You may recall a few weeks ago I mentioned a lawyer by the name of John Eastman, who is accused of knowingly giving false legal counsel to Trump about negating the 2020 results. The FBI seized his phone as well as searched the house of Jeffrey Clark. Trump pressured then acting Attorney General Rosen to declare election fraud and urge states to overturn the results, to which Rosen refused. Clark, a lawyer in the Justice Department, approached Trump and seemed amenable to doing that, and Trump mulled over firing Rosen and replacing him with Clark. However many lawyers in the Justice Department stated there would be another Saturday Night Massacre if Trump did that, so he held off.

46-50 people are dead after being crammed in a truck in Texas to cross the border. It's currently over 100° there. A little over dozen people survived and are hospitalized.

49-51 prisoners died during a riot in Colombia. It seems fires were set and many died from smoke inhalation.

1) The Guardian 2) WSJ 3) Politico, NPR 4) NYT 5) Washington Post, Axios 6) Reuters 7) Reuters

Someone asked me about perhaps a ratifying a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights, and it’s pretty much impossible. There are two methods of making an amendment: Step one is either two-thirds of both congressional chambers agree on it, or two-thirds of the state legislatures call for a national convention to make it. (The latter has never happened.) Considering Republicans control 50 seats in the Senate and 210 seats in the House, that’s not happening.

Regardless of whatever method you choose for step one, step two is three-quarters of the state legislatures have to ratify it. Here’s a map of the state legislatures:

Source: Wikipedia

Clearly three-quarters of the country is not going to approve of an amendment promoting abortion.

[reading-writing-revolution]

Heather Cox Richardson:

March 7, 2021 (Sunday)

Black Americans outnumbered white Americans among the 29,500 people who lived in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s, but the city’s voting rolls were 99% white. So, in 1963, Black organizers in the Dallas County Voters League launched a drive to get Black voters in Selma registered. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a prominent civil rights organization, joined them.

In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, but it did not adequately address the problem of voter suppression. In Selma, a judge had stopped the voter registration protests by issuing an injunction prohibiting public gatherings of more than two people.

To call attention to the crisis in her city, Amelia Boynton, who was a part of the Dallas County Voters League but who, in this case, was acting with a group of local activists, traveled to Birmingham to invite Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., to the city. King had become a household name after the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech, and his presence would bring national attention to Selma’s struggle.

King and other prominent members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference arrived in January to press the voter registration drive. For seven weeks, Black residents tried to register to vote. County Sheriff James Clark arrested almost 2000 of them for a variety of charges, including contempt of court and parading without a permit. A federal court ordered Clark not to interfere with orderly registration, so he forced Black applicants to stand in line for hours before taking a “literacy” test. Not a single person passed.

Then, on February 18, white police officers, including local police, sheriff’s deputies, and Alabama state troopers, beat and shot an unarmed 26-year-old, Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was marching for voting rights at a demonstration in his hometown of Marion, Alabama, about 25 miles northwest of Selma. Jackson had run into a restaurant for shelter along with his mother when the police started rioting, but they chased him and shot him in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Jackson died eight days later, on February 26. The leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Selma decided to defuse the community’s anger by planning a long march—54 miles-- from Selma to the state capitol at Montgomery to draw attention to the murder and voter suppression. Expecting violence, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee voted not to participate, but its chair, John Lewis, asked their permission to go along on his own. They agreed.

On March 7, 1965, the marchers set out. As they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named for a Confederate brigadier general, Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, and U.S. senator who stood against Black rights, state troopers and other law enforcement officers met the unarmed marchers with billy clubs, bull whips, and tear gas. They fractured John Lewis’s skull, and beat Amelia Boynton unconscious. A newspaper photograph of the 54-year-old Boynton, seemingly dead in the arms of another marcher, illustrated the depravity of those determined to stop Black voting.

Images of “Bloody Sunday” on the national news mesmerized the nation, and supporters began to converge on Selma. King, who had been in Atlanta when the marchers first set off, returned to the fray.

Two days later, the marchers set out again. Once again, the troopers and police met them at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, but this time, King led the marchers in prayer and then took them back to Selma. That night, a white mob beat to death a Unitarian Universalist minister, James Reeb, who had come from Massachusetts to join the marchers.

On March 15, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a nationally televised joint session of Congress to ask for the passage of a national voting rights act. “Their cause must be our cause too,” he said. “[A]ll of us… must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.” Two days later, he submitted to Congress proposed voting rights legislation.

The marchers remained determined to complete their trip to Montgomery, and when Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, refused to protect them, President Johnson stepped in. When the marchers set off for a third time on March 21, 1,900 members of the nationalized Alabama National Guard, FBI agents, and federal marshals protected them. Covering about ten miles a day, they camped in the yards of well-wishers until they arrived at the Alabama State Capitol on March 25. Their ranks had grown as they walked until they numbered about 25,000 people.

On the steps of the capitol, speaking under a Confederate flag, Dr. King said: “The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.”

That night, Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five who had arrived from Michigan to help after Bloody Sunday, was murdered by four Ku Klux Klan members tailing her as she ferried demonstrators out of the city.

On August 6, Dr. King and Mrs. Boynton were guests of honor as President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson recalled “the outrage of Selma” when he said "This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies."

The Voting Rights Act authorized federal supervision of voter registration in districts where African Americans were historically underrepresented. Johnson promised that the government would strike down “regulations, or laws, or tests to deny the right to vote.” He called the right to vote “the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men,” and pledged that “we will not delay, or we will not hesitate, or we will not turn aside until Americans of every race and color and origin in this country have the same right as all others to share in the process of democracy.”

But less than 50 years later, in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. The Shelby County v. Holder decision opened the door, once again, for voter suppression. Since then, states have made it harder to vote. And now, in the wake of the 2020 election, in which voters handed control of the government to Democrats, legislatures in 43 states are considering sweeping legislation to restrict voting, especially voting by people of color. Among the things Georgia wants to outlaw is giving water to voters as they wait for hours in line to get to the polls.

Today, 56 years after Bloody Sunday, President Biden signed an executive order “to promote voting access and allow all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.” He called on Congress to pass the For the People Act, making it easier to vote, and to restore the Voting Rights Act, now named the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act after the man who went on from his days in the Civil Rights Movement to serve 17 terms as a representative from Georgia, bearing the scars of March 7, 1965, until he died on July 17, 2020.

The fact sheet from the White House announcing the executive order explained: “democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend, strengthen, and renew it.” Or, as Representative Lewis put it: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

[blackvotersmatterfund]

Justice Breyer’s Retirement Opens Rare And Remarkable Opportunity To Make History On Supreme Court Bench

Black Voters Matter co-founders Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown and Black Voters Matter legal director April Albright issued this statement after President Biden announced the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer:

Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement opens up a rare and remarkable opportunity to make history on the Supreme Court bench. On the campaign trail, President Biden as part of his pitch to Black voters promised to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court – which would be a first in the 233-year history of the Court. With this news of Justice Breyer’s retirement and with Democratic majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate, President Biden can now make that promise a reality. Democratic control of the Senate, which would not be possible without Black voters, means that this nomination can move through even without any Republican support.

The stakes are higher than ever. In recent years, the Court’s conservative supermajority has handed down dangerous rulings that gutted the Voting Rights Act, weakened workers’ rights, undermined health care access, and upended the criminal legal system. And with the Court now taking up the issues of reproductive justice and affirmative action, these conservative justices are positioned to do even more harm to Black voters, who are disproportionately impacted by these issues.

Today, we should reject expediency, convenience and the mythical expectation of “bipartisanship” to avoid the same mistake made with Clarence Thomas, who was supported by a broad range of people because he previously worked for the EEOC, but has been an enemy to Black people since his appointment.

The White House should seriously consider attorneys like Sherrilyn Ifill, Krysten Clarke, and others who have earned national reputations for outstanding legal scholarship and the demonstrated commitment to civil rights, workers rights, and voting rights. Just as judicial experience was not a requirement for Chief Justices such as Earl Warren and William Rehnquist, as well as 43% of all Justices, it should not be a requirement for this nomination

Whomever he nominates, President Biden must use every tool at his disposal to support his pick and to ensure that she is swiftly confirmed and seated. He must also remind Democratic Senators that his announcement to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court is no different than Ronald Reagan’s and even Donald Trump’s commitments to appoint women when they had the power to do so. Thus far President Biden has kept his promise to increase the representation of Black jurists to the Federal District and Appellate Courts. An appointment of a Black Woman, who has a record of supporting civil rights and voting rights, to the highest court of this country will further solidify the promises he made on the campaign trail.