#morton in laws

[spockvarietyhour]

Joe Morton in Law & Order's "Burn Baby Burn" (2000)

[tenth-sentence]

Whatever the technologies of the Return, whatever the priorities which less for it and the laws which govern it, whatever the property rights which permit it, it may yet be the case that no one will ever be a natural-born Moonperson.

"The Moon: A History for the Future" - Oliver Morton

[whats-in-a-sentence]

When Stu, a tourist, offends some local lads by putting his arm around a girl, Manny explains the situation and its risks to him in Russian-influenced, pronoun-poor, Loonie syntax employed throughout the book:

We don't have laws. Never been allowed to. Have customs, but aren't written and aren't enforced – or could say they are self-enforcing because are simply way things have to be, conditions being what they are. Could say our customs are natural laws because are way people have to behave to stay alive. When you made a pass at Tish you were violating a natural law . . . and almost caused you to breathe vacuum.

"The Moon: A History for the Future" - Oliver Morton

[geopolicraticus]

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

Morton White and the Regularity Theory of Historical Explanation

Monday 29 April 2024 is the 107th anniversary of the birth of Morton White (29 April 1917 – 27 May 2016), who was born in New York City on this date in 1917.

White was an analytical philosopher of history who rejected speculative philosophy of history, but in rejecting historical generalizations while accepting a form of Hempel’s covering law model of historical explanation he created a problem for himself. How can we formulate regularities of historical explanation without approximating a speculative philosophy of history that sees regularity in the events that comprise history?   

Quora:              https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/ 

Discord:           https://discord.gg/r3dudQvGxD

Links:               https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter:      http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

Text post:        https://geopolicraticus.substack.com/p/morton-white-and-the-regularity-theory  

Video:               https://youtu.be/5ulU0P3ir9g  

Podcast:           https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/64tLDTq7cJb

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

How much do you think did Diana believe Martin Bashir’s interview and how much did it really influence her actions?

In my opinion, there are 3 ways to view that interview

1. She was a victim by the royal family and she exposed the royal family (which is the popular view among young people maybe, The Crown fans, Sussex squad, Hollywood…)

2. She knew Bashir lied to her but did the interview anyway out of malice and hunger for power and vengeance, because she just wanted Charles out and William on the throne as soon as possible like some Cersei Lannister figure (I see this view from Charles & Camilla stans. To a lesser degree, maybe William stans too)

3. She was a complete victim by Bashir. She was taken advantage of by Bashir and she wouldn’t have done the interview if she knew the truth. (William himself is probably the only one who believes this)

Or maybe all 3 combined?

From my own research, I think there were two issues working against Diana that enabled her for Panorama.

First, she had great expectations for her marriage and her in-laws that ran opposite to the expectations of the BRF. I feel like Diana's expectations were based on the opposite of her childhood - she grew up lonely, unhappy, stuck, rejected and she wanted her relationships to be loving, present, and included, but Charles and the BRF wanted someone to fit in, go with the flow, do what she was told. Diana wanted the BRF to meet her expectations, the BRF wanted Diana to meet theirs, and there was no room for compromise. This is an environment ripe for resentment and paranoia - resentment that her reality doesn't match up to expectations or fantasy and paranoia that others resent her too in the same way.

Second, Diana was in a marriage with a man who didn't love her the way she wanted because he was in love with another woman and a lot of people (friends, family, staff, press) were helping him be with her behind Diana's back. That is also an environment ripe for paranoia.

And ultimately that's what happened to Diana. High (maybe unrealistic) expectations of her marriage and her in-laws collided with the collapse of her marriage and she didn't know who to trust. Who knew about Camilla? Who helped Charles get with Camilla? Is Camilla better? Did her in-laws like Camilla better? Did her in-laws hate her because she wasn't their idea of Charles's wife? Were people gossiping about her being the wrong kind of wife? Did they think she was raising William inappropriately? So on and so on.

From everything I've read, these feelings and attitudes of Diana and the BRF were not a secret. Given Charles's and Diana's close connections to the press, there were many in the press who were aware of Diana's resentment and Diana's paranoia of how she was being treated by the BRF. While I don't believe Martin Basheer was part of that press who knew, I think Basheer was aware of it and he made a huge gamble on how deep Diana's paranoia ran. He created fake evidence that preyed on her paranoia to get her committment to the interview, which she fully and completely believed to be true - I believe the BBC, William, and Charles Spencer are absolutely correct that if not presented with this fake evidence, Diana likely wouldn't have done that specific interview.

But that said, I believe Diana had so much resentment against Charles, Camilla, the grey suits, and parts of the BRF that she would've done interviews regardless. After all, she worked with Andrew Morton in 1991. She likely would have done it again because the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior*; if she did it once, she'd do it again. She just needed to be pushed far enough to react. Unfortunately, Martin Basheer's fake evidence that targeted her paranoia did it. Without him, I think Diana would've kept mum until Charles and Camilla made their relationship public; I feel like she would've clapped back to their 'happy couple' PR with her version of an Oprah tell-all but I don't believe it would have been the same kind of watershed moment that Panorama was. I think public reaction would have been similar to the Morton book, since I think one of the reasons that Panorama took on a life of its own was precisely because of Diana's tragic young death.

*And this is true of Harry and Meghan. Because they've OK'd six tell-alls about their marriage and the BRF since 2017 - Finding Freedom and Endgame by Scobie, the Netflix docuseries, Meghan's 'Wild about Harry' Vanity Fair and The Cut interviews, and Harry's Spare - the question isn't "will they?", it's "when?" (My theory: Meghan's next tell-all will come with a divorce, if there's a divorce. Harry's next tell-all will come with Charles's passing/William's coronation if he's still out/rejected by the BRF.)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Big Train managers earn bonuses for greenlighting unsafe cars

Tomorrow (November 16) I'll be in Stratford, Ontario, appearing onstage with Vass Bednar as part of the CBC IDEAS Festival. I'm also doing an afternoon session for middle-schoolers at the Stratford Public Library.

Almost no one knows this, but last June, a 90-car train got away from its crew in Hernando, MS, rolling three miles through two public crossings, a ghost train that included 47 potentially explosive propane cars. The "bomb train" neither crashed nor derailed, which meant that Grenada Railroad/Gulf & Atantic didn't have to report it.

This is just one of many terrifying near-misses that are increasingly common in America's hyper-concentrated, private equity-dominated rail sector, where unsafe practices dominate and whistleblowers face brutal retaliation for coming forward to regulators.

These unsafe practices – and the corporate policies that deliberately gave rise to them – are documented in terrifying, eye-watering detail in a deeply reported Propublica story by Topher Sanders, Jessica Lussenhop,Dan Schwartz, Danelle Morton and Gabriel L Sandoval:

https://www.propublica.org/article/railroad-safety-union-pacific-csx-bnsf-trains-freight

It's a tale of depraved indifference to public safety, backstopped by worker intimidation. The reporting is centered on railyard maintenance inspectors, who are charged with writing up "bad orders" to prevent unsafe railcars from shipping out. As private equity firms consolidated rail into an ever-dwindling number of companies, these workers face supervisors who are increasingly hostile to these bad orders.

It got so alarming that some staffers started carrying hidden digital recorders, so they could capture audio of their bosses illegally ordering them to greenlight railcars that were too unsafe for use. The article features direct – and alarming – quotes, like supervisor Andrew Letcher, boss of the maintenance crews at Union Pacific's Kansas City yard saying, "If I was an inspector on a train I would probably let some of that nitpicky shit go."

Letcher – and fellow managers for other Tier 1 railroads quoted in the piece – aren't innately hostile to public safety. They are quite frank about why they want inspectors to "let that nitpicky shit go." As Letcher explains, "The first thing that I’m getting questioned about right now, every day, is why we’re over 200 bad orders and what we’re doing to get them down."

In other words, corporate rail owners have ordered their supervisors to reduce the amount of maintenance outages on the rail lines, but have not given them additional preventative maintenance budgets or crew. These supervisors warn their employees that high numbers of bad orders could cost them their jobs, even lead to the shutdown of the car shops where inspectors are prone to pulling dangerous cars out of service.

It's a ruthless form of winnowing. Gresham's Law holds that "bad money drives out good" – in an economy where counterfeit money circulates, people preferentially spend their fake money to get it out of their hands, until all the money in circulation is funny money. This is the rail safety equivalent: simply fire everyone who reports unsafe conditions and all your railcars will be deemed safe, with the worst railcars shipped out first. A market for lemons – except these aren't balky used sedans, they're unsafe railcars full of toxic chemicals or explosive propane.

When cataclysmic rail disasters occur – like this year's East Palestine derailment – the rail industry reassures us that this is an isolated incident, pointing to the system's excellent overall safety record. But that record is a mirage, because the near-misses don't have to be reported. Those near-misses are coming more frequently, as the culture of profit over safety incurs a mounting maintenance debt, filling America's rails with potential "bomb cars."

Rail mergers and other forms of deregulated, anything-goes capitalism are justified by conservative economists who insist that "incentives matter," and that the profit motive provides the incentive to improve efficiency, leading to lower costs and better service. But the incentive to externalize risk, kick the can down the road, and capture regulators rarely concerns the "incentives matter" crowd.

Here's an incentive that matters. Rail managers' bonuses – as much as a fifth of their take home pay – are only paid if the trains they oversee run on time. Inspectors have recorded their managers admitting that they have quotas – a maximum number of bad orders their facility may produce, irrespective of how much unsafe rolling stock passes through the facility.

Inspectors have caught their managers removing repair order tags from cars they've flagged as unsafe. Inspectors will log orders in a database, only to have the record mysteriously deleted, or marked as serviced when no service has occurred. Some inspectors have seen the same cars in their yard with the same problems, and repeatedly flagged them without any maintenance being performed before they're shipped out again.

Former managers from Union Pacific, CSX and Norfolk Southern told Propublica that they operated in an environment where safety reports were discouraged, and that workers who filed these reports were viewed as "complainers." Workers furnished Propublica with recordings of rail managers berating them for reporting persistent unsafe conditions the Federal Railroad Administration. Other workers from BNSF said that they believed that their bosses were told when they called the company's "confidential" work-safety tipline, setting them up for retaliation by bosses who'd falsified safety reports.

Whistleblowers who seek justice at OSHA are stymied by long delays, and while switching their cases to court can win them cash settlements, these do not get recorded on the company's safety record, which allows the company to go on claiming to be a paragon of safety and prudence.

The culture of retaliation is pervasive, which explains how the 47-cars worth of propane on the "bomb train" that rolled unattended over three miles of track never made the news. There is a voluntary Close Call Reporting System (operated by NASA!) where rail companies can report these disasters. Not one of America's Class 1 rail companies participate in it.

After the East Palestine disaster, Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg pushed the rail companies to join, but a year later, none have. It's part of an overall pattern with Secretary Buttigieg, who has prodigious, far-reaching powers under USC40 Section 41712(a), which allow him to punish companies for "unfair and deceptive" practices or "unfair methods of competition":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

Buttigieg can't simply hand down orders under 41712(a) – to wield this power, he must follow administrative procedures, conducting market studies, seeking comment, and proposing a rule. Other members of the Biden administration with similar powers, like FTC chair Lina Khan, arrived in office with a ranked-priority list of bad corporate conduct and immediately set about teeing up rules to give relief to the American public.

By contrast, Buttigieg's agency has done precious little to establish the evidentiary record to punish the worst American companies under its remit. His most-touted achievement was to fine five airlines for saving money by cancelling their flights and stranding their passengers. But of the five airlines affected by Buttigieg's order, four were not US companies. The sole affected US carrier was Spirit airlines, with 2% of the market. The Big Four US airlines – who have a much worse record than the ones that were fined – were not affected at all:

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/ftc-noncompete-airline-flight-cancellation-buttigieg/

Rather than directly regulating the US transportation sector, Buttigieg prefers exacting nonbinding promises from them (like the Tier 1 rail companies' broken promise to sign up to the Close Call Reporting System). Under his leadership, the Federal Railroad Agency has proposed weakening rail safety standards, rescinding an order to improve the braking systems on undermaintained, mile-long trains carrying potentially deadly freight:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/11/dinah-wont-you-blow/#ecp

The US transportation system is accumulating a terrifying safety debt, behind a veil of corporate secrecy. It badly demands direct regulation and close oversight.

If you are interested in rail safety, I strongly recommend this episode of Well There's Your Problem, "a podcast about engineering disasters, with slides" – you will laugh your head off and then never sleep again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BMQTdYXaH8

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/15/safety-third/#all-the-livelong-day

[riesenfeldcenter]

Happy Women's History Month! To kick off March, here is a photo from our archives of the first three women to graduate from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1893. Flora, pictured on the right, was the first woman to begin classes at the law school in 1890.

Left to right: Marie A. McDermott, Nora L. Morton, Flora E. Matteson

[whencyclopedia]

Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535 CE) was a lawyer, scholar, statesman, and Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) who was executed in July 1535 CE for his refusal to endorse Henry's break of the Church in England from the Catholic Church in Rome.

The highly principled More also disagreed with the king's divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536 CE) and especially Henry's promotion of himself as head of the Church of England instead of the Pope. Prior to his time in politics, Thomas More was a celebrated author and scholar, his most famous work today being Utopia which includes a philosophical description of an ideal society set on an island. Thomas More was made a saint in 1935 CE by the Catholic Church.

Early Career & Writings

Thomas More was born in London in 1478 CE, his father being the lawyer Sir John More. The young Thomas was educated at Saint Anthony's school in the capital while as a teenager he worked as a page at the house of Archbishop John Morton. He graduated from Oxford University in 1496 CE and went on to study law at Lincoln's Inn. More spent four years in a Carthusian monastery but decided not to take his vows and fully join the priesthood.

In 1504 CE More began his 30-year political career and entered Parliament. The next year he met the famed scholar Desiderius Erasmus whose humanist philosophy would influence Thomas' own work. More became the under-sheriff of London in 1510 CE, but he suffered the tragedy of his first wife's death during childbirth in 1511 CE. His career continued apace, though, with his appointment as Master of Requests in 1514 CE and his participation in a royal trade delegation to Flanders in 1515 CE.

Continue reading...

[eretzyisrael]

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

It is sickening that, despite the American people’s rejection of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies on November 5th, the lame duck Biden-Harris administration has continued to betray and make absurd demands on Israel.

In recent days, after the election, the Biden-Harris administration again outrageously threatened an anti-Israel arms embargo if Israel did not meet its demands that Israel do more and more to move aid into Gaza by tomorrow (November 13) – despite the fact that much of the aid is stolen by Hamas, who sells it for hundreds of millions of dollars to pay and recruit terrorists to murder Jews. The Biden-Harris administration’s absurd threats and demands are also despite the fact that aid to Gaza has increased in recent weeks, and despite the fact that between October 2023 and November 6, 2024, Israel facilitated 1,115,128 tons of aid into Gaza, on 56,402 trucks and 9,979 pallets – including food (including fruits and vegetables, ready-to-eat food parcels, meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil, etc.); shelter equipment; water; medical supplies; fuel; and infrastructure equipment. (See also “ZOA Condemns Biden Administration’s Dangerous Threat to Stop Arms to Israel – Could Cause Massacre of Jews,” Nov. 4, 2024; and “ZOA Condemns Biden Pressuring Israel Not to Attack Iran’s Oil and Nuclear Facilities, and Threatening an Arms Embargo Against Israel,” Oct. 16, 2024.)

The administration is reportedly already holding up needed bulldozers that Israel already paid for.

As ZOA previously pointed out, the last time the U.S. had an arms embargo against Israel, when Israel was being attacked by seven Arab nations in 1948, over six thousand Jews ended up being murdered. Israel is again fighting an existential war on seven fronts against enemies seeking to destroy it.

Some people thought it was merely a pre-election ploy when the Biden-Harris administration ramped up its dangerous arms embargo actions and threats in May, and again in mid-October, and just prior to the election. But the fact that the administration is still pursuing the same anti-Israel threats now says volumes about this administration’s dangerous actual ideology, and raises alarm bells as to what else the administration might do to harm Israel during its lame duck period in power.

Additionally, on election day – the Biden-Harris administration quietly waived needed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority – despite acknowledging that the PA continues its heinous “pay-to-slay” payments to terrorists to murder Jews.

And during a press briefing a few hours before the election, the Biden-Harris State Department condemned alleged “extremist settlers” (Jews); bragged about imposing sanctions on 14 Jews (including brave Jewish soldiers combatting Hamas in Gaza) and 13 Jewish groups (including a group protesting sending aid into Hamas’ hands and coffers); and threatened that the Biden administration “will continue to use all the tools at its disposal” to hold [Jews] accountable “for violence in the West Bank and around the region.” The State Department spokesman also revealed that the Biden-Harris lame duck administration will try to undermine the Knesset law outlawing Hamas-filled UNRWA from operating in Israel; and accused Israel of not getting enough aid to Gaza (meaning to Hamas), etc. The State Department briefing failed to mention Palestinian Arab terrorists’ hundreds of��attacks on Jews in Judea/Samaria, Jerusalem, etc.

Why is the Biden-Harris administration still not sanctioning the actual terrorists? Why is it waiving sanctions on the PA – which pays terrorists? Why is the administration instead threatening Israel and sanctioning Israeli Jews? And why is this continuing now that the Biden-Harris administration no longer has a mandate from the American people? Disgraceful and frightening!

[novaksupremacy]

The Veiled Law of Affection- Chapter 8

chapter 8 revolves around S6E6 "Conscience". Cute Benovak stuff, obvious svu case talk, some smut of course (but only a smidgen this chapter), angst, Huang and Casey buddy road trip.

Pairing: Casey Novak x Olivia Benson

Word Count: 7181

by PKJ @novaksupremacy

Read Part 7

            Henry Morton went missing from a birthday party he was attending with his mother. When the SVU team was dispatched they had trouble chasing down any leads. The video footage showed Henry disappearing, but not to where, how it happened, or even who took him. Most of what they did get was tainted by a local neighborhood watch vigilante listening in on the police scanners and strong arming suspects. The closest they got was a description given to them by the Morton’s neighbor, a young man named Jake O’Hara who swore he saw a strange man hanging around recently and that he had seen him in the neighborhood that very morning. They picked up a man that fit the description the boy gave them to a tee and brought him down to the station for a lineup.

“Why is he all banged up?” the redhead inquired after an affirmative ID had been made.

“That idiot with the police scanner was already in Billy’s apartment and beating the crap out of him when we got there. We through him out but unless we get a confession everything is circumstantial because the crime scene was tampered with.” Liv sighed, shaking her head.

“Break him or we gotta cut him loose.” Casey wrapped her arms around Liv’s neck.

“Counselor, someone might see us.” Liv smirked as she pulled the young redhead to settle between her knees, resting her hands on the ADA’s hips.

“Oh no,” Casey said mockingly and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss, a smile spreading across her lips. She pulled back just in case someone actually did happen to walk by. She placed her hands on the brunettes thighs right above the knee. Her desire to be in contact with Olivia’s body overpowered her fear of them being caught.

“Did you get enough sleep last night? You were tossing a lot.” Liv asked placing her hands on top of Casey’s.

“Did I keep you up? I’m so sorry, I think I threw my shoulder out in that last game and its been acting up.” The redhead frowned, “I’ll get it checked out, so I don’t completely screw up both of our sleep schedules.”

“Hey, you keep me up anytime you want Counselor.” Liv smiled and rubbed her hands over Casey’s, “but you probably should get that shoulder looked at anyway.” She pushed her fingertips up the ADAs wrists, under the hem of her sleeves.

“Kiss it better later?” the redhead raised her brows and sighed.

“I think I can take care of that.” Liv bit her lip, staring at Casey’s.

“Mm, I bet you can baby.” The counselor hummed. She brought her hands up to Liv’s collar and straightened it out. “We should probably get back to everyone.” She licked her lips, using the shirt collar to pull herself closer. “By the way, did I tell you how incredibly sexy you look in my suit? Watching you work while wearing my clothes, is very much a turn on.”  She pressed a languid kiss on her girlfriend then turned and walked away, her fingertips lingering behind intertwined with Liv’s. She dropped her lover’s hand as she hit the doorway and turned her head back to look at her. Liv shook her head, she knew Casey was trying to get her all riled up for later. The redhead held on to the frame for a second and winked before heading down the hallway.

“Bily’s neighbor didn’t ask him to babysit, he volunteered.” Fin said as he and Cragen walked into the bullpen trying to poke holes in the suspect’s alibi.

“How old is the kid,” Cragen questioned, listening intently.

“Five,” the detective offered as they continued to walk, “He said Billy never touched him.”

“But what about the mother?” The captain pressed.

“She confirmed Billy’s story, said he was back at the apartment by half passed eleven.”

“Could Billy have left the kid alone for a bit and come back?”

Fin shook his head, “Little boy said Billy was with him the whole time.” He and Cragen reached the crime board where Casey, Elliot and Liv were all focusing.

Cragen picked up the white board marker. “Okay so your witness puts Billy outside Morton’s home in Riverdale at eight AM. His alibi puts him back on Avenue B at eight thirty.”

“Tight,” Elliot states, “But doable.”

Casey shook her head, “No but he’s got to get back to Riverdale to follow Henry into the birthday party,” she pointed at the timeline, a contemplative look in her eye.

The captain looked back at the board, “Henry’s mom said they left no later than a quarter to twelve,

 “..and Billy didn’t finish babysitting until eleven thirty.” Fin continued.

“Well,” Liv added, “there’s no way he made it back to Riverdale in fifteen minutes. Not even on a Sunday”

“We got the wrong guy,” Cragen shook his head.

Munch hung up the phone and joined the conversation, “Looks that way, lab says hairs in Billy’s apartment don’t match the cat hair on Henry.

Casey sighed, “We gotta let Billy go,” she adjusted her posture, “We keep him much longer we’re gonna have a big, fat, lawsuit on our hands.”

Elliot grimaced, “I’ll tell the perv he’s going home.”

The redhead followed him and Liv out into the hall, she grabbed Liv’s arm “Be safe, and I’ll see you when you get back to the precinct.” She admired what her girlfriend did, but she was starting to hate the sinking feeling she got every time she walked out the door. Not only did she ache for her every time she was out of reach, but she also feared the risks that came along with her job. Heaven knows they’ve already experienced their fair share of these since they started dating.

Liv motioned for Casey to follow, and she ducked into the bathroom. After making sure they were alone she cupped the redhead’s face in her hands and kissed her tenderly, not letting go until they could no longer refrain from taking a breath. “I’ll be safe, I promise. I’ll always make it back to you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Casey still hanging off the kiss.

“I’ll keep this one,” she made sure to look into the ADA’s hazel green eyes as she spoke. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Casey whispered.

“Before I forget,” Liv said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small box, “this is for you.” She opened it revealing a gold chain with a small gold plated replica of her badge and badge number.

The attorney felt her face flush and her eyes well with emotion.

Liv took the chain out of the box and unclasped it, “This, is so that I’m always with you when I’m out on the job, and so that if G-d forbid something does happen,” she put it around Casey’s neck, tucking it in to her shirt and giving her another tender kiss, “you can show this to whoever you need to, to get to me.”

“Liv, I—” the redhead looked at her girlfriend in awe, “I love—it” she cleared her throat. “I love it.”

The brunette felt her stomach fill with butterflies for a split second before Casey finished her sentence, “Good.” she said, shaking it off. “See you for lunch, Counselor.” She pulled the ADA tight and kissed her goodbye.

“Looking forward to it, Detective.” Casey bit her lip, smiling as she followed Liv back out into the hallway.

*****

Back at the station Elliot and Liv had gotten word from O’Halloran that the perp they were looking for wasn’t an adult but an adolescent. He stated that stones were found in Henry’s throat which Elliot recognized as the same ones from Jake O’Hara, the neighbor kid’s front yard. They called Jake and his mother down to the precinct and filled Casey in on what they found.

“If we are gonna charge a thirteen year old with Henry’s murder, we better have a smoking gun.” Casey said as she moved from leaning on the interrogation window and walked passed Liv and Elliot and then turned around to face them.

“We do,” Elliot said matter-of-factly, “the stones in Henry’s throat. They were from Jake’s front yard. The prints are gonna be his.”

“I bet if we go back to the party security tapes, we’re gonna see Jake.” She turned to Elliot, “We weren’t looking for a kid.”

The redhead played devil’s advocate for a moment, “Okay well what about that man Jake saw?”

The brunette shook her head, “He must’ve made that up.”

One thing wasn’t making sense to Casey, “But Jake O’Hara picked Billy out of a lineup, how could he possibly have known Billy was a pedophile.”

Elliot knew in his gut she had a point, “I don’t know.”

“Alright,” the ADA strategized, “well let’s not hard ball the kid till we get some answers. We can’t afford to make the same mistake twice.”

“I thought my son answered all your questions?” Mrs. O’Hara asked as she sat back down at the table in interrogation.

“We just have to follow up on a few things,” Liv stated as her and Elliot sat down across from the suspect and his mother.

“Jake this man you picked out of the lineup,” Elliot said as he folded his hands on the table, “He didn’t do it.”

“Told you I wasn’t sure,” Jake said sounding disappointed. His mother rubbed his back.

“It’s okay honey, you did your best.” She said to him reassuringly.

“I guess it was number two after all,” the young teenager said woefully.

“No Jake,” Benson interrupted, “number two was an off-duty cop.”

Jake’s voice full of feigned remorse, “I’m sorry,” he sighed, “they all looked alike with those sunglasses. I only saw the picture for a minute.”

“You never saw the man, did you?” Elliot questioned.

Jake immediately started to try to back pedal, “Well I did but I told that other officer I didn’t think I’d be able to recognize him again.”

Elliot stormed out of the room, realizing the detective Jake was referring to was Wolinsky, their neighborhood watch pain in the ass. He grabbed him by the collar and began berating him for getting the kid to make a false testimony before throwing him in the lockup. He walked back into interrogation closing the door behind him.

“I don’t understand,” Mrs. O’Hara said getting agitated, “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on,” Elliot barked, “Is that Jake identified a man he never saw. You made it all up didn’t you Jake?”

“I’m sure it was a misunderstanding.” His mother protested.

“Well, there’s a few other things we don’t understand.” Liv said, “Like why Henry was covered up in cat hair.”

“Or how these stones from your yard,” Elliot placed the evidence baggie on the table, “ended up in his throat.”

Jake tried coming up with answers to all of this as the detectives pressed him but soon burst into a fit of tears when Liv threatened him with the notion of matching fingerprints. He was begging his mom not to send him back to camp, claiming that what happened to Henry was indeed an accident. Mrs. O’Hara explained that Jake had been sent to a camp for troubled youth. He showed them his arms, full of cigarette burns.

“Mrs. O’Hara,” Liv said softly, “We still need to place Jake under arrest.”

*****

“So, he said the kids at the camp tortured him?” Casey stuck her chopsticks into Liv’s takeout container grabbing for a piece of broccoli and popping it in her mouth.

“You know, we could just order a larger order of chicken broccoli and ya know split it? But yeah, he broke down into tears and told us how they sodomized him and burned him with cigarettes. It was horrifying.”

“That’s awful! I’ll talk to Huang and see what he knows about the place. Did you guys talk to the vic’s father about this yet? Also, while yes, it would be more efficient to share but its more fun to watch you squirm when I steal yours.” The redhead giggled trying to poke her chopsticks back into the container much to her girlfriends protest.

Liv brought her arm back to play keep away, taunting Casey keeping the container just out of arms reach. “Come on Counselor, where’s that athletic agility?” the chuckled. At this point, the litigator was not even focused on the container and only on the brunette’s lips as they parted in a jesting smile. She leaned in and kissed them, reaching behind her to toss the chopsticks onto the table behind her. Her girlfriend followed suite with the takeout.

“Is the door locked?” Casey panted, her hands fumbling with the buttons on Liv’s shirt. She didn’t actually wait for an answer before sliding a hand under the brunettes bra, caressing her breast.

Liv reached behind her, double checked the lock, and shook her head yes. She brought her wrist up between them, “I have about thirty minutes left.”

Casey let out a sultry laugh, “I can do a lot to you in thirty minutes, Detective.” She smirked and bit her lover’s lip, pulling it towards her as she straddled the brunette.

“Oh yeah Counselor, should I set a timer?” Liv whispered as she pulled the redhead tight to her body, their kisses were messy, heated, and filled with need. She wrapped her arm around the small of Casey’s back, picking her up as she stood up and flipping her back down onto the couch underneath her.

The ADA fervently grabbed at the detectives zipper, “Baby, if you think I can’t top you from down here you are sorely mistaken.” She panted as she continued kissing and slid her fingers down into the brunette’s waistband.

Liv’s breath caught in her throat as she let out a little sigh of pleasure at her girlfriend’s touch. She leaned her body hard down against Casey, rolling her hips as the redhead’s hand continued to tease her. Casey began fingering her slowly and was just about to further her exploration of Liv’s body when she heard the door handle start to jiggle.

“Hey, hey Casey? I think you door might be jammed, seems like its stuck.” Elliot called out from the hall, “You want me to throw my shoulder into it?”

Casey let out a heavy frustrated sigh, “It’s locked Elliot, for a reason.” She brought her hand up to her forehead.

“What’s wrong? Lionel Granger interrupted your lunch one too many times?” he joked, “C’mon Novak, you gonna let me in or what? I thought you were meeting Liv for lunch.”

“I’m a little preoccupied at the moment El.” The redhead said with mild annoyance.

“Huh? C’mon Case, open the door I’ve got a stack of five’s for you!” The detective stood outside, a confused look on his face, his impatience growing.

“We’re busy!” Both women shouted at the door in unison.

“OH,” Elliot froze, “umm okay, shit, my bad. Liv, I’ll just uhh, meet you at the car in twenty.” He made some vague hand motions as he shifted awkwardly from left to right a few times, not quite sure where to put himself and then headed back towards the squad room. As he headed back towards his desk John was headed down the hall with a pile of paperwork.

“You might want to try later,” the younger detective said still a little shell shocked.

“Hey El, why? Casey not in the office?” Munch stopped mid step.

“She’s,” he paused, “out to lunch.” Elliot headed back to his desk and stared at it in silence.

*****

Judge Preston adjourned the arraignment hearing as Casey gathered up her belongings for the day. Elliot and Dr. Morton were sitting in the front row of the gallery watching as Jake went through the arraignment process.

“Hey Casey,” Elliot whispered trying to grab the ADA’s attention. She turned to face him with a small smile, his face was solemn as she walked over. “This is Brett Morton, Henry’s father.”

Her face softened as she extended her hand to him in a firm handshake, “Very sorry.”

“Can I speak with Jake,” Dr. Morton asked somberly.

Casey turned towards opposing counsel, “Cleo? Can we have a moment please?”  The defense ushed Jake towards the prosecutor, Dr. Morton walking around the partition to greet him.

“Dr. Morton,” the young boy said, his eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Henry was my friend.”

Brett took a deep breath, “I know, Jake.” He sighed, “Why’d you do it?” The Doctor tilted his head down to get level with the boy. Casey watched the young boys body language from over Dr. Morton’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Jake sobbed, tears streamed down his face, “Something’s wrong with me.”

“Jake,” the victim’s father choked back a sob, “What did Henry say before he died?”

The tears fell freely down the child’s face, “He said he wanted his mommy.”

Casey could feel there was a tension escalating and nodded to the court officer to lead the young boy and his attorney away.

Dr. Morton turned around to face her, “What’s going to happen to him?”

“Without a plea bargain, he’ll stand trial and go to prison.” She said calmly, assuring the man that justice would be done.”

“Ah,” he nodded, “he’s a juvenile. He’ll be out at eighteen.”

Elliot and Casey looked towards each other concerned, “Dr. Morton,” her voice was soft but steady, “we’re trying Jake as an adult.”

The doctor’s face contorted in shock. “No. I lost a child and I know one thing. It’s wrong to lose another child to a life in prison.”

Elliot spoke quietly, “As a parent I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

“Putting Jake in jail doesn’t mean I’m getting justice.” The man shot back.

“And putting him in that camp doesn’t mean you’re responsible for what he did.” The detective retorted, his eyes showing empathy for the victim’s father.

*****

Huang met Casey outside the courtroom, he could always tell when she needed a friend to lend an ear about a case.

“Maybe I am wrong,” she said waving her hand as she spoke. She was truly torn about how to go about prosecuting this.

George turned his palm up as he answered as if weighing the options in his hand, “Dr. Morton is caught between his anger and his guilt.”

“What, just because he recommended that camp?” The lilt in the redheads voice made it clear she found that hard to digest.

“He feels responsible. He feels that if Jake hadn’t been abused there, Jake wouldn’t have killed Henry.” Huang reasoned.

“What do you think?” She looked to him for guidance.

“Jake suffered there. He was burned. He was possibly raped.” He stated.

Casey interjected, “Yeah but lots of kids are traumatized. They don’t go out and kill other kids. I mean every time they shoot up a school we say it was because they were bullied.”

George softened his voice, “Sometimes they were, and the question is whether that’s the reason Jake killed Henry.”

“Alright well what do you know about this camp?” she questioned.

“Rhinebeck Survival. No incidents that I’ve heard of.” The FBI liaison stated, racking his brain.  

“That you’ve heard of.” Casey emphasized.

George smiled, “I’m sure the director will talk to us. Feel like taking a ride upstate?”

*****

“So,” George smirked looking over at Casey as she drove, one hand on the wheel, left foot up on the seat, sunglasses covering her eyes.

“So?” she responded cautiously, lowering the radio.

“Now that we are not surrounded by the entire squad and its just us,” he smiled like he was up to no good, “How are things with Olivia.” He made sure to over annunciate the syllables of her name in a teasing manner.

The redhead immediately blushed and couldn’t help but smile at the mention of her girlfriend. “Very well, thank you.”

“So, it’s pretty serious?” He inquired, “I promise I’m not psychoanalyzing, I’m strictly asking as a friend.”

“I’d like to think so?” Casey chuckled, “I think at this point I’ve almost told her I love her about a thousand times. So yeah pretty serious.” She took a sip of her coffee and put it back in the cup holder.

“Why have you stopped yourself,” Huang probed.

“Okay, now you’re psychoanalyzing.” She jested.

“Maybe a little,” he laughed, “but really, why?”

The redhead shrugged, “Afraid, I guess? That she won’t say it back, or worse that she will and won’t mean it, or worse even still that she will and will mean it and then something happens to her.”

“That,” George took a deep breath and tried to unpack that statement, “is a lot of overthinking Casey.” He chortled.

“Well, she hasn’t said it either,” she tried to rationalize her thinking. “So, what am I supposed to think?”

“That maybe she’s just as scared as you are?” He offered consolingly.

The ADA sighed, “You’re right. I mean something to her, I know that much.” She took her free hand and pulled the chain out from her shirt, “She gave me this today.” She blushed again.

“Wow,” George said taken aback by the grand gesture, “You know, Casey. Even though neither of you have said it with words. I think you’ve already said it to each other in a million separate ways without even realizing it.” He grabbed his friends hand for a second and squeezed.

“You might be on to something there, sir.” She smiled as she pulled into the camp’s driveway. “Ready?” She raised her eyebrow as she took her sunglasses off, placing them in the center console as she stepped out of the vehicle.

*****

Upon their arrival back at the DA’s office, after a day of fact finding. Huang and Casey  tried to petition Judge Donnelly with the information they had been provided between the camps director and its other attendees.

“Jake O’Hara burned himself?” Judge Donnelly said in disbelief.

George nodded, “The camp’s director tried to explain to his mother that he should be institutionalized. She didn’t believe him, she threatened a lawsuit and then she took Jake home.” He said exacerbated.

Casey continued, “He was thrown out of two private schools in Brooklyn for violent behavior and arson. His mom had to move him to Riverdale.”

“The kids a sociopath!” George interjected.

“He’s only 13.” Liz said, having trouble believing what she was hearing.

The psychiatrist huffed, “Well, he has all the classic symptoms. He’s glib, he lies, he has no remorse, no empathy. He’s narcissistic and he’s extremely manipulative. He fooled both of us.”

Casey leaned against the bookshelf, “Even Brett Morton and he’s a psychiatrist. He lives right next door. He never saw how devious Jake really is.”

“If the boy is mentally ill, we’ll send him to a hospital.” Donnelly shot back nonchalant.

“Sociopathy is a personality disorder, a lot of shrinks believe there is no cure.” George spoke calmly, hoping Liz would see what he and Casey were trying to convey.

“What do you think?” Liz queried.

Huang sighed, “You can’t grow a conscience.”

“Jake knew what he was doing was wrong and didn’t care. It’s the right decision to try him as an adult.” Casey dug her heels in.

Donnelly shook her head, “It’s too late, Dr. Morton came to see me this morning. He begged me to send Jake to Family Court. So, I moved it. The case is being heard right now.”  

Casey flew into the Family Court room as the Judge was starting to adjourn, “I’m very sorry to interrupt, Your Honor, but we’ve made a mistake.

The Judge tilted her head, “That’s refreshing. I don’t often hear that in my courtroom.”

Elliot, who was sitting in the gallery with Dr. Morton watched Casey intensely.

“The District Attorney’s office has reconsidered our decision to try Jake O’Hara in Family Court. We request that the case be moved to Supreme Court for trial as an adult.” She pontificated.

The Judge shook her head, “Hearings have begun. Jeopardy has attached. If I dismiss now, the case is over.”

“These are highly unusual circumstances,” Casey plead her case, “Jake O’Hara lied about his abuse. All of his injuries are self-inflicted” She pressed.

Dr. Morton flinched, “What are you saying?”

“Dr. Morton!” the Judge scolded.

“We interviewed witnesses at the camp! They all told us Jake burned himself.” The fiery prosecutor was making sure to stress the issue at hand as she spoke.

The victim’s father stared at Jake, his mouth hung open in shock. “I believed you.” He stammered and stood up from his seated position in the gallery. “I fought for you!”

“Dr. Morton, sit down!” the Judge ordered.

Elliot stood up in an attempt to calm the doctor and escort him from the court room.

“You lying little bastard!” the man shouted.

The judge banged the gavel down, “The court officer will remove Dr. Morton from this courtroom.

Both Elliot and the court officer tried to get a hold of Brett Morton and calm him down as he continued shouting, “You little prick! You should rot in hell.”

Jake O’Hara smirked back up at him from the defense table. \

“Lets go before she locks you up!” Elliot warned.

“You bet I will!” The Judge raised her voice sternly.

“Monster!” Brett shouted, breaking down in tears as he was led out of the courtroom, “You murdered my son!” He began to hyperventilate, “I can’t breathe!” He turned towards Elliot, “Do you understand? Jake will get out when he’s eighteen. He’s a sociopath! He will kill again! And again! And again!” he said through gritted teeth.

Just then Jake O’Hara walked past with his mother guiding him by the shoulder. He stopped in front of Morton and Elliot. “I’m sorry for what happened, sir.” He stated blankly with fake remorse. “I really am.” A smile crept across his face.

“You’re not sorry! You don’t know what sorry means, you have no feelings!” Brett Morton shouted as Jake continued to walk backwards, facing him, and taunting him.

Jakes mother shouted over her shoulder, “Leave my son alone.”

Within a split second Dr. Morton had grabbed the court officers gun and pushed the man at Elliot to keep him from seizing him, raised the gun and shot Jake directly in the chest.

Casey came around the corner just as the gun went off and the child fell to the ground. She flew across the vestibule and kneeled down next to Jake, tossed her briefcase to the side, and immediately began to apply pressure to the gunshot wound. She looked up in horror as Elliot managed to subdue Dr. Morton and knock the gun away from him. “Somebody call a bus!” She shouted. She grabbed the boys mother’s hands and pushed them down on the wound, “Keep pressure.” She switched positions and began to administer CPR.

Elliot’s face was one of complete shock as to the events. It all happened so fast. He watched as Casey pounded on the boys chest, blood seeping out around the mothers hand over the wound, Dr. Morton on the ground next to him in cuffs.  

*****

“I knew the guy was wound too tight,” Elliot pondered watching Brett through the one way glass of the interrogation room. “Should’ve seen it coming.”

“You didn’t know Morton would shoot him, we all thought Jake was a victim.” Cragen offered empathetically.

“Kid snowed everyone.” Elliot said quietly almost whispering to himself.

The door opened and Liv stood in the doorway, “Elliot.”

“Jake’s dead.” He stated before turning around, he already knew why she was there.

“He never made it out of surgery,” she sighed, tilting her head to the side. Elliot pushed passed her and walked out. She turned to follow him.

“Olivia,” Cragen called out, she turned to face him. “Don’t.” he shook his head. “But have you checked on Casey?”

*****

The lights were all off in Casey’s office as Liv rapped lightly and opened the door, “Case?” she called out softly into the darkness.

“Hey,” she rasped from the general direction of the sofa, “I’m over here.”

The brunette walked quietly over, “You okay?”

Casey had her head leaned back against the cushions with her hand pressing an icepack over her forehead.

“Baby did you get hit? At the courthouse today?” Liv sat down on the couch, she ran her fingers down the side of her girlfriend’s face.

A small smile crept up the corner of Casey’s mouth as she felt the brunette’s caress. “No beautiful, just a bad migraine.” She took her free hand and felt around for her girlfriend and placed her hand on her leg.

“Why don’t you let me do that for a few minutes?” the detective whispered continuing to stroke the redhead’s face.

Casey shifted her weight and laid her head in the brunettes lap, her legs crossed at the ankles propped up on the arm of the couch. Liv gently took the ice pack and placed it on the coffee table and calmly began to rub the counselor’s temples, pressing her fingers down along her jawline. The counselor let out a soft groan as she felt the tension release from her face.

“How’s Elliot?” she asked, her eyes still closed. “Morton just threw that guy in front of us, he couldn’t have grabbed the gun if he wanted.”

“He’ll be okay Casey. El just deals with things in his own way.” Liv continued to massage, running the pads of her thumbs over the redheads cheekbones and sinuses.

“What about Jake?”

Liv took a deep breath, “Case, he died in surgery.” She could feel the warm tears falling from the corners of Casey’s eyes onto her hands. “Shh baby, don’t cry you’re gonna make your migraine worse.”

“Liv, I—”

“Shh, I know.” She leaned down and kissed the top of her girlfriends head. “I know.”

*****

Liz Donnelly stepped off the elevator and charged towards the squad room. Casey begrudgingly following on her coat tails. “How could let this happen,” she shouted walking straight up to Elliot.

“You got some nerve lady,” he growled angrily at her. “That kid was killed because you sent him to Family Court.

Donnelly curled her lip, “I didn’t stand there and watch Brett Morton grab a gun.” She sniped.

Elliot took another step towards her. “You sure as hell put it in his hand. What, you didn’t want to say no to a grieving father? You afraid the press would call you a cold hearted bitch?” he quipped.

Casey stepped in between them before they could tear each other’s heads off. “If you two wanna blame each other, go ahead.” Her tone was calm and serious. “But I have a job to do. Now, what’s our decision on Dr. Morton?” As she spoke neither Elliot nor Liz let their gaze deviate, eyes locked, shooting daggers.

“Charge him,” Liz muttered, “Murder two.” Her stare was still confined to Elliot.

He clenched his jaw, bucking at the judge, “His son was killed by a psychopath who was gonna walk.”

“And that gives him the right to kill a kid? I want him arraigned by tomorrow morning.” She finally pulled away and shot Casey a look that she meant business and if the ADA didn’t follow through it would be her ass. The then turned on her heel and stormed off.

Elliot turned towards his friend, “Just gonna cover her ass? Just sweep it all under the carpet?” he grumbled.

She stepped in front of him as he tried to walk away, “My job is not to protect my boss.” She asserted.

“Then do the right thing,” he snapped, “You saw Morton. The guy was out of his mind. It’s not Murder Two, its manslaughter.” He then followed Donnelly’s lead and stormed off.

Casey could feel her eyes welling up as he walked off. She didn’t want to be in this position at all but here she was, stuck. She could feel the sick heat of anxiety rising up her throat and rushed off to the closest ladies room. The redhead splashed cold water on her face and then leaned over the sink, pressing her palms down on the cold white ceramic basic. Tears fell from her eyes as she tried to compose herself, but she couldn’t stop the shaking. The door creaked open, and she turned her head to see Liv standing there, arms folded.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she tried to laugh and only ended up choking back a sob.

Liv’s face softened and she stepped forward pulling Casey to her and holding her close. She kissed the top of the counselor’s head. “You are way stronger than you give yourself credit for, Case. You can do this.” She pulled back to look into her girlfriends hazel eyes. She kissed her delicately.

*****

Morton stood up as Casey walked into interrogation. “How’s Jake?” he questioned trying to seem concerned.

Casey did her best not to roll her eyes, “He died in surgery.”

“What have I done?” He sat down, shook his head, and stared off into the distance.

His attorney, Zeirko, did his best to calm him down, “You were out of control Brett you didn’t know what you were doing. If this isn’t “extreme emotional disturbance,” I don’t know what it is.” he said softly.

“So, you’re going for an affirmative defense.” Casey said pointedly, “What do you want?”

“Man Two, minimum time” Zeirko stated firmly.

“I have a better idea,” Casey scoffed, “Why don’t we just throw him a parade?”

“I don’t like your tone.” Zeirko sneered.

“And I don’t like 13 year olds being shot to death in the courthouse.” Casey clapped back.

Morton looked up from the table, “You think I meant to do it?”

“You grabbed a court officers gun and pulled the trigger.” Casey turned towards Morton and stated point blank, she wasn’t pulling any punches.

 “I don’t remember any of it, I just snapped.” Morton stammered.

“Well, that’s convenient.” The sarcasm dripped from the prosecutor’s voice through gritted teeth.

“No that’s “extreme emotional disturbance.” The defense protested.

“Well, you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t take your clients word for it.” The redhead scoffed.

“Fine. Have your psychiatrist examine him.” Zeirko offered.

*****

Casey walked out of the courthouse with the intentions of grabbing another coffee before the recess ended, she tensed as she heard Elliot’s voice snarking at her.

“You really went after Morton in there.” He said with contempt.

“He killed a kid he knew what he was doing,” she retorted as she turned and walked towards him.

“You’re so sure about that because of something he wrote 15 years ago?” he questioned argumentatively.

“Elliot, he’s screwing with us! This grief-crazed father crap—It’s all an act.” The redhead said with frustration. Why was it so easy for Elliot to believe this guy? This was clearly a ruse to get away with murder in her eyes.

“I spend my life locking up skells for murdering children. The system says they go away to prison. Fine. But if it were my son lying on that slab, I don’t know what my rage would make me do.” The detective sighed.

Casey opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a voice from behind them.

“Detective Stabler?” A woman called out.

“Yeah?” Elliot responded, he looked over Casey’s shoulder to see who had spoken.

“You’re served.” The woman said flatly and handed Elliot a plain envelope.

“Subpoena.” He said disparagingly. “Zeirko’s calling me to testify for the defense.”

*****

Even with the mountain of evidence on the prosecution side, the skillful cross examination delivered by Casey and the fact that Dr. Morton had all but outright admitted what he did, the jury still came back with a verdict of “not guilty.” The ADA couldn’t help but wear her disappointment on her face as she exited the courtroom.

“I didn’t think they’d acquit him.” Elliot offered consolingly.

Casey nodded, “Well, this trial wasn’t about Brett Morton or “extreme emotional disturbance” or even your testimony. Jurors didn’t want Jake O’Hara running loose and Brett solved that problem.” She reasoned.

“We can’t treat these kids, so we kill em?” Elliot asked incredulously.

The redhead stuttered, “I don’t have the answers, I don’t think anyone does. Maybe that’s why they acquitted.”

Dr. Morton called out from behind them as he came down the front steps of the courthouse, “Ms. Novak,” he said garnering for her attention, “Ms. Novak.”

Casey and Elliot turned to face the newly free man, “You seem pretty satisfied.”

“I am.” Morton answered, straight faced.

“Well, you got away with it.” The young prosecutor said with disdain.

“Oh, I suppose I did.” There was barely any inflection to Brett’s voice.

Elliot tilted his head, “Tell me one thing, when did you decide to kill Jake?” he questioned.

“In the courtroom, once I knew what he was. You were right” the doctor turned to look at Casey, “I looked around, saw the officer, realized I could take the gun. I just waited for the right moment.”

Elliot shook his head, “You manipulated us just like Jake did.”

Morton shook his head, “No, there’s one big difference, Jake would’ve killed again. I won’t.” He shrugged his shoulders and left the pair by themselves.

They turned towards the street. “Hey, I’m going meet Liv at McFadden’s, do you want to come with?” Casey asked, she and Elliot had their own way of apologizing to each other in true sibling fashion. Their apologies were always unspoken coded in a trip to the bar or for a slice of pizza, a teasing joke, and a rib nudge.

“Love to, but I got to get home or Kathy’s gonna have my ass on the couch.” He gave her a pat on the arm and headed off in the opposite direction.

She nodded and threw up her hand to hail a cab, she could’ve caught the train, but she missed Liv and wanted to get to her faster. She watched out the window as the cab went up to midtown, mulling over everything that had transpired in court today. The redhead pondered what made people tick, what made one person a sociopath, one person a hothead, a kind empathetic soul, or her afraid to tell the one person who has meant more to her than any other that she loves them. She shook the thoughts loose, pushed them down as the cab pulled up at the bar. “One day at a time Novak.”  

The ADA opened the door to the bar to find her girlfriend already waiting for her. Olivia’s eyes lit up as Casey walked in, her stomach still did flips every time she laid eyes on the red head.

“Hey beautiful,” she said as the ADA moved closer and sat down on the stool next to her.

“Hey yourself, Detective.” She smirked as Liv handed her a whiskey sour.

“Heard you had a tough loss, figured I’d have this ready.” She ran her fingers up Casey’s thigh, sending a shiver through her body. The redhead grabbed it with her left hand and held it in place as Liv reached the top of her thigh and downed the drink with her right hand.

“Have anything else ready for me?” She quirked her brow and put the glass back down on the bar.

Liv raised her eyebrows in response and squeezed down on her girlfriends leg, “Bathroom?” she subtly nodded her head towards the door at the back of the bar.

Casey got up and walked that direction, the brunette waited about sixty seconds and then followed her. She tapped lightly on the door to the single person bathroom to immediately be pulled in. The redhead locked the door and then roughly pushed her up against the wall, kissing her fiercely. “I have been fantasizing about your lips all day, Detective.” Her lips curled into a smile as she unzipped Liv’s pants, her teeth grazed the other woman’s neck as her hand made slow, deliberate circles around the brunette’s clit.

Liv bit down on her own lip trying to stifle her moans. “Counselor,” she panted, “here? What if someone needs to get in here?”

“They can wait,” Casey moaned into her neck, “I can’t.” She ran her tongue over Liv’s pulse point and slid her hand further into the brunette’s slick and began to penetrate her.

“Casey,” the detective moaned into her lover’s ear, trying not to be too loud. She wrapped her leg around her lover, holding tight to the back of her neck with her hands.

“That’s my good girl,” the redhead mewled into Liv’s neck, “keep making those pretty noises for me.”

“Daddy,” the brunette’s breath hitched as she whimpered.

“Mmm what was that baby? Who’s your Daddy?”

“You are, Casey, you are.” Liv could barely breathe, “Casey I’m gonna—” before she could finish she could feel herself tighten and convulse around the ADA’s fingers, her liquids dripping down to the redhead’s wrist. She couldn’t do anything except sputter her lover’s name over and over again.

Casey continued to massage her sensitive spot gently before pulling away. Liv whined, feeling empty now. “I promise,” the fiery prosecutor kissed her. “When we get home baby I’m going to take very good care of all your needs.”

“As long as you let me take care of yours too,” Liv whispered still trying to catch her breath.

“Oh, that’s a plea deal I’d cop to any day, Detective.” She smirked against the brunette’s full lips, “We should probably get back out there.” She kissed her again as she unlocked the door and headed back to the bar, her girlfriend following her after a reasonable pause.

Back at the bar they had ordered another round of drinks and appetizers by the time John Munch walked through the door.

“Okay, I’m here!” he threw his hands out to his sides, “bring on the secret boyfriends.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

Casey shot Liv a look, “Oh boy, Fin is gonna upset he missed this.” She ribbed her and Liv nodded in agreement, both women holding back a chuckle.

Munch walked towards them, “Always lovely to see you ladies, but where are these mysterious gentlemen you’ve been hiding?”

“John,” the prosecutor chuckled, “They’re right here.” She was unable to contain the amusement she was getting from this.

Munch looked at her puzzled, “I don’t understand, do they work here or something.”

Liv looked at him, “May I introduce to you, ‘Secret Boyfriend Number One’,” she said pointing at herself, “and ‘Secret Boyfriend Number Two’.” She pointed to Casey who also pointed at herself.

John dropped his shoulders, “You mean you guys are just schtuping each other?”

“You almost sound disappointed, Munch.” Liv took a sip of her drink.

He chuckled, “Hardly, I just think it wasn’t worth all cloak and dagger.” He placed a hand on the side of each of their arms. “Mozeltov. Now what are we drinking?”

Read Part 9

[spockvarietyhour]

Joe Morton in Law & Order "Conspiracy" (1992)

[absolute-immunities]

Travis Crum, The Lawfulness of the Fifteenth Amendment, 97 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1543, 1578–80 (2022) (footnotes omitted):

Although there were irregularities in the South for the ratifications of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, Indiana presents a unique problem as a Northern State whose initial ratification [of the Fifteenth Amendment] is questionable.

Indiana’s ratification involved a series of political machinations. During the 1868 campaign, Republicans nationwide and in Indiana adopted a compromise position that advocated for black male suffrage in the South but not the North. After the Fifteenth Amendment’s passage by Congress, Democrats cried foul. State Representative John Coffroth, a leading Indiana Democrat, proposed that Democrats could delay the Fifteenth Amendment’s ratification by resigning en masse to deny the state legislature a quorum. On March 5, 1869, thirty-eight Democratic representatives and seventeen Democratic state senators did just that, plunging the state legislature into chaos. Under Indiana’s Constitution, a quorum of two-thirds of total members was required for each house.

In response, the Republican governor called for special elections to be held on April 8, 1869, to fill the seats. The Democrats promptly won back their seats and returned to Indianapolis following an agreement to help pass a budget and that a vote on the Fifteenth Amendment would not occur until the end of the session.

On May 13, 1869, the Democrats once again decided to resign en masse. This time, however, their plan failed. In the state senate, “the doors were ordered locked and the roll was called.” Although sixteen state senators had sent letters of resignation to the governor, many of them were still present in the chamber. The senate’s presiding officer ruled that, because those senators had not submitted resignation letters to the senate, they had not yet resigned. A quorum was declared and the Fifteenth Amendment passed 27–1, with eleven senators marked present but not voting. That same afternoon, Speaker of the Indiana House George Buskirk determined that the house lacked a quorum due, in part, to the resignation of twenty-seven Democratic representatives.

But the next day, Buskirk changed his mind following pressure from Indiana’s U.S. Senator, Oliver Morton. Buskirk decreed that a vote could proceed even though only fifty-seven members were present. When pressed by Coffroth to justify this ruling, Buskirk stated that Indiana’s Constitution required a quorum “for legislative business of any ordinary character” but not to ratify a constitutional amendment. In other words, the ratification process, as an act of federal lawmaking, need not follow the particularities of state law. The Indiana House then voted 54–3 to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment.

As such, Indiana’s state legislature was arguably a rump legislature when it adopted the Fifteenth Amendment. Nevertheless, Secretary Fish ignored the quorum issue and counted Indiana as a ratifying State. Indeed, unlike his discussion of New York and Georgia, Fish gave no indication that anything untoward happened in Indiana.

:')

[oh-hell-help-me]

July 23: Parent’s Day

Ludwig hadn’t fully trusted Luigi even after he married his father- at least until the Incident.

In fact, even though it was likely one of the few times he was scared after… after, Luigi proved himself to actually give a damn (as Roy put it) about the Koopalings.

Don’t get him wrong- the time he spent with all of them before ‘that’ had been appreciated but…

Ludwig needed proof- something that guaranteed him that Luigi had their best interest.

And after he has? After having the patience and genuine kindness to bring him out of such a vulnerable situation?

Well, it was easy to let himself be dragged into a Group Meeting- especially knowing what day it’s going to be.

Lemmy didn’t have much of an opinion on Luigi before his dad married him. It’s no secret that most of the other Koopalings thought the same.

But even in the few times he had met him, Lemmy saw him as he appeared- a soft-hearted scaredy cat who ran more than fought.

If Lemmy wasn’t there for the few fights the human did do, he wouldn’t have believed him capable of even winning them.

But after his dad’s marriage?

He started see Luigi to be more than that. Heck, in the days he took the time to spend with them individually, Lemmy also learned that the human was braver than most, and has been for quite awhile if the stories about King Boo are to be believed.

AND he’s pretty cool- sometimes even surprising him with moments of mischief (like letting him sneak cookies out of the kitchen) or impressive feats of agility (like pirouetting off the castle wall and landing catlike on his feet in a game of tag).

It was one of many reasons that Lemmy chipped into Operation Date Night- something that Junior plans to coordinate on the same day as Parent’s Day.

Roy considered Luigi to be pretty strong, mostly after he married his old man.

He’s strong enough to carry Morton like he was a baby, which even Roy himself could struggle with.

He’s strong enough to tug Bowser around, and to do so with a not-so-light Junior piggybacking him.

And, weirdly, Luigi was strong enough to bring the Koopalings together in the midst of a disagreement.

Which seems to be what they need now, considering the arguing that has broken out over where the date will be.

He hopes to Grambi that Luigi will unconsciously lend him his strength because getting through this is hard enough.

Iggy would never have thought that a Mario Brother would ever understand the intricacies of mechanical engineering…

But then Luigi decided to turn that notion on its head by not only showing his understanding of it with the construction of his own Kart and the days they spent together in the lab, one-on-one.

However, even he could see that it will be empirically impossible to expect Luigi to spend ever waking day with him just to fine-tune his inventions- never mind the others.

And considering that they were originally going to invite the laws of gravity to a vacation by having a table set up at a volcanic edge.

Seriously, he specializes in mechanics, but his dabbling into human biology was enough to have him join yet another argument.

Wendy knew how tough it was to be the only girl in a large family of boys.

With the possibility of getting another girl in the family, she was all for having Peach as a Mama.

But… daddy didn’t end up with her, and while Wendy wanted another female to bond with, even she knew that Luigi had more love for them in his pinky finger than Peach did as a whole.

For her, it seemed like she would have to just deal with it.

And then she discovered Luigi’s interest in fashion- specifically in dresses.

It was a wonderful day when she found out. That Luigi would reveal his tastes during a particularly hot morning, one that was unremarkable… if not for the shared surprise of the Royal Family as Luigi popped into the Dining Hall with a fashionably airy dress.

It was an opportunity she didn’t let herself miss and had spent the rest of that day practically glued to his side as she discussed (not info dumped) about everything fashion with him.

So, when ‘someone’ (Roy) had the audacity to suggest setting the Date at a wrestling ring, she had disagreed for Luigi’s sake- especially when she knew that he found the concept of trying to relax in a place meant for fighting to be absolutely eye-watering.

Morton knew some things. Morton knew that his dad loved him and his siblings very much. Morton also knew his dad was dead set on getting them a mama because of it.

And it was a pleasant surprise when it was Luigi instead of Peach.

Despite his dad’s best efforts, Morton knew long before that Peach didn’t love them like a mom would- that she didn’t look at them in the way he’s seen mamas do whenever he ventured outside the castle.

But Mama Luigi did! He liked spending time with Morton and Junior and Wendy and everyone else! He looked at them warm-like and smiled at them in a way that Peach never did!

And Morton was very happy when his dad married Luigi! It meant that Morton and his siblings got to spend time with someone who gave them warm looks and spoiled them even more rotten.

It meant that none of them will have to be mama-less.

So, that was why Morton did not hesitate to offer to handle the set up of the table- with Wendy’s help, of course!

Larry usually had three things he worried about in his life: his hair, his status as the second youngest kid, and his father’s love life.

He didn’t intend to add Luigi’s safety to the list, but what can he do- other than have him live in a layer of bubble wrap?

Even going down the aisle, Larry knew that Luigi was clumsy, maybe detrimentally so. It also meant that every Koopaling had save him from face-planting at least once.

It was ridiculous enough to be met with some humor, but Larry would have said that the situation definitely needed something to lighten up the mood after the bickering.

At this rate, he’s just glad that there is a plan they can stick with.

Junior had always wanted a mom.

It seemed logical to think of Peach as his future mom with his dad liking her.

But… even years chasing after her, and the small moments where he did spend time with her, his dad never seemed to be truly happy.

And then he met Luigi.

Well, yeah, they already met before in battles, but that never counted.

Anyways, having Luigi as his mama had been a dream come true! Heck, he ended up being a great mama to him and the other Koopalings and a loving husband for his dad!

It was everything he wanted and needed, and…

He sort of felt like he hasn’t given much appreciation for it (though his siblings say otherwise).

So, while Operation Date Night had been rocky, and filled with shouting and brattiness, Junior was confidant that this plan will work!

…

(Later, it was a miracle of life for the Royal Couple to find a fancy dining table underneath their favorite tree in the garden.)

[andreeamq]

'During the Gulf crisis the Princess and her sister-in-law, the Princess Royal, independently came up with the idea of visiting British troops stationed in the Saudi Arabian theatre of operations. They planned to fly out together and were rather looking forward to driving round the desert in tanks and meeting the boys in khaki. However the Queen's private secretary, Sir Robert Fellowes intervened. The scheme was shelved as it was thought that it would be more appropriate if a more senior royal represented the family.'

‘Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words’ by Andrew Morton (2017).

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

RTA, In addition to your excellent response to anon asking about WK’s histories, I’d like to add some more histories which were all eventually shut down. 

Firstly, you have to remember that UK didn’t have privacy laws until 2014. Once that law came into effect, so many articles, pictures, blogs were pulled from the internet. And weirdly, some articles remain, but are/ were edited to remove the details that could invite a lawsuit. 

Sidenote: one of my favourite blogs, princess Diana’s palace was so meticulous about information gathering on Diana that it put any Diana biographer to shame, but it shut down in early 2015. The youtube channel is still up, and you can find a video clip of Lady C being abused by Sally Jessy Rapeal’s audience in late 1991 for her book, Diana the real story, disclosing Diana’s problems and problem marriage. Andrew Morton comes on and calls her a liar…..then 6mths later publishes his own ghostwriter Diana biography: DianaHer story!!!

But I digress,

…….pre-2014, and especially pre-2011 before Phonne hacking scandal broke, it was easy for newspapers to print whatever about celebrities.

Ditto phone hacking, dustbin diving, tips from service workers - TMZ made it’s bones because they bribed service workers/ staff at restaurants/ hotels/ hospitals/ rehab/ wait staff/ bouncers etc 

As per your comment about people ratting out celebs…..I used to live near KP when Kate first married. Every time she went shopping on Ken high street, word would ran through street like bush fire which would get to you if you happened to be shopping as well. 

During the dating years, the young royals and their circle were not discreet at all. They hang out all in Chelsea, mostly King’s Road and ‘the beach’ portion of the Fulham Road as well as pubs all along there. As an example, soon after William broke up with Kate in 2007, he did go clubbing and tell entire club that he was free as he danced on top of a bar - multiple witnesses including yours truly. 

One current royal reporter got her start royal reporting by embedding herself with the royals’ circle especially Harry then would go fishing for extra tidbits on royal forums which is how she dug up 'waity Katie’ because one notorious forum had branded her with it and she took it mainstream. 

During the dating years, there were many blogs reporting about the young royals, but the most notorious early one wasn’t an royal one. St Andrews had a student blog that allowed students to post tidbits about school life, and unfortunately students posted stuff about William and his dating life. 

The anecdote about Carly the determinedly virgin girlfriend was posted on there because William was either indiscreet or someone made it up and posted it. How they broke up, the public nature of it, and the intersection with Kate came from that blog. 

Carly never sold that story and it’s sad that anon thinks she did. If that blog was posting the truth about William, then it’s unsurprising that he wasn’t getting on with his first year at St Andrews. The blog was eventually shut down because it was posting information about him which was picked up and spread to other blogs. This would have been early 2005. I know about that blog because posts were copied from it and posted to other blogs that came much later. 

Let’s also not forget that Harold was leaking to reporters he met in pubs. After he revealed his chronic leaking, I thought about articles written in the WK dating years that were attributed to 'sources close to Harry’ or 'friends of Harry’ eg articles criticising Kate claiming Chelsy was superior to Kate, that Kate was a limpet, that Kate was taking advantage of her royal status to grab stuff eg getting Audi to sell her a car at royal discount or to pull,’ don’t you know who I am’ card to get into events. One such article even criticised her presence in a royal box claiming she’d simply barged her way in using that card. 

Then there was the Middleton pap on speed dial. This guy started out as friendly part of the pap pack that the Middletons tolerated, but soon he was the only one who had exclusive Middleton content and was such a trusted source that msm looked to him to guide them as far as info on the Middletons especially when he revealed that he’d been told where to find William and Kate after Uncle Gary had been caught in a tabloid scandal and the pap ended up capturing the only image (video & still) of WK French kissing. The complicated relationship was revealed in a Kate vs pap lawsuit from 2009 which the pap lost, but which revealed a very complicated relationship. Most of the reporting on the lawsuit has disappeared and all you find is this one article in the Guardian newspaper that simply states that pap lost the case and had to pay Kate damages. 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2010/mar/11/privacy-news-agencies

the later Jecca + William rumours came from him. 

Then there was Jessica Hay as mentioned by RTA who told media outlets everything she knew about Kate. Ditto the sex kittens lady who was a Kate friend from Marlborough and also during the dating years - it was her charity rowing boat that Kate joined during 2007 break up, but man, did this girl talk to the media too. She still dines out on being Kate’s friend though I wager that the friendship, such as it was, cooled after Kate left the rowing crew in 2007 after she reunited with Willuam. 

Then you throw in the people naively giving sympathetic interviews about Kate or William and putting out far too much information about her eg Kate’s jigsaw boss - an edited version of 2012 interview she gave is still floating on the internet

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/kates-not-precious-she-mucked-in-at-jigsaw-6922185.html

The Captain of the yacht that Kate crewed on in her gap year before St Andrews told an anecdote about Kate’s time working for him which became the opening 2-3 paragraph of this article written during her engagement period

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1377487/Kate-Middletons-character-shaped-generations-social-climbing-matriarchs.html

Even Uncle Gary was very loose-lipped about Kate and William. 

In short, Robert Jobson is not using new information, but taking old articles, possibly going into National archives or just good old British Library to look at the old stuff to dig up stuff previously printed.

As he has been around for decades, I’d wager he knows everything RTA and I have written here because he lived it and when before that 2014 EU law came into effect, he copied as much information for his files as he could. 

Personally, I was on royal forums from around 2005-ish mainly for Diana content and that eventually led to WK content. 

And now for the horrible part……the blog is a cesspool that needs to die, but early Celebitchy still has many early articles copied into the blog. I think they started covering Kate and William in 2008 or early 2009. Those early post were not cesspool though they are presented in a snarky tone as per the space they were trying to carve out for themselves as far as celeb watching. It took a dark turn when they hired Kaiser and gave her full control of the blog. She curated it into the hatefilled space it eventually became. Turning point was 2016 when a combo of Hillary vs Trump as well as Markle, Brangelina divorce were the big topics of discussion that year. She took a position on these topics and banned all dissent. She encouraged deranged takes on all of it such that even the moderates who may have agreed with her were driven out. 

If you can bare to dip into that poison, you’ll find old articles on Kate and William from 2008 onwards. 

***************

Anon, if you do dive into Celebitchy, I recommend a salt circle, a cleansing ritual before and after, and saging your computer/mobile device. Maybe do a prayer candle too. You can’t be too cautious when it comes to Kaiser.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Zionist Organization of America National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

After briefly mentioning: Hamas’ sexual violence and massacre of 1,200 innocent people on October 7th; the need to bring the hostages home; the fact that “Hamas could end this conflict today by releasing the hostages, laying down arms, and surrendering those responsible for October 7”; and stating that Israel has the right to go after Hamas, Biden outrageously spent almost three times as long falsely castigating and making dangerous demands on Israel during Biden’s March 7, 2024 State of the Union (SOTU) address. Biden’s policies are clearly intended to harm Israel and inadvertently support Hamas and radical Arabs. Among other things:

(1) Biden hypocritically claimed to be a great friend of Israel while demanding a Palestinian state “solution” that imperils Israel’s very existence.

Biden rewards Arab terrorism by wrongly calling for the creation of a Palestinian terror state on Israel’s longest border adjacent to 70% of Israel’s population on Israel’s lawful land, as the “only solution” and “only path.” A Palestinian state would endanger Israel’s very existence, cause more October 7ths and more rockets to fall on innocent Israelis, and reward and encourage more terrorism. On October 7, Palestinian Authority terrorists filmed themselves bragging about participating in the massacre of Jews, including killing Jews and stepping on their heads. 85% of Palestinians support Hamas’ atrocities on October 7th. The Israeli people and Israeli leadership thus oppose a Palestinian state, across the board.

Moreover, the Palestinian leadership firmly maintains that Hamas would be part of a Palestinian state. Biden’s demand for such a terror state thus contradicts his brief lip service that Israel has the right to go after Hamas. (See also “ZOA Strongly Opposes Dangerous Biden Plan for Palestinian Authority (Pay-to-Slay) Terror Regime to Rule Gaza & Create a State,” Jan. 10, 2024, for more details as to why a Palestinian state is untenable.)

(2) Biden overstated number of Gazans displaced and “under bombardment,” and never mentioned that 200,000 Israelis are still displaced, living in hotels and people’s homes and tents due to Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies’ destruction of their homes and communities and continuing bombardment; or that all of Israel is under the threat of rocket and other attacks. And that southern and northern Israel is now uninhabitable. Tiny Israel is now even tinier.

Biden also decried “Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin” in Gaza. But Biden said nothing about the numerous “Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin” throughout northern and southern Israel. Moreover, the Israeli homes burnt and destroyed were the homes of innocent Israelis sleeping in their beds. The homes destroyed in Gaza were homes that harbored Hamas rocket launchers, terror tunnel entrances and terrorists shooting at Israelis. Israel is not carpet-bombing Gaza. Shame on Biden for attempting to give such a false impression.

(3) Biden wrongly demanded that Israel must make assisting and protecting Gazans Israel’s first priority. In other words, according to Biden, Israel’s objectives of rescuing the hostages, preventing attacks on Israeli civilians, and eliminating Hamas’ terror army must take a back seat to assisting Gazans who overwhelmingly support Hamas massacring Jews who danced in the streets, rejoicing the murders, rapes and torturing of Jews.

Biden’s demand to prioritize Gazan civilians above all else ignores and violates international law. In fact, under international law, the anticipated military advantage of an operation (e.g., to eliminate Hamas’ terror army, prevent attacks against Israeli civilians and rescue the hostages) is weighed against the prospective harm to civilians. A military operation can go forward if the harm to civilians is not excessively out of proportion to the operation’s prospective military advantage. Israel carefully weighs every military operation under international law standards, and often calls off operations when civilians may be hurt. Israel is in fact the most moral army in the world. A far lower proportion of Gazan civilians have been harmed than in virtually any other war around the world, including wars prosecuted by the U.S.

Further, under international law, there is no obligation to supply aid to an enemy population. Israel is also not required to allow others to supply aid to the civilian population if – as is the case here – there is a reasonable concern that the aid will be diverted to military use. Hamas seizes the aid and uses it for its war effort.

(4) Biden parroted Hamas’ unverified casualty numbers as fact.