RandySF
RandySF's JournalHouse Democrats rally behind Biden ahead of expected 2024 announcement
BALTIMORE — House Democrats are ready for a Biden 2024 campaign.
During their retreat in Baltimore this week, lawmakers from all ends of the politically diverse caucus flocked to President Biden’s side ahead of his expected 2024 announcement — and one in particular is eager for him make the bid official.
“I would like to see him announce sooner,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2020 Democratic primary, said on Thursday.
“Nobody’s surprised that Biden was not my choice in the first election for the primary,” she said at a separate point during the retreat. “But the CPC and the president and his administration have formed an incredibly strong partnership.”
Biden on a number of occasions has indicated that he will run for a second term, and first lady Jill Biden told The Associated Press last week that “pretty much” the only thing left to do is pick a time and place for the announcement.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3883498-house-democrats-rally-behind-biden-ahead-of-expected-2024-announcement/
'They are a cancer:' Deputy gangs still operating within LA County sheriff's department, report says
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A scathing report issued Friday by the Civilian Oversight Commission revealed there are deputy gangs and cliques still operating within the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including at several stations such as East Los Angeles and Compton.
According to the special counsel's 70-page report, members of such deputy gangs as the Executioners, the Banditos, the Regulators, the Spartans, the Gladiators, the Cowboys and the Reapers "run'' many of the county's patrol stations, as opposed to the sergeants, lieutenants and captains ostensibly in charge.
The report also determined that new deputy cliques form as members of existing groups retire or otherwise leave the sheriff's department. There is evidence to suggest that gangs are now re-emerging in Men's Central Jail after efforts over the years to eradicate the problem of excessive force behind bars, the special counsel found.
"Contrary to the statements of the prior sheriff, deputy gangs exist and operate in the department, as they have for the last 50 years. They are a cancer," said Bert Deixler, the special counsel who led the investigation.
"Many of the people with whom we spoke expressed fears of personal or professional harm, not just for themselves, but often for spouses and children who serve in a department," he added.
https://abc7.com/los-angeles-county-sheriffs-department-deputy-gangs-report-2023-civilian-oversight-commission/12911222/
Seattle councilmember launches movement toward new workers party
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is launching a campaign Saturday that calls for a new worker-centered political party.
Joined by political organization Socialist Alternative and others, Sawant is launching the Workers Strike Back campaign. They’ll hold rallies this weekend in nine cities across the country, including in Rust Belt states Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The campaign’s platform includes support for a $25 an hour starting wage, unionizing all workplaces, Medicare for All “owned and democratically run by working people” and “a new, multiracial, working-class party[.]”
Sawant, in office since 2014, announced in January she’ll focus on this movement instead of seeking reelection. The councilmember recently made headlines after Seattle became the first city to ban discrimination based on caste thanks to an ordinance she sponsored.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3883338-seattle-councilmember-launches-movement-toward-new-workers-party/
Michigan prison sentencing reform ballot initiative moves forward
DELTA TOWNSHIP, MI – The next cycle of Michigan ballot initiatives officially kicked off Friday as the state elections board advanced a petition that would reduce sentences for prisoners showing good behavior.
The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers approved, 4-0, a 76-word summary that non-profit social welfare organization Michigan Justice Advocacy can put on its signature sheets. The group now only needs to submit its final petition layout to the Bureau of Elections to start collecting signatures.
The organization’s proposed law would knock off 30 days from prisoners’ sentences for every month they don’t commit “Class I Misconduct.” Think things like assaulting another prisoner, getting caught with dangerous contraband or inciting a riot.
A majority of prisoners – both into the future and retroactively – would be eligible for so-called “good time” credit, which Michigan Justice Advocacy says on its website would incentivize prisoners who understand their mistakes and are dedicated to rehabilitation.
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2023/03/michigan-prison-sentencing-reform-ballot-initiative-moves-forward.html
Election denier Tina Peters found guilty -- and could be going to jail
Scandal-plagued Republican former Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Tina Peters has been convicted of obstruction of government operations, reported 9News on Friday.
"Jurors found Peters guilty of obstruction of government operations but acquitted her on a charge of obstruction of a peace officer. She's scheduled for sentencing April 10," reported Janet Oravetz.
"Grand Junction Police approached Peters in a bagel shop in Feb. 8, 2022, to execute a warrant related to her iPad, on which she is suspected of improperly recording a court hearing for her deputy clerk," said the report. "An arrest affidavit says that when officers tried to seize the iPad, people sitting at the table with her started passing around the tablet. Police detained Peters as she allegedly tried to stop an officer from taking the iPad. Video shows Peters yell at and struggle with the officers who detained her." The affidavit claims that Peters then attempted to kick an officer, and shouted when ordered to stop kicking.
The obstruction charge carries a minimum sentence of six months in jail.
https://www.rawstory.com/tina-peters-2659497257/
After people on Medicaid die, some states aggressively seek repayment from their estates
PERRY, Iowa — Fran Ruhl’s family received a startling letter from the Iowa Department of Human Services four weeks after she died in January 2022.
“Dear FAMILY OF FRANCES RUHL,” the letter began. “We have been informed of the death of the above person, and we wish to express our sincere condolences.”
The letter got right to the point: Iowa’s Medicaid program had spent $226,611.35 for Ruhl’s health care, and the government was entitled to recoup that money from her estate, including nearly any assets she owned or had a share in. If a spouse or disabled child survived Ruhl, the collection could be delayed until after their death, but the money would still be owed.
The notice said the family had 30 days to respond.
“I said, ‘What is this letter for? What is this?’” said Ruhl’s daughter, Jen Coghlan.
It seemed bogus, but it was real. Federal law requires all states to have “estate recovery programs,” which seek reimbursements for spending under Medicaid, the joint federal and state health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The recovery efforts collect more than $700 million a year, according to a 2021 report from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, or MACPAC, an agency that advises Congress.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/after-people-medicaid-die-some-states-aggressively-seek-repayment-their-estates
MT: Law requiring parental consent before abortion struck down as unconstitutional
A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge has permanently struck down a law that would require parents to give permission if their minor child wants an abortion, saying that law runs contrary to the Montana Constitution and the state’s landmark abortion decision, Armstrong vs. State of Montana.
However, Judge Christopher Abbott also declined to make a ruling on a separate parental notification law until a trial can be set, saying that not all the issues have been fully examined, therefore making a summary judgment impossible.
“Now before the court are two statutes: One, enacted by the people, requiring parental notice prior to an abortion, the other, enacted by the legislature, requiring parental consent. Whether these are popular or wise measures or reflect sound public policy is not for this court to decide, for the legislature (or the people, in the cases of initiative and referendum) holds the power to make law,” Abbott wrote.
At the heart of the case are two bills that govern how and when parents should be notified about a minor who seeks to have an abortion. One law, the Parental Consent to Abortion Act of 2013 required parents to approve an abortion procedure before a doctor could perform it, except in certain limited cases. Abbott ruled that both the case law and state constitution made such an act illegal, and permanently struck it down.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/law-requiring-parental-consent-abortion-struck-down-unconstitutional
Idaho House to vote on bill restricting children from attending drag, burlesque and strip shows
A bill designed to restrict minors from attending drag, burlesque and erotic dancing shows that has been criticized for potentially violating free speech rights is heading to the floor of the Idaho House of Representatives for a vote.
Opponents also said the bill spreads misconceptions about performance art and drag and marginalizes members of the LGBTQ community.
The bill is a replacement for House Bill 231, which was written by representatives from the Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative Christian policy and research group. The new bill corrects some clerical errors from the original bill, which was introduced on Monday, and will receive its own bill number and be posted on the Idaho Legislature’s website later Thursday or on Friday.
The bill would also prohibit live shows featuring “sexual conduct” from being staged in public venues or facilities, such as city, county or state parks, or city, county or state-owned venues or performing arts centers.
Such shows with sexual conduct could still take place, but only on private property and only when organizers took steps to restrict minors from attending, such as checking IDs.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/idaho-house-vote-bill-restricting-children-attending-drag-burlesque-and-strip-shows
Kansas lawmakers entertain Texas group's plan to penalize homeless
TOPEKA — Eric Arganbright got personal Thursday as he urged lawmakers to reject an out-of-state think tank’s model legislation for criminalizing homeless people.
Appearing before the House Welfare Reform Committee, Arganbright said he experienced homelessness as a child after his father — a Methodist minister — abandoned his mother. The family had lived in the church parsonage in Morganville, a town of about 500 people in Clay County. He was 10 years old when he woke up to find his father was gone.
His mother had never had a job outside of being a preacher’s wife. She found jobs working at a gas station, diner and hotel, each in a different area. They ended up staying along the Republican River and in the back of a car at Milford Lake.
“The problem with this specific bill, and the reason I stand in opposition of it, is specifically because it would have criminalized my mother and people like my mother,” Arganbright said. “Because that’s what rural homelessness looks like in the state of Kansas.”
Arganbright, now the director of community engagement for the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition, and dozens of other Kansans who have direct knowledge of homelessness offered a rebuke to House Bill 2430. The only supporter of the bill was Judge Glock, senior fellow at the Texas-based Cicero Institute, which has advocated for the same legislation in other states.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/kansas-lawmakers-entertain-texas-groups-plan-penalize-homeless
Wyoming Legislature passes bills to ban medication abortion and exempt abortion as health care
Wyoming legislators approved two bills related to abortion this week, including a ban on medication abortion and a bill stating abortion is not health care, as a means of skirting the Wyoming Constitution in a court challenge to its abortion ban.
Voters in Wyoming approved adding a new section to the state’s constitution in 2012 amid criticism of the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare. The amendment states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions. The parent, guardian or legal representative of any other natural person shall have the right to make health care decisions for that person.”
That constitutional provision was the basis for a Wyoming judge to grant a preliminary injunction in August halting enforcement of a trigger law passed by the Wyoming Legislature in 2021 that was set to go into effect following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to return the right to regulate abortion to the states.
The Wyoming Supreme Court is still considering whether to uphold or strike down the trigger law on those constitutional grounds. Until it does, abortion remains legal in Wyoming.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/wyoming-legislature-passes-bills-ban-medication-abortion-and-exempt-abortion-health-care-1
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