Calista241
Calista241's JournalJustice Clarence Thomas Suggests SCOTUS Will 'Soon Have No Choice' But to Rein in Ability of 'Domina
Source: Law & Crime
Justice Clarence Thomas Suggests SCOTUS Will ‘Soon Have No Choice’ But to Rein in Ability of ‘Dominant Digital Platforms’ to Moderate Speech Online
The Supreme Court of the United States on Monday put an end to a lawsuit that challenged then-President Donald Trump’s then-ability to block his critics on his personal Twitter account. The justices unanimously vacated a lower court’s decision, which held that Trump’s actions violated the First Amendment. The high court ordered the case dismissed as moot in light of the fact that the former president has been permanently banned from Twitter. But more significantly, Justice Clarence Thomas became the first member of the high court to endorse a radical new view of social media companies that been steadily gaining steam among conservatives.
Writing a separate concurrence that was not joined by any of the other eight justices, Thomas suggested that social media companies like Twitter and Facebook had become too powerful and should be stripped of their First Amendment rights to moderate speech on their websites.
“Today’s digital platforms provide avenues for historically unprecedented amounts of speech, including speech by government actors. Also unprecedented, however, is control of so much speech in the hands of a few private parties,” Thomas wrote. “We will soon have no choice but to address how our legal doctrines apply to highly concentrated, privately owned information infrastructure such as digital platforms.”
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/justice-clarence-thomas-suggests-scotus-will-soon-have-no-choice-but-to-rein-in-ability-of-dominant-digital-platforms-to-moderate-speech-online/?utm_source=mostpopular
Police Say They Shot and Killed 'Armed' 13-Year-Old Boy in Chicago
Source: Law and Crime
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) confirmed that the “subject” who was shot and killed during an “armed confrontation” with officers in Little Village early Monday morning has been identified as a 13-year-old boy, several Chicago-area news sources reported on Thursday.
According to the reports, a CPD official said that Adam Toledo, 13, who lived in the South Side neighborhood, died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The teen was identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Officers on the scene were responding to a ShotSpotter tip—the city’s gunfire detection network. Shots had been heard in the area at approximately 2:35 a.m. on Monday. Police said that officers, upon arriving at the scene, spotted “two subjects in a nearby alley.”
“One subject fled on foot which resulted in an armed confrontation. One subject shot and killed. 2nd subject in custody. Gun recovered on scene,” CPD spokesman Tom Ahern said, including a photo of the firearm and evidence marker on the ground.
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/police-say-they-shot-and-killed-armed-13-year-old-boy-in-chicago/
Secret Service tried to cover up incident involving Hunter Biden's gun - report
Source: The Guardian
The US Secret Service sought to cover up a bizarre incident in which a gun belonging to to Hunter Biden was dumped in a trash can behind a grocery store then found to be missing, the website Politico reported on Thursday.
Delaware police were concerned the gun, a .38 revolver, could be found and used in a crime, the website said, adding that it was eventually found by a man rummaging the trash for recycling. The Secret Service reportedly approached the store where the gun was purchased, seeking to obtain all records of the transaction. The owner reportedly declined.
...
Politico said it had obtained copies of records relating to Hunter Biden’s purchase of the gun, on 12 October 2018. It said he answered “no” to a question about unlawful use or addiction to “marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance”.
“Five years earlier,” the website said, “he had been discharged from the US navy reserve after testing positive for cocaine, and he and family members have spoken about his history of drug use.
“Lying on the form is a felony, though prosecutions for it are exceedingly rare.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/25/hunter-biden-gun-cover-up-secret-service
BREAKING: Spa shooting suspect had visited Atlanta locations before, cops say
Source: AJC
Police on Thursday said their investigation has revealed that the suspect in Tuesday’s spa shooting spree in the metro area had visited both of the northeast Atlanta locations in the past.
“I can say that he had frequented both of those locations,” deputy police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a news conference Thursday. “Unfortunately, they were at that location. I can’t say that he specifically targeted those individuals. He did frequent those two locations.”
The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, was arrested in South Georgia on Tuesday night. The 21-year-old from Woodstock has been charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
...
At a news conference Wednesday, Cherokee investigators said Long had a sex addiction and frequented the types of businesses targeted in Tuesday’s shootings, reportedly calling them a “temptation he wanted to eliminate.”
Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-spa-shooting-suspect-had-visited-atlanta-locations-before-cops-say/ZL2A43CHM5H4ZAQTOKZ2HSQ3BA/
Joe Manchin just took an important filibuster reform off the table
Source: Vox
Sen. Joe Manchin, the most conservative member of the Senate Democratic caucus, has spent the past couple of weeks doling out cryptic hints that he might be open to changing filibuster rules that currently allow the Republican minority to block most legislation unless a bill is supported by at least 60 senators.
On Wednesday, however, he appeared to shut the door on several ideas floated by proponents of filibuster reform within the Senate. Manchin’s latest move does not mean that filibuster reform is dead, but it does suggest that Democrats who wish to make it easier to enact legislation may struggle to come up with a strong package of reforms that will win Manchin’s support.
Earlier this month, Manchin told Meet the Press’s Chuck Todd that he’s open to making the filibuster “a little bit more painful” for the minority, and that he might be willing to make senators “stand there and talk” if they wish to maintain a filibuster. The West Virginia senator, in other words, appeared open to a so-called “talking filibuster,” where senators who wish to block legislation must speak continuously on the Senate floor in order to maintain a filibuster.
...
And Manchin’s newly stated opposition to burden shifting — that is, moving to requiring 41 senators to sustain a filibuster instead of requiring 60 senators to break one — is a particularly significant blow to reform efforts. Burden shifting, combined with other reforms such as a talking filibuster, could have imposed very potent limits on the minority’s power to obstruct legislation.
Read more: https://www.vox.com/2021/3/17/22336181/joe-manchin-filibuster-reform-41-votes-talking-jeff-merkley-senate-rules
Nevada Democratic Party staff quit after Sanders backers take over
Source: The Hill
Top staffers at the Nevada Democratic Party resigned en masse on Saturday, hours after supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won election to control most positions on the committee’s board.
Clark County Democratic Party chair Judith Whitmer won election to head the state party in an upset victory over Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom. Whitmer’s slate won two vice chair positions and a party secretary position as well.
Whitmer had support from the Nevada chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. She had led the Nevada delegation to the 2020 Democratic convention as a Sanders supporter.
Segerblom, a former state senator who chaired the state Democratic Party in the 1990s, had been urged to run by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D), according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Cortez Masto faces re-election next year in a state where Republicans have been competitive in recent cycles.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/542337-nevada-democratic-party-staff-quit-after-sanders-backers-take-over
Georgia's citizen's arrest overhaul clears first hurdle
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Georgia House panel took the first step toward overhauling a Civil War-era statute Thursday by unanimously passing a bill that would no longer allow Georgians to arrest someone they suspect of committing a crime.
The citizen’s arrest law came under renewed scrutiny after it was cited by a prosecutor last year to justify not charging the white men involved in the shooting death of a Black man near Brunswick. In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Brian Kemp announced he would work to overhaul the statute, saying it was an “antiquated law that is ripe for abuse and enables sinister, evil motives.”
House Bill 479 would repeal citizen’s arrest from state law while still allowing employees at businesses, security officers, private investigators and inspectors at truck scales to detain someone they believe has committed a crime. The bill also would allow law enforcement officers to make arrests outside their jurisdictions.
House Judiciary Chairman Chuck Efstration said it was important that Georgia be the first state in the country to remove citizen’s arrest from the state’s law.
Read more: https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgias-citizens-arrest-overhaul-clears-first-hurdle/SJGOCKTI6NHATAPRUTXPDL6FFM/
EXCLUSIVE: Ga. man walks free after 40 years due to 4 overturned convictions
Source: AJC
Terry Talley, a 63-year-old former factory worker who likes to sing Journey songs and write poetry, walked free from prison after 40 years for crimes he insists he didn’t commit. He smiled, glowing in the light of a vibrant sunset. He wiped a tear. He said he didn’t want to cry.
...
Talley had been serving time in a series of 1981 sexual assaults in LaGrange, 70 miles southwest of Atlanta. He was originally sentenced to four life terms after convictions in six cases. A DNA test in 2009 proved he didn’t commit one of the crimes, but he still had three life sentences until Feb. 23, when a judge agreed to exonerate him in three separate cases.
...
The LaGrange Police Department, which helped send Talley to prison, and the Georgia Innocence Project have been re-examining his case for years. The police got involved after the DNA test eliminated Talley in one of the sexual assaults that authorities long believed were committed by the same man. In 2020, partly because the Georgia Innocence Project had recently secured funding to hire an investigator, the lawyers and police embarked on a more intensive inquiry.
Police Chief Lou Dekmar said he was troubled by how weak the original evidence against Talley appears. Investigators also uncovered information about a new “person of interest,” said Dekmar, who joined the department 25 years ago.
The man hasn’t been named publicly, but a court filing says he worked in the local government back then and was accused of harassing women at LaGrange College, the small private Methodist school where the attacks started. The alleged harassment occurred at the same time as the string of assaults. But prosecutors violated Talley’s rights by failing to tell the defense about the worker, Talley’s attorneys say.
Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/exclusive-ga-man-walks-free-after-40-years-due-to-4-overturned-convictions/KGOGZBWTLNDCNFNIHS7IG2EGJY/
1 dead, 12 injured in shootings in just over 12 hours in Atlanta
Source: AJC
At least a dozen people were injured and one was killed in Atlanta overnight during a slew of shootings that happened in just over 12 hours.
The spurt of violence began when a man wielding a knife was shot by an off-duty Georgia State Patrol trooper about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
According to the GBI, the state trooper was getting gas at the BP on Boulevard near I-20 when he saw one man chase another into the store and followed them.
“Witnesses report that one man was armed with a knife and was attempting to stab the other man,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release. “The trooper gave commands for the man to drop the knife. The trooper left the store, and the man with the knife followed him.”
Authorities said the man advanced toward the trooper as he backed away and told him to drop the weapon, prompting the trooper to shoot the man. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/1-dead-12-injured-in-shootings-in-just-over-12-hours-in-atlanta/EF5R5UY46ZAJHLXY4HW46GAQ6E/
Trump pardon unwinds some Manafort forfeitures
Found this from yesterday, and I don't think it was posted here:
The Justice Department has abandoned its efforts to seize three properties owned by Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who received a pardon from the former president in December.
The real estate includes Manafort's 10-bedroom, 6-bath home at Bridgehampton, Long Island, valued at $11 million on Zillow, as well as an apartment in New York's Chinatown and a townhouse in Brooklyn.
"The department has determined that due to President Trump’s full and unconditional pardon of Paul Manafort, it is necessary to dismiss the criminal forfeiture proceedings involving the four assets which were the subject of the on-going forfeiture ancillary proceedings," a Justice Department spokesman said Friday afternoon, following a court filing announcing the decision.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/26/trump-manafort-pardon-471785
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayHometown: Atlanta
Home country: US
Member since: Sat Jun 1, 2013, 01:19 AM
Number of posts: 5,586
