Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalSupreme Court: Boston can't deny Christian flag if it flies other flags on City Hall flagpole
Source: USA Today
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Boston may not deny a Christian group the ability to raise a flag at City Hall alongside secular organizations that are encouraged to do so to celebrate the city's diversity.
The unanimous decision was the latest in a series of rulings from the high court in recent years that have favored the protection of religious groups asserting a violation of their rights, only in this case the group had support that transcended traditional ideological and partisan lines. The Biden administration, for instance, sided with the group and against Boston.
"We conclude that Boston’s flag-raising program does not express government speech," Associate Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court. "As a result, the city’s refusal to let (the group) fly their flag based on its religious viewpoint violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment."
A mix of conservative and liberal justices joined the court's opinion, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. There were no dissents.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/05/02/supreme-court-boston-cant-deny-flying-christian-flag-flagpole/6916444001/
Madison Cawthorne is seen with male staff member's hand on his crotch
Source: Daily Mail
New video of scandal-ridden GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn having his crotch felt by a close male friend and staff member is at the center of a complaint calling for an investigation into him and filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics today, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The extraordinary footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and seen here for the first time today, shows Cawthorn, 26, in a car with his close aide and his scheduler Stephen Smith, 23.
Cawthorn sits in the driver's seat apparently filmed by Smith as he adopts an exaggerated accent and says, 'I feel the passion and desire and would like to see a naked body beneath my hands.'
The camera then pans back to Smith who says, 'Me too' as Cawthorn can be heard laughing. Smith then films himself reaching his hand over and into Cawthorn's crotch
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10764209/GOP-Rep-Madison-Cawthorn-caught-video-male-staff-members-hand-crotch.html
Exclusive: Madison Cawthorn photos reveal him wearing women's lingerie in public setting
Source: Politico
Photographs obtained by POLITICO appear to show Madison Cawthorn, the embattled Republican congressman from North Carolina who recently accused his GOP colleagues of inviting him to orgies, wearing lingerie in what appears to be a party setting.
Cawthorn, 26, was raised in a conservative Baptist community in Henderson County, North Carolina, and has staked his political persona on arch-traditional Christian principles and the insistence of the importance of a kind of hypermasculinity. His comments about “the sexual perversion” in Washington made on a podcast, which he later admitted were exaggerated, drew the public disapproval and disavowal of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as other Republican leaders including those in his North Carolina congressional caucus.
The revelation of the two photos is the latest in a series of unflattering headlines for the freshman member of Congress in the run-up to the primary in his first re-election bid. The primary in North Carolina is May 17. Cawthorn has seven Republican opponents who see him as vulnerable.
Cawthorn, who was paralyzed from the waist down as a passenger in a car accident in Florida in 2014, in recent months has called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug,” suggested teetotaling Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a drinking problem, and racked up a collection of traffic transgressions including speeding, driving with expired tags and driving with a revoked license. He has court dates in May and June.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/madison-cawthorn-photos-00027286
Supreme Court rules Congress can deny federal disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico
Source: CNBC
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Congress is not required to extend a federal disability benefits program to residents of Puerto Rico.
The court ruled 8-1 that because Congress treats Puerto Rico residents differently from those residing in the states when it comes to tax laws, it can do the same when it comes to the Supplemental Income Security, or SSI, benefits program.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the court's three liberals whose family stems from Puerto Rico, dissented.
SSI benefits are meant to offer regular financial assistance for disabled and elderly people in need. The program is available to people living in the 50 U.S. states, but not to those living in some U.S. territories.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/04/21/supreme-court-rules-congress-can-deny-federal-disability-benefits-to-residents-of-puerto-rico.html
Wow. Even two of the court's three liberal justices sided with the Biden Administration on this.
Top Florida Democrat sues Biden administration over marijuana and guns
Source: NBC News
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s lone statewide elected Democrat, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, plans to sue the Biden administration Wednesday to try to block a federal rule that prohibits medical marijuana users from buying guns or maintaining concealed-carry permits.
NBC News obtained a draft copy of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit targets a federal form that asks whether the gun buyer is an unlawful user of drugs and specifies that marijuana is illegal under federal law. A person allowed by the state to use marijuana must then check “yes,” which results in denial of the purchase. Lying by checking “no” runs the risk of a five-year prison sentence for making a false statement.
Fried, whose office oversees concealed weapons permits and regulates some aspects of medical marijuana, argues in her lawsuit that the form violates the Second Amendment rights of lawful medical marijuana patients and runs afoul of a congressional budget prohibition on federal agents’ interfering with state-sanctioned cannabis laws.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/top-florida-democrat-sues-biden-administration-marijuana-guns-rcna25034
Sarah Palin announces run for U.S. House seat from Alaska
Source: Reuters
Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, announced her run for Alaska's only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.
It would be Palin's first run for public office since serving as John McCain's running mate in a campaign that saw Democrat Barack Obama elected president in November 2008.
"America is at a tipping point," Palin said in a statement released on her Twitter account announcing her candidacy. "As I've watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight."
"At this critical time in our nation's history, we need leaders who will combat the left's socialist, big-government, America-last agenda," she said.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/sarah-palin-announces-run-u-003759991.html
Judge orders Maryland General Assembly to redraw Congressional district map
Source: WBAL TV
ANNAPOLIS, Md. —
A Maryland judge on Friday rejected the General Assembly's newly drawn Congressional district map.
After a four-day trial, Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Lynne A. Battaglia on Friday ruled the 2021 plan violates Maryland's Free Election Clause of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. As such, the judge ruled the 2021 plan is in violation of the Maryland Constitution and Declaration of Rights and is invalid.
The judge further called the maps invalid, citing the state constitution as requiring districts to "consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population."
The judge sent the map back to the General Assembly to develop a new plan that is compliant to the state constitution and the Voting Rights Act by March 30. A hearing is scheduled for April 1.
Read more: https://www.wbaltv.com/amp/article/judge-order-maryland-congressional-district-maps/39540171
Trump aide Manafort removed from plane for revoked passport
Source: ABC News
MIAMI -- Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort was removed from a plane at Miami International Airport before it took off for Dubai because he carried a revoked passport, officials said Wednesday.
Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that Manafort was removed from the Emirates Airline flight without incident Sunday night but directed further questions to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That agency did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment.
A lawyer who has represented Manafort did not immediately return a call and email seeking comment Wednesday.
Manafort, 72, led former President Donald Trump's campaign for several months during the 2016 presidential race but was ousted in August of that year after revelations about his business dealings in Ukraine.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-aide-manafort-removed-plane-revoked-passport-83621232
Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young has died
Source: Anchorage Daily News
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Politics
Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young has died
By Anchorage Daily News
Updated: 2 minutes ago
Published: 22 minutes ago
Rep. Don Young in his Washington D.C. office on Thursday, June 25, 2015. (Marc Lester / ADN)
Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young died Friday, according to his former chief of staff.
Young, a Republican and the longest-serving member of Congress, lost consciousness on a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle, and couldn’t be resuscitated, said Jack Ferguson, a lobbyist who served as Young’s chief of staff.
“Everyone’s learning about it right at the moment. The phone’s ringing off the hook,” Ferguson said. “I’m sad to lose such a good friend, and a person that I’ve known all his political career.”
Young, a Republican, had served in Congress since 1973, when he was sworn in after winning a special election.
Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2022/03/18/alaska-us-rep-don-young-has-died-according-to-former-aides/
Audit: NY Health Department under Cuomo 'misled the public' on nursing home deaths
Source: The Hill
A New York Department of Health audit released on Tuesday found that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) failed to publicly account for the deaths of 4,100 nursing home residents in New York during the coronavirus pandemic between April 2020 and February 2021.
The audit from state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli indicated that Health Department officials underreported the death toll by up to 50 percent and concluded that the Health Department fell short of its "ethical" and "moral" obligations to report numbers accurately.
But internally, the department had the more accurate data. As of Feb. 3, 2021, the administration's internal data reported 13,147 nursing home resident deaths, but only 9,076 deaths were publicly reported, meaning more than 30 percent of deaths were not made public, the report showed.
"Rather than providing accurate and reliable information during a public health emergency, the department instead conformed its presentation to the executive's narrative, often presenting data in a manner that misled the public," the audit report said.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/policy/healthcare/598392-audit-ny-health-department-under-cuomo-misled-the-public-on-nursing-home%3famp
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