Category: Courts / Laws / legal
Yesterday in the news. Thanks to Joe My God for the posts I linked to here. This was my morning reading.
Read the full article. Watch all of the LOL clips.
The book further claims that the Queen believed that Trump and Melania must have “some kind of special arrangement,” considering his flagrant serial adultery.
Sentencing will be determined next week.
As you can see below, Reimer’s first arrest last year resulted in a money beg from a major right wing Canadian outlet.
Reimer’s previous non-drag related convictions resulted in sentences totally nearly three years.
As I said last month, it appears that the office of Secretary of State John Thurston [photo] deliberately withheld the above-cited rule about petition bundling. Thurston was a pastor before entering politics.
Arkansas Supreme Court upholds rejection of petitions to let voters decide on abortion access
By ANDREW DEMILLO Updated 1:09 PM CDT, August 22, 2024
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the state’s rejection of signed petitions for an abortion rights ballot initiative on Thursday, keeping the proposal from going before voters in November.
The ruling dashed the organizers’ hopes of getting the constitutional amendment measure onto the ballot in the predominantly Republican state, where many top leaders promote their opposition to abortion.
Election officials said Arkansans for Limited Government failed to comply with state law primarily because it submitted documentation regarding paid signature gatherers separately and not in a single bundle. The group argued that it should have been given more time to provide any additional documents needed.
“We find that the Secretary correctly refused to count the signatures collected by paid canvassers because the sponsor failed to file the paid canvasser training certification” in the way the law requires, Justice Rhonda Wood wrote for the 4-3 majority.
A dissenting justice wrote that the decision strips Arkansans’ of their rights and effectively changes the state’s initiative law.
“Why are the respondent and the majority determined to keep this particular vote from the people?” wrote Justice Karen Baker, who is running against Wood for chief justice. “The majority has succeeded in its efforts to change the law in order to deprive the voters of the opportunity to vote on this issue, which is not the proper role of this court.”
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision removing the nationwide right to abortion, there has been a push to have voters decide the matter state by state. Montana on Tuesday became the eighth state to put an abortion issue before voters this fall.
Abortion supporters have won in all seven states that have put abortion questions before voters since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Arkansans for Limited Government emailed a statement calling the ruling “a dark day in Arkansas.”
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-ballot-arkansas-supreme-court-48c208d49d82b467fbcc4b9c2724617a
Coincidence? Well,
I don’t believe it is.
MIT’s Black student enrollment drops significantly after Supreme Court affirmative action ruling
The university’s white and Asian American student populations have increased, while all others have declined — some even down to zero, according to MIT.
Aug. 21, 2024, 3:33 PM CDT By Char Adams
Enrollment for Black and Latino students dropped at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the first class formed after the Supreme Court found race-conscious admissions in colleges unconstitutional.
The university’s admissions department on Wednesday released its first-year class profile, showing a sharp drop in its Black student population. About 5% of MIT’s incoming class of 2028 is Black, a significant drop from its 13% average in recent years. Latino students make up 11% of the class of 2028, compared to a 15% average in recent years. Overall, 1,102 students make up the incoming class.
Stu Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions, attributed the drop to the high court’s 2023 decision to end consideration of race in the admissions process.
“We expected that this would result in fewer students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups enrolling at MIT,” Schmill said of the ruling. “That’s what has happened.”
The white and Asian American student populations have increased, while all other groups have declined — some even down to zero, the profile shows. (snip-More) (grrrr)
Classic Tom the Dancing Bug
Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for August 22, 2024
Paxton Raids Election Offices In Major TX Blue County
Paxton is a well known corrupt partisan hack. He is a complete culture warrior trying to turn the clock back to 1950 if not back to 1900. He wants rights only for white straight cis men. Women are to be controlled and used by men. There will be no LGBTQ+ people allowed in pubic or in society. They will hide and be afraid. As for non-whites. They won’t have rights nor ability to rise in society, business, or anything amounting to making gain for themselves. He wants them to be segregated and below every white person. Texas is not in play, it will go red and vote republican, so why raid the offices of the blue democratic leaning districts. To give credence to the upcoming cries of the election was rigged and election fraud when tRump and the republicans lose the election. They are doing everything they can to set the stage for what they fear most, loss of power, loss of the ability to rule over everyone else. Hugs. Scottie
The Hill reports:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) office executed search warrants in one of the state’s largest urban counties — and biggest Democratic strongholds — where it alleges vote tampering.
On Tuesday the attorney general’s office searched offices in Bexar County, the state’s fourth most populous county and the home of San Antonio. The office said the searches followed a two-year investigation, and that “secure elections are the cornerstone of our republic.”
The searches came amid a broader push by Paxton to prosecute election fraud — a campaign that in 2023 spent $2.3 million to prosecute just four cases, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Read the full article.
So, I’m taking my time, perusing
some headlines and click open my local e-newspaper, and holy cow what is news here today:
Two Sumner County residents arrested, Fentanyl seized, three migrants discovered inside vehicle’s trunk
August 21, 2024 Cueball
Sumner Newscow report — According to a news website in Del Rio, Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border, two people with Sumner County ties have been arrested for human smuggling.
In a report for the Eagle Pass News Leader, Maverick County Sheriff’s Office deputies successfully intercepted a human smuggling attempt, rescuing three illegal immigrants who were found crammed into the trunk of a car. The incident unfolded on Highway 277 North, where deputies stopped a blue Honda Accord with Kansas plates for a traffic violation.
The driver was identified as 29-year-old Jordyn Swift and her passenger as 32-year-old Joshua Michael Asbury, both from Caldwell. Upon conducting a thorough investigation, deputies discovered a bag of fentanyl hidden in Swift’s undergarments.
Further inspection of the vehicle led to the shocking discovery of three individuals concealed in the car’s trunk. The migrants were promptly rescued, and Swift and Asbury were arrested on charges of human trafficking and possession of dangerous substances.
Border Patrol agents arrived at the scene to take custody of the migrants and continue the investigation. This incident highlights the ongoing challenges law enforcement faces in combating human smuggling and the dangers posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs like fentanyl.
Two Sumner County residents arrested, Fentanyl seized, three migrants discovered inside vehicle’s trunk
Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a suit over a transgender Highway Patrol employee’s firing
Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a former state Highway Patrol employee who claimed to have been fired for coming out as transgender
ByJOHN HANNA Associated Press August 15, 2024, 6:11 PM
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a federal anti-discrimination lawsuit filed by a former state Highway Patrol employee who claimed to have been fired for coming out as transgender.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and eight leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature unanimously approved the settlement during a brief online video conference Thursday. The state attorney general’s office pursued the settlement in defending the Highway Patrol, but any agreement it reaches also must be approved by the governor and top lawmakers.
Kelly and the legislators didn’t publicly discuss the settlement, and the amount wasn’t disclosed until the state released their formal resolution approving the settlement nearly four hours after their meeting. Kelly’s office and the offices of Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins did not respond to emails seeking comment after the meeting.
The former employee’s attorney declined to discuss the settlement before state officials met Thursday and did not return a telephone message seeking comment afterward. The lawsuit did not specify the amount sought, but said it was seeking damages for lost wages, suffering, emotional pain and “loss of enjoyment of life.”
The ex-employee was a buildings and grounds manager in the patrol’s Topeka headquarters and sued after being fired in June 2022. The patrol said the ex-employee had been accused of sexual harassment and wasn’t cooperative enough with an internal investigation. The lawsuit alleged that reason was a pretext for terminating a transgender worker.
The settlement came four months after U.S. District Judge John Broomes rejected the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit before a trial. Broomes ruled there are “genuine issues of material fact” for a jury to settle.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that a landmark 1964 federal civil rights law barring sex discrimination in employment also bars anti-LGBTQ+ bias.
Court documents said the former Highway Patrol employee, a Topeka resident sought to socially transition at work from male to female. The ex-employee’s last name was listed as Dawes, but court records used a male first name and male pronouns. It wasn’t clear Thursday what first name or pronouns Dawes uses now.
In a December 2023 court filing, Dawes’ attorney said top patrol leaders met “a couple of months” before Dawes’ firing to discuss Dawes being transgender and firing Dawes for that reason.
The patrol acknowledged the meeting occurred but said the leaders decided to get legal advice about the patrol’s “responsibilities in accommodating Dawes” in socially transitioning at work, according to a court filing by a state attorney in November 2023.
Court filings said the meeting wasn’t documented, something Dawes’ attorney called “a serious procedural irregularity.”
The patrol said in its court filings that Dawes’ firing was not related to Dawes being transgender.
It said another female employee had complained that in May 2022, Dawes had complimented her looks and told her “how nice it was to see a female really taking care of herself.” Dawes also sent her an email in June 2022 that began, “Just a note to tell you that I think you look absolutely amazing today!” The other employee took both as sexual advances, it said.
Dawes acknowledged the interactions, but Dawes’ attorney said Dawes hadn’t been disciplined for those comments before being fired — and if Dawes had been, the likely punishment would have only been a reprimand.
The patrol said it fired Dawes for refusing the first time an investigator sought to interview him about the other employee’s allegations. The patrol said Dawes claimed not to be prepared, while Dawes claimed to want to have an attorney present.
Dawes was interviewed three days later, but the patrol said refusing the first interview warranted Dawes’ firing because patrol policy requires “full cooperation” with an internal investigation.
“Dawes can point to no person who is not transgender who was treated more favorably than transgender persons,” the state said in its November 2023 filing.
Peace & Justice History for 8/19
August 19, 1791 Benjamin Banneker, the first recognized African-American scientist, a son of former slaves, sent a copy of his just-published Almanac to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, along with an appeal about “the injustice of a state of slavery.” More about Benjamin Banneker, his achievements and his letter to the president |
August 19, 1953 Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed MosaddeqRoyalist troops surrounded, bombarded and burned the residence of the Mohammed Mosaddeq, the recently dismissed elected Iranian Prime Minister. After having briefly fled his country for Italy due to the rioting over his unconstitutional dismissal of Mosaddeq, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was returned to the Peacock throne with dictatorial power. All this was done with the planning, financing and assistance of the CIA and its British counterpart, MI6. Background on Mosaddeq Stephen Kinzer on the U.S.-Iran relationship in perspective |
| August 19, 1958 The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Youth Council in Oklahoma City, led by Clara Luper, a high school history teacher, began sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters, inspired by success in Wichita, Kansas. [see August 11, 1958].  Clara LuperTV interview with Clara Luper More about Clara |
| August 19, 1970 The U.S. deployed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles near Greeley, Colorado. It was the first missile with multiple (then three-170 kiloton) nuclear warheads known as MIRVs (Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicles).  The MIRV: each cone is a warhead All the details about this fearsome armament |
August 19, 1989 Anglican Bishop and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Desmond Tutu was among hundreds of black demonstrators, members of Mass Democratic Movement who were whipped and blasted with sand stirred up by helicopters as they attempted to picnic on a “whites-only” beach near Cape Town, South Africa. |
Peace & Justice History for 8/18
I’ve been away from the computer a lot again today, and I apologize. I’ve had ideas, decided against them, maybe one or two will still make it but another day, you know how it goes. I would be unforgiveably remiss to not post this history for this date, though, so here it is!
| August 18, 1914 In another step in the ethnic intimidation that led ultimately to the Armenian genocide in Turkey, looting was reported in Sivas, Diyarbekir, and other provinces. Under the guise of collecting war contributions (WWI had just begun), stores owned by Armenian and Greek merchants were vandalized. 1,080 shops and stalls owned by Armenians were burned at the Diyarbekir bazaar. Chronology of the Armenian Genocide |
| ❎💃🥂⭐🥂💃❎ August 18, 1920 Women throughout the U.S. won the right to vote when the Tennessee legislature approved the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution (the last of 36 states then required to approve it). An amendment for universal suffrage was first introduced in Congress in 1878, and Wyoming had granted suffrage in state law by 1890.  This amendment to enfranchise all American women had been introduced annually for 41 years without passage; it had gotten two-thirds of both houses of Congress to approve it just the year before. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” In the Tennessee House, 24-year-old Representative Harry Burn surprised observers by casting the deciding vote for ratification. At the time of his vote, Burns had in his pocket a letter he had received from his mother urging him, “Don’t forget to be a good boy” and “vote for suffrage. “  Teaching With Documents: Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment (National Archives) |
August 18, 1963 James MeredithJames Meredith, the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, became the first to graduate. His enrollment at “Ole Miss” a year earlier had been met with deadly riots, forcing him to attend class escorted by heavily armed guards. .  James Meredith being escorted to his classes by U.S. marshals and the military. Who was James Meredith |
| August 18, 1964 South Africa was banned from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo due to the country’s refusal to reform its racially separatist apartheid system. Read more |
| August 18, 1977 Steve Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness Movement resisting apartheid, was arrested at a roadblock outside King William’s Town. He died while in custody from abuse during the weeks of interrogation that followed.  Steve Biko “So as a prelude whites must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with Blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior.””The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” – Biko speech in Cape Town, 1971  |
