Some News In Kansas

This story came first, then the second article. It’s interesting, because it’s not a protest, or anything, it’s simple local ordinance. (Ordinances = the law here.)

Federal government accuses Kansas town of ‘aggressive and unlawful’ interference with CoreCivic

By:Morgan Chilson-September 23, 20255:39 pm

TOPEKA — The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday joined a private prison company in its legal fight with Leavenworth city officials, accusing the city of “aggressive and unlawful” interference with immigration enforcement.

The DOJ filed a statement of interest in the case in U.S. District Court, signed by the assistant U.S. attorney general’s office.

“The United States has a strong interest in countering state and local efforts to harass federal contractors, in the proper application of the Constitution and its Supremacy Clause, and in the foundational principles that protect the Federal Government from unconstitutional state and local interference,” the filing said.

A statement of interest authorizes the U.S. attorney general to become a non-party in a suit pending in any court in the country, the filing said.

CoreCivic and the city of Leavenworth have been fighting in court for months over the city’s requirement that CoreCivic go through its development process to receive a special use permit before reopening its prison facility at 100 Highway Terrace.

Nashville-based CoreCivic announced in March that it would reopen the prison facility, which closed in 2021, to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

CoreCivic and the city have a hearing scheduled Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Topeka as part of an appeal of a Kansas court’s decision barring CoreCivic from housing ICE detainees while the case about the development permit is being heard.

CoreCivic has alleged in multiple filings that Leavenworth officials are violating the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and interfering with the operations of the federal government. That clause sets federal laws as supreme over state laws.

The U.S. government’s statement Tuesday pushed that argument forward, saying that it is “especially true” in relationship to immigration.

“Defendants have violated the Supremacy Clause by attempting to stymie the Federal Government’s immigration-related operations at 100 Highway Terrace,” the federal filing said, citing multiple cases to support its arguments that federal contractors are free from state control.

“This well-settled principle has been consistently applied to invalidate state and local laws that impose requirements on federal contractors,” the filing said.

The city’s efforts to prevent CoreCivic from housing immigration detainees at its prison, recently renamed the Midwest Regional Reception Center, is an attempt to regulate the federal government’s efforts to house detainees at that facility and violates the supremacy clause, the filing said.

=====

Kansas town to continue legal push against CoreCivic, despite federal involvement

By:Morgan Chilson-September 24, 20254:45 pm

TOPEKA — Leavenworth officials aren’t backing down from holding private prison company CoreCivic accountable to development regulations even after the U.S. Department of Justice jumped into the case Tuesday.

The DOJ filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court case between Nashville-based CoreCivic and Leavenworth, arguing the city was violating the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution.

“The federal government’s filing does not change our view of the case or the approach we plan to take,” said W. Joseph Hatley, a Kansas City, Missouri, attorney representing the city of Leavenworth. “The arguments in that filing mirror arguments CoreCivic has previously made, without success.”

The clause says federal laws are supreme over state laws, and in its filing, the DOJ said Leavenworth is interfering in the federal government’s immigration enforcement efforts.

Leavenworth Mayor Holly Pittman has said the city’s fight over reopening CoreCivic’s prison isn’t driven by politics, despite repeated outcry from Leavenworth residents against housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

She said the city is concerned about holding businesses accountable to their development regulations, which would require CoreCivic to apply for a special use permit.

Earlier this year, CoreCivic announced it planned to reopen its prison facility in Leavenworth to fulfill an ICE contract that would pay the company $4.2 million per month. But Leavenworth officials contend the company must follow the city’s revised development process and apply for a special use permit.

In court filings, the city’s attorneys highlighted issues with CoreCivic’s operation of its previous prison, which closed in 2021, including failing to cooperate with Leavenworth police and failure to report the death of an inmate for six days. Leavenworth officials have said a special use permit would allow them to address such problems.

U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse on Wednesday set a hearing on a CoreCivic motion for a preliminary injunction for 3 p.m. Nov. 25, Hatley said.

CoreCivic is appealing a Kansas district court decision to stop the company from housing ICE detainees as the legal disagreement with Leavenworth goes through the courts.

Wonkette Has It All Right Here

All the tabs (links) of things that should be read, plus commentary as only Wonkette can provide!

Time To Defund Your Public School! Tabs, Thurs., March 13, 2025 by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Morning news roundup and things to read! Read on Substack

Tabs gif by your friend Martini Glambassador!

Explaining the House’s funding bill. It has something to do with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage wearing each other’s faces. House Democrats actually all voted (except one schmuck) against it, and then they yelled at the Senate like so:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “It [the bill] is not something we could ever support. House Democrats will not be complicit in the Republican effort to hurt the American people.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), ranking Appropriations Committee member: “This is Republican leadership handing over the keys of the government, and a blank check to Elon Musk and to President Trump.”
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA): “It [Senate Democratic votes] would be a capitulation to the Trump style of democracy, which is the movement of democracy to dictatorship.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): “If the government shuts down with a Republican House, Republican Senate and Republican president, it will be solely because the Republicans have moved forward with a terrible, partisan, take-it-or-leave-it bill.”

What did the Senate do? Presumably I will find out before I finish writing this tabs! (The Fucking News)

What the Senate did, if they ever fucking vote on it before I turn this goddamn laptop and go to bed, goes here!

Time to defund your public school! (CNN)

Trump’s economic excuses: stupid and lying! (Paul Krugman)

The FBI is demanding Citibank freeze accounts for Habitat for Humanity, United Way, New York state tax department, and a bunch of statewide climate investment banks, like for instance Michigan Saves. So that’s are you fucking kidding me! (Citibank filing)

Child genital exams without a parent’s consent, West Virginia? “It also says that all intersex people are ‘either male or female’ but does not give a basis for assigning a sex to them.” Oh, word? Word. (LGBTQ Nation)

Six federal agencies are investigating the two trans girl athletes in Maine. (Pro Publica)

I have not even a single clue what this means or how it would work, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to crypto … ??? (Pro Publica)

Sacrificing “critical safety functions” at the FAA, upside down smile emoji. (The Atlantic archive link)

Tesla owners, Polestar will give you $20,000 to not be a Tesla owner anymore. (Polestar)

Faine Greenwood went to Canada’s Gaspe Peninsula and would like to show us all the pictures. We are all super fucking sorry about all this, Canada! (Little Flying Robots)

That’s right I’m still hounding you to buy the pizzas. Detroit Public Schools is working on the assumption we’ll have budget cuts next year of between $30 and $80 million for just our district. You help me fund the girls’ Detroit public elementary school, and I help you eat delicious fucking pizza, mailed right to your door. Buy the fucking pizzas everybody. They’ll FedEx em right to your door. Pizzas. (Pizzas.) This motherfucking pizza ad will be up all month. (snip)

Haitian group seeks criminal charges vs. Trump, Vance in Springfield court filing

News By Jessica Orozco Updated 41 minutes ago

The Haitian Bridge Alliance filed a bench memorandum and supporting affidavit in Clark County Municipal Court on Tuesday, asking local authorities to charge former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance with multiple criminal offenses related to claims they made about Springfield’s Haitian community.

The memorandum was filed by Guerline Jozef on behalf of the national nonprofit the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), asking a Municipal Court judge to charge Vance and Trump with disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of complicity, two counts of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing.

The filing asks that the court find probable cause for the charges and issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance.

Under Ohio law, a private citizen seeking to “cause an arrest or prosecution” can file an affidavit with “a reviewing official” — a judge, prosecuting attorney or magistrate — to have them review the facts and decide if a complaint should be filed.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said Tuesday afternoon that while the city recognizes the serious nature of the allegations, “it is important to allow the legal process to unfold.” He said it is “critical that we’re sensitive to these issues like immigration” and are grounded in facts.

“Springfield remains dedicated to fostering constructive dialogue and addressing concerns with integrity,” Rue said. “Springfield’s priority continues to be the wellbeing of our residents, including the Haitian immigrant community. Any actions that disrupt public services or spread false alarms are taken seriously and we’ll continue to uphold our commitment to protect public order.”

This bench memorandum and affidavit comes through The Chandra Law Firm in Cleveland, and according to its website, Jozef, the HBA’s co-founder and executive director, is seeking Trump and Vance’s immediate arrest for:

Disrupting public service “by causing widespread bomb and other threats that resulted in massive disruptions to the public services;”
Making false alarms “by knowingly causing alarm in the Springfield community by continuing to repeat lies that state and local officials have said were false;”
Telecommunications harassment “by spreading claims they know to be false during the presidential debate, campaign rallies, nationally televised interviews, and social media;”
Aggravated menacing “by knowingly making intimidating statements with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass the recipients, including Trump’s threat to deport immigrants who are here legally to Venezuela, a land they have never known” and “by knowingly causing others to falsely believe that members of Springfield’s Haitian community would cause serious physical harm to the person or property of others in Springfield;”
Complicity “by conspiring with one another and spreading vicious lies that caused innocent parties to be parties to their various crimes.”

“Because the prosecuting attorney has not yet acted to protect the community and hold Trump and Vance accountable for what they have instigated, Ms. Jozef asks the court to find probable cause based on the facts presented and issue arrest warrants for both Trump and Vance,” the law firm stated. “The prosecuting attorney then must make a public decision about whether that office stands for the rule of law — or whether it will further coddle Trump and Vance with complete inaction.”

Subodh Chandra, Jozef’s lead counsel, said in a statement that the Haitian community is “suffering in fear” due to Trump and Vance’s “relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted.” Chandra said the two politicians “must be held accountable to the rule of law,” claiming that others who “have wreaked havoc” would have been arrested already.

“They think they’re above the law. They’re not,” Chandra said.

Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung didn’t comment directly on the court filing, but said that Trump is “rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.” (snip-More)

https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/haitian-group-seeks-criminal-charges-vs-trump-vance-in-springfield-court-filing/ZBLJL63EUBAQBJT2UOC7OSUJVM/#

Ya win some, ya lose some…

I noticed the day’s news yesterday evening; it seemed to stay about even on the good news-bad news bit. For instance, over the weekend, we got the story about the Portage Co. OH sheriff harassing people with Harris-Walz signs, and being outright political. It was separately reported, and I can’t find it now, but when some people tried to get the state’s SoS to somehow stop or discipline the sheriff, the SoS, who truly has no authority in these matters, reportedly declined because of how soon the election is, then also made a political statement, which is unethical in most states, but likely not illegal in a Republican state. Anyway, Monday there is a wonderful story; the Portage Co., OH elections board went to work on the issue.

In Texas, it is quite legal and just fine for citizens to surround traveling vehicles and harass the people inside to the point of fear for their very lives. The harassed bus driver was awarded a small amount, Not sure what else we expected, maybe due process of law and respect for human life on the highways of the United States, but I guess it is TX, after all. Who needs stinkin’ laws, anyway…

So back up North in Nebraska, there is a Republican with a conscience who honors his oath of office. This is good news, because, of course, because we’ve already read that GA will be required to hand count the number of ballots cast to be sure their number of ballots equals the number of votes tallied. That will surely go well, says the year 2000 …

Finally, one of the worst people in the world exists in the US. Here to give us balance is someone rich who seems to be good.

I’ll wrap this up for now. Who knows what will happen later today?