On Monday, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia filed his response to the petition for mandamus brought by General Michael Flynn in the D.C. Circuit regarding Sullivan’s handling of the Justice Department (DOJ) Motion to Dismiss the false statement charges against Flynn. Flynn had pleaded guilty to [...]
If any mental picture is evoked by the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision invalidating the State’s COVID-19-era stay-at-home/business-closure Order (Wisconsin Legislature v. Palm, et. al.) it’s probably of unrestrained partying — without masks and social-distancing — engaged in by less-risk-averse residents when unexpectedly freed of the Order’s constraints. That’s certainly one vivid takeaway from the case. [...]
To prepare the streets for Donald Trump’s walk to St. James Church in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020 – an apparent public relations stroll where he held up a Bible – the US Secret Service engaged in highly unusual and plausibly illegal behavior. More precisely, in ironic contrast to its proper statutory authority, which [...]
The world has seen shocking videos of U.S, police officers, and private citizens perpetrating crimes against African Americans. Relentlessly, the socio-legal system brings about the death, imprisonment, torture, and degradation of African American men, women, boys, girls, households, and communities. The four-hundred years of atrocities comprised of slavery, separation of families, non-citizenship, segregation, and lynching [...]
Disinformation occurs when false information is sent with an intention to deceive, while misinformation occurs when false information is sent without an intention to deceive. This commentary notes that tardy official communication of policy promotes disinformation and misinformation. Further disinformation can arise from a lack of opportunities for public participation in policymaking. Resolving these problems [...]
As recently reported, with the reopening of the New York Stock Exchanges, persons on the floor are required to sign what is called a COVID-19 waiver. The text of such a waiver is unclear but its effect pernicious. For a person who has a contract already, the waiver amounts to a modification of the contract. [...]
Below is a letter I sent to Speaker Pelosi on Friday, May 29 in response to a May 28 letter of the American Council on Education (ACE) seeking COVID-19 Limited Liability Protections that I found appalling. None of the other Congressional leaders had an e-mail that non-constituents can use so I have sent the letter [...]
“The man who laughs has not yet heard the terrible news.” -Bertolt Brecht Any explicit comparisons of the Trump presidency with the Third Reich will elicit multiple cries of horror and execration across the United States, even when it had first been admitted that this American administration is similarly misleading and existentially dangerous. Nonetheless, to [...]
In his famous novel, The Plague, Albert Camus discussed the idea of plague as being akin to a despotic rule under which everyone, starting from the warden to the humblest delinquent, was under a life sentence. This insight is true for any pandemic including COVID–19 because the infection spreading microbe infects both rich and poor [...]
As we watch the revival of the first wave and anticipate an inevitable second wave, the intentionally inept federal, uneven and dangerous state and local, and self-interested business response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a horrifying experience. As the reality of the situation unfolds, the breach of public trust is breathtaking. The clear indifference of [...]
