Garrison Kenneth Courtney, formerly a public affairs officer for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), pleaded guilty on Thursday to defrauding companies of millions of dollars by pretending to be an officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). At least 12 companies were defrauded out of more than $4.4 million due to Courtney’s false posing [...]
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced on Thursday several new plans for reforming police practices in the city, including an end to using police to respond to non-criminal activity. Some activities that police will no longer respond to include issues with homelessness and medical situations. Breed’s plan involves the development of a “systematic response plan [...]
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuitheard oral arguments on Friday regarding the decision of Judge Emmet Sullivan to appoint a retired judge to argue against the Department of Justice’s move to drop the perjury charges against Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor to US President [...]
The US Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday authorized Congress to issue subpoenas to those who participated in an FBI investigation into President Donald Trump. The investigation, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane, was conducted under the Obama administration during the 2016 election and investigated the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia. The goal of the subpoenas is to [...]
The Trump Administration finalized a rule on Friday, which rolls back protections for LGBTQ people regarding health insurance and healthcare by changing the definition of “sex.” The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated in a press release that “HHS will enforce Section 1557 by returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain [...]
A three-judge panel, on Thursday, denied a lawsuit brought by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a coalition of labor unions, to enforce emergency safety standards for essential workers. The suit, filed on May 18, asked for a writ of mandamus from the court to compel the Occupational Safety and [...]
While California’s governor and legislature work to get mail-in ballots to every voter in the state, Republicans in Iowa’s senate voted Thursday to prevent mailing applications for absentee ballots to all Iowa voters. California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued two executive orders aimed at making voting safer and easier in light of the novel coronavirus [...]
The image of Derek Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck as the dying man cried, “I can’t breathe,” is now etched in the consciousness of an entire generation. The repugnant violence committed by Chauvin and the other complicit officers – and by too many police before them – breeds severe community distrust of law enforcement [...]
In the wake of the latest killings of minority citizens by police there are passionate calls to defund the police or to abolish police altogether. As to abolition, it’s worth remembering that this country made do without organized police forces for nearly its first century of existence, but that approach proved inadequate as society became [...]
On May 22, 2020 Bombay High Court said that the Right to a Decent Burial is a facet of the Right to Life. This decision was based on a plea which contested burial of COVID-19 patients in burial grounds surrounding the residential areas. The court dismissed the petitions and quoted from Oscar Wilde: “Death must [...]