Dennis Hastert, former U.S. Speaker of the House, was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to 15 months in federal prison with two years of supervised release in his hush money case. The sentence also requires the man who once was the second in line for the presidency to comply with …
April, 2016
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6 April
Amnesty International Reports “Alarming Surge” In Worldwide Executions In 2015, Highest Rates In 25 Years
The world’s top five executioners in 2015 were (from highest to lowest) China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the USA. 1,634+ people executed in 2015 – the highest number recorded by us since 1989, excl China https://t.co/Q2bGPYVcWP pic.twitter.com/USjP36R8aE — AmnestyInternational (@AmnestyOnline) April 6, 2016 The latest report from human rights …
March, 2016
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18 March
Top Federal Judge Richard Roberts Retires After A Woman Alleges They Had A Non-Consensual Sexual Relationship When She Was A 16-Year-Old Witness
The chief judge of D.C.’s federal court announced his retirement on Wednesday. 63-year-old Chief Judge Richard Roberts, serving a lifetime appointment to the bench since chosen by President Clinton in 1998, claimed that health reasons would prevent him from continuing to serve. On the same day, the real reasons for …
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9 March
As NY Dooms More Kids In The Criminal Justice System, The Push To Raise The Age Continues
The legislative session is in full swing, with raising the age of criminal responsibility at the top of the priority list for members of the Raise The Age-NY campaign, myself included. The Campaign for Youth Justice reports that 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults each year in the United States. …
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7 March
A Senior Justice Department Official Believes Children As Young As 3 Can Represent Themselves In Immigration Court
Jack Weil, a Virginia-based senior official in the U.S. Justice Department, shocked many in his testimony in a Seattle federal court by repeatedly arguing that young children as young as 3 or 4 can be taught to represent themselves in immigration court. Weil was deposed by the ACLU after the Justice Department recommended …
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2 March
What Happened Inside The Supreme Court Today: Whole Woman’s Health V. Hellerstedt
On Wednesday there was only one issue before the Supreme Court–Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the first major case on abortion to reach the highest court in nearly a decade. As most everyone predicted, the court appeared evenly divided with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asking difficult questions to both sides. Law …
February, 2016
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29 February
On Wednesday The U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Its Most Important Case On Abortion Since 1992
The 8-member U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case this Wednesday which could reinterpret the Court’s ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and be the deciding factor in whether women across America have access to legal abortion. Since 1992 Casey has held as the most important Supreme Court decision on abortion since Roe …
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25 February
Joyce Curnell, South Carolina Woman Dies In Jail After She Was Deprived Of Water
On July 22, a day after she was arrested for failing to pay court fines, Joyce Curnell was found at a Charleston County jail because “she was deprived of water,” a new suit filed by her family alleges. Ms Curnell, 50, of Edisto Island, South Carolina, was being treated for …
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24 February
Say Again? White College Students Who Put Bike Lock Around Black Student’s Neck Not Charged With Hate Crime
In another episode of “your daily dose of white privilege,” three white students at California’s San Jose State University avoided hate crime charges after putting a bike lock around a black student’s neck, attempting to lock him in a closet, and referring to him as “three-fifths” of a person, atrocities …
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23 February
Obama Sends Congress Plan For Closing Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility
President Barack Obama released a 17-minute statement on Tuesday and an official document outlining his plan for closing Guantanamo Bay prison. One of the President’s first foreign policy goals after taking office in January 2009 was to end the detentions at the facility on Cuban soil. Republicans in Congress have …
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22 February
Utah Man Rex Iverson Dies In Police Custody After Being Jailed For $2,400 Unpaid Medical Bill
A Utah man died in a jail cell shortly after he was taken into custody for unpaid ambulance bills totaling nearly $2,400. Rex Iverson, 45, died in a Box Elder County Jail in the afternoon of January 23, 2016 while jail staff were elsewhere in the facility preparing for the …
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11 February
Justice for Akai Gurley? –Peter Liang Of NYPD Convicted Of Manslaughter By Jury
A rookie police officer, Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter in Brooklyn today for the Nov. 20, 2014 shooting of Akai Gurley. The prosecution said Liang’s service weapon went off as he and his partner entered a dark stairwell where 28-year-old Gurley was walking with his girlfriend. The bullet ricocheted off …
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11 February
Jury Deliberates Today On Ex-San Jose Cop Accused Of Raping Woman In Her Hotel Room While On Duty
Prosecution of the former San Jose police officer, 40-year-old Geoffrey Graves for raping a woman while on duty began on February 1st before Judge Ron Del Pozzo at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. Today the jury will begin its deliberations. With the help of a Spanish to English …
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10 February
Military Leaders Black Out Information on Guantanamo Bay Hunger Strike
Statistics on hunger strikes and forced feeds through nasal-gastric tubes have long been a useful tool in measuring unrest at Guantanamo Bay detainment facility. At one point in 2013, the military disclosed that over 100 prisoners were on hunger strike and, at the height of their protest, 46 had been force-fed …
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10 February
U.S. Government Sues City Of Ferguson Over Police Reform
The U.S. government and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are tired of waiting on Ferguson to clean up its police department. Today the feds filed a lawsuit against the Missouri City for unconstitutional police misconduct after the Ferguson City Council changed the terms of a deal it had been negotiating with the …