Controversies
D.C. Passes Strict—and Unwanted—Gun Law Allowing Concealed Firearms
The Washington D.C. city council voted last Tuesday to establish a permitting process for carrying concealed firearms. It came as a result of a federal judge declaring the District’s laws forbidding civilians to carry weapons unconstitutional because of a 2008 Supreme Court ruling on the subject. read more
Judge Criticizes Customs and Border Protection for Deporting 4-Year-Old U.S. Citizen
Emily Ruiz was 4 years old in 2011 when she went to Guatemala with her grandfather. Their flight home to New York was diverted to Washington. Emily cleared immigration, but officers found irregularities in her grandfather’s papers.Eventually the two were deported to Guatemala. In a suit Emily's father filed, the government is accused of claims of claims of false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. read more
What Chemicals are on Cargo Trains in Minnesota? Don’t Ask
An MPR investigation found there were at least 18 incidents over three years in which BNSF Railway sent freight trains from Minneapolis with dangerous chemicals that weren’t on the train’s manifest. In some instances, the trains were hauling substances such as anhydrous ammonia, a toxic corrosive gas, while traveling through populated areas.
“You’re sending fire and rescue in there...and they could literally walk into an extremely deadly situation,” a BNSF employee said. read more
Majority of Western Voters Oppose State Takeover of National Parks and Forests
Most Americans living in the West don’t support a conservative idea that calls for transferring national parks and other federal lands to state control.
Bipartisan polling found 59% of respondents disagree with the idea of states taking over public lands, fearing such a move would cause them to pay higher taxes and lose access to the lands themselves if they’re sold off to private interests. read more
60 Percent of “Active” Shootings in U.S. End Before Police Arrive
Law enforcement plays no role in stopping the majority of “active shootings” in America, a new federal report shows.
The FBI says that 60% of the time, active shootings end before officers arrive on the scene. In 23% of the incidents studied, the shooter committed suicide before police responded and in 13% of the incidents, unarmed bystanders subdued the shooter. Return fire accounted for few of the resolutions.
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Death Penalty Capital of U.S.: Harris County, Texas
Home to the city of Houston, Harris County has carried out more death penalty cases than any other county in the country. Since 1976, the year capital punishment was reinstated in the U.S., 122 people convicted in Harris County have been executed.
Part of the reason was that its former District Attorney, Johnny Holmes, prosecuted many cases as capital murder. In the 21 years he was in office up to 2000, his office got more than 200 death sentences.
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Media, Bookstores and Photographers Claim Arizona Law Banning Publishing Nude Photos of People without Their Consent Goes Too Far
In the cases of nude model photos, some of the plaintiffs say the models “may have specifically consented to being photographed by the photographers, but not specifically to being distributed by said booksellers,” according to Sarah Jeong.
“This law puts us at risk for prosecution,” said Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore. “There are books on my shelves right now that might be illegal to sell under this law.”
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Homeland Security: A Good Department to Quit
The Department of Homeland Security is a wreck internally, making its job of thwarting terrorism and other threats that more difficult because of low employee morale and high turnover. read more
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Fires Employee of 11 Years Because She’s Running for Office
Viviana Janer worked at Marriott Vacations Worldwide for 11 years as an internal auditor. But that came to an abrupt end this month after she won the Democratic primary for the Osceola County Commission’s District 2 seat. Her superiors told Janer she had a choice: keep her job, or quit the race. She chose to stay in the race. read more
White House Intruder Left His Weapons in His Car, Claimed He was Trying to Help Obama Warn Americans that “Atmosphere was Collapsing”
Gonzalez, a former military sniper, had 800 rounds of ammunition in his car at the time of his attempt to find President Barack Obama. Gonzalez said he wanted to tell the president that the “atmosphere was collapsing” so he could warn the nation.
His vehicle also contained a machete and two hatchets. Gonzalez left all these weapons behind when he climbed the White House fence, and was carrying only a small pocket knife when the U.S. Secret Service apprehended him.
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Pine Ridge Sioux Must Travel 27 Miles from Reservation to Vote
In a lawsuit filed by the Oglala Sioux, plaintiffs claim the lack of an election office on reservation land has forced Pine Ridge tribal members to travel at least 27 miles to Kadoka to register for voting and to vote.
And that’s the struggle for Sioux who own a car. Federal census data reportedly shows 25% of reservation residents have no access to an automobile. read more
Police Departments Investigated for Civil Rights Abuses Still Get Free Military Weapons
The Los Angeles Police Department received more than 1,600 M16 assault rifles even though the LAPD was under the supervision of a federal monitor until just last year following accusations of excessive force, false arrests and unreasonable searches.
Warren, Ohio, reached a settlement in 2012 with the U.S. Department of Justice for excessive force and illegal searches, but is expected to receive 30 M16 rifles.
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Appeals Court Throws Out Child Porn Conviction over Illegal Navy Surveillance of Private Citizens
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was forced to throw out the conviction of a man caught distributing child pornography because the case was initiated by Naval investigators randomly searching computers in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military acting as a civilian police force. NCIS agent Steve Logan's excuse for searching all computers in Washington was that the state has a high percentage of military personnel. read more
Prosecutions for Environmental Crimes Decline under Obama
Last year, there were 449 prosecutions for environmental crimes. That’s less than half the 927 prosecutions initiated in 2007, toward the end of the Bush administration. And the trend line is falling; there were 271 prosecutions in the first nine months of this fiscal year. If cases are filed at the current rate, that would result in only 361 for 2014, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. read more
VA Official Says Delays Did Lead to Deaths at Phoenix Medical Center
Acting VA Inspector General Richard Griffin stood by the report, while saying its wording allowed for the possibility that care delays caused the deaths. “A careful reading would show that in some of those cases, we say that they might have lived longer,” Griffin said.
The admission could make it a bit easier for those who have filed suit against the VA for the deaths, particularly for cases that don’t go to trial.
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Texas Appeals Court Dismisses Law Banning Upskirt and Downblouse Photographing in Public Places
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 8-1 that concerns about “upskirting” or “downblousing” cannot trump the rights of free speech under the First Amendment. Such photography, the justices wrote, is “inherently expressive” and therefore protected just like paintings, movies and books. The challenge to the law came from Ronald Thompson, who was charged with 26 counts of improper photography when he took underwater pictures of children swimming at a San Antonio water park. read more