Controversies

Unions Not Fit to be Covered by TV News

When Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), gave a speech to express the NRA’s official position on the tragedy, he received extensive national media coverage. However, little attention was given to the fact that the six teachers who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School were members of the Newtown Federation of Teachers Local 1727. The NRA has about 4 million members, while 14.4 million Americans belong to labor unions. read more

One Company has Monopoly on Database of Cancer-Related DNA

Even if the Supreme Court strikes down Myriad's patents, however, critics point out that the company will still own the largest database of genetic mutations and what they mean—and Myriad stopped sharing the information in the database eight years ago. read more

IRS Accused of Ignoring Ruling Requiring Warrants to Spy on Email

An earlier IRS document from 2009 showed the agency’s disregard for the Fourth Amendment, which protects against illegal searches. But the Criminal Tax Division at the IRS claimed in an internal handbook that in general “the Fourth Amendment does not protect communications held in electronic storage, such as email messages stored on a server.” read more

House Committee Holds Hearing on Air Travel Security…Flight Attendants not Invited

Among those who were invited to testify were representatives of the American Association of Airport Executives; the Express Association of America, which lobbies for DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT; and Airlines for America, whose mission is to “foster a business and regulatory environment that ensures safe and secure air transportation and enables U.S. airlines to flourish.” read more

Mysterious Racehorse Deaths on California Tracks

Nineteen horses died suddenly of no apparent cause during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, according to the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB). Another 17 have similarly died in the months since. Only six such deaths occurred in 2010-2011 and four the year before that. Several trainers told The New York Times they have never lost a horse to a heart attack or under these kinds of mysterious circumstances. read more

Immigration Officials Ordered to Speak to Accused in Native Language during Raids

ICE will have to gain permission to enter and investigate a home, and if possible, communicate with the residents in their native language. In cases involving Spanish-speaking suspects, ICE teams must include Spanish-speaking agents. The agency also must obtain consent in order to enter other parts of a home, such as a backyard. read more

Exxon Found Guilty (again) in Longest State Trial in New Hampshire History

After going through the longest state trial in New Hampshire’s history, a jury took less than 90 minutes to find Exxon Mobil Corp. guilty of contaminating groundwater supplies with the gasoline additive MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). Not only was the trial, which lasted three months, the state’s longest, but it also yielded the largest civil verdict: $236 million. read more

Air Force General who Overturned Sexual Assault Conviction Says Accused was Too Good a Husband and Father to be Guilty

When the testimony of Wilkerson and his wife were in conflict, Franklin interpreted this as proof that they had not colluded in creating a cover story. Wilkerson was convicted by an all-male jury of raping a woman while she slept in his home. He was sentenced to a year in the brig and discharged from the Air Force. Franklin used his authority to overturn the court’s decision, which allowed the accused to return to active duty. read more

All U.S. Nuclear Reactors Have Unfixable Safety Problems, Warns Former NRC Chairman

The United States has a serious problem with every nuclear reactor currently in operation, requiring that they be replaced or shut down, according to Dr. Gregory B. Jaczko, former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Reactor fuel continues to generate heat after a chain reaction is shut down and it is this problem that led to the Fukushima meltdown in Japan. read more

Seafood Company Accused of Allowing Union Organizer to be Killed on Conveyor

Christopher Hebert, 24, died at Omega Protein’s Moss Point fish-processing plant on April 9, 2012. According to the lawsuit, Hebert was ordered to perform welding work inside a giant rotating screw conveyor without being informed that it was operational. While he was inside the single screw conveyor, a supervisor ordered another employee to turn on the conveyor. Hebert was dragged feet first into the machinery and screamed for help. His last words were, “I’m dead!” read more

Last Few Alabama Abortion Clinics May Close under New State Law

Beginning in July, doctors who perform abortions must have hospital admitting privileges, under the new law. Currently, there are only five licensed abortion clinics operating in Alabama, and none of them hire doctors with hospital admitting privileges. Pro-choice advocates say it is unnecessary for clinics to have doctors working at hospitals because so few abortions these days result in medical emergencies (about one out of 160,000 procedures). read more

Large Numbers of Americans Think Existing Guns Laws are Stronger than They Really Are

A majority of respondents stated their belief that it is illegal to sell guns to people on the terrorist watch list. In fact, there is no law in place banning such sales. (The General Accountability Office reported that 247 people on that list purchased weapons after passing a background check in 2010.) One-third of those polled incorrectly thought that federal law requires merchants to inform authorities when someone purchases large amounts of ammunition in a short period of time. read more

Stealth Return of Debtors’ Prison in Ohio

Ohio’s habit of jailing the poor flies in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 30 years ago that it is unconstitutional to imprison debtors because they cannot pay court fines or fees. “Nonetheless, many courts throughout the state are simply ignoring the law and routinely incarcerating people multiple times for failing to pay their fines,” Mike Brickner of the ACLU’s Ohio chapter wrote. read more

Court Orders Federal Election Commission to Stop Stonewalling Information Requests

FEC officials, supported by the Department of Justice, turned over 835 pages to CREW, but refused to specify what documents were still in its possession, and said it would keep the matter open indefinitely, which they claimed prevented CREW from filing an appeal with an administrative body that handles FOIA matters. read more

Study of 440,000+ Shows Eating Processed Meat Leads to Increase in Death from Heart Disease and Cancer

More than 448,000 men and women from ten European countries age 35-70 were included in the study, which tracked the participants long enough to note that 26,344 had died by 2009. The researchers concluded that their “analysis support a moderate positive association between processed meat consumption and mortality, in particular due to cardiovascular diseases, but also to cancer.” read more

Indiana Supreme Court Rules Tax Money Can be Used to Support Religious Schools; Voucher System Proceeds

Although school voucher opponents, including the teachers’ union and parents, argued that the program was unconstitutional because nearly all the voucher money has gone to religious schools, the court held that that was irrelevant as long as the money makes a brief stop in the hands of parents before arriving at the religious school or madrasa of their choice. read more