The last three domestic slaughterhouses in the U.S. closed in 2007. Since then, unwanted horses have been shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. In 2012, 68,429 horses were shipped to Mexico and 64,652 to Canada. Lawmakers in Washington decided to allow horse slaughtering again after they learned that the animals sent over the borders were subjected to horrible conditions that were documented by the Humane Society.   read more

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), which is helping the group, said the appellate decision marked the first time a court has affirmed Americans’ ability to sue the military for violating their First Amendment (freedom of speech and assembly) and Fourth Amendment (freedom from unreasonable search and seizure) rights.   read more

Next year the LA City Council will vote on a plan to prohibit circuses from using elephants in shows. Pushed by animal rights advocates, the ban would mostly affect The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which has been bringing Asian elephants to the city since 1919.   read more

According to “No Room at the Inn: Trends and Consequences of Closing Public Psychiatric Hospitals,” a study by the Treatment Advocacy Center, per capita state psychiatric bed populations plunged in 2010 to 14 beds per 100,000 population, identical to 1850, when the movement to treat seriously mentally ill persons in hospitals began. The number peaked at 300 beds per 100,000 in 1950, and has been declining ever since.   read more

Abbate tried to intimidate Obrycka into giving him the videotape, which she refused to do. Then, a city official who was friends with Abbate tried to bribe the victim by offering to pay for her medical bills, as long as she didn’t press charges. Abbate was initially charged with misdemeanor battery. But after Obrycka released the video to the media, the district attorney elevated the charge to aggravated battery. Abbate was convicted in June 2009.   read more

NHTSA officials say expanding the use of the data recorders in all new cars and trucks will help them better assess the cause of accidents. The boxes have heretofore recorded a vehicle’s speed, its location and total number of passengers at the time of an accident. There will now be a requirement that 15 types of data be recorded. Privacy advocates don’t want the data in the black boxes to be used by marketers.   read more

Especially upsetting to some is the scene in ZD30 that shows an older prisoner indicating he’ll talk to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)—and provide key intelligence that will ultimately lead to locating bin Laden—as long as his interrogators agree not to torture him anymore. This event as portrayed in the film didn’t happen in real life, despite Bigelow’s assertion that her film is a “journalistic account” of what took place to get the most hated terrorist in the world.   read more

The documents show that FBI agents began spying on Occupy organizers as early as August 2011, a month before demonstrators camped out in—and were eventually evicted from—Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, site of the movement’s public birthplace. In one memo, an FBI agent expressed concern that the Occupy movement could become “an outlet for a lone offender exploiting the movement for reasons associated with general government dissatisfaction.”   read more

If they could afford bail, they would most likely never spend any length of time incarcerated. That’s because about 95% of all jail inmates are never given prison sentences after being convicted. Instead, the vast majority of those arrested and found guilty wind up serving probation or (for drug offenders) going into rehab. In some jurisdictions, it would appear that unaffordable bail is used as a form of unofficial punishment.   read more

Even after that gift from Judge Streitfeld, Philip Morris still appealed the reduced judgment—and recently got Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal, which had affirmed the verdict in June, to reverse itself and throw out the award entirely. The appeals court now says Naugle must face a new trial to determine damages, which will take months, if not years, to complete.   read more

Energy companies would have to inform the state what chemicals were being injected into the ground, but a giant loophole would allow them to keep private any chemicals they deemed “trade secrets.” There is no process explicitly laid out for appeals by property owners who oppose the fracking, and well operators wouldn’t be required to collect pollution data that could be used to gauge environmental effects.   read more

The appellate panel tossed a key charge against McRae, who admitted to burning Glover’s body. The justices said there was “insufficient evidence to convict McRae of denying Glover's descendants and survivors the right of access to court.” But the court upheld the remaining convictions against McRae for use of fire to commit a felony, obstruction of a federal investigation, and denying a man a right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure.   read more

Republicans have grown to despise the NLRB, claiming it has turned itself into an advocate for labor unions. This is actually not that surprising considering that the NLRB since that was its purpose when it was created in 1935. Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whenever Republicans have occupied the White House, they have appointed NLRB members who leaned more towards the employers than towards the employees.   read more

Carpio-Leon, who had lived in the U.S. without authorization for 13 years, claimed he had the right to keep firearms around to protect his home and family. The justices concluded that the Second Amendment right to bear arms does not extend to illegal immigrants because the amendment only applies to “law-abiding citizens” and they are not law-abiding citizens.   read more

The publication of the report in The Journal of the American Medical Association occurs six months after cancer was added to the list of sicknesses covered by the $4.3 billion World Trade Center Health Program, designed to treat and compensate 9/11 survivors who suffer health problems caused by the event. The lack of evidence linking cancer to toxic debris from the twin towers’ collapse undermines the government’s decision to include cancer on the list and prompts questions about its coverage.   read more

Clients of ID Analytics, a subsidiary of Arizona-based LifeLock (since March) that specializes in credit analysis, include the top five credit card issuers, top four wireless carriers, auto lenders and other big companies. ID Analytics looked at 1 billion applications for bank cards, store credit cards and wireless service over a nearly four-year period.   read more