Controversies

Can Voting Machines be Hacked? No Problem

At least four 2012 swing states–Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, and Florida–rely at least partially on machines that produce no paper ballot and are thus even easier to hack. Those four states account for 71 electoral votes in the presidential race, more than one-quarter of the 270 needed for victory. In Pennsylvania, 80% of voters will use paperless systems to cast their ballots, and in Virginia almost 75%. read more

National Security Agency on Right to Spy on Everyone: Just Trust Us

Those suing the NSA are telephone service customers who claim something needs to be done to check the government’s unlimited authority to monitor any person’s communications. In addition to claiming it will only use the TSP when necessary, the NSA is refusing to turn over evidence related to what plaintiffs say is a warrantless “dragnet’ surveillance of U.S. citizens. read more

Websites Charge $400 to Remove Mugshots of Innocent People from Internet

Calling the practice “extortion,” Columbia, South Carolina, councilman and defense attorney Seth Rose recently struck a blow against websites that post booking photos—aka mugshots—taken by police and local jails and then charge for their removal, even when the individuals in the photos were never formally charged, much less convicted, of any crime. read more

State Judge Orders Montana Governor Candidate to Stop Using Disputed Campaign Donation

At issue is $500,000 contributed to Rick Hill by the Republican Governors Association through the state Republican Party. The money was delivered in early October, after U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell threw out the state’s contribution limits, . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the limits a six days later, on October 9. Hill contends it was legal to accept the half a million dollars while the limits were nullified. read more

U.S. Accuses Meridian, Mississippi, in First “School-to-Prison Pipeline” Lawsuit

Children have been jailed for committing minor offenses, including school disciplinary infractions such as farting in class and wearing the wrong colored clothing. A seven-month investigation uncovered numerous illegalities, including children being arrested in school and incarcerated for days at a time without a probable cause hearing. Also, it was revealed that children had made confessions without being read their Miranda rights and having a chance to waive those rights. read more

Fracking Industry Fights Federal Regulation, Preferring Less Well-Funded States

Under new rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, drillers must inform Washington via email two days before they extract natural gas through fracking. Industry lobbyists are attempting to eliminate the new rule, so that drillers can go back to dealing just with state governments. The problem with this development is that state regulators often lack the necessary funding to properly protect the public from the dangers associated with fracking. read more

Capital One Accused of Tricking Credit Card Holders into Losing Payment Grace Period

But hidden in the terms is this caveat: Authorizing a debt transfer can result in customers losing their 25-day grace period on new balances resulting from purchases made with their Capitol One cards. This results in high interest rates being immediately applied to outstanding balances, according to the plaintiffs. Capital One also charges a fee of 2%-3% of the transferred amount. read more

EPA Sued for not Enforcing State Air Quality Report Deadlines

In March 2008, the EPA updated the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone to 0.075 parts per million. States then had until March 12, 2011, to submit their revised implementation strategies and the EPA then had six months to issue findings of “failure to submit.” Judge Gonzalez Rogers gave the EPA until January 4, 2012 to submit the findings it was supposed to have submitted in September. read more

Georgia Accused of Creating White Cities in Majority Black Counties

Fulton County is 44.5% black and 40.9% white, while DeKalb is 54.4% black and 30.1% white, according to the 2010 Census. Sandy Springs is 78% white and 12% black; Milton is 72.4% white and 9% black; Johns Creek is 59.9% white and 9.2% black; Chattahoochee Hills is 65.7% white and 27.4% black; Dunwoody is 64.1% white and 12.6% black; and Brookhaven is 47.7% white and 10.9% black. All are also wealthier than the counties at large. read more

Florida Government Reluctant to Help Foreclosed Homeowners and Unemployed

Florida received a sizeable sum of money ($300 million) as part of a national settlement with five large banks to resolve allegations of wrongful foreclosures and other mortgage servicing abuses. But six months later, the Sunshine State is sitting on this money, due to a disagreement between state Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi and the GOP-controlled legislature. Bondi wants to make the funds available to homeowners, while lawmakers insist it go into the state budget read more

Florida almost Executes a Paranoid Schizophrenic Whose Belief he is the Immortal Prince of God is “Relatively Normal”

His attorneys insist that Ferguson is not competent because he believes he is the Prince of God and that he will ascend to the right hand of God and his body will return to Earth after his execution so that he can save the United States from a communist plot. Bradford County Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge David Glant agreed that Ferguson’s delusions were “genuine.” But Glant also decided the delusions were not “significantly different than beliefs other Christians may hold.” read more

Climate Change Sends Big Agribusiness Companies North to Buy Land to Plant Grain

Suggesting that climate “volatility can be an opportunity,” Cargill CEO Greg Page explained last year that “The big part of our business is the physical handling of tens of millions of tons of food. If we believe the world is headed toward a varied weather pattern, those services become more important.” read more

Chicagoland Police Hit with Torture and Forced Confession Lawsuits

Between 1972 and 1991, Burge and the officers under his commands forced confessions from literally hundreds of black males, some of them juveniles, by slamming telephone books on top of suspect’s heads, using a cattle prod or a violet wand to shock their faces, anuses and genitals, engaging in mock executions, putting plastic bags over their heads, cigarette burnings and severe beatings. read more

More than 40% of D.C. Murders Remain Unsolved

From 1991 to 2011, the annual number of murders in DC dropped significantly, from 482 to 108. But about 43% of all homicide cases from 2000 to last year remain unsolved (1,006 out of 2,294). And less than a third of cases have led to a conviction for murder or manslaughter, according to an investigation by The Washington Post. In 15% of cases, the case is closed without an arrest. read more

Virginia Health Commissioner Resigns over New Abortion Clinic Regulations

Among the 46 pages of regulations are ones that dictate the size of examination rooms and hallways in clinic buildings, require the installation of hands-free faucets on sinks with at least 10 inches between the faucet and the bottom of the sink, require that computer servers be placed in a separate room and that water coolers be installed in lobbies. The clinics have two years to make the changes. read more

Mitt Romney’s Mysterious 6 Tax Plan Studies

Only two of the six “studies” are really studies at all. Three are online articles and one is an op-ed that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. The author of one study, Martin Feldstein, an advisor to the Romney campaign, said that it was “impossible to calculate the exact effects of the future reforms since Gov. Romney hasn't specified what he would do.” read more