The Bureau never bothered to verify Davis’ stated intentions for the horses or follow up on where the horses were going. The IG also found that the Bureau continued to sell horses to Davis for at least three years—spending $140,000 on their delivery—even after receiving information alleging that Davis was sending the animals out of the country to be killed. The inspector general’s office referred Davis’ case for prosecution, but federal and state officials declined to take action.   read more

Muslim and Arab advocacy groups, who were invited to preview the website, complained the effort to combat violent extremism framed the topic heavily in terms of threats by Islamic groups, even though those groups aren’t the biggest threat to students and schools. The New America research center reported that white supremacists, anti-government fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists had murdered 48 people since the 9/11 attacks. Muslim terrorists had killed 26 Americans during the same period.   read more

Basham said he was unaware that agents were shooting suspects in the back with the Tasers. “I’m not condoning [it],” he said. “If you’re in a highly tense situation, it’s always better than pulling a [gun,] but it’s no excuse.” The agency advised not Tasing anyone more than three times, or cycles, but in at least two cases, individuals received five jolts from the weapon. Two people were shocked while they were handcuffed, and three others died after being hit by Tasers.   read more

Council members adopted a new law making it a crime to show “the female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola, for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification or which is likely to cause affront or alarm.” They said they changed the law because Springfield is “a ‘family friendly’ tourist spot, and the breasts of women undermine this mission.” The law exempts adult entertainment businesses and infant feeding.   read more

More Americans are being legally prevented from suing businesses, and instead are forced into arbitration hearings that prevent individuals from banding together to fight those with deep pockets. These restrictions are often buried in the fine print of contracts, and must be accepted by consumers if they want their phone or new job. Some judges call arbitration clauses a “get out of jail free card” for corporations because they result in plaintiff giving up his or her right to a day in court.   read more

The lawsuit says Austin judges often make no meaningful effort to find out how much defendants can pay and don’t consider how much money they make and how many family members depend on them. The court waived debt in just 11 of more than 600,000 cases from 2011 to 2015. During the same period, the court jailed more than 2,000 people. One woman who was five months pregnant was ordered to perform 30 hours of community service every month foe a year.   read more

State Senate minority leader Jennifer Shilling said the bill was “a gross abuse of political power. Republicans should be less concerned about covering up Governor Walker’s political scandals and more focused on helping hardworking Wisconsin families." Common Cause's Jay Heck said the new law “exempts from the John Doe process crimes that are committed involving elections, campaign finance and ethics. In other words, the crimes that politicians would be most likely to commit."   read more

Toddlers shoot themselves or others almost every week in the U.S. In one recent case, a 2-year-old riding in the backseat of a car in South Carolina discovered a gun and shot his grandmother, who was sitting in the front seat. But there have been many other cases, most involving the toddler killing himself (boys are far more likely to do this; only three of the cases involved girl shooters). Not surprisingly, states with lax gun laws appear to have more shootings by toddlers.   read more

The active ingredient in most sunscreens is responsible for killing coral reefs, according to a new study. The chemical oxybenzone is toxic to coral and it's contained in more than 3,500 sunscreen products. Every year, up to 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotion make their way into coral reef around the world. Much of that discharged lotion contains up to 10% of the chemical. It is estimated that 80% of the coral reefs in the Caribbean have already been lost.   read more

During one 6-month period, 415 Biloxi citizens were jailed due to their inability to pay fines. The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, Qumotria Kennedy, made $9,000 a year as an MGM Park cleaner. When she couldn't pay $400 in back traffic fines—which had grown to more than $1,000 after the probation company fees were added—she was jailed for five days. During most of that time she was not allowed to tell her children where she was, and when she didn’t show up for work, she was fired from her job.   read more

One supervisor “humiliates her subordinates in public with a raised voice to ensure that her words are audible to all... She bullies, issues threats, screams, and uses derogatory names. When she is dissatisfied with an employee for any reason, she ceases communications with and sidelines the employee, leaving him or her with little idea of what is going on. She rants and raves upon hearing an opposing opinion or any opinion that is not her own.”   read more

The company’s own testing shows what kind of pollutants are being dumped: high levels of boron and mercury. “Companies try everything they can to escape the Clean Water Act, and that seems pretty apparent here,” said attorney Tuholske. “They’re trying to create a loophole to irrigate," revealing "a company trying to avoid its responsibility to protect waters from pollution.” The notice also cites unpermitted discharge being dumped directly into Huntington Creek.   read more

The National Marine Fisheries Service, which has resisted supplying documents requested on threats to trout, has had its bluff called by a federal judge. Judge Samuel Conti ordered the service to show why it’s too backlogged to produce documents on Stanford’s “operations and infrastructure that adversely impact steelhead trout," a threatened species. Stanford controls a dam that obstructs steelhead trout from swimming upstream to freshwater habitats in the early stages of their life cycle.   read more

Investigators demanded thousands of pages of medical records be turned over to the state. Among the documents requested were patient lab tests, doctors’ orders, nursing notes, contracts, patient sign-in sheets and appointment books. They also requested employees’ home addresses and phone numbers, as well as their salaries and any bonuses. Planned Parenthood called it a "fishing expedition" that was “politically motivated.” Investigations in other states have shown the group did nothing wrong.   read more

Four workers had been on leave for three years or more with another 17 on leave for two years or more. The 88 were placed on leave for a variety of reasons. Fifty-three were accused of misconduct, 13 had security clearance issues, and 22 may not have been fit for duty. Employees on leave not only collect paychecks, but also build pensions, vacation and sick days and move up the federal pay scale.   read more

One such bonus of $5,000 was paid to a supervisor who, according to the report, “made numerous inappropriate sexual comments [and] asked the assistant to watch pornographic movies." Other bonuses were paid to those who had been involved in sex parties in Colombia or had been found to use prostitutes while on assignment. One regional director who failed to report that subordinates had patronized prostitutes received four performance awards totaling more than $68,000.   read more