Farms will have to post no-entry signs when fields are doused with the most toxic pesticides. Farmers also will have to maintain a 100-foot buffer zone around pesticide application equipment to protect workers from exposure and overspraying. Farm owners and their immediate families will be exempt from the rules. Between 1,800 and 3,000 people suffer from pesticide exposure each year at farm operations that will be covered by these rules.   read more

The effort to drill deep under the Arctic Ocean has long been fraught with problems, from lawsuits by environmentalists to losing a ship as a result of the rough seas and unpredictable weather. But the deciding factor for pulling the plug on its 9-year undertaking was the outcome of this summer’s exploratory drilling. The Burger J well that Shell was tapping into didn’t produce the oil it was hoping for, leading the company’s top official, CEO Ben van Beurden, to call a halt to its plans.   read more

Anti-homeless laws have been growing in number in some states. In Washington the total has increased more than 50% since 2000, reported researchers. California has more than 500 such ordinances, and those are on the books in 58 cities alone, according to a recent study. “Criminalization of homelessness is already more expensive than providing housing, but those costs—from keeping people in jail to increased emergency room visits—are often hidden,” said attorney Eric Tars.   read more

OpenTheGovernment.org listed in a complaint (pdf) five areas of concern that have been classified or redacted from the version of the Senate’s torture report executive summary. --The names of countries that hosted torture sites, even though some of those countries’ governments have acknowledged this and even paid compensation to those tortured. --Details about torture sites, dates of transfer between prisons and descriptions of those inflicting the torture have been kept secret.   read more

Rogue plantings of genetically engineered (GE) wheat were found in two states where they weren’t expected to be in 2013 and 2014. As a result, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is requesting comments on a proposal to force companies to obtain permits for testing genetically engineered wheat, rather than simply notifying the agency that it’s doing so.   read more

A 1954 state law banning so-called gravity knives, a cousin of the switchblade, has been twisted by New York City police to include almost any kind of foldable knife that can be opened with the flick of the wrist. Even some old and worn down pocket knives fit that description when in the hands of a cop who is skilled at flicking open knives and is looking to make an arrest. That broad interpretation has landed about 60,000 people—the vast majority black and Latino—in court since 2003.   read more

The Restaurant Action Alliance and a coalition of manufacturers, recyclers and restaurants, sued the city in April to halt the ban. They claim it is possible to recycle the containers—a contention environmentalists disagree with. “These products cause real environmental harm, and we need to be able to prevent nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from entering our landfills, streets and waterways," said de Blasio spokeswoman Ishanee Parikh.   read more

“The findings, several legal experts said, support the argument that the death penalty is arbitrary and unconstitutional because politics...influence the outcome of an appeal,” Reuters’ Levine and Cooke wrote. They added that, according to Yale's Stephen Bright, “courts have a responsibility to protect a defendant’s constitutional rights without political pressure, especially when the person’s life is at stake.” Said Bright: “It’s the difference between the rule of law and the rule of the mob.”   read more

Killers of black men have been executed in only 3 cases out of 12,949 homicides since 1976. “Being a victim of homicide in Louisiana is heavily dependent on race, gender, and age," wrote the authors. "Young black males have extremely high rates of homicide victimization compared to other categories. However, the death penalty is used only very rarely in those cases.” They couldn't find a single case “in the entire history of Louisiana where a white person was executed for killing a black male.”   read more

“When I escaped, I was recaptured, bleeding and crying, and taken back to be raped again,” Vang recalled. “I thought my body, my life and my future were ruined forever.” The rapes resulted in Vang becoming pregnant, and her traditional Hmong parents demanded she marry Prataya, who is now in his 50s. The couple moved to Minnesota along with Vang’s father. Once in the U.S., Prataya threatened to keep Vang from seeing their child unless she agreed to continue to have sex with him.   read more

Twenty-five walruses, including 12 babies, were found dead last week on a remote shore in Alaska. Officials suspect poachers may be to blame. The carcasses were spotted near Cape Lisburne, about 50 miles north of Point Hope in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The animals showed signs of being shot, and many had their heads removed. Poachers prize walrus tusks for their ivory, leading to suspicions that the animals were killed intentionally.   read more

Judge Soble found Gerawan had given preferential treatment to workers, allowing them to pass out literature during the workday but preventing the union from distributing its own materials. UFW claimed Lopez “received a $20,000 donation from the Fresno-based California Fresh Fruit Association to assist with ‘travel expenses.’ Sobel cited Gerawan’s complicity: ‘There is powerful circumstantial evidence to suggest that the company knew about this donation beforehand."   read more

The IRS says it struggled to keep up with the call volume in light of the budget cuts imposed by the Republican-controlled Congress this decade. The agency has endured five consecutive years of budget reductions that have stripped $1.2 billion from its operations. The cuts have forced the IRS to eliminate more than 18,000 full-time and seasonal positions while it has had to deal with a growing number of taxpayers filing returns and new responsibilities created by the Affordable Care Act.   read more

VW used a computer algorithm to fool emissions testing equipment on hundreds of thousands of cars since 2009. EPA's Cynthia Giles said the cars emit as much as 40 times the level of pollutants allowed under law, posing a public health threat. “The software was designed to conceal the cars’ emission of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that contributes to the creation of ozone and smog, which are linked to a range of health problems, including asthma attacks...and premature death,” said the Times.   read more

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that the city can allow gun owners to be fingerprinted and photographed, complete a firearms safety training course and pay specified fees. The ruling also requires rifles and shotguns be registered along with handguns. The court approved fingerprinting, along with the $35 fee charged by the city, because the judges said it can keep people from obtaining firearms by using a counterfeit driver’s license.   read more

The delays in confirmation mean that many courts are woefully understaffed. Some of the seats have been open for more than a year and a few for as many as three years. Republicans claim they are only doing with President Barack Obama’s nominees what the Democrats did to George W. Bush’s, but the numbers show that’s just not true. In the last two years of the Bush administration, with a Senate controlled by Democrats, 68 judges were confirmed.   read more