MSNBC: President Biden outshines Trump and Obama by appointing public defenders to judgeships.
Marijuana Moment: Michigan marijuana sales broke another record in July. Andrew Brisbo, executive director of Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), touted the $128 million in adult-use sales and $43 million in medical cannabis purchases in July, saying, “Another record month!” The prior month saw $107 million recreation marijuana sales and $42 million for medical cannabis. For July, the total sales translates into $23 million in tax revenue, some of which will go to infrastructure projects, public education and individual jurisdictions. The Hill: Dems turn to state courts as redistricting battles heat up. NBC: Hope fades for congressional deal on police reform. The Hill: Texas Supreme Court upholds governor's ban on mask mandates. Bipartisan negotiators aren't giving up, but they are increasingly talking about abandoning thornier issues and moving forward with a slimmed-down bill that would accomplish the pieces of police reform that already have consensus.
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CNN: Federal judge orders President Biden to reinstate Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy.
MJBizDaily: Screwed up raid costs legal marijuana grow millions of dollars. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dems file Wisconsin redistricting lawsuit.
KPIX: California Supreme Court says incarceration people can't have recreational marijuana. The justices said the 2019 appellate court ruling allowing prisoners to have up to 1 ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana went against common sense. The high court sided with the state attorney general in finding the state’s marijuana law approved by voters did not apply to Californians in prison. The Providence Journal: Marijuana pipe makers celebrated for their art. Democracy Docket: Learning from Brnovich. This should be a wake-up call. How can Congress protect democracy with a high court hostile to voting rights? SCOTUSblog: Another religious liberty case heads to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission v. Woods, the justices are faced with a free exercise question regarding the rights of religious nonprofits to hire individuals who share in their beliefs. Slate: Three Trump Big Lie conspiracy helpers are in big trouble.
On Wednesday, a Trump-appointed judge spanked three Trump boosters for spreading Trump’s lies in a ruling that could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. District Judge Carl J. Nichols crafted a blistering opinion allowing three defamation lawsuits filed by Dominion Voting Systems against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Trump’s lawyers, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, to move forward to trial. Nichols’ opinion sets forth the false claims peddled by each of the three defendants, then picks apart the evidence they used to support it. The resulting decision—which suggests that Dominion might satisfy even the high bar set for defamation claims from public figures about political contests—is a beatdown. It was a small wonder on Thursday that Alan Dershowitz, appearing at Lindell’s MyPillow Symposium, denounced the Dominion suit as the “new McCarthyism.” If you are not free to lie brazenly about everything, always, causing untold financial and institutional ruin, what liberty can possibly remain? CNN: Parents of 337 children separated at border under Trump still cannot be found. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Supreme Court accepts Journal Sentinel's open records lawsuit over Wisconsin business COVID data. Law and Crime: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejects challenge to Indiana University's COVID vaccine requirement. “With a third ruling, now from the nation’s highest court, affirming Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, we look forward to beginning fall semester with our health and safety policies in place,” the university’s spokesman Chuck Carney told Law&Crime in an email. “We are grateful to those who have stepped up to protect themselves and others; 85% of our students, faculty and staff are approaching full vaccination.” Led by lead plaintiff Ryan Klaassen, the eight students argued that the vaccine mandates violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution, a theory that has failed before every court that heard it. The emphatic defeats had not been unexpected, since the Supreme Court has found vaccine mandates legal for more than a century. AP: Gun law rollbacks by conservatives continue despite police opposition. NJ: Smith & Wesson must give to New Jersey internal documents showing how the firm markets guns, judge says.
Courthouse News: Federal appeals court strikes down part of Iowa "ag-gag rule" but upholds another. An Iowa law that makes it a crime to lie on an employment application to enter an agricultural production facility to expose animal abuse violates the First Amendment, the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday. However, the St. Louis-based appeals court found a separate provision of the state law, which criminalizes the act of entering animal facilities under false pretenses, does not violate the U.S. Constitution. CNN: Chief Justice John Roberts and the U.S. Supreme Court could block anything the Democrats try to do on voting rights. Slate: Trump judges keep whining about cancel culture. Brennan Center for Justice: Courts have been hiding behind national security for too long. But the Supreme Court’s overall response to the 20-year “war on terror” reflects judicial abdication more than intervention. The result, in many cases, has been that victims of human rights violations receive no acknowledgment of harm, while security agencies remain unconstrained by legal precedent or the fear of judicial rebuke. The core justifications for “national security deference” are unsound. Moreover, both the implications and origins of these ideas are racially fraught: the effects of national security deference fall largely on perceived racial and religious outsiders, while racial considerations shaped the very formation of the doctrines and help sustain them today. With the Supreme Court ideologically committed to national security deference, reform will require congressional action and broader public pressure. By Margo Kirchner Chief Buffalo was instrumental in the transfer of approximately one-third of Wisconsin from Indigenous Americans to the United States while retaining his people’s rights to live on reserved land and to hunt, fish, and gather. Chief Buffalo (also known as Great Buffalo, Kechewaishke, Gitchi waisky, or Pezheke) negotiated and signed a series of land-cession treaties between the Lake Superior Anishinaabe (also known as the Chippewa or Ojibwe) and the United States between 1837 and 1854. By the mid-1800s, Chief Buffalo was chief of all Lake Superior Anishinaabe and their lead treaty negotiator. He is best known for ensuring that the Anishinaabe would stay on their lands, even if those lands were significantly reduced in size, rather than move west of the Mississippi River. His work shaped the map of Wisconsin today, as the treaties he signed passed most of northern Wisconsin into United States control and eventually to White landowners. Chief Buffalo pursued a peaceful resolution despite treachery by the U.S. government that left about 400 Anishinaabe dead. While one could argue that the Anishinaabe relinquished too much in the treaties, Rob Goslin, a tribal elder of the Red Cliff Band of Anishinaabe and a historical interpreter for the Madeline Island Museum, confirms Chief Buffalo’s favorable place in his people’s history. Goslin says that Chief Buffalo knew changes were occurring as traders and settlers moved into northern Wisconsin, and he saw the issue as how to live among the new settlers rather than how to fight their presence. Goslin points to a saying he uses as a tribal elder and historical interpreter, which sums up Chief Buffalo’s thinking: “Teaching stays the same but the culture we live in changes.” When changes occur, “we have to live as we are today,” he says, and that was Chief Buffalo’s position. Chief Buffalo did the best he could with the situation before him, says Goslin. “He did his very best to look in the interest of his people.” Born in or about 1749 at La Pointe on Madeline Island (one of the Apostle Islands in southwestern Lake Superior), Chief Buffalo was a member of the Loon Clan, from which the highest-level chieftains of the Lake Superior Anishinaabe were chosen. Chief Buffalo rose to become what Goslin calls the “first chief” or “ultimate chief.” Several sources reference Chief Buffalo’s skill as a negotiator. An obituary of Chief Buffalo remarked that he was “noted for his rare integrity, wisdom in council, power as an orator, and magnanimity as a warrior.” Anishinaabe government was based on consensus, says Goslin, so Chief Buffalo had to discuss and mediate issues with the other clans’ chiefs as well as with the United States. The Minnesota chiefs in particular did not always agree with him. But in treaty negotiations, Chief Buffalo ultimately led the discussions. “He was a talker,” Goslin says. The Anishinaabe lived by hunting and trapping; fishing in Lake Superior, other lakes, and streams; gathering wild rice; and tapping maple trees for syrup. As European fur traders arrived in what is now northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and Minnesota, the Anishinaabe traded and intermarried with them. While other Anishinaabe tribal leaders urged physical aggression to resist the United States’ land acquisitions, Chief Buffalo relied on nonviolent negotiations and advocated for peace. Goslin says “that was one of the unique things about him—he was against bloodshed.” In the 1837 Treaty with the Chippewas, signed at St. Peters in Minnesota, and the 1842 Treaty with the Chippewas, signed at La Pointe, the Anishinaabe ceded land in eastern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The portion of ceded land in Wisconsin alone totaled more than 22,000 square miles. In exchange, the Anishinaabe received certain sums to pay debts plus annual payments in cash and supplies for 20 (1837 treaty) and 25 (1842 treaty) years. The Anishinaabe retained their rights to hunt, fish, and gather on the ceded land, rivers, and lakes. Chief Buffalo participated in the 1837 and 1842 treaty negotiations and signed both treaties as chief of the La Pointe band of Anishinaabe. Historical reports indicate that the Anishinaabe believed they had sold only rights to timber and copper rather than the land itself, permanently. Ronald N. Satz, in Chippewa Treaty Rights: The Reserved Rights of Wisconsin’s Chippewa Indians in Historical Perspective, cites evidence that the acting superintendent of Indian affairs for the area assured the chiefs at the treaty council that they would not be asked to leave ceded lands for many years as long as they were peaceful and well-behaved. In a letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs in 1850, Chief Buffalo and other Anishinaabe chiefs recalled that during negotiations for the 1842 treaty, government officials said that the United States wanted the mineral rights to the land, not to settle it, and that the Anishinaabe would be able to live on their lands for 50 or even 100 years. They believed that although they had ceded their lands, they could remain living, hunting, and fishing there. United States officials thought otherwise. A new administration in the White House in 1845 brought a new commissioner of Indian affairs who wanted to move the Anishinaabe and others to a northern “Indian colony” to assist in westward expansion. As noted by Richard D. Cornell in The Chippewa: Biography of a Wisconsin Waterway, the commissioner also suggested evicting the Anishinaabe from northern Wisconsin to promote their “civilization.” The situation became dire in February 1850, when President Zachary Taylor revoked all hunting and fishing rights in the ceded territory and ordered the Anishinaabe to move from their lands around Lake Superior to west of the Mississippi River. Such removal would have taken the Anishinaabe away from their homelands and placed them in close proximity to the Dakota (also known as the Sioux), with whom the Anishinaabe had conflicted for more than a century. Chief Buffalo and other chiefs opposed to removal sent messengers to villages throughout their lands to confirm that the Anishinaabe had committed no incidents of aggression against White communities that could have justified removal. To push the Anishinaabe west, a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent and the territorial governor of Minnesota moved the location of the annual treaty payments of cash and supplies from La Pointe, Wisconsin, to Sandy Lake, Minnesota, and set the delivery for October 1850. The officials required all Anishinaabe families to appear to receive the payments, hoping to lure them to Minnesota and strand them there for the winter and possibly permanently. At least 3,000 Anishinaabe traveled hundreds of miles westward to Sandy Lake for the annuity payment. But when they arrived they found rancid and inadequate food, few supplies, and no cash payments. The Anishinaabe suffered six weeks of hunger and terrible conditions waiting for the annuity payments (which never arrived) before walking home, as winter had set in and rivers had frozen. About 170 Anishinaabe died at Sandy Lake from disease and starvation and another 230 died on the journey home. In November 1851 Chief Buffalo and several other Anishinaabe chiefs and headmen wrote to the commissioner of Indian affairs complaining of the acts of the Indian agent in Wisconsin as a “great deception towards us,” describing the suffering at Sandy Lake, asking that future annuity payments be made at La Pointe, and asking permission to send a delegation to Washington, D.C.
Receiving no response to the request, in spring 1852, at age 93, Chief Buffalo set out to negotiate in person with U.S. President Millard Fillmore. (Taylor died in July 1850.) The party had not received permission for the journey from Washington officials, which was legally required at the time. Chief Buffalo, another leader named Oshoga, and four other Anishinaabe chiefs or braves, accompanied by translator Benjamin Armstrong (a White man who had married into Chief Buffalo’s family), traveled from La Pointe across Lake Superior in birchbark canoes. Along the way, they stopped at settlements and obtained petitions of support from the White community. When the party reached Sault St. Marie, Michigan, government officials tried to block their travel, saying Indians were not allowed to pass that point without permission from Washington. However, Chief Buffalo and his delegation persuaded the officials to let them pass. They traveled by steamer to Detroit, where another government official tried to hold them up. Undeterred, the party traveled by steamer to Buffalo, then by train and steamer to New York City and Washington. Wisconsin State Journal: Gov. Evers vetoes bills that would have put new restrictions on voting.
The bills would have made significant changes to Wisconsin elections, such as requiring most people who are “indefinitely confined” — unable to get to the polls by themselves — to provide a photo ID to vote. The legislation would also have required all people who vote absentee to present a photo ID every time they vote, not just the first time. GOP lawmakers have said their election bills would help build trust in elections, but they were panned by Democrats and many other organizations, including disability rights advocates. Some of the measures failed to get full Republican support. The Hill: Police and the public will benefit from ending qualified immunity. CBS Minnesota: Gun group sues for right to carry guns at Minnesota State Fair. Wisconsin Examiner: What does it cost to be sued by WILL? Those lawsuits can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and strain government insurance policies as local government agencies defend themselves against the litigation. The suits have included challenging the use of drop boxes for receiving absentee ballots; school districts’ referring to students by their preferred gender identity; public health orders and an ordinance requiring buildings be constructed with bird-safe glass. The deep-pocketed conservative legal advocacy group has filed lawsuits, sent notices of claim — a legal procedure that notifies a government agency that a suit will be filed against them — and sent letters threatening legal action to more than a dozen local and state government agencies this year. While local governments need to dip into their annual budgets and spend through their insurance deductibles to defend themselves, WILL is funded by the Bradley Foundation, a right wing, nonprofit grant funder organization based in Milwaukee, as highlighted in research from the Center for Media and Democracy and a recent in-depth story in the New Yorker. Library of Congress: Today is the anniversary of the opening of Alcatraz prison. The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was conceived of as a high-security, escape-proof fortress for federal prisoners considered either particularly dangerous, infamous, “incorrigible,” or presenting the greatest risk of flight. For the next twenty-nine years, the prison held a series of notorious inmates including Chicago mobster Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert Stroud, memorialized in the 1962 film Birdman of Alcatraz. NBC News: Federal judge skeptical that eviction moratorium can survive legal challenge.
Legal Reader: Epstein accuser files rape lawsuit against Prince Andrew. Virginia Giuffre, among Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, has filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew, alleging that the British royal raped and sexually abused her when she was still a minor.... “Twenty years ago, Prince Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her,” the lawsuit alleges. “It is long past the time for him to be held to account.” In a statement issued to ABC News, Giuffre explained her reasoning and elaborated somewhat on her claims against Andrew. “I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me. The powerful and the rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but one can reclaim her life by speaking out and demanding justice,” Giuffre told ABC News through her attorneys. New York Daily News: Central Park Five prosecutor's defamation suit against Netflix can proceed, judge rules. Vera Institute of Justice: Released from prison with no place to live. The Progressive Pulse: Title IX prohibits discriminatory dress codes in a school that requires girls to wear skirts, federal appeals court rules. “We’re pleased that today’s decision recognizes that Title IX’s broad promise of equal opportunity for girls applies to discriminatory dress codes,” said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “Dress codes that enforce different rules based on old-fashioned conventions of how girls should dress, look, and behave while intentionally signaling that girls are not equal to boys perpetuate gender stereotypes and should have no place in our public schools.” By Gretchen Schuldt Gov. Tony Evers has signed into law tougher new penalties for crimes committed against anyone at least 60 years old. The bill also allows older people seeking domestic violence, individual-at-risk, or harassment restraining order to appear in a court hearing by telephone or through audiovisual means. Currently, people seeking restraining orders appear in court in person. “Aging and older Wisconsinites are particularly vulnerable to financial and physical abuse and exploitation, and unfortunately, we are seeing a devastating and concerning rise in these crimes,” Evers said. "This bill is an important bipartisan action to help put an end to elder abuse and protect some of our most vulnerable loved ones and neighbors.” Evers ran for office promising to reduce the prison population. Under the new law:
In the abuse category, there were 2,148 cases or calls about financial abuse, 717 about emotional abuse, 650 about physical abuse, 41 about sexual abuse, 14 about unreasonable confinement or restraint, and four about treatment without consent. Of all the reports, including those for neglect and self-neglect, more than half – 52.5% – were either unsubstantiated or unable to be substantiated. In another signing, Evers signed a bill that regulates police use of force. It creates standards for when police can use force, creates a duty to report improper use of force, and creates a duty to intervene or prevent improper use of force. vers vetoed a bill that would have reduced shared revenue payments to counties and municipalities that reduce police, firefighter, or emergency responder funding or personnel. BGR: Apple's phone-scanning plans have privacy advocates freaked.
The Washington Post: Cannabis legally grown in the United States is flowing into Mexico, where it's very popular. “The demand here for American weed has exploded,” said one dealer in Mexico City, who estimated that 60 percent of the marijuana he sells now comes from California. The dealer spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of arrest. “It’s aspirational for many of my clients. They want to be seen smoking the best stuff, the stuff rappers brag about smoking.” NOLA: New Orleans pardoned thousands convicted of marijuana possession. The New Orleans City Council on Thursday pardoned thousands of people who have been summoned to court for marijuana possession and plans automatic pardons for future recipients of the citations - historic steps aimed at bringing New Orleans as close to legalizing the drug as is possible. The unanimous vote represents an unprecedented blanket use of the council's little-known pardon authority, an exercise that members said will help thousands of people who have been penalized for small amounts of the illegal drug. AP: New Oklahoma attorney general asks U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its own major tribal ruling. Reuters: Big corporate bonuses in bankruptcies veering toward "entitlement." Denouncing bonuses for high-ranking officers of companies that are in bankruptcy is not uncommon. But it often has little sway with judges, who must approve the incentive plans. In fact, what made the Mallinckrodt situation stand out was that creditors even bothered to challenge the payments in court. These days, corporate debtors tend to arrange a deal with their creditors behind the scenes in order to fend off a public fight when a bonus plan is presented publicly. Mallinckrodt’s bankruptcy was precipitated by widespread litigation accusing it of helping to fuel the national opioid epidemic, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, by downplaying the risks of its drugs. But in April, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Delaware concluded that “mere allegations” of senior management misconduct in the years leading up to the bankruptcy was not enough to justify denying them bonuses. Mallinckrodt said the bonuses were a matter of "appropriately compensating and incentivizing" the executives, in response to the objections. A representative for the company declined to comment. Mallinckrodt is just one of many bankrupt companies - including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma - that have sought and received court approval of executive bonus plans in recent years, even as many have opted to pay bonuses before they file for Chapter 11 protection. |
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