WJI's daily reads for Nov. 17, 2021

The New York Times: Two men convicted of killing Malcolm X will be exonerated after 55 years.

The exoneration of the two men, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, represents a remarkable acknowledgment of grave errors made in a case of towering importance: the 1965 murder of one of America’s most influential Black leaders in the fight against racism.

A 22-month investigation conducted jointly by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and lawyers for the two men found that prosecutors and two of the nation’s premier law enforcement agencies — the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department — had withheld key evidence that, had it been turned over, would likely have led to the men’s acquittal.

The two men, known at the time of the killing as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, spent decades in prison for the murder on Feb. 21, 1965, in which three men opened fire inside a crowded ballroom at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan as Malcolm X was starting to speak. But the case against them was questionable from the outset, and in the decades since, historians and hobbyists have raised doubts about the official story.

Above the Law: Ohio judge suspended after demanding court observer take drug test.

Law & Crime: Federal Appeals Court denies qualified immunity for officer who shot two non-threatening service dogs.

Slate: The decision blocking President Biden's vaccine mandate could derail his entire agenda.

Although he spilled much ink complaining that the Biden administration exceeded its authority, (U.S. Circuit Judge Kurt) Engelhardt revealed toward the end of his opinion that none of this analysis really mattered. Why? Because even if Congress gave the executive branch power to impose vaccine mandates, the law would be unconstitutional under the nondelegation doctrine. This theory, which has no basis in the Constitution, prevents Congress from delegating too much power to executive agencies. The Supreme Court has used it twice, both times in 1935 to hobble New Deal legislation. If revived, this doctrine would bring much of government to a screeching halt, hobbling thousands of critical federal regulations on everything from the environment, health care, employment, education, immigration, and more.

Reason: Police believed sand from a stress ball was cocaine, leading to a woman's six-month jail stay.

What's more, she was left in jail for four months after a crime lab concluded that the mysterious powder was sand, not cocaine.

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