Category: Uncategorized

Washington D.C. (RT) — Three Supreme Court justices didn’t recuse themselves from cases in which they held stock in companies interested in the outcomes. Nearly 90 percent of the time, they sided with these businesses that filed ‘friend of the court’ briefs, a new report said.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito own shares in several publicly traded companies, according to their 2014 financial disclosure reports. From July 2014 through June 2015, seven cases before the Supreme Court featured amicus curiae ‒ or friend of the court ‒ briefs by companies in which the three …read more

On July 25, the officers of the Oklahoma Democratic Party voted to let independents vote in Democratic primaries. …read more

Both Kentucky and Tennessee are in the Sixth Circuit. As already noted, on July 2, 2015, the Sixth Circuit struck down Tennessee’s law on how a party remains on the ballot. The Tennessee law let an old party that met the 5% vote test remain on for four years. For example, if it met the vote test in 2010, then it would remain on automatically for both 2012 and 2014. No matter how poorly it did in 2012, it would be on in 2014.
That decision was Green Party of Tennessee v Hargett, 14-5435.
The decision could plausibly …read more

Clayton Walker was an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in South Dakota last year. He had not qualified for the ballot, and he had been prosecuted because some signatures on his unsuccessful petition appeared to have been forgeries. According to this story, there was a possibility that he could have been sentenced to 24 years in prison. However, a plea bargain resulted in his pleading guilty to two felonies, and it is likely, but not certain, that he will avoid serving time in prison. He has a two-year sentence but he is likely to receive probation. …read more

Portland, OR — A Portland police officer, Jeromie Palaoro, who has a history of misconduct, is on paid vacation, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.
Roni Reid-James was in Portland earlier this month on a trip to visit her boyfriend. Reid-James called the police after she said her boyfriend attacked her at her mother’s house.
Palaoro was one of the officers who showed up to the call on July 4, to investigate the alleged assault by the boyfriend.
According to Reid-James, on July 5 at 3:30 am, Palaoro came to her hotel room, wearing street clothes, but still carrying a gun, to …read more

New York, NY — Shawn Thomas films the police. He does so because it’s his right and he’s also great at fending off and exposing their rampant corruption.
Many of those who choose to film the police are polite and cordial, even when they are disrespected. However, Thomas is not afraid to answer back to police who attempt to violate his rights, and he does so with an eloquent knack for profanity.
You may remember Thomas from this brief 7-second viral video of a police officer attempting to violate his rights. The video shows officers attempting to question Thomas for no apparent …read more

The Party for Socialism and Liberation has announced its presidential slate for 2016. Gloria La Riva of San Francisco is the presidential nominee, and Eugene Puryear of Washington, D.C., is running for vice-president.
La Riva was the party’s stand-in presidential candidate in 2012. The party’s actual presidential candidate, Peta Lindsay, was not age 35 so in some states the party substituted La Riva.
In 2008 the party also ran La Riva for President and Puryear for Vice President. The party did not exist prior to 2008. However, many of the people in the party were formerly members of …read more

(RT) — The mass incarceration policy in America over the last 40 years has created more problems than it has solved. The longer the term served, the higher the rate of reconvicted felons, a new study reveals.

The research from University of Michigan economics professor, Michael Mueller-Smith, has proven that prison terms don’t rehabilitate a criminal and turn them into a law-abiding citizen.
The US penal policy just doesn’t appear to be working. The criminal world is expanding, despite more and more criminals being incarcerated and isolated from society.
The American practice of imprisoning people for even the most trivial offences, not only …read more

Washington D.C. — In 2005, San Leandro police officer Nels “Dan” Niemi was gunned down by Irving Alexander Ramirez, a 23-year-old man who’d been in and out of prisons on multiple drugs charges.
Not surprisingly, the system that claimed to “rehabilitate” Ramirez for his “illegal” drug dealing habit, failed miserably. Instead of helping out a drug addicted young man, Ramirez’ multiple stays in prison had turned this man into a hardened criminal unafraid to take another man’s life.
When Officer Niemi showed up to the call where Ramirez was, it was for a noise complaint. However, Ramirez was on probation for a …read more

On July 16, the Federal Election Commission voted 4-2 to reject the request for a new rule concerning general election presidential debates. The two commissioners who voted in favor of considering a better rule are Ann Ravel and Ellen Weintraub, both Democrats. It is believed this is the first time any FEC Commissioner has voted to do something about the problem that the Commission on Presidential Debates excludes candidates who are not Republican or Democratic nominees. …read more