Category: Uncategorized

Addison, Tx – An Addison police officer used extreme force when he smashed a man’s window during a routine traffic stop.
Scott Richardson recorded the cop, who pulled him over for speeding in early May. He refused to show his driver’s license, citing a court decision that ruled that speeding in and of itself is not a criminal act. The video of the incident was posted with the description:
“Addison Cop violating my rights when I refused to SUBMIT to his bogus claims. Brown v Texas – Officers CAN NOT demand a person to self-identify unless the cops has seen them in …read more

The U.S. Supreme Court only issued one full opinion on June 8, and it has no connection to the First Amendment or to election law. The next decision day will be June 15, unless the Court adds some more decision days. …read more

Baltimore, MD — A man was shot in the face after running away from Baltimore police Sunday morning. It was not indicated that the man hurt or threatened anyone in any way, but police officers were tipped off that he was in possession of a gun. The victim reportedly ran from police when they approached him, and he attempted to hide in a nearby garage.
The police have not given any details about what happened when officers entered the garage, aside from the fact that the victim was shot in the face, and that none of the officers were injured.
The victim, …read more

Some Mexican states held gubernatorial elections on Sunday, June 7. This is the first year in which independent candidates have been permitted to run for partisan office in Mexico. The voters of Nuevo Leon state gave an easy victory to Jaime Rodriguez, who will be Mexico’s first independent state governor. …read more

The following are the bills the House and Senate passed last month. The bills were passed by voice vote except where indicated. Roll call votes for the House are found here, and for the Senate here. The descriptions of bills are essentially taken verbatim from the Congressional Record Daily Digest (Index).

SENATE 22 bills, 558 pages
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program Reauthorization Act: Senate passed S. 125, to amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to extend the authorization of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program through fiscal year 2020 6 pages
WIOA Technical Amendments Act: …read more

Washington state only has eleven charter cities. According to this article, the Washington Attorney General will soon issue an opinion as to whether non-charter cities are permitted under state law to abandon at-large elections for city council. …read more

Political scientist Corey Robin has this article at Politico. It says that in the U.S., employers sometimes coerce their employees into engaging in political action that supports politicians that the employer backs.
The article does not mention all-postal balloting. One fear that has been expressed by other writers is that if every voter votes by mail, there is less protection against coercion in voting. If the ballot is received in the mail, then the individual who is exerting coercion or other undue influence (such as bribery) has a chance to watch the voter mark the ballot before it …read more

Since at least 2011, U.S. prisons have had a special arrangement with Facebook. Prison officials would send links to profiles belonging to inmates that they wanted Facebook to take down. Facebook would then suspend the profiles, often no questions asked, even when it wasn’t clear if any law or Facebook policy was being violated.
Over the last year, we have reported on numerous inmates being punished with solitary confinement, some receiving decades-long punishments, simply for posting to Facebook or even just having their families manage their Facebook accounts for them. Meanwhile, records obtained by EFF showed that Facebook had secretly censored …read more

According to the report, two doctors consulted for gunshot wound appearance concurred that the wound in Ford’s back had a muzzle imprint, indicating the shot was fired at close range.

Los Angeles, CA — 25-year-old Ezell Ford was shot and killed by police on the night of August 11th in South Los Angeles. Ford was stopped by police around 8:20 p.m, because there was a shooting in the area and he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had committed no crime.
According to a statement made by the LAPD, during the course of the …read more