June 10, 2012

Nixon 'Far Worse' Than Thought Say Watergate Reporters

Source: Agence France-Presse

Nixon ‘far worse’ than thought say Watergate reporters

By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, June 10, 2012 2:29 EDT

Almost four decades after the infamous Watergate break-in, the reporters who broke the story have concluded that then-president Richard Nixon was “far worse” than they thought.

Nixon resigned in August 1974 for his administration’s role in a June 17, 1972, burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in the US capital and the subsequent cover-up. He became the only American president ever to resign the office.

Many inaccurate ideas and myths related to Nixon’s role in the burglary and its cover-up have found long life over the years, reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward wrote in an op-ed piece for The Washington Post Saturday.

“Another … has since persisted, often unchallenged: the notion that the cover-up was worse than the crime. This idea minimizes the scale and reach of Nixon’s criminal actions,” the reporters stressed.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/10/nixon-far-worse-than-thought-say-watergate-reporters/

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Hey, Woodward. George W. Bush was far worse than you thought, too.

June 7, 2012

Occupy Wall Street Lawsuit Over NY Arrests Can Go Forward

Source: Reuters

Occupy Wall Street lawsuit over NY arrests can go forward

NEW YORK, June 7 | Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:49am IST

(Reuters) - A lawsuit filed against New York City police officers involved in arresting some 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters during a march over Brooklyn Bridge last fall can go forward, a Manhattan federal judge ruled on Thursday.

A separate claim against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and the city was thrown out.

- snip -

In a lawsuit filed on Oct. 4, many of those protesters contended they were unlawfully arrested. They said police had effectively tricked them into believing their march was being accommodated and they could lawfully be on the bridge roadway.

- snip -

"We think this is a significant victory and a vindication for the protesters who were illegally arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer representing the protesters.


Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/07/usa-newyork-occupy-idINL1E8H7G1K20120607

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ANSWER Coalition:

Court Victory for Brooklyn Bridge Arrestees - Federal Judge Rules that Class Action Lawsuit Can Proceed
Scores of NYPD Officers Potentially Liable to Hundreds of Arrestees

In an opinion issued late today, US District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that New York Police Department officers are not entitled to qualified immunity from the arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1, 2011 at the start of the Occupy movement. He has ordered the lawsuit to proceed.

"This is a major victory in the fight for justice and vindication for the seven hundred people falsely arrested by the NYPD," stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund which filed the class action lawsuit days after the arrests. "This is a clear message in defense of free speech. The Court's ruling means that scores of NYPD officers are potentially liable to hundreds of arrestees who were mass arrested in a peaceful protest in a blatant violation of their constitutional rights."

"From the onset, this case has involved competing narratives: the police's carefully crafted PR presentation that was spun to the press in the immediate hours after the mass false arrest, versus the truth," stated Carl Messineo, Legal Director of the PCJF. "The plaintiffs in this lawsuit sought to set the record straight in their demand for justice. The court repeatedly cited the evidence presented in the complaint, including multimedia video evidence, in its finding that NYPD officers can be held liable for conducting these false arrests. We've said all along that the police invited protestors into the bridge and then turned around and, without notice or warning, arrested them. The ruling vindicates and credits that narrative that we have said is the truth all along."

The rulings states:

&quot A) reasonable officer would have understood that it was incumbent on the police to clearly warn the demonstrators that they must not proceed onto the Brooklyn Bridge's vehicular roadway...the officers...turned and started walking away from the demonstrators and onto the road way -- an implicit invitation to follow. While the demonstrators might have inferred otherwise if they had heard the bull horn message, no reasonable officer could imagine, in these circumstances, that this warning was heard by more than a small fraction of the gathered multitude...Indeed, the plaintiffs' video shows what should have been obvious to any reasonable officer, namely, that the surrounding clamor interfered with the ability of demonstrators as few as fifteen feet away from the bull horn to understand the officer's instructions."

The ruling opens with the following: "What a huge debt this nation owes to its 'troublemakers.' From Thomas Paine to Martin Luther King, Jr., they have forced us to focus on problems we would plefer to downplay or ignore. Yet it is often only with hindsight that we can distinguish those troublemakers who brought us to our senses from those who were simply . . . troublemakers. Prudence, and respect for the constitutional rights to free speech and free association, therefore dictate that the legal system cut all non-violent protesters a fair amount of slack. These observations are prompted by the instant lawsuit, in which a putative class of some 700 or so 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters contend they were unlawfully arrested while crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1, 2011."

June 6, 2012

Democrat Barrett concedes Wisconsin recall election defeat

Source: Reuters

Democrat Barrett concedes Wisconsin recall election defeat
MILWAUKEE | Tue Jun 5, 2012 11:47pm EDT

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Democratic challenger Tom Barrett conceded Wisconsin's recall election to Republican Governor Scott Walker on Tuesday, saying he hoped the deeply divided state would now come together.

With 85 percent of the vote counted, Walker had about 55 percent of the ballots to 44 percent for Milwaukee Mayor Barrett.

"This has been the most amazing experience of our lives," Barrett told supporters. "What we have seen during the last sixteen months is this democracy come alive."

Barrett lost to Walker in the 2010 governor's election as well but will continue as mayor of Wisconsin's largest city, Milwaukee.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE85505C20120606?irpc=932

June 5, 2012

U.S. Appeals Court Declines to Revisit California Gay Marriage Ban, Clears Way for Potential SCOTUS

Source: Reuters

California gay marriage case looks headed to Supreme Court

By Peter Henderson and Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jun 5, 2012 12:56pm EDT

(Reuters) - The ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for the Supreme Court to consider California's gay marriage ban, declining an appeal to revisit the case.

Supporters of the 2008 ban have lost two rounds in federal court but have made clear they will appeal to the Supreme Court and hope for a favorable response from the conservative court.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/us-california-gay-idUSBRE8540XX20120605

June 4, 2012

Statement from Governor Don Siegelman on the Supreme Court’s Denial of his Petition

Statement from Governor Don Siegelman on the Supreme Court’s Denial of his Petition for Certiorari:

My heart is broken. Not for me, but for my family and friends who have stood by me during this struggle. I am eternally grateful for the work of my attorney Sam Heldman. I am indebted to the 113 state Attorneys General of both political parties who supported my case. And I am thankful for the law professors from around the nation who actively supported my appeal. I pray that something positive will come of this in our future.

Don Siegelman
Governor of Alabama 1999-2003

June 3, 2012

State TV Reports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Address Parliament Today

Source: Reuters

Syria's Assad to give speech to parliament: state TV

Sun Jun 3, 2012 2:57am EDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad will deliver a speech to Syria's parliament later on Sunday, state television said.

Assad has made few public appearances during the 15-month uprising against his rule, which started as mainly peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE85202Q20120603?irpc=932

June 3, 2012

Criminologist Criticizes Walker Ad

Source: Associated Press

Criminologist criticizes Walker ad

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday, June 2, 2012 - 5:03 p.m. EMAIL RSS SHARE

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A criminologist says Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign misrepresented his comments about Milwaukee Police Department crime statistics in a campaign ad.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper reported last month that Milwaukee police misclassified hundreds of violent crimes as minor assaults. Walker’s campaign launched an ad accusing his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, of lying about the statistics to make the city’s crime rate look better.

The ad flashes a partial quote that criminologist Sam Walker gave the newspaper, saying the misclassifications are suspicious, improper and represent a failure of leadership. The quote is shown next to a photo of Barrett.

Sam Walker says he was referring to police leadership, not the mayor. He says elected officials usually accept data police give them.

Read more: http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2012/jun/02/criminologist-criticizes-walker-ad/

June 3, 2012

Florida Suspends Gov. Scott’s Voter Purge Efforts

Source: Palm Beach Post / Raw Story

Florida suspends Gov. Scott’s voter purge efforts

By Andrew Jones
Saturday, June 2, 2012 20:02 EDT

Florida’s election supervisors announced their decision Friday evening to stop the controversial effort of Governor Rick Scott’s (R) administration removing names off the state’s voter rolls, according to The Palm Beach Post.

Spurred by the Department of Justice delivered a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner that the name purging was illegal, the state’s Supervisors of Elections president Vicki Davis acknowledged the numerous mistakes located in purging eligible voters off the rolls. “There are just too many variables with this entire process at this time for supervisors to continue,” Davis said.

One area serving as the prime example of the Scott administration’s mistakes is Miami Dade County, a predominantly Democratic area. 1638 people in the county were flagged as “non-citizens” by the state. However, at least 359 people already provided information proving their citizenship. An additional 26 people were identified as citizens by the county itself.

Supervisors acknowledged that they failed to send letters to those individuals getting removed from the voting rolls that would have given them 30 days to provide proof of citizenship to vote.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/02/florida-suspends-gov-scotts-voter-purge-tactics

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/florida-voter-purge-gets-pushback-from-elections-supervisors-2387004.html

Florida voter purge gets pushback from elections supervisors, U.S. Justice

By DARA KAM
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 7:49 p.m. Saturday, June 2, 2012
Posted: 7:21 p.m. Friday, June 1, 2012

TALLAHASSEE — Florida elections supervisors said Friday they will discontinue a state-directed effort to remove names from county voter rolls because they believe the state data is flawed and because the U.S. Department of Justice has said the process violates federal voting laws.

Late Thursday, the Department of Justice sent Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner a letter telling him that an effort launched by Republican Gov. Rick Scott's administration last year to remove the names of people believed to be non-citizens from voter rolls appears to violate at least two federal voting laws. The federal agency gave Detzner until Wednesday to respond.

The Justice Department letter and mistakes that the 67 county elections supervisors have found in the state list make the scrub undoable, said Martin County Elections Supervisor Vicki Davis, president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections.

"There are just too many variables with this entire process at this time for supervisors to continue," Davis said.

June 2, 2012

Slowpoke Jen: "An Open Letter To The Supreme Court About Health Insurance"

An Open Letter To The Supreme Court About Health Insurance, By Jen Sorensen
May 31, 2012

@SorensenJen: My health insurance comic is one of KHN's top-read stories of the year already. It seems a lot of people can relate. http://t.co/9BfB2ECe

Excellent. Please read all panels at the link:

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Cartoons/2012/June/Open-Letter-To-Supreme-Court-Cartoon.aspx





MUCH MORE AT LINK[p]

June 2, 2012

Louisiana House Approves Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks

Source: Reuters

Louisiana House approves bill banning abortions after 20 weeks

NEW ORLEANS | Fri Jun 1, 2012 7:50pm EDT

By Kathy Finn

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The Louisiana state House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a bill that would prohibit abortion beyond 20 weeks after fertilization unless the mother's life is in danger.

Georgia a month ago became the seventh state to ban most or all abortions after 20 weeks. Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and North Carolina also have such restrictions.

Under the Louisiana measure, doctors who violate the 20-week provision could face up to two years in prison.

Senate President John Alario, who introduced the bill, earlier agreed to an amendment requested by the Louisiana State Medical Society that would absolve physicians from penalties if they perform an abortion to protect the life of a pregnant woman. Otherwise, a violation would subject a doctor to fines and imprisonment.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE8501IE20120601?irpc=932