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Calista241's JournalExclusive: U.S. to begin returning asylum seekers to Mexico on Friday - official
Source: Reuters
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States will return the first group of migrants seeking asylum in the United States to the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Friday, a spokesman for Mexico’s president said on Thursday.
In a major policy change, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration said on Dec. 20 it would send non-Mexican migrants who cross the U.S. southern border back to wait in Mexico while their U.S. asylum requests are processed.
The spokesman for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s office did not specify the nationalities of those to be returned to Mexico, although the policy was aimed at helping cope with rising numbers of Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States.
The two countries have held two meetings to work out details of the plan to return migrants seeking U.S. asylum across the shared border. Mexico has said it will not accept anybody facing a credible threat in Mexican territory.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-mexico-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-to-begin-returning-asylum-seekers-to-mexico-on-friday-official-idUSKCN1PI2VV
Supreme Court agrees to review NYC gun restrictions
Source: The Hill
The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear a challenge to a New York City law banning residents from transporting a handgun to a second home or shooting range outside the city limits even if the gun is licensed, locked and unloaded.
The challenge was brought by The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. and three licensed gun owners in the city, Romolo Colantone, Efrain Alvarez and Jose Anthony Irizarry.
Colantone argued that he wants to be able to transport his handgun to his second home in Hancock, N.Y., to protect himself and his family. Colantone, along with Alvarez, Irizarry and the Rifle & Pistol Association, said they want to be able to transport handguns to target ranges and shooting competitions outside New York City to hone their shooting skills.
They claim the city’s ban violates the Second Amendment, the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and the constitutional right to travel.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/426408-supreme-court-agrees-to-review-nyc-gun-restrictions
Californian law change means pet shops can sell only rescued animals
Source: BBC
California is set to become the first state in the US to ban the sale of non-rescue animals in pet shops. The new law, known as AB 485, takes effect on 1 January. Any businesses violating it face a $500 (£400) fine.
The change means cats, dogs and rabbits sold by retailers cannot be sourced from breeders, only from animal shelters.
Animal rights groups have heralded it as a step forward against so-called "kitten factories" and "puppy mills".
They say the current "high-volume" industries, where pets are bred for profit, can lead to inhumane treatment and long-term emotional and physical health problems in some animals.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46717173
Republican wins Georgia secretary of state election viewed as referendum on voter suppression allega
Source: ABC News
Republican wins Georgia secretary of state election viewed as referendum on voter suppression allegations
In a runoff contest widely viewed as a referendum on allegations of voter suppression and disenfranchisement that marred Georgia's midterm races this year, Republican former state Rep. Brad Raffensperger has won the election for state secretary of state, the Associated Press projects.
Raffensperger defeated former U.S. Rep. John Barrow in the race, which advanced to a second round after no candidate received a majority of the votes last month.
Normally something of an afterthought at the national level, the secretary of state election gained prominence in the aftermath of Georgia's high-profile gubernatorial contest. It was a prime example of the Democratic voter enthusiasm in 2018, but one in which Democrat Stacey Abrams nevertheless fell short of upsetting her Republican rival, Gov.-elect Brian Kemp.
On Election Day last month, Raffensperger received 49.09 percent to Barrow's 48.67 percent, a difference of just over 16,000 votes. Voting that night, and early voting in the weeks prior, overseen by the secretary of state's office, featured scores of complaints across Georgia about voter registration purging and difficulties in obtaining absentee ballots and confirming their receipt and legitimacy.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/georgia-secretary-state-runoff-framed-proxy-gubernatorial-rematch/story?id=59483556
Jeffrey Epstein, multi-millionaire sex offender, settles suit and apologizes
Source: NBC
A politically connected multi-millionaire sex offender accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls struck a last-minute deal to avoid a civil trial that would have allowed some of his victims to finally testify against him in open court.
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The deal included a financial settlement, the details of which were kept confidential, NBC Miami reported. It also included an apology from Epstein to Edwards, who'd accused Epstein of trying to ruin his reputation as retaliation for having represented his accusers.
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The apology offered no words of remorse for Epstein's alleged victims, several of whom had been expected to testify in the trial, the Miami Herald reported. The women had been expected to testify that they had been sexually abused and that Edwards hadn't done anything illegal or criminal.
Epstein — a financier who was friends with the likes of Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Great Britain's Prince Andrew — has been accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls in the early 2000s.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-multi-millionaire-sex-offender-settles-suit-apologizes-n943481
Federal judge finds female genital mutilation law unconstitutional
Source: Chicago Tribune
In a major blow to the government, a federal judge in Detroit has declared the nation’s female genital mutilation law unconstitutional, thereby dismissing nearly all of the charges against two Michigan doctors and seven others accused of subjecting at least nine minor girls to genital cutting in the nation’s first FGM case.
The historic case involves minor girls from Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, including some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm, court records show.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman concluded that Congress did not have the authority to pass the 22-year-old federal law that criminalizes female genital mutilation in America. FGM is banned worldwide and has been outlawed in more than 50 countries, though the U.S. statute had never been tested before this case.
Friedman’s ruling stems from a request by Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and her co-defendants to dismiss the genital mutilation charges, claiming the law they are being prosecuted under is unconstitutional.
Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-female-genital-mutilation-law-20181120-story.html
Democrat Stacey Abrams Ends Bid For Georgia Governor, Decrying 'Suppression'
Source: NPR
Republican Brian Kemp will be the next governor of Georgia, with Democrat Stacey Abrams conceding Friday afternoon following a bitter 10-day battle since election day last week.
The contest between the two had been one of the most closely-watched — and bitter — of the cycle. Abrams, who was vying to become the first black woman ever elected governor in U.S. history, had alleged throughout the campaign that Kemp, who stepped down as secretary of state after the election, had been working to disenfranchise minority voters and suppress new registrations.
Those charges spilled out well beyond Nov. 6, with the race too close to call. Abrams had been fighting to include additional provisional and absentee ballots into the count, hoping that could help her close the roughly 18,000 vote deficit she needed to force a runoff next month.
But with a 5 p.m. Friday deadline for all of Georgia's counties to certify their election results, a path for Abrams was looking slim. It's now up to interim secretary of state Robyn Crittenden to certify the state's results.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/668753230/democrat-stacey-abrams-ends-bid-for-georgia-governor-decrying-suppression
Trump announces Kavanaugh replacement for DC circuit court
Source: The Hill
President Trump announced Tuesday he is nominating Neomi Rao to fill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s vacant seat on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Rao currently serves as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA.
She is a vocal advocate of Trump’s efforts to slash government regulations, crediting the reductions with stimulating job growth.
“I think the reform efforts are part of what has stimulated economic growth and job creation and promoted technological innovation. And from my perspective, our reform efforts have really focused on promoting the rule of law and emphasized the productivity and potential of the American people that’s possible when you get rid of unnecessary economic burdens,” Rao said at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/416470-trump-announces-kavanaugh-replacement-for-dc-circuit-court
Legal Expert: There Is 'No Legal Ethics Issue Here' That Would Force Matthew Whitaker to Recuse Hims
Legal Expert: There Is ‘No Legal Ethics Issue Here’ That Would Force Matthew Whitaker to Recuse Himself
Elihu Root Professor of Law at NYU Stephen Gillers told Law&Crime that objections to Whitaker are “compelling,” but there is ultimately “no legal ethics issue here.” Prof. Gillers is one of the most cited legal ethics scholars.
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You may recall that Jeff Sessions recused himself by citing Title 28, Chapter I, Section 45.2 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) — “Disqualification arising from personal or political relationship.”
Sessions stated that he had to recuse himself from the heading up the Russia probe because he served as a campaign advisor for the Trump campaign.
“That regulation states, in effect, that department employees should not participate in investigations of a campaign if they have served as a campaign advisor,” Sessions said at the time.
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There's more of interest to read here, including the entire regulation. Interesting read, and I'm not sure this specific issue breaks our way. Whitaker shouldn't be the Acting AG, imo, simply because he hasn't been confirmed by the Senate to any post during this administration.
More protection: UN says Earth's ozone layer is healing
Source: ABC News
Earth's protective ozone layer is finally healing from damage caused by aerosol sprays and coolants, a new United Nations report said.
The ozone layer had been thinning since the late 1970s. Scientist raised the alarm and ozone-depleting chemicals were phased out worldwide.
As a result, the upper ozone layer above the Northern Hemisphere should be completely repaired in the 2030s and the gaping Antarctic ozone hole should disappear in the 2060s, according to a scientific assessment released Monday at a conference in Quito, Ecuador. The Southern Hemisphere lags a bit and its ozone layer should be healed by mid-century.
"It's really good news," said report co-chairman Paul Newman, chief Earth scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "If ozone-depleting substances had continued to increase, we would have seen huge effects. We stopped that."
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/protection-earths-ozone-layer-healing-58971673
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Member since: Sat Jun 1, 2013, 01:19 AM
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