There is a vaguely Newtonian truth of criminal justice: A body incarcerated tends to stay incarcerated. A body at liberty tends to stay at liberty Much like a phase change in physics, sending someone to jail takes a great deal of effort, and getting him or her out of jail does as well. Thus the incentives to plead guilty when one is at liberty are a fraction of what they are when one is incarcerated…
Judge finds probable cause for murder charge against officer who killed Tamir Rice
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER: A Cleveland Municipal Court judge has found probable cause that police officer Timothy Loehmann should face murder and other charges in the slaying of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Judge Ronald B. Adrine released the opinion Thursday afternoon, days after a group of local clergy and activists filed affidavits asking the court to find […]
Marijuana Victory in the Senate
After decades of inactivity on marijuana reform, the Senate has moved at lightning pace this year. In another vote today, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment from Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) to protect state industrial hemp laws from DOJ interference. And less than a month ago, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the bipartisan Daines-Merkley amendment allowing Veterans Administration (VA) doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients in states where medical marijuana is legal.
When Bail Is Out of Defendant’s Reach, Other Costs Mount
NEW YORK TIMES: BALTIMORE — Dominick Torrence, who has lived in this city all his life, has a long rap sheet for dealing drugs but no history of violence. So when he was charged with disorderly conduct and rioting on April 28, a night of unrest after Freddie Gray was fatally injured in police custody, […]
Jon Stewart savages New York Times reporting on Marco Rubio’s finances
POLITICO: …On Tuesday, the Times published an article headlined “Marco Rubio’s Career Bedeviled by Financial Struggles,” referencing in it Rubio’s purchase of an $80,000 “luxury speedboat” as he continued to face outstanding debts. Rubio spokesperson Alex Conant told POLITICO the same day that the vessel is an offshore fishing boat. The same Times report also […]
Time for a New Suitcase: Airlines Want to Make Your Carry-On Bag Even Smaller
SLATE / MONEY BAGS: It sometimes seems like airlines aren’t in the business of flying, but of making your flight as miserable as possible. To wit, the International Air Transport Association is out with a new proposal that recommends making your already-small carry-on bag even smaller. The optimal size for a carry-on, according to IATA, […]
LETTER: LGH charged almost 5 ½ times as much as under Medicare
hope a state law can be passed to limit the max hospitals in PA can charge over the Medicare allowance.
Is It Really Feminist to Have Armpit Hair?
DAILY BEAST: The vogue for growing one’s armpit hair is being embraced as a feminist statement. It also shows how inward-looking we’ve become. Every summer the debate about axillary hair resurfaces: to shave or not to shave? Celebrities frequently kick off the conversation: Girls star Jemima Kirkedisplayed healthy underarm growth at last week’s CFDA Fashion […]
LETTER: Fed up with officials who cut budgets and then criticize departments
I’m getting fed up with the congressional republicans who criticize government officials after cutting their budgets. The two recent examples are the TSA and Amtrak. It seems that the republicans want to create an economy similar to what Greece is experiencing.
The Future of Russian Science
On June 6 in Moscow about 3500 people, mostly scientists, participated in the demonstration in defense of science and education in Russia.
Survey: Western Europe wary of supporting Russia’s NATO neighbors
WASHINGTON POST: After more than a year of war in Ukraine, Western European citizens are extremely wary of using military force to defend NATO allies from Russia, according to a wide-ranging opinion poll released Wednesday. The findings highlight fears among Russia’s NATO neighbors that the Western defense alliance may not be ready if put to […]
Jeb Bush in Berlin: More US, NATO Troops Needed to Contain ‘Bully’ Putin
NEWSMAX: The United States should consider sending thousands more U.S. troops along with NATO forces to Eastern Europe to match the strength Russian President Vladimir Putin is amassing along the former Soviet bloc nations’ eastern border, Jeb Bush said Wednesday in Berlin. Capping the two-day German leg of a European trip aimed at bolstering his […]
Our Segregated Summers
Racial exclusion at private pools—bolstered by residential segregation—continued through the 1960s until it was broken by court order in 1973. But this was only a small deterrent to Americans who didn’t want to swim with blacks.
Cleveland Leaders Bypass Prosecutors to Seek Charge in Tamir Rice Case
NEW YORK TIMES: Community leaders in Cleveland, distrustful of the criminal justice system, said Monday that they would not wait for prosecutors to decide whether to file charges against the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice last year. Instead, they will invoke a seldom-used Ohio law and go directly to […]