NEW YORK TIMES: The United States won a significant victory on Tuesday in its efforts to counter China’s rising influence in the South China Sea, as the highest court in the Philippines cleared the way for American troops to return to the country. The Philippine Supreme Court, in a 10-to-4 decision, approved an agreement that […]
Implant for Opioid Addicts Urged for Federal Approval
NEW YORK TIMES: A panel of medical experts recommended Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration approve a new way of treating opioid addicts, using a slender rod implanted into the arm that delivers medicine for months at a time. Some doctors say it could help ease the national epidemic of drug overdoses. The rod […]
Obama’s Rearview Look Ahead
POLITICO: …[President] Obama did deploy plenty of rhetoric about the distant future. But he did just as much traditional boasting about work already done, from cutting unemployment in half to cutting the deficit by three fourths, from resuscitating the auto industry to expanding health insurance, from stopping Ebola to killing Osama bin Laden. Maybe it wasn’t […]
Head of Poland’s Governing Party Leads a Political Shift Rightward
NEW YORK TIMES: Poland’s new right-wing government has moved rapidly in its first months in power to pack more sympathetic judges on to the nation’s highest court and blunt its ability to overturn new laws. It has announced plans to put the choice of the country’s top prosecutor directly in the hands of party leaders. […]
Kane’s Chief of Staff Grilled by Senate Committee ; Ed Rendell testifies for Kane
LEGAL INTELLIGENCER: …As he fielded searching questions on Kane’s daily schedule, the delegation of legal responsibilities in the office and her recent appointment of a special prosecutor, [Jonathon] Duecker painted a picture of a functional office whose leader can accomplish the vast majority of her duties without a license. His testimony, as multiple senators pointed […]
Congress Renews Ban on Justice Department Interference in State Medical Marijuana Laws
(Editor: We are a bit tardy on reporting the below. Sorry.) MPP: The Justice Department will continue to be prohibited from interfering in state medical marijuana laws under the new federal spending bill unveiled late Tuesday night. The compromise legislation includes a provision that is intended to prevent the department, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, from […]
Senate seems poised to slow confirmations to a trickle
POLITICO: On Monday evening, something exceptional happened in the Senate: Lawmakers confirmed a Circuit Court judge nominated by President Barack Obama. Luis Felipe Restrepo of Pennsylvania became only the second Circuit Court judge approved in the past year, and the 12th federal judge overall, an approval rate slower than any time since 1969. Now, conservatives […]
As U.S. Modernizes Nuclear Weapons, ‘Smaller’ Leaves Some Uneasy
NEW YORK TIMES: As North Korea dug tunnels at its nuclear test site last fall, watched by American spy satellites, the Obama administration was preparing a test of its own in the Nevada desert… Mr. Obama has long advocated a “nuclear-free world.” His lieutenants argue that modernizing existing weapons can produce a smaller and more […]
KANE: Circumventing Procedure & Subverting the Process
Kathleen Kane’s Hearing Response “Presently, this Senate proposes to strip me of my duly elected position and superimpose the will of the voters based upon an argument that a temporary suspension of a license to practice law allows them authority for direct removal. I will point out that the license suspension was also imposed without the basis […]
AG Kathleen Kane’s letter to PA Senate leaders and others on unconstitutional removal process
Via Hand Delivery January 11, 2016 The Special Committee on Senate Address Senator John R Gordner, Chairman Senate Box 203027 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, Pa. 17120-3027 Dear Senator Gordner, members of the Senate Committee and all members of the PA Senate: Please allow this letter to serve as my formal response to your invitation to […]
In 11th hour bid, Kane seeks reinstatement of her law license
PHILLY.COM: On the eve of a critical Senate hearing on her political future, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has asked the state Supreme Court on an emergency basis to reinstate her law license… The high court suspended Kane’s law license after she was charged with perjury and other offenses for allegedly leaking confidential grand jury […]
#Kane Has The Right To A Fair Hearing
CITIZENS4KANE: This Tuesday, Attorney General Kathleen Kane will be the subject of a removal hearing for allegedly leaking grand jury information and then lying about it. Unfortunately, leaking grand jury information to the media apparently is a practice utilized quite frequently and also has been alleged with respect to the (Jerry) Sandusky grand jury. […]
Cuomo Proposes Higher-Education Initiative in New York Prisons
NEW YORK TIMES: It was nearly two years ago that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo floated a plan for the state to pay for college courses for inmates. But it sank in the face of withering opposition from critics who mocked Mr. Cuomo’s initiative as “Attica University” and Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation who argued that New York should put […]
Can PA govern itself?
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: Can there be a more dysfunctional government than what passes for Pennsylvania’s version in Harrisburg? All three branches fail any test that ranks public service over personal gain, competency over incompetency, responsibility over who-gives-a-damn. These conclusions are drawn just from their year-end actions. Defaults, however, can be tracked over several […]