Category: Prison

Under 3 weeks left: Obama in closing stretch of presidency

His last presidential vacation behind him, Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his presidency, an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump. Obama returns to Washington midday Monday from Hawaii with just two-and-a-half weeks left.

Gang member sentenced in teenage sex trafficking case

A North Park gang member was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his role in a racketeering scheme that involved sex trafficking, drug sales and robbery – a sentence that was followed up hours later with a notice of appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Tony Brown, who lives in the Phoenix area, was one of 24 people to be indicted in 2013 on accusations of committing crimes on behalf of BMS Enterprise, made up of two gangs named Skanless and Black Mob.

ACLU & CAIR Use Gold Star Father to Claim War on Iraq Was for Bill of Rights

Are you old enough to remember when liberal groups openly admitted that the war on Iraq was illegal and fraudulent, based on oil and profit and sadism? Well, can you recall when the proponents of the war claimed it was a defense against nonexistent ties to terrorists and nonexistent weapons? Even if you’ve wiped those memories, let me assure you, NOBODY ever claimed that attacking and destroying Iraq was necessary to protect civil liberties in the United States . Yet, in recent months the generic defense of murdering large numbers of people far away has taken over as the explanation for the war on Iraq.

ACLU & CAIR Use Gold Star Father to Claim War on Iraq Was for Bill of Rights

Are you old enough to remember when liberal groups openly admitted that the war on Iraq was illegal and fraudulent, based on oil and profit and sadism? Well, can you recall when the proponents of the war claimed it was a defense against nonexistent ties to terrorists and nonexistent weapons? Even if you’ve wiped those memories, let me assure you, NOBODY ever claimed that attacking and destroying Iraq was necessary to protect civil liberties in the United States . Yet, in recent months the generic defense of murdering large numbers of people far away has taken over as the explanation for the war on Iraq.

The Rotarian Conversation with Ban Ki-moon

One of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s earliest memories is of fleeing with his family into the mountains during the Korean War, his village burning behind him. His father and grandfather had to forage for food in the woods; his mother gave birth to his siblings away from anything remotely resembling a health facility.

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Charles Krauthammer harshly criticized President Barack Obama during a panel discussion on Fox News Thursday evening. The conservative pundit called Obama’s new executive order raising sanctions against Russia for its government’s alleged role in influencing the 2016 election “anti-democratic” before chastising POTUS for seeking to “lock in” Trump to a fractured Oval Office.

Law Professor Vikram David Amar on Whether States Can Bar…

Law Professor Vikram David Amar on Whether States Can Bar Presidential Candidates from the Ballot if they Don’t Release Tax Returns Law professor Vikram David Amar has this column on whether it is constitutional for states to bar candidates for President from appearing on the ballot unless they reveal their income tax returns. He seems to lean to the idea that it would not be constitutional, although he is somewhat ambivalent.

Russia ‘always denies bad news’, says former British ambassador

Britain’s former ambassador to Russia has said the country “always denies bad news” as he backed the US decision to expel 35 Russian diplomats. Sir Andrew Wood said the West had moved to confront a Russia “which respects no rules, does not keep to its agreements and is determined to force is views on others – by force if need be”.

Lackawanna County Prison Board may request jail review after misconduct allegations

The Lackawanna County Prison Board may request another agency perform a top-to-bottom review of the county jail after the latest round of investigations into sexual misconduct allegations at the facility wrap up. Lackawanna County Judge Vito Geroulo, chairman of the prison board, said he plans to recommend the panel ask the state Department of Corrections to study the facility when the “appropriate” time comes – meaning the new review wouldn’t overlap with efforts by prosecutors.

Lackawanna County Prison Board may request jail review after misconduct allegations

The Lackawanna County Prison Board may request another agency perform a top-to-bottom review of the county jail after the latest round of investigations into sexual misconduct allegations at the facility wrap up. Lackawanna County Judge Vito Geroulo, chairman of the prison board, said he plans to recommend the panel ask the state Department of Corrections to study the facility when the “appropriate” time comes – meaning the new review wouldn’t overlap with efforts by prosecutors.

The disappearing death penalty

Just before Christmas, the Death Penalty Information Center reported that in 2016 both the death sentences by courts and death-row executions across the United States continued to decline. The 30 new death sentences handed down this year were a big drop from 49 the previous year, and were the lowest number since the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, the nonprofit group said.

Michael Moore Lists The Exact Ways Dems Can Defeat Trump

Demonstrators chant during a protest march against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. November12, 2016. REUTERS/David Becker Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore wants more Democrats to fight President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, and outlined a list of things they can do on his Facebook page Tuesday.

Cam Newton scores with visit to boy battling heart condition

By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press Carrie Fisher and Florence Henderson – and other icons of Generation X’s youth – are now gone, stolen by the cruel thief that is 2016. The year has left the… By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press Princess Leia was our first girl movie heroine, and we made our moms braid brunette yarn so we’d have earmuff buns for Halloween.

Notable deaths in 2016

Chyna, the WWE star who became one of the best known and most popular female professional wrestlers in history in the late 1990s, died in April at age 45. Embracing Soviet-style communism, Fidel Castro overcame imprisonment and exile to become leader of Cuba and defy the power of the United States at every turn. The strongman’s half-century rule was marked by the unsuccessful U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Final goodbye: Roll call of some of those who died in 2016

Death claimed transcendent political figures in 2016, including Cuba’s revolutionary leader and Thailand’s longtime king, but also took away royals of a different sort: kings of pop music, from Prince and David Bowie to George Michael. Embracing Soviet-style communism, Fidel Castro, who died in November, overcame imprisonment and exile to become leader of Cuba and defy the power of the United States at every turn during his half-century rule.

No apology for horror of Pearl Harbor

The leaders of Japan and the United States sought to remind the world that even the most bitter enemies can become allies, during a historic pilgrimage to the hallowed waters of Pearl Harbor. Seventy-five years after Japan’s surprise attack, Abe and President Barack Obama peered down Tuesday at the rusting wreckage of the USS Arizona, clearly visible in the tranquil, teal water.

Phil Jackson, Jeanie Buss say they have ended engagement

In a historic pilgrimage, the leaders of Japan and the United States took to the hallowed waters of Pearl Harbor on Tuesday to prove that even the bitterest enemies can become allies. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not… A federal appeals court is weighing a challenge by death row inmates of an Ohio law that shields the names of companies that provide lethal injection drugs.

Holiday weekend provides no respite from Chicago’s violence

Chicago’s holiday weekend was marred by bouts of gunfire and a dozen killings, continuing a yearlong surge in violence in the third largest U.S. city that has pushed the number of murders to a nearly two-decade high. From Dec. 23 through Dec. 26, there were 44 shooting incidents in the city of 2.7 million and 12 people were killed, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Obama, Japana s Abe to seek reconciliation at Pearl Harbor

Putting 75 years of resentment behind them, the leaders of the United States and Japan are coming together at Pearl Harbor for a historic pilgrimage to the site where the bloodshed of the surprise attacks drew America into World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit Tuesday with President Barack Obama is powerful proof that the former enemies have transcended the recriminatory impulses that weighed down relations after the war, Japan’s government has said.

President Obama says he would have beaten Donald Trump

US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during a transition planning meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on November 10, 2016. US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during a transition planning meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on November 10, 2016.

Assange: Clinton win would have been a ‘consolidation of power’ in the U.S.

Hillary Rodham Clinton Assange: Clinton win would have been ‘consolidation of power’ Assange praises Trump for bringing ‘opportunities for change’ America’s Jews are at war MORE in a new interview, denying that any documents he released during the presidential campaign were damaging to the former Democratic nominee. Assange said he has been publishing documents on Clinton “for years” and that the leaks during the campaign were no different, he told Italian newspaper la Repubblica in an interview first published by The Guardian.

Assange: Clinton win would have been a ‘consolidation of power’ in the U.S.

Hillary Rodham Clinton Assange: Clinton win would have been ‘consolidation of power’ Assange praises Trump for bringing ‘opportunities for change’ America’s Jews are at war MORE in a new interview, denying that any documents he released during the presidential campaign were damaging to the former Democratic nominee. Assange said he has been publishing documents on Clinton “for years” and that the leaks during the campaign were no different, he told Italian newspaper la Repubblica in an interview first published by The Guardian.

U.S. executions in ’16 fewest in 25 years

A year that began with the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the death penalty in Florida ended with the country reaching modern lows in executions and death sentences. Still, even as capital punishment has declined in both sentencing and practice, there were also signs this year of its support among lawmakers, judges and the public.

Executions dwindle to 25-year low in U.S.

A year that began with the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the death penalty in one of the most active capital punishment states ended with the country reaching modern lows in executions and death sentences, the most glaring signs yet about how the practice has dwindled in America today. Still, even as capital punishment has declined in both sentencing and practice, there were also signs this year of its persistence from lawmakers, judges and the public, reminders that the death penalty is far from fading away.

Obama signs defense policy bill, objects on Guantanamo

President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a defense policy bill that authorizes $611 billion for the military in 2017, lauding provisions designed to sustain momentum in countering the Islamic State group while harshly criticizing Congress’s insistence on keeping open the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba . The legislation provides a 2.1 percent pay hike for the military and sets spending priorities and guidance for the current fiscal year.

Prosecutors: ‘Making a Murderer’ inmate’s confession legal

A Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” has no basis for his claims that his confession wasn’t voluntary and shouldn’t be released from prison as a judge has ordered, state attorneys argued in a court filing. Brendan Dassey, now 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier.

Plane hijacking in Malta ends peacefully; 2 men surrender

The nation’s largest freight railroad has agreed to more thorough inspections and maintenance improvements after a fiery oil train derailment in Oregon and the discovery of more than 800 potential safety… The nation’s largest freight railroad has agreed to more thorough inspections and maintenance improvements after a fiery oil train derailment in Oregon and the discovery of more than 800 potential safety violations… Residents of Alaska’s largest city grapple with icy streets up to seven months a year. Fortunately, there are a number of footwear options for staying upright.