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Supreme Court on ethics issues: Not broken, no fix needed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

The Supreme Court is speaking with one voice in response to recent criticism of the justices’ ethical practices: No need to fix what isn’t broken.The justices’ response on Tuesday struck some critics and ethics experts as tone deaf at a time of heightened attention on the justices’ travel and private business transactions. That comes against the backdrop of a historic dip in public approval as measured by opinion polls.Deeply divided on some of the most contentious issues of the day — including abortion, gun rights and the place of religion in public life — the court’s six conservatives and three liberals seem united on this particular principle: on ethics they will set their own rules and police themselves.The most recent stories about the questionable ethics practices of justices began earlier this month. First came a ProPublica investigation that revealed that Thomas has for more than two decades accepted luxury trips nearly every year from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow withou...

Colorado road rage shooter convicted of 1st-degree murder

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy after a road rage confrontation and wounded the boy’s mother, brother and a witness was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday.A jury deliberated for less than three hours before issuing the verdict for Jeremy Webster, who was also found guilty of attempted murder and assault for the June 14, 2018, attack. Webster told police that he was not in his body or in control of his emotions during the attack, and that he witnessed his “arm doing the shooting” as if he were an outside observer. His lawyer, Rachel Oliver, said he had been losing his mind for years, and asked the jury to find him not guilty by reason of insanity, which would send him to a mental hospital for treatment. “His mind betrayed him very early on and it continued all the way through June 14, 2018, and it is going to continue for the rest of his life,” she said, noting that Webster’s problems began at age 4, when he saw a psycholog...

Fugees rapper Pras found guilty of political conspiracy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Fugees rapper accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies was convicted Wednesday after a trial that included testimony ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was accused of funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, then trying to squelch a Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.A jury in Washington, D.C., federal court found him guilty of all charges, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The defense argued the Grammy-winning rapper from the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees simply wanted to make money and got bad legal advice as he reinvented himself in the world of politics. Michel declined to comment after the verdict, but his attorney said he’s “extremely disappo...

Polarization means punishment for minority party lawmakers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr was silenced by her Republican colleagues on Wednesday in a vote that bars her from participating on the House floor for the remainder of the 2023 session. The crackdown followed a standoff between Montana Democrats and Republicans after Zephyr told Republican colleagues in the House they would have “blood on their hands” if they banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.It’s the latest harsh punishment meted out to an outspoken lawmaker by colleagues in state legislatures. Here are other examples. ___TENNESSEERepublicans voted Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson out of their offices for taking to the front of the Tennessee House and chanting with gun control supporters who packed the gallery after a Nashville school shooting that killed six people last month, including three children. Expulsions in the Tennessee General Assembly are extremely rare and typically center on criminal acti...

DeSantis-backed New College board scraps 5 professors tenure

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

The New College of Florida trustees now dominated by conservatives appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis voted Wednesday to deny tenure to five professors, overriding concerns by faculty and students that the decision poses a threat to academic freedom.The traditionally progressive public college in Sarasota, Florida, currently has only 659 students enrolled this year but has become the focal point of a campaign by DeSantis to rid higher education in the state of what the Republican governor calls left-leaning “woke” indoctrination on campuses.The school’s interim president, DeSantis ally and former state House Speaker Richard Corcoran, said in a memo to the trustees that he wanted the professors’ tenure denied or delayed in part because of the administrative changes and because of “a renewed focus on ensuring the college is moving towards a more traditional liberal arts institution.”“You’ve got a brand new president, a brand new provost. You have literally a change in di...

Indiana sends state-funded teacher gun training to governor

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana state lawmakers have sent the state’s Republican governor a bill that would create a state-funded handgun training program available for teachers, something critics have said could wrongly increase the number of guns in schools.The state Senate gave the bill its final approval Wednesday evening after the House concurred with changes to the legislation earlier that day.The bill, which passed the Senate 41-8 without debate and now goes to the desk of Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, is the cumulation of efforts by state lawmakers to offer additional training that have failed in recent years. That legislation was previously halted by opposition from both gun-rights advocates, who said training mandates would overstep local control, and gun-control proponents, who argued against steps they see as arming teachers.Supporters have also said the 40 hours of optional training could help teachers learn how to defend themselves and students if needed, especially in ...

102-year-old convicted Nazi camp guard dies awaiting appeal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A 102-year-old man who was convicted last year on more than 3,500 counts of accessory to murder for serving as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II has died, German news agency dpa reported Wednesday.The man, whom local media have identified only as Josef S. in line with German privacy rules, was sentenced to five years in prison last June but remained free pending appeal.He had denied working as an SS guard at the Sachsenhausen camp. But the state court in Neuruppin concluded that documents with the man’s name, date and place of birth showed he had in fact been an enlisted member of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing stationed at the camp on the outskirts of Berlin between 1942 and 1945.Tens of thousands of inmates — including Jews, political prisoners and captured Soviet soldiers — died at the Sachsenhausen camp from starvation, disease, forced labor and other causes, as well as through medical experiments and systematic executions carried out by ...

Justices cancel order cutting 16 years off murder sentence

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Justices on South Carolina’s highest court on Wednesday erased an order that cut 16 years off a convicted murderer’s sentence, a deal the inmate won by reporting another prisoner’s escape that had gone undetected for two days.The 3-2 ruling came less than two hours after the South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments about Jeroid Price’s case. The justices wrote that they would explain their decision later and ordered law enforcement to immediately find Price and bring him back into state prison custody.During arguments Wednesday, the justices said they didn’t like that the deal was kept secret, including from the parents of the man Price killed. The high court also noted that no formal hearing was held before Price walked out of prison 19 years into his 35-year sentence for a 2002 killing at a Columbia club.The elected prosecutor signed off on the deal and he appears to be blamed for not following procedure.“We are here to right...

Skilling: Frost advisory overnight for Chicagoland

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

A Frost Advisory is out for the second night Wednesday going into Thursday morning. Clear skies and light winds provide the perfect backdrop for cooling. The only area which may be spared frost are areas near Lake Michigan in Cook County.This comes after a cool day with March level temps which rose no higher than the low 50s and a morning which saw April's 2nd cool low temp in the city of 31 at O'Hare and 34 at Midwest. Inland temps dipped as low as 24 degree in sections of McHenry County---and mid to upper 30s were common away from Lake Michigan and the immediate city.Temps rebound 12 degrees into the mid 60s Thursday for the first time since last Friday, though easterly lake breezes off the 46 degree waters of Lake Michigan will keep beaches and lakeside areas cool.A northeast bound Texas weather disturbance brings clouds back to the are Thursday night and Friday and threatens some rain later Thursday night into Friday morning—especially southern sections of the area.A cold, unset...

Cook County board to consider flavored nicotine ban

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:16 GMT

CHICAGO — An ordinance to ban the sale of flavored nicotine products in suburban Cook County will be introduced Thursday at the Cook County Board Meeting.County officials said it's an attempt to stop a young, new generation from getting hooked on nicotine. Is vaping making your kid a lifelong addict? Banning the sale of flavored nicotine products at retailers in unincorporated Cook County is something Commissioner Donna Miller wants to do. The ban would include products that contain menthol, fruit, candy dessert or alcohol flavors. Miller said it's all about stopping youth from starting. Juul Labs agrees to pay $462 million settlement to 6 states "A seventh-grader told me that when she is on social media they are constantly targeting her to try flavored nicotine," Miller said. "She thought that sounded like a bad idea."The full board will vote on the proposed ordinance on Thursday. Miller was joined by other county officials including Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck who is the chief operat...