Being Targeted Arguably this is paranoia, but the mayor and police chief of my city do not think so and have officially reacted with a formal response. What a sign that I am an old whatever, praising local law enforcement, but, well…. So the issue is that late last evening a truck full of masked white men, and no, we are not talking health masks but ones that cover ID, with flags waving including the Confederate battle flag, were going up and down our...
Read More »George Floyd and the Costs of Racial Capitalism
George Floyd and the Costs of Racial Capitalism, LAWCHA, Ken Estey, June 10, 2020 Some History A little bit about LAWCHA. The “Labor and Working Class History Association” is an organization of scholars, teachers, students, labor educators, and activists who seek to promote public and scholarly awareness of labor and working-class history through research, writing, and organizing. It grew out of the conversations among labor historians over the course of...
Read More »SCOTUS Blocks Census Citizenship Question
Writing for the Majority (5-4): Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the explanation offered by the Trump administration for adding the question “appears to have been contrived.” Justice John Roberts did leave open the possibility of change if the Administration could provide an adequate answer. Executive branch officials must “offer genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public....
Read More »Another Look
Another Look by Ken Melvin In the wake of riots following the Police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many other Black Americans, and Trump’s earlier installation the likes of Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr as Attorney General; let US Cities find now to be a particularly good time to look anew at what they, the people, think should be the proper role of Police in America. It is time and time to rethink Policing in America. Any and all changes...
Read More »Using insurance to improve policing
There are two insurance-related police reform ideas being discussed. One approach focuses on municipal liability insurance. Many municipalities do not purchase liability insurance to cover lawsuits against officers, instead choosing to self-insure. This is potentially a problem because insurers actually play an important role in loss control. They provide information and services related to procedures, training, the risks posed by individual officers,...
Read More »Pure Coincidence
Shot: Protecting Your Business From Legal Liability During Reopening May 15 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm In this brief 30-minute webinar, we will step business owners through the liability concerns when reopening following the COVID-19 shutdown. Bobbi Berkhof will inform entrepreneurs why following local, state, and federal recommendations may help protect the business from lawsuits, potentially stemming from employees and customers. Chaser: Or, in table form:...
Read More »Marine General James Mattis Denounces Trump
No sorry here, I refuse to call Trump President. It is time for this bum to leave. Breaking his silence . . . General Mattis denounces the president for dividing the nation, and accused him of ordering the U.S. military to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens. General Mattis: “I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme...
Read More »More On “Obamagate!”
More On “Obamagate!” Just three items. 1) Today (or yesterday late?) AG William Barr appointed yet another Special Counsel to investigate “Obamagate!” John Bash of the Texas Western District of the DOJ. He has been assigned to investigate the various unmaskings of Michael Flynn that happened between the election of 2016 and Flynn’s interrogation by the FBI after Trump became president in January, 2017. The full absurdity of this is that even Barr in...
Read More »More On “Obamagate!”
More On “Obamagate!” Just three items. 1) Today (or yesterday late?) AG William Barr appointed yet another Special Counsel to investigate “Obamagate!” John Bash of the Texas Western District of the DOJ. He has been assigned to investigate the various unmaskings of Michael Flynn that happened between the election of 2016 and Flynn’s interrogation by the FBI after Trump became president in January, 2017. The full absurdity of this is that even Barr in...
Read More »Meanwhile the US Supreme Court is still working
Via Truthout is a reminder the US Supreme Court has rulings to make: On May 12, the Supreme Court will have an opportunity to rebuke or endorse Trump’s pretensions to monarchical grandeur when it hears oral arguments in three cases that have the potential to redefine the nature and scope of presidential power. The cases before the court are Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP; Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG; and Trump v. Vance. In the first two, the president is trying...
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