WaPo: “Growing up in the 1930s, Daniel R. Smith would listen to stories from his father, as young boys often do. He was not supposed to hear these stories — they were meant for his older siblings, not for a child as young as 5 or 6 — but after dinner on Saturday evenings he…
Month: October 2022
“Florida voter has election fraud charges touted by DeSantis dismissed”
ABC News: “A Florida man had his election fraud charges dismissed on Friday, making him the first of 20 people who Gov. Ron DeSantis announced had been charged with voter fraud in August, to beat his case. The ruling by a Miami judge may now pave the way for similar motions and rulings in the other 19 election…
TX collecting DNA of schoolchildren; Parents ask if this is to ID them in case mutilated beyond recognition in massacre
Today: “The state of Texas is sending public school students home with DNA kits designed to help their parents identify their children “in case of an emergency.” In 2021, the Texas state legislature passed Senate Bill No. 2158, a law requiring the Texas Education Agency to “provide identification kits to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools for distribution…
Federal judge slams ADOC, Alabama officials for handling of execution method
AL Political Reporter: “What a mess That was the assessment of the Alabama Department of Corrections by a federal appeals court judge on Monday, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit attempted to sift the rubble of yet another death row legal challenge and the underhanded manner in which the state has…
“New poll shows Budd leading Beasley by 6%”
North State Journal: “Republican Ted Budd leads Democrat Cheri Beasley by a 50% to 44% margin according to a new East Carolina University Center of Survey Research poll of North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race. That doubles the lead Budd had in a September poll by the university. “Budd’s most notable gains have come from women….
“NC Democrats want consideration for new gun laws and mental health funding after Raleigh mass shooting”
NC Policy Watch: “With the pain of last week’s mass shooting in Raleigh still new, North Carolina Democratic legislators pushed the Republican majority to consider gun safety laws and increase funding for mental health care…. Democrats for years have not been able to convince Republicans to consider stricter gun laws. Pro-gun activists and the National…
“I’m the father of a trans boy in Florida. ‘Don’t say gay’ is working as intended.”
WaPo: “I spoke at the meeting because I’m the father of a transgender boy. I wanted to remind the board of a tragic constant in human history that I saw at play again that day — the dynamic by which empathy, tolerance and love become weaker political motivations than disgust, fear and hatred. I explained…
“Walker concedes giving check to ex-partner, denies knowing it was for abortion”
WaPo: “Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker acknowledged giving a $700 check to an ex-partner in 2009, but in an interview broadcast Monday, he continued to deny the woman’s claim that the money was provided to pay for an abortion. Shown images of a receipt from an abortion clinic and a check dated days later with…
“Alabama Clergy Calls on Ivey to Address Inmate’s Health”
AL Political Reporter: “A coalition of Alabama pastors is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to do something about the health of Kastellio Vaughan, whose condition while incarcerated within an Alabama prison went viral and sparked outrage last month. Vaughan, 32, is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2019 of breaking into multiple…
“Dispatches from the North Carolina court system: The cash bail-jail paradox”
NC Policy Watch: “Jordan needed an unsecured bond, or he wasn’t getting out of jail. The 24-year-old Black man had been arrested on Oct. 8, charged with possessing drug paraphernalia, trespassing, resisting a public officer, and failing to show up for a court hearing, allegations that kept him in jail on a bond he couldn’t…