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Monthly archive

June 2016 - page 3

Speaker Ryan Rips Administration Over Orlando Shooting Redactions

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The transcript of a 911 call between the Orlando shooter and authorities during last week’s massacre was released on Monday by the Department of Justice, with significant details omitted. The record of the approximately 50-second exchange includes Omar Mateen admitting to the rampage, telling a dispatcher over the phone, “I did the shooting.” The portion of the conversation in which Mateen pledges allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization, however, was redacted by the Justice Department. Reacting to the release, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan…

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SCOTUS Adds Pretty Big Footnote to Fourth Amendment

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Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg excoriated colleagues on Monday, charging the court with undermining Constitutional safeguards against police abuses. Justices had that day ruled 5-3 to reverse a Utah Supreme Court decision to suppress evidence collected by a narcotics detective. Elena Kagan was the other Justice to dissent. The officer in the case had detained a suspect without reasonable suspicion, discovered the man had a warrant for a traffic violation, then placed him under arrest and discovered he was possessing methamphetamine.…

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Dems’ Gun Control “Filibuster” Co-opted By Problematic Terror Watch Lists Proposals

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Upending regular order, Democrats and a few Republicans held the Senate floor for more than 15-hours on Wednesday and early Thursday morning to highlight the need for gun control measures in the wake of the recent mass shooting in Orlando. Led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the maneuver could, however,  yield troubling outcomes for those concerned about the increasing size of the national security state and its infringement on civil liberties–those with implications beyond “the right to keep and bear arms.” Just after 2 A.M. on…

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Corporate Influence Peddlers Ask Influential Court to Toss Out NLRB Franchise Ruling

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Well-heeled business interests lined up this week to ask a federal appeals court in Washington to throw out new workplace regulations with far-reaching implications. Lawyers for the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Microsoft were among groups that filed amicus briefs, asking the court to declare the “joint employer” rule illegal. The National Labor Relations Board redefined “joint employer” in August 2015, in a 3-2 vote. “Direct and immediate control” over working conditions should be what defines the term, the board…

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Brennan Claims CIA Officers Were Held Accountable for Torture, But Won’t Publicly Divulge How

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CIA Director John Brennan told lawmakers on Thursday that people at the CIA have indeed been held accountable for the agency’s post-9/11 torture program. Brennan refused, however, to get into the details publicly, saying the matter is classified. He made the claims during a public hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Is it still the case that no one has been held accountable for the systemic failures that the agency has acknowledged?” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the CIA chief during the proceedings. Wyden referenced the…

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For First Time Since 2009 Coup, Dems File Legislation to Stop Military Aid to Honduras

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Citing the murder of Berta Caceres, six House Democrats this week proposed suspending all US security aid to Honduras. The legislation would stop the flow of security assistance from Washington to the Central American country until “human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and their perpetrators are brought to justice.” It is the first legislative proposal to withhold aid to Honduras since 2009, when the country’s elected populist president, Mel Zelaya, was overthrown in a military coup. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) sponsored the bill…

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Days after Orlando Hate Crime, GOP Upholds LGBT Bigotry

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Republicans on Capitol Hill are going to great lengths to block the mere consideration of a proposal that would protect gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans from discrimination in the workplace and marketplace. On Tuesday night, the House Rules Committee decreed that an anti-LGBT discrimination amendment to an annual defense spending bill would not receive a vote on the floor. The amendment would prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against citizens based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Last week, the committee blocked consideration of a similar measure…

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S.E.C. Pressed On Unfinished Dodd-Frank Conflict of Interest Rule

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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) hit out at the Securities and Exchange Commission for dawdling on a conflict of interest rule it was ordered to implement by the Dodd-Frank Act. Merkley pressed SEC Chair Mary Jo White on Tuesday, asking about the state of the regulation before a Senate Bakning Committee oversight hearing. “Here we are six years later,” he said, referring to the timing of Dodd-Frank’s passage. “We don’t even have a draft rule.” White replied, calling the proposal “enormously important,” but said the matter was…

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Net Neutrality Preserved in the Courts…For Now

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The telecoms industry’s legal assault on the Federal Communications Commission’s “Net Neutrality” rule has been momentarily halted. A ruling handed down by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday upheld the FCC’s regulations. Finalized in early 2015, they reclassified service providers, and subjected them to new rules, in a bid to ensure equal treatment of online traffic. The commission’s Open Internet Order—perhaps the most significant progressive policy achievement of last year—was the culmination of years of grassroots organizing and agitating in response…

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Amid Fresh Relief Proposals, Student Debt Strikers Still Skeptical of Education Dept.

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The Department of Education proposed a new set of rules aimed at easing the debt relief application process for students bilked by for-profit colleges. The initiative, revealed this week, would bar corporate schools from making prospective students relinquish their rights to sue—whether individually or in class action lawsuits. It would also grant the department more authority to discharge a group of students’ loan obligations, when it is determined they have been deceived by school administrators. The rules, if finalized, would also force for-profit schools to…

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Obama to Sign FOIA Reform Bill, Calls on Congress to be More Transparent

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The White House on Tuesday morning signaled that it would support legislation passed by Congress to update and modernize how agencies handle Freedom of Information Act requests. The House approved the FOIA Improvement Act on Monday night. The legislation passed the Senate in March by unanimous consent. The bill would require federal bodies to default on the side of transparency when processing records requests. It stipulates that if agencies intend to withhold documents, they have to provide specific reasons why release could lead to “foreseeable…

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