This & that.....

RACISM? WHITE PRIVILEGE? ENTITLEMENT?
JUSTICE?

RSN: Wanna-Be Presidential Assassin Hinkley Goes Free, Leonard Peltier Left to Rot and Die in Prison

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FOCUS: Dennis J Bernstein | Wanna-Be Presidential Assassin Hinkley Goes Free, Leonard Peltier Left to Rot and Die in Prison 
 
Dennis J Bernstein, Reader Supported News 
Excerpt: "This is a clear example of the dual standard of justice when it comes to American Indians versus non-Indian people. And here we have a man, Hinckley, who was an obvious attempted assassin: they caught him in the act. And we have the contrast of Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison 40 years, 10 more years than Hinckley, and they've never convicted him of the actual shooting." 
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RSN: Bernie Sanders: Combating Climate Change to Save the Plan, Chain Gang 2.0: If You Can't Afford This GPS Ankle Bracelet, You Get Thrown in Jail,

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Andy Borowitz | Obama Speech Heavily Criticized by People With No Better Ideas 
 
Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker 
Borowitz writes: "Moments after its conclusion on Sunday night, President Obama's speech about combating ISIS came under heavy criticism from people with zero better ideas." 
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Supreme Court Won't Review Laws Banning Assault Weapons 
Robert Barnes, The Washington Post 
Barnes writes: "The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the ability of cities and states to prohibit semiautomatic high-capacity assault weapons that have been used in some of the nation's most deadly recent mass shootings." 
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Slavoj Žižek With Tavis Smiley on How Political Correctness Harms Society 
Tavis Smiley Radio 
Excerpt: "Slavoj Žižek joins Tavis Smiley for an extended conversation on what he says is the damage done to society by political correctness, his views on American culture, and the nation's role in global affairs." 
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Chain Gang 2.0: If You Can't Afford This GPS Ankle Bracelet, You Get Thrown in Jail 
Eric Markowitz, International Business Times 
Markowitz writes: "Some states now require people to pay for their own electronic monitoring once they bail out of jail. And if you miss a payment, you better watch out." 
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How to Be an Anticapitalist Today 
Erik Olin Wright, Jacobin 
Wright writes: "Another world - one that would improve the conditions for human flourishing for most people - is indeed possible. In fact, elements of this new world are already being created today, and concrete ways to move from here to there exist." 
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Leftist Palestinian MP Jailed 15 Months by Israeli Court 
teleSUR 
Excerpt: "An Israeli military court sentenced Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian parliamentary and a member of the leftist Popular Front of Palestine or PFLP, to 15 months in jail and a five-year suspended sentence over 'inciting violence' and violating a travel ban, according to the Israeli military." 
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Bernie Sanders: Combating Climate Change to Save the Planet 
Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News 
Sanders writes: "Enough is enough. It's time for a political revolution that takes on the fossil fuel billionaires, accelerates our transition to clean energy, and finally puts people before the profits of polluters." 
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RSN: Symone Sanders: "We Must Commit Ourselves to a Multiracial Political Revolution"

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FOCUS: Scott Galindez | Symone Sanders: "We Must Commit Ourselves to a Multiracial Political Revolution"

Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
Galindez writes: "We must pursue policies that transform this country into a nation that affirms the value of its people of color. That starts with addressing the four central types of violence waged against black and brown Americans: physical, political, legal and economic."
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Center for Public Integrity: Federal judges plead guilty

The Center for Public Integrity does impressive investigation and reporting, offering a free email subscription. Please consider subscribing to and supporting their endeavors.

Excerpts from a recent article are included below, click on the link to view its entirety.

When Massachusetts was debating Gambling Legislation, it was reported that a State Senator [Rosenberg] and Trust Fund Baby Greg Bialecki, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development both owned stock and stood to profit from the legislation. [Greg Bialecki was Governor 'Slot Barns' Patrick's point person on the Predatory Gambling Legislation.]

We have much work to do to restore confidence and integrity!

Federal judges plead guilty

Juris imprudence: Litigants reeling after judges admit conflicts of interest

By Reity O'Brien

April 28, 2014

Guillermo Ramirez did not live long enough to learn that one of the judges in his case against DuPont owned stock in the chemical company. He died last year of cancer that he and his family believed he got from a DuPont fungicide that he had applied to his strawberry fields. Now his family is wondering whether his case will be reopened due to the Center’s findings about the judge’s conflict of interest in the case. His wife, Francisca Ramirez, and children, Veronica Juan, Abdiel Ramirez and Erika Baca (clockwise from left), visit his grave in Tampa, Fla., in April 2014.

Edward Linsmier

 

 

 

Key findings:

• The Center found 26 examples since 2010 where federal appellate judges ruled on cases in which they had a financial conflict.
• Sixteen judges in all 26 of those cases had letters sent to the litigants to alert them of the mistakes. The letters are the first step in possibly reopening the cases.
• Fifty-nine percent of the 255 federal appellate judges the Center reviewed reported owning stock.
• Total reported assets, including stock and other investments, for the judges was valued between $585 million and $1.8 billion, as calculated by the Center.
• More than 110 of judges had some information on their financial disclosure reports blacked out in 2012, including information about gifts, income and investments.

 

 

When Linda Wolicki-Gables and her husband appealed a lawsuit all the way to the second-highest court in the nation against Johnson & Johnson over a malfunctioning medication pump that had been implanted in her body, the couple had no idea that one of the judges who decided their case had a financial stake in the giant multinational company.

Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Hill owned as much as $100,000 in Johnson & Johnson stock when he and two other judges ruled against the Gables’ appeal in the precedent-setting case.

For the Gables, a different decision in the 2011 appeal could have helped them win a verdict for as much as $20 million, a sum that would have vastly improved the quality of her care, according to their attorney, T. Patton Youngblood Jr. Today, the Florida woman is a partial paraplegic, he said, largely confined to her home with only her husband to care for her.

The Center also found that Hill ruled on three other appeals involving companies in which he owned stock, violating clear rules governing the federal courts. In all four instances, the court rulings favored his financial interest. In a statement released by the court, Hill said he was not aware of those stock holdings at the time due to the complexity of his family’s trusts.

“You like to think that people will be above board but we all know that’s not the case. You can’t presume that,” said Youngblood, the Gables’ attorney. “I don’t think it’s fair that he was able to preside over this thing. I just don’t think that’s right. That’s why they ask you for disclosures so that you don’t end up presiding over cases where you have a financial or other conflict.”

The Center for Public Integrity uncovered Hill's conflicts by examining the three most recent years of financial disclosure reports filed by 255 of the 258 judges who sit on the nation’s 13 appellate circuits. In all, the Center identified 24 cases where judges owned stock in a company with a case before them. In two other instances, judges had financial ties with law firms working on cases over which they presided, bringing the total to 26 conflicts.

After the Center notified the judges of its findings, 16 judges had letters sent to the parties in all of those cases uncovered by the Center during the months-long investigation. The letters are the first step in possibly reopening the cases.

The violations occurred even though clear rules regarding conflicts of interest exist. Federal judges may not sit on cases in which they have a financial interest, according to a federal law. A similar rule is also in place in the code of conduct established by the court system. Judges have been warned before about participating in such cases. Following a Washington Post investigation in 2006, the courts even added a computerized screening process to help judges avoid conflicts.

Yet the problems continue.

The Center’s findings point to a larger issue of accountability — or lack thereof — in the federal court system. Judges face no formal punishment for breaking these rules.

Appellate judges can affect a company’s stock price — or even an entire industry sector — with their rulings. They are also far more likely to own stock than the average American, making it all the more important for them to avoid the perception that their holdings could influence their rulings.

Some judges don’t own individual stocks at all to avoid the risk of conflicting with their cases. Many judges are extremely careful in reviewing their holdings. Yet the Center’s findings show that some judges do not keep track of their own investments, even with the help of computerized databases. Sometimes they have failed to do so repeatedly, like Hill.

“Come on guys, this is your obligation,” said Youngblood. “You tell us all the time about ignorance being no excuse.”

William G. Ross, a Samford University law professor in Alabama who specializes in judicial ethics, said such failures undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

“Considering the importance of judicial integrity and avoidance of conflicts of interest, I don’t think it is asking too much of a judge to expect him or her to know what his or her holdings are,” he said. “Even judges with significant portfolios should be familiar with their own holdings.”

 

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/04/28/14630/federal-judges-plead-guilty?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=watchdog&utm_medium=publici-email&goal=0_ffd1d0160d-bda02d0b97-100065557

 

Another must read:

Koch brothers, major corporations sponsor pension reform seminar for judges

By Chris Young

April 25, 2014