Three federal judges weighing the legality of Texas' new political maps
reacted with skepticism Tuesday when the state's lawyer suggested the
intent of the redrawn boundaries was to maximize the influence of
Republicans, not to minimize the influence of minorities.
The U.S. Justice Department and a coalition of minority groups contend
the legislative and congressional maps the Texas Legislature drew last
year recut districts in a way meant to dilute the state's burgeoning
minority voting population. They say the maps violate a section of the
Voting Rights Act that requires states with a history of racially
discriminatory voting practices to get so-called "pre-clearance" from
the Justice Department before making electoral changes.
Texas is gaining four congressional seats this year due to population
readjustments made in the 2010 census. That has increased the
redistricting stakes, with Hispanics and Democrats often clashing with
the GOP-controlled Legislature about how the lines should be drawn.
John Hughes, a lawyer for Texas, which is seeking to keep the maps in
place, said during closing arguments before a Washington federal court
panel that the maps were the result of partisan gerrymandering that
didn't violate federal law. He argued that "a decision based on
partisanship" is not based on race, even if it results in minority
voters having less political influence.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Ex-Calif. teacher in court on molestation charges
The children at Miramonte Elementary School never complained about their
third-grade teacher. Not, authorities said, when he blindfolded them,
not when he put tape over their mouths or even placed live cockroaches
on their faces.
He told them it was a game and then photographed them, creating images that would eventually lead to his arrest, investigators said of Mark Berndt, who is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges that he committed lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2008 and 2010. He has hired a lawyer and has made no statements to authorities, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
The investigation began when a film processor found Berndt's photos more than a year ago. Since the discovery, the school district fired Berndt and police put him under surveillance.
"If it wasn't for the film processor, this could still be continuing today," said sheriff's Lt. Carlos Marquez.
Berndt was arrested Monday at his home in Torrance and was being held on $2.3 million bail.
Some parents picking up their pre-kindergarteners at the school on Tuesday complained that officials at the school in South Los Angeles should have notified them when the photos were found.
He told them it was a game and then photographed them, creating images that would eventually lead to his arrest, investigators said of Mark Berndt, who is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges that he committed lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2008 and 2010. He has hired a lawyer and has made no statements to authorities, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
The investigation began when a film processor found Berndt's photos more than a year ago. Since the discovery, the school district fired Berndt and police put him under surveillance.
"If it wasn't for the film processor, this could still be continuing today," said sheriff's Lt. Carlos Marquez.
Berndt was arrested Monday at his home in Torrance and was being held on $2.3 million bail.
Some parents picking up their pre-kindergarteners at the school on Tuesday complained that officials at the school in South Los Angeles should have notified them when the photos were found.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Thomas, Kagan asked to sit out health care case
Conservative interest groups and Republican lawmakers want Justice Elena
Kagan off the health care case. Liberals and Democrats in Congress say
it's Justice Clarence Thomas who should sit it out.
Neither justice is budging — the right decision, according to many ethicists and legal experts.
None of the parties in the case has asked the justices to excuse themselves. But underlying the calls on both sides is their belief that the conservative Thomas is a sure vote to strike down President Barack Obama's health care law and that the liberal Kagan is certain to uphold the main domestic achievement of the man who appointed her.
The stakes are high in the court's election-year review of a law aimed at extending coverage to more than 30 million people. Both sides have engaged in broad legal and political maneuvering for the most favorable conditions surrounding the court's consideration of the case.
Taking away just one vote potentially could tip the outcome on the nine-justice court.
Republican lawmakers recently have stepped up their effort against Kagan, complaining that the Justice Department has not fully revealed Kagan's involvement in planning the response to challenges to the law. Kagan was Obama's solicitor general, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, until he nominated her to the high court last year.
Neither justice is budging — the right decision, according to many ethicists and legal experts.
None of the parties in the case has asked the justices to excuse themselves. But underlying the calls on both sides is their belief that the conservative Thomas is a sure vote to strike down President Barack Obama's health care law and that the liberal Kagan is certain to uphold the main domestic achievement of the man who appointed her.
The stakes are high in the court's election-year review of a law aimed at extending coverage to more than 30 million people. Both sides have engaged in broad legal and political maneuvering for the most favorable conditions surrounding the court's consideration of the case.
Taking away just one vote potentially could tip the outcome on the nine-justice court.
Republican lawmakers recently have stepped up their effort against Kagan, complaining that the Justice Department has not fully revealed Kagan's involvement in planning the response to challenges to the law. Kagan was Obama's solicitor general, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, until he nominated her to the high court last year.
US court won't block its Texas redistricting map US court won't block its Texas redistricting map
A federal court refused late Friday to block a congressional
redistricting map it drew up for Texas, rejecting a request from the
state's attorney general just hours after the Republican accused the
court of "undermining the democratic process."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had asked the San Antonio-based court to stay the implementation of its interim map, which the court drafted when minority groups challenged the original plan passed by the Republican-dominated state Legislature.
The court-drawn map would ensure minorities made up the majority in three additional Texas congressional districts. If the 2012 elections were held under the court's map, Democrats would have an advantage as they try to win back the U.S. House.
Abbott said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court-ordered map will remain in place until the legal fights are resolved.
The court drew the maps after minority groups filed a lawsuit, claiming a redistricting plan devised by Republican lawmakers didn't reflect growth in the state's Hispanic and black populations.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had asked the San Antonio-based court to stay the implementation of its interim map, which the court drafted when minority groups challenged the original plan passed by the Republican-dominated state Legislature.
The court-drawn map would ensure minorities made up the majority in three additional Texas congressional districts. If the 2012 elections were held under the court's map, Democrats would have an advantage as they try to win back the U.S. House.
Abbott said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court-ordered map will remain in place until the legal fights are resolved.
The court drew the maps after minority groups filed a lawsuit, claiming a redistricting plan devised by Republican lawmakers didn't reflect growth in the state's Hispanic and black populations.
AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT PROBLEMS
http://www.insiderexclusive.com/show-content/375-american-disabilities-act-problems-florence-kulbs-story.html
Oppression is omnipresent among people with disabilities. It's interwoven in their daily lives. They breathe, sleep and work with it as if it were natural.The fight for accessible public transportation seems to have been the crucible for the disability rights movement for much of the last two decades. Advocates thought that accessible transportation would be the key to free disabled people and to mainstream them in society.
When the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act passed, mandating that all public buses and trains be made accessible, Americans with Disabilities celebrated this new legislation.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees that people with disabilities have the same access to public services such as transportation as people without disabilities. To make bus service available to those with disabilities, many City transit authorities have equipped their buses with wheelchair lifts and other special devices.
Public transit authorities also provide ADA paratransit service for those disabled persons who are unable to travel using the fixed route bus service. The ADA paratransit service provides both curb-to-curb service and door-to-door services.
The spirit of the ADA is all about equal access and leveling the playing field so that Disabled persons no longer have to sit on the sidelines. But 21 years after the law was passed, we still see horror stories of a "Well-Intended Plan that sometimes goes horribly wrong"Today the INSIDER EXCLUSIVE "Goes Behind The Headlines" to share one of those horror stories in "AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT PROBLEMS- Florence Kulb's Story", and to expose where the ADA's Paratransit Program went horribly wrong in Philadelphia.And how Florence Kulb's lawyer, Robert Huber, Ptr Huber & Palsir successfully represented Florence to get her the justice she deserved. Robert's goals..... Not ONLY To get Justice for his Florence... BUT To make sure that similar incidents don't ever happen again, anywhere in America. If you have a compelling story that you believe deserves National TV exposure, please contact us.
Oppression is omnipresent among people with disabilities. It's interwoven in their daily lives. They breathe, sleep and work with it as if it were natural.The fight for accessible public transportation seems to have been the crucible for the disability rights movement for much of the last two decades. Advocates thought that accessible transportation would be the key to free disabled people and to mainstream them in society.
When the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act passed, mandating that all public buses and trains be made accessible, Americans with Disabilities celebrated this new legislation.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees that people with disabilities have the same access to public services such as transportation as people without disabilities. To make bus service available to those with disabilities, many City transit authorities have equipped their buses with wheelchair lifts and other special devices.
Public transit authorities also provide ADA paratransit service for those disabled persons who are unable to travel using the fixed route bus service. The ADA paratransit service provides both curb-to-curb service and door-to-door services.
The spirit of the ADA is all about equal access and leveling the playing field so that Disabled persons no longer have to sit on the sidelines. But 21 years after the law was passed, we still see horror stories of a "Well-Intended Plan that sometimes goes horribly wrong"Today the INSIDER EXCLUSIVE "Goes Behind The Headlines" to share one of those horror stories in "AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT PROBLEMS- Florence Kulb's Story", and to expose where the ADA's Paratransit Program went horribly wrong in Philadelphia.And how Florence Kulb's lawyer, Robert Huber, Ptr Huber & Palsir successfully represented Florence to get her the justice she deserved. Robert's goals..... Not ONLY To get Justice for his Florence... BUT To make sure that similar incidents don't ever happen again, anywhere in America. If you have a compelling story that you believe deserves National TV exposure, please contact us.
Calif. salon shooting suspect due for arraignment
A man charged with killing his ex-wife and seven others in a shooting
rampage at a Southern California hair salon was due back in court
Tuesday.
Scott Dekraai was expected to be arraigned in Orange County Superior Court on eight counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Dekraai put on a bulletproof vest and took three handguns to a nearby beach where he pondered shooting his former wife Michelle Fournier, prosecutors said. He then allegedly headed to Seal Beach, bursting into Salon Meritage where Fournier worked and shot eight people in the head and chest in a two minute rampage. Only one of the victims survived.
He then walked out and shot to death a man sitting in his car in the parking lot before driving away, prosecutors said.
After his arrest a few blocks away, Dekraai told police that he shot Fournier, her friend and the salon's owner who headed toward him with scissors, and a number of others whom he saw as "collateral damage," court papers showed.
Scott Dekraai was expected to be arraigned in Orange County Superior Court on eight counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Dekraai put on a bulletproof vest and took three handguns to a nearby beach where he pondered shooting his former wife Michelle Fournier, prosecutors said. He then allegedly headed to Seal Beach, bursting into Salon Meritage where Fournier worked and shot eight people in the head and chest in a two minute rampage. Only one of the victims survived.
He then walked out and shot to death a man sitting in his car in the parking lot before driving away, prosecutors said.
After his arrest a few blocks away, Dekraai told police that he shot Fournier, her friend and the salon's owner who headed toward him with scissors, and a number of others whom he saw as "collateral damage," court papers showed.
Court schedules week of health care arguments
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will use an unprecedented
week's worth of argument time in late March to decide the
constitutionality of President Barack Obama's historic health care
overhaul before the 2012 presidential elections.
The high court scheduled arguments for March 26th, 27th and 28th over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which aims to provide health insurance to more than 30 million previously uninsured Americans. The arguments fill the entire court calendar that week with nothing but debate over Obama's signature domestic health care achievement.
With the March dates set, it means a final decision on the massive health care overhaul will likely come before Independence Day in the middle of Obama's re-election campaign. The new law has been vigorously opposed by all of Obama's prospective GOP opponents. Republicans have branded the law unconstitutional since before Obama signed it in a March 2010 ceremony.
In an extraordinary move, the justices are hearing more than five hours of arguments over the health care overhaul. In the modern era, the last time the court increased that time anywhere near this much was in 2003 for consideration of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance overhaul. That case consumed four hours of argument.
The Supreme Court will start the week of arguments that Monday with one hour on whether court action is premature because no one yet has paid a fine for not participating in the overhaul.
Federal law generally prohibits challenges to taxes until they are paid. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled earlier this year that the penalty for not purchasing insurance will not be paid before federal income tax returns are due in April 2015, therefore it is too early for a court ruling.
The high court scheduled arguments for March 26th, 27th and 28th over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which aims to provide health insurance to more than 30 million previously uninsured Americans. The arguments fill the entire court calendar that week with nothing but debate over Obama's signature domestic health care achievement.
With the March dates set, it means a final decision on the massive health care overhaul will likely come before Independence Day in the middle of Obama's re-election campaign. The new law has been vigorously opposed by all of Obama's prospective GOP opponents. Republicans have branded the law unconstitutional since before Obama signed it in a March 2010 ceremony.
In an extraordinary move, the justices are hearing more than five hours of arguments over the health care overhaul. In the modern era, the last time the court increased that time anywhere near this much was in 2003 for consideration of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance overhaul. That case consumed four hours of argument.
The Supreme Court will start the week of arguments that Monday with one hour on whether court action is premature because no one yet has paid a fine for not participating in the overhaul.
Federal law generally prohibits challenges to taxes until they are paid. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled earlier this year that the penalty for not purchasing insurance will not be paid before federal income tax returns are due in April 2015, therefore it is too early for a court ruling.
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