Judge Endorses Teenage Murder

Last week Federal Judge Robert E. Payne in Richmond, Va., ruled that age requirements on sales of semiautomatic handguns like Glock pistols are unconstitutional, allowing kids as young as 18 years old to buy these weapons and pack heat. Such weapons can fire as many as 15 or 22 rounds without reloading.

This comes at a time when gun violence is the number one cause of death for children and teens.

More:

“Judge in Virginia Strikes Down Federal Limit on Age of Handgun Buyers,” Glenn Thrush, New York Times

“18-to-20-year-olds can’t be barred from buying handguns, judge rules,” Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post

“Children and teens are more likely to die by guns than anything else,” Annette Choi, CNN

“Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the U.S. and Peer Countries,” Matt McGough, Krutika Amin, Nirmita Panchal, and Cynthia Cox, KFF Global Health Policy

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Clarence Thomas Family Value$

As an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas makes a measly $230,000 a year, so naturally he needs all the financial help he can get. And he gets lots of it, chiefly from his billionaire pal Harlan Crow, friend of the Court and renowned collector of Nazi memorabilia. A true believer in family values, Mr. Crow:

Paid the $120,000 salary of Mrs. Ginni Thomas and propped up her far-right Liberty Central lobby;

Paid Justice Thomas for his elderly mother’s house, fixed it up, and allowed her to live there rent-free; and

Paid the private school tuition of Mr. Thomas’s legal ward, his grandnephew Mark Martin.

Justice Thomas didn’t disclose any of this to the Court in his required annual financial disclosure reports. He also didn’t reveal his trips on Harlan Crow’s private jet or megayacht or their luxury vacation excursions.

Most of these issues were uncovered bythe non-profit ProPublica newsroom and the New York Times.

More:

“A brief timeline of Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow and ethics questions,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post

“Billionaire Offered Tuition to Send Ginni Thomas to Law School for Second Time,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

Related:

“Clarence Thomas has for years claimed income from a defunct real estate firm,” Shawn Boburg and Emma Brown, Washington Post

“More ethics questions rise for Supreme Court justices,” Sareen Habeshian, Axios

“Judicial activist directed fees to Clarence Thomas’s wife, urged ‘no mention of Ginni,’” Emma Brown, Shawn Boburg and Jonathan O’Connell, Washington Post

The real reason for the Supreme Court’s corruption crisis,” Ian Millhiser, Vox

Updates:

“CREW files civil and criminal complaint against Clarence Thomas,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) [Read the complaint]

“Clarence Thomas Promises To Adopt Code Of Ethics For The Right Price,” The Onion

“Thomas’ Monsanto years offer window into justice’s enviro roots,” Pamela King, E&E News

“The strange story of Clarence and Ginni Thomas,” Lauren Mechling, The Guardian

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Trump Locks Up the 2024 Campaign

Celebrity golf cheat, insurrection organizer, and twice-impeached former US President Donald Trump is due to be arraigned today in New York City on multiple business fraud counts weirdly related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Naturally, in today’s MAGA-Republican party, this makes him the front-runner in the GOP 2024 presidential campaign, earning him millions in campaign contributions.

The New York case, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is much, um, sexier than other Trump investigations, which merely involve stealing government documents, plotting a coup, and attempting to steal a presidential election. While the Big Apple case may seem more of a long shot, it’s the first indictment of a former US president, so indictments in other cases won’t be precedent breakers, reducing the heat on prosecutors.

More:

“New York, city of Trump’s dreams, delivers his comeuppance,” Matt Sedensky, Associated Press

“Trump Says He Can’t Be Bought–Then Begs For Campaign Money,” Matt Young, Daily Beast

“Melania Trump Seen Wearing “I Don’t Care” Jacket,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

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Warren Burger on ‘2nd Amendment Fraud’

In 1991, conservative former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger said the idea that there was an individual right to bear arms was “a fraud”:

“This has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime. Now just look at those words. There are only three lines in that amendment. “A well regulated militia”—of the militia, which was going to be the state army, was going to be well-regulated, why shouldn’t 16 and 17 and 18 or any other age persons be regulated in the use or arms the way an automobile is regulated?”

More:

“How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment,” Michael Waldman, Politico

“Not So Long Ago, the Second Amendment Didn’t Guarantee the Right to Own a Gun,” Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine

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Starbucks Sued Over Coffee-Flavored Lip Balm

We call your attention to the case of Balmuccino LLC v. Starbucks Corp, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, No. 2:22-cv-01501:

“Starbucks Corp stole a Los Angeles company’s confidential information about plans for a coffee-flavored lip balm to create its S’Mores Frappucino lip-gloss kit, according to a lawsuit filed in Seattle federal court.”

— “Starbucks sued again over Frappucino lip-gloss trade secrets,” Blake Brittain, Reuters {link added]

More:

“Lawsuit claims Starbucks stole secrets for coffee-flavored lip balms,” Quratulain Tejani, NY Post

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Supreme Court Requires Blood Sacrifice

The Supreme Court of the United States thinks you should be able to carry a concealed handgun in public just because you think it’s cool and want to feel like a big shot. For over a century, New York had required gun owners to have a reason to carry a concealed weapon. Police issued concealed carry permits to business owners who carry bags of cash to a bank’s night deposit facility, those who had a demonstrable proper cause to be concerned for their personal safety, and so on. Now any dumb schmuck who hasn’t been caught committing a crime — yet — will be enabled to do so, with deadly consequences, thanks to six SCOTUS conservative ideologues. That doesn’t sound like a “well-regulated militia” to us.

What can you expect?

• More gunshot deaths, murders and suicides.
• More civilians killed by police, who will be more likely to assume that anyone they come into contact with is armed with a concealed deadly weapon.

More:

“Supreme Court strikes down New York’s concealed carry gun law,” Oriana Gonzalez, Axios

“U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights, strikes down New York law,” Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley, Reuters

“Supreme Court strikes N.Y. law, finds right to carry guns outside home,” Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post

“SCOTUS Strikes Down New York Gun Control Law, Expanding Gun Rights In Wake Of Mass Shootings,” Kate Riga, Talking Points Memo 

 

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Louie Gohmert Demands His Right to Lie to the FBI

Rep Louie Gohmert on Navarro indictment: "If you're a Republican, you can't even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they're coming after you" pic.twitter.com/8eIkkycukd

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) June 3, 2022

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R, TX-1) told Newsmax it’s unfair that Republicans can’t lie to the FBI. The former Texas judge was speaking about former Trump aide Peter Navarro, indicted for criminal contempt of Congress, not for lying to anybody. Yet. Mr. Gohmert was miffed that a federal jury aquitted Democrat Michael Sussman of such an offense.

FYI: Nobody, Democrat or Republican, should lie to FBI agents, since it’s a felony. The best policy is to shut up, something beyond the ability of Louie Gohmert. He recently blamed wearing masks for his COVID diagnosis and asked the National Forest Service to alter the Moon’s orbit.

More:

“Louie Gohmert Whines That Republicans Aren’t Allowed to Lie to the FBI — Which Is a Felony,” William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone

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Fences Up at the Supreme Court

After the recent leak of Samuel Alito’s draft decision, the Supreme Court Building was surrounded by security fencing to prevent the Justices from breaking out and inflicting further damage.

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Rudy Lost His Law License

“Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, has been suspended from practicing law in New York state for spreading lies about the election as a lawyer for former president Donald Trump.

In an order suspending Giuliani on Thursday, the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court that covers Manhattan wrote that it found ‘uncontroverted evidence’ that Giuliani ‘communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large’ to suggest that ‘victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client.’”

— “Rudy Giuliani Has Been Suspended From Practicing Law In New York”, Sarah Mimms, BuzzFeed News

More:

“Rudy Giuliani barred from practicing law in New York over election lies,” Sarah Betancourt, The Guardian

“Rudy Giuliani suspended from practicing law in New York,” Zachary Basu, Axios

“Americans Shocked to Learn That Giuliani Had Law License,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

Updates:

“Rudy Giuliani Is Still a Member of the DC Bar,” Marisa M. Kashino, Washingtonian

“The Ruling Suspending Giuliani’s Law License Is Kind of Hilarious,” Jeremy Stahl, Slate

“Rudy Giuliani suspended from practicing law in D.C. court,” Rachel Weiner, Washington Post

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How We Pick Juries

There’s a problem with juries. A legal loophole makes them less diverse. A Vox video.

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