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Wednesday, January 20, 2021
PLAYFUL CITIES: Why cities need play and placemaking to foster children's wellbeing and city resilience Thursday, 21 January 2021 - 08.00 AM EST
New Orleans. Disaster Unemployment Assistance Available to Hurricane Zeta Survivors January 18, 2021
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Sunday, January 17, 2021
Vulnerable Communities and Vulnerable Population within: By Zip Code. January 2021
Story of the law’s systemic injustice and of deeply ingrained, unchallenged, and brutal extrajudicial constraints on the behavior of Black American
Sergeant Rutledge.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-front-row-sergeant-rutledge
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054292/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
The Capitol Rioters Are Being Rounded Up. But Will They Face Real Charges? The Double Standard. Reality. Change must be across the board. January 17. 2021
The Capitol Rioters Are Being Rounded Up. But Will They Face Real Charges?
Trump’s executive order on protecting federal monuments spelled out harsh sentences for Black Lives Matter protesters. Prosecutors could use it on the mob that stormed the Capitol.
Capitol Rioters. Charges faced. But what of SEDITION? Will there be a double standard? January 17, 2021
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645,
Federal Court Trails. "Face your accuser". Will there be a double standard? Maximum or Minimum sentence? January 17, 2021.
What if a jury trail were requested?
Where would the jury be selected from? The residents of the District of Columbia?
Learn About Jury Service
Jury service is a way for U.S. citizens to participate in the judicial process.
Juror Selection
Each district court randomly selects citizens’ names from lists of registered voters and people with drivers licenses who live in that district. The people randomly selected complete a questionnaire to help determine if they are qualified to serve on a jury. Those qualified are randomly chosen to be summoned to appear for jury duty. This selection process helps to make sure that jurors represent a cross section of the community, without regard to race, gender, national origin, age, or political affiliation.
Jury Pool to Jury Box
Being summoned for jury service does not guarantee that a person will actually serve on a jury. When a jury is needed for a trial, the group of qualified jurors is taken to the courtroom where the trial will take place. The judge and the attorneys then ask the potential jurors questions to determine their suitability to serve on the jury, a process called voir dire. The purpose of voir dire is to exclude from the jury people who may not be able to decide the case fairly. Members of the panel who know any person involved in the case, who have information about the case, or who may have strong prejudices about the people or issues involved in the case, typically will be excused by the judge. The attorneys also may exclude a certain number of jurors without giving a reason.
Types of Cases Heard by Juries
There are two types of judicial proceedings in the federal courts that use juries.
Criminal trial: An individual is accused of committing a crime that is considered against society as a whole. Twelve people, and alternates, make up a criminal jury. A unanimous decision must be reached before a defendant is found “guilty.” The government must prove the crime was committed “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
- Guilty pleas and plea negotiations reduce the need for juries in criminal cases.
- Civil trial: Litigants seek remedies for private wrongs that don’t necessarily have a broader social impact. At least six people make up a civil jury. The jury must come to a unanimous decision unless specified otherwise. The standard of proof is a “preponderance of the evidence,” or “more true than not.”
- Settlement negotiations reduce the need for juries in civil cases.
Working Together: Judge and Jury
The judge determines the appropriate law that should be applied to the case and the jury finds the facts in the case based on what is presented to them during the proceedings.
At the end of a trial, the judge instructs the jury on the applicable law. While the jury must obey the judge’s instructions as to the law, the jury alone is responsible for determining the facts of the case.
Federal crime in the United States Will there be a double-standard? January 17, 2021
Federal crime in the United StatesIn the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is an act that is made illegal by U.S. federal legislation. Prosecution happens at both the federal and the state levels (based on the Dual sovereignty doctrine) and so a "federal crime" is one that is prosecuted under federal criminal law and not under state criminal law under which most of the crimes committed in the United States are prosecuted.
That includes many acts for which, if they did not occur on U.S. federal property or on Indian reservations or were not specifically penalized, would either not be crimes or fall under state or local law. Some crimes are listed in Title 18 of the United States Code (the federal criminal and penal code), but others fall under other titles. For instance, tax evasion...
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Saturday, January 16, 2021
How deep is the ideology? Local level, State Level, National Level. Top FEMA official attended Trump's 'Stop the Steal' rally
At that rally, Trump urged his followers to “fight” and march to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, where hundreds broke into the Capitol building in a riot that left five people dead.
Lawmakers have been pressing federal agencies to investigate whether anyone in their ranks took part in the Jan. 6 riot. In a statement to POLITICO, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson didn’t reference Grisafe but said any Trump official who may have participated in “the attack on the Capitol” should be barred from any aspect of Inauguration security.
“Not only should they resign, but law enforcement must also be alerted,” Thompson said.
Chairman Thompson Op-Ed: Why the Senate must confirm Biden's Homeland Security pick on Day 1. And FEMA Administrator. January 16, 2021
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chairman Thompson Op-Ed: Why the
Senate must confirm Biden's Homeland Security pick on Day 1 |
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By Rep. Bennie G. Thompson
(D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security January 15, 2021 In nearly 28 years in Congress
-- including six spent as chair of the US House Committee on Homeland
Security -- I have never experienced a day quite like that which my
colleagues and I endured last Wednesday. Having
lived through 9/11 and other attacks, most Americans have little difficulty
appreciating the threat of foreign terrorism and the need to vigilantly guard
against it. But never in our lifetimes has the threat of domestic terrorism
struck so close to the bedrock of our nation. Given this unprecedented
domestic assault, the lingering atmosphere of lawlessness and intimidation in
our capital and the credible threat of
additional violence directed at our national government and statehouses
across the country in the days ahead, it would be an abdication of our most
vital responsibility to the American people to further compromise their
security and that of our republic in this moment. To ensure Americans' safety
and fulfill the oath of office, the US Senate must move quickly to confirm
Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security. The Cuban-born Mayorkas, 61, was
among President-elect Joe Biden's first picks for his Cabinet in late November. He is not an unknown commodity, and he is one of the
most knowledgeable homeland security experts in the country. Under former President Barack
Obama, Mayorkas served as both the DHS deputy secretary and the head of the
US Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the department. And
prior to his time in DHS, he was a US attorney in the Central District of
California. In sum, Mayorkas is a deeply experienced leader, hailed by both Democrats and Republicans,
who has been previously confirmed by the Senate on three occasions to serve
in his previous roles. If confirmed, he'd become the first Latino and immigrant to serve at the helm of
DHS. As deputy secretary of the
agency, he helped lead a successful effort
to guard against terror attacks, enhance our nation's cybersecurity and
strengthen cooperation between the federal national security apparatus and
state and local agencies. That proven record and crisis-tested experience is
why Mayorkas has been endorsed by a broad, bipartisan range of former national security officials and law enforcement organizations -- and it's why we need him back on the job today. This is no time for delays or political
gamesmanship -- not when American lives, and the American way of life, are on
the line. By moving swiftly to confirm Mayorkas, Congress can send a clear
message to all those who seek to intimidate or inflict violence upon our
nation: that they can no longer exploit our political divisions to assault
the principles that unite us. Of course, more important than the message is
the practical imperative -- it is crucial that we have a highly qualified,
capable Homeland Security secretary in place on Day 1 to safeguard our nation
and protect us against all manner of threats. It's no mystery why nominees to
lead our national security agencies are historically given confirmation votes
no later than Inauguration Day -- as Obama's and President Donald Trump's
Homeland Security nominees were confirmed on January 20 of 2009 and 2017, respectively. America's enemies, both foreign
and domestic, thrive on and are emboldened by any inkling of chaos, dysfunction
or vacuums of vigilant leadership in our security capabilities. Having a
qualified, competent secretary of Homeland Security at the helm right away is
critical even at times when threats are relatively quiet. Having one at the
helm under today's conditions may well be an existential necessity. Given the blaring threat of
further violence following last week's attack -- to say nothing of ongoing foreign
terrorism threats, a pending crisis at our border and the massive cyberattack recently perpetrated by Russia against our government and private sector -- there
is simply no excuse to delay a vote on the confirmation of Mayorkas. In this vulnerable moment for
our nation, having seen the deadly reality of the threat up close, I implore
my colleagues in the Senate to come together on behalf of the American people,
follow historical practice and confirm our next secretary of Homeland
Security as soon as possible. # # # |