Cory Booker moved a step closer to becoming New Jersey’s first African-American U.S. senator Tuesday when voters gave the Newark mayor a wide victory in the Democratic primary. Booker will face Republican Steve Lonegan, former mayor of Bogota, N.J., in a special election October 16. Turnout was low for the special election, which was necessitated by the death of Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg in June at age 89.
Booker leveraged his national name into prodigious fundraising: with the help of friends like Oprah Winfrey and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, he brought in more than $8.6 million, well ahead of his rivals. Booker defeated two members of the state’s congressional delegation, Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt, as well as Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. “This is our victory – thank you. Please continue to run with me,” Booker tweeted to his 1.4 million Twitter followers shortly after he was declared the winner.
Booker argued that his high profile would allow him to be more effective in Washington. “I find ways to break through the noise of the country and more effectively advocate and get things done,” he told the Asbury Park Press last month. In his victory speech in Secaucus Tuesday night, Lonegan said Booker was “anointed by Hollywood” and the candidate of “Silicon Valley moguls” who want to make him California’s third U.S. senator, the Associated press reported.
Booker, 44, was the front-runner from the moment he indicated in December that he wanted to run — even before Lautenberg had declared whether he intended to run for re-election. Lautenberg ultimately said he would not run, then died in June, setting up the special election. Booker’s choice to run for Senate disappointed Democrats who hoped he would take on popular Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who is up for re-election in November.
article by Martha T. Moore via usatoday.com
Posts published in “Politics”
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A state panel has proposed striking segregationist language from Alabama’s 1901 constitution that mandates separate schools for “white and colored children.” The Anniston Star reports the Alabama Constitutional Review Commission voted 9-7 Monday (http://bit.ly/165Hc57) to propose that Section 256 of the document instead say the state will maintain a system of public schools and to drop references to segregation.
The passage hasn’t had legal authority since the civil rights movement. Some state leaders say they’d like to strike the passage because it’s an embarrassment to Alabama. Commissioner Carolyn McKinstry told the newspaper it’s disappointing more people didn’t agree on the topic. Two prior attempts at striking the passage have failed. In 2004, opponents said dropping the language could allow courts to demand equal funding for the state’s school districts.
article by Associated Press via huffingtonpost.com
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors will no longer seek long, “mandatory minimum” sentences for many low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, under a major shift in policy aimed at turning around decades of explosive growth in the federal prison population, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announced today. The nation’s top law enforcement official called for a “fundamentally new approach” to enforcing drug laws in order to help alleviate prison overcrowding and reduce race-based disparities in drug prosecutions.
“It’s clear – as we come together today – that too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason. It’s clear, at a basic level, that 20th-century criminal justice solutions are not adequate to overcome our 21st-century challenges,” Holder told the annual meeting of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates in San Francisco. “And it is well past time to implement common sense changes that will foster safer communities from coast to coast.”
The new policy involves the prosecution of low-level, non-violent drug offenders who have no ties to gangs, cartels or other large-scale organizations. They will be charged with offenses that — like those for most crimes — specify a range of months or years, allowing judges to decide sentence length. Holder has long argued that mandatory minimums are contributing to the fact that the number of inmates in federal prisons has increased by 800 percent since 1980, far faster than the growth of the U.S. population.
The new policy involves the prosecution of low-level, non-violent drug offenders who have no ties to gangs, cartels or other large-scale organizations. They will be charged with offenses that — like those for most crimes — specify a range of months or years, allowing judges to decide sentence length. Holder has long argued that mandatory minimums are contributing to the fact that the number of inmates in federal prisons has increased by 800 percent since 1980, far faster than the growth of the U.S. population.
In a repudiation of a major element in the Bloomberg administration’s crime-fighting legacy, a federal judge has found that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of minorities in New York, and called for a federal monitor to oversee broad reforms. In a blistering decision issued on Monday, the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, found that the Police Department had “adopted a policy of indirect racial profiling” that targeted young minority men for stops. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the city would appeal the ruling, angrily accusing the judge of deliberately not giving the city “a fair trial.”
The mayor cited the benefits of stop-and-frisk, crediting the tactic for making the city safer and for ridding the streets of thousands of illegal guns. But in her ruling, Judge Scheindlin found that in doing so, the police systematically stopped innocent people in the street without any objective reason to suspect them of wrongdoing. The stops, which soared in number over the last decade as crime continued to decline, demonstrated a widespread disregard for the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, as well as the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, according to the 195-page decision.
Judge Scheindlin’s criticism extended beyond the conduct of police officers; in holding the city liable for a battery of constitutional violations, the judge found that top police officials acted with deliberate indifference. She said that police commanders were content to dismiss allegations of racial profiling as “a myth created by the media.” Citing statements by the mayor and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, Judge Scheindlin accused the city of using stop-and-frisk as a checkpoint-style policing tactic, with the intent of deterring minorities from carrying guns on the street.
“I also conclude that the city’s highest officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner,” she wrote. The judge designated an outside lawyer, Peter L. Zimroth, to monitor the Police Department’s compliance with the Constitution.
Judge Scheindlin also ordered a number of other remedies, including a pilot program in which officers in at least five precincts across the city will wear body-worn cameras in an effort to record street encounters. She also ordered a “joint remedial process” — in essence, a series of community meetings — to solicit public input on how to reform stop-and-frisk.
LITHONIA, GA – Congressman Hank Johnson has just announced a $1.2 million federal grant to a metro Atlanta community-based project that is committed to helping offenders straighten out their lives. Standing to Achieve New Directions (STAND, Inc.) will receive the award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services. The non-profit organization, established in 1999, provides services for ex-inmates, with an emphasis on rehabilitating former prisoners and helping repeat offenders break their cycle of crime.
“It’s absolutely critical to bridge a pathway for individuals coming out of incarceration experiences so they can successfully reintegrate into society,” says Charles Sperling, executive director and founder of STAND. The grant monies will facilitate a new initiative, launched this month, to support about 90 newly released inmates every year over a period of three years. The scheme, which is offered on a voluntary basis, will provide a spectrum of resources and support, from behavior health services and housing to employment needs.
“STAND has a proven track record of helping former inmates turn their lives around,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), in a statement. “Encouraging people released from prison to be productive members of society not only strengthens our communities; it saves taxpayers billions of dollars.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a measure restoring lower interest rates for student loans, pledging the hard-fought compromise would be just the first step in a broader, concerted fight to rein in the costs of a college education. Encircled by lawmakers from both parties in the Oval Office, Obama praised Democrats and Republicans alike for agreeing — finally — on what he called a sensible, reasonable approach to student loans even as he cautioned that “our job is not done.”
“Feels good signing bills. I haven’t done this in a while,” Obama said, alluding to the difficulty he’s faced getting Congress to approve his legislative priorities, such as gun control and budget deals. “Hint, hint,” he added to laughter.
Friday’s ceremony capped a frenzy of negotiations that led to a rare bipartisan compromise to lower rates before classes resume. About 11 million students this year are expected to have lower interest rates, saving the average undergraduate $1,500 on interest charges on this year’s loans. The legislation links student loan interest rates to the financial markets. It offers lower rates this fall because the government can borrow money cheaply at this time. If the economy improves in the coming years as expected, it will become more costly for the government to borrow money, and that cost would be passed on to students.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called it “a good day” and a fine example of what Washington can accomplish when petty partisanship is put aside. “With the stroke of a pen, we’ve now officially taken the politics out of student loans,” Boehner said. “By linking interest rates to markets, this law — part of the Republican jobs plan — means students will see lower rates and won’t have to worry about Washington suddenly making it harder to pay for their education.”
When President Obama was first asked about controversial National Security agencies programs two months ago, he struck a defiant tone, rejecting the notion that what Edward Snowden had revealed constituted any kind of controversy. “Congress is continually briefed on how these (programs) are conducted. There are a whole range of safeguards involved. And federal judges are overseeing the entire program throughout. And we’re also setting up — we’ve also set up an audit process when I came into office to make sure that we’re, after the fact, making absolutely certain that all the safeguards are being properly observed,” he said then.
Now, his tone has changed. Obama still defends these programs as being both necessary for national security and not violating the civil liberties of Americans. But his announcements at a press conference Friday illustrate he was eager to quiet strong criticism from even liberals and long-time supporters about the collection of phone records of Americans by the NSA.
The president said he would appoint a panel of outside experts to review U.S. intelligence gathering, appoint a “full-time civil liberties and privacy officer” at the NSA, review provisions in the Patriot Act that authorize the collection of phone records and create a system in which the government’s position is challenged by an adversary in cases that go to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Obama did not apologize for the NSA programs. But he also acknowledged the need for greater public debate and oversight of them, as his critics have repeatedly called for. “We’re going to resolve our differences in the United States, through vigorous public debate, guided by our Constitution, with reverence for our history as a nation of laws and with respect for the facts,” he said.
In an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, President Barack Obama on Tuesday night said that he expected Russia to welcome gay and lesbian athletes to the 2014 Sochi Olympics because the country has “a big stake in making sure the Olympics work.” The conversation stemmed from a question Leno asked about the treatment of the LGBT community in Russia, which Leno characterized as a place where “homosexuality is against the law.”
A top Russian government official recently stated that, even during the Olympics, the country would enforce a new law that prohibits “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors.” The law, signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in June, also bans public events that promote gay rights and public displays of affection by same-sex couples.
The International Olympic Committee has stated publicly that athletes and visitors attending the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia will not be affected by the anti-gay legislation. “I mean, this seems like Germany,” Leno said. “Let’s round up the Jews, let’s round up the gays, let’s round up the blacks. I mean, it starts with that. You round up people who you don’t — I mean, why is not more of the world outraged at this?”
President Obama responded that he had “no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.”
In wake of the Trayvon Martin murder trial, movements led by young people who embrace hoodies, tattoos, hip-hop culture and rebellion are proving that a powerful voice in this nation can defy stereotypes or expectations. While media pundits and lawmakers continue to bicker over the destructive ethos of American society, organizations like the Dream Defenders, the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice and the Trayvon Martin Foundation have taken their concerns to the streets. They’re camped out. They’re marching Washington. They’re demanding that laws be changed and they’re forcing the government to listen.
An uprising not unlike civil rights movements of the past, these youth activists have utilized social media, new technology and the provocative antics of hip-hop to make a difference, and they don’t intend to stop.
#Ever.
“We are powerful because we are a product of our generation,” Ciara Taylor, political director for the Dream Defenders, tells theGrio. “We show the world that yes, you can listen to rap music, and yes, you can sag your pants, yes, you can have tattoos and wear snapbacks, but you can also stand up for yourself and your community.”
The Dream Defenders: #TAKEOVERFL
After occupying the Florida State House for three weeks to demand repeal of the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, Taylor’s team demonstrated their influence this weekend when Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford announced he would hold hearings on the subject this fall. The victory arrives after the organization, primarily made of twenty-somethings and college students, rallied legislators, drafted letters and sought approval from the Secretary of State to bring the matter to its feet. According to Tallahassee.com, the protest has cost the government $182,362, including $68,777 in overtime for law enforcement officers. “I’m thinking I’m going to lose my job,” says Taylor, who works part-time at the American Civil Liberties Union and has taken significant time off to lead the protest.
The European Commission has urged Malta to allow 102 African migrants rescued from the sea by a tanker to enter its territory. It said the EU state had a humanitarian duty to take in the migrants, who were rescued off the coast of Libya.
Among those rescued are an injured woman, four pregnant women and a five-month-old baby. The Italian navy had asked the ship to take the migrants to Libya, the nearest land, but it disregarded the request. The tiny island state receives thousands of illegal migrants heading to Europe each year.
Hours before the latest incident, 111 mainly African migrants arrived in a rubber dinghy at Delimara, on the south-east coast. In the latest incident, the European Commission said that since the ship was now closest to Malta, the island must allow the migrants to disembark as soon as possible.
Any dispute over which country should legally take them should be resolved later, it argued. The immediate concern was to save lives. The master of the tanker M/V Salamis is credited with saving the migrants’ lives but the Maltese authorities are refusing to let the ship dock.
Malta says the migrants are in no danger or distress though the ship’s master has issued an urgent medical request saying one injured woman needs to be taken immediately to hospital.
The Maltese government said a patrolling Italian navy ship had ordered the Salamis to take the migrants to the nearest available port, in this case in Libya.
“The government told the ship’s captain that since he had ignored the instructions given him [by the Italian navy], he had been forbidden to enter Maltese waters,” a statement said on Monday. On Sunday the Italian navy rescued a group of at least 90 migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa by boat, and brought them to the island of Lampedusa. Last month, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy that the burden of immigration to the EU should not fall on its smallest member.
While Malta would do its compassionate duty, he added, it would not leave its doors open wide and “welcome boats from Libya and elsewhere as if nothing happened”. “Call us harsh, call us heartless, but we are not pushovers,” the Maltese prime minister said.
article via bbc.co.uk