American Politics IV: 1400 Reasons Why(A Stimulus Serial)

[Shrillland]

Good, very good. Now if only other States can follow.



I saw this today and was thrilled. Granted, I don't smoke, but this is good.

New York eliminated cash bail as well expect for violent felonies. Republicans thought opposition to the bill would help them regain the state senate but instead they wound up even further in the minority.

I'm not sure that will work. Remember what happened in California when cash bail was abolished, the system that was used to replace it ended up being torn apart by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch for using algorithms that ultimately led to increased remandment rates for minorities, one of the reasons bail was reinstated last year.

[Shrillland]

Madigan's suddenly resigned from his last major post, chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. It is now officially a new day for Illinois.

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

New York eliminated cash bail as well expect for violent felonies. Republicans thought opposition to the bill would help them regain the state senate but instead they wound up even further in the minority.

I'm not sure that will work. Remember what happened in California when cash bail was abolished, the system that was used to replace it ended up being torn apart by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch for using algorithms that ultimately led to increased remandment rates for minorities, one of the reasons bail was reinstated last year.

When you say "increased" rates, do you mean higher rates than the old cash bail system did?

[Shrillland]

I'm not sure that will work. Remember what happened in California when cash bail was abolished, the system that was used to replace it ended up being torn apart by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch for using algorithms that ultimately led to increased remandment rates for minorities, one of the reasons bail was reinstated last year.

When you say "increased" rates, do you mean higher rates than the old cash bail system did?

Forget what I said, I made a mistake and I apologise. The law was never implemented before Prop 25 ultimately vetoed it, but the arguments were considered valid by many who voted to restore cash bail.

California's Public Policy Institute, however, did a study that said 40% of people with misdemeanours would be held for less than 12 hours, and only a small amount of felonious charges would be held longer than before: https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/reforming-pretrial-justice-in-california-august-2020.pdf

So it's not as bad as I thought, but there is still cause for concern in regards to possible racial disparities as HRW pointed out in the California situation.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/14/human-rights-watch-opposes-california-senate-bill-10-california-bail-reform-act

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

Or shelf companies funded by Russians etc, buying the first few apartments in a new block he built (or refurbished, I don't remember). I'm not sure if that's illegal in the US, but it should be.

Dare I ask what's with the US always hating on Russians? They are a valuable ally to the US. And no china isn't allied with Russia, this isn't 1952, they do however have a trade agreement. Politically, they dislike each other

China and the US are the two great superpowers now. Russia is substantial in natural resources, but barely second-rate economically. Considering them all purely economically, the EU might be among the top two, but inflexibility as a federation and the lack of a unified military command makes their "economic power projection" rather small. And y'know, good for them. Colonialism does rather suck for everyone else.

Russia still throws its weight around like it's one of the two superpowers. And it gets away with it because it can destroy any country with its nukes. And you're asking why other countries don't like Russia?

[Gravlen]

(Image)
This is really what you want from a Supreme Court justice
stunning work from Justice Thomas

Voting after election day is not in itself fraud. The chances of such a vote NOT being postmarked are so low, that the intention to commit fraud cannot be inferred with enough certainty to rule out "duh, so that's why all the charts and talking heads and no game on the TV?"

Bear in mind that Trump's imprecation to "vote twice to test the system" got a pass on those grounds: the system failing, and counting both votes, is too remote a possibility to rule out that it was an honest mistake by the voter.

Still I think Thomas is right, and the case should have been heard. Individual officials can over-ride legislation, when specifically authorized by the legislation, and where the legislation is too vague to determine their action one way or the other. They should not do the latter if there is still time to query the legislature and have an amendment made, but that's obviously not the case a week before an election. There are grounds for the state Supreme Court's (or was it Circuit Court?) decision to go with a state official clearly going against the legislature. The actual consequences are minor, but particularly under time constraints of an election and implied emergency powers due to COVID, it seems worth hearing to me.

Why do you think SCOTUS has authority to overturn the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of the Pennsylvania Constitution?

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

When you say "increased" rates, do you mean higher rates than the old cash bail system did?

Forget what I said, I made a mistake and I apologise. The law was never implemented before Prop 25 ultimately vetoed it, but the arguments were considered valid by many who voted to restore cash bail.

California's Public Policy Institute, however, did a study that said 40% of people with misdemeanours would be held for less than 12 hours, and only a small amount of felonious charges would be held longer than before: https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/reforming-pretrial-justice-in-california-august-2020.pdf

So it's not as bad as I thought, but there is still cause for concern in regards to possible racial disparities as HRW pointed out in the California situation.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/14/human-rights-watch-opposes-california-senate-bill-10-california-bail-reform-act

I had to stop reading the second one. This was too much for me:

Our study of six representative California counties found that between 70 and 90 percent of misdemeanor and non-serious/non-violent felony defendants plead guilty and are released rather than wait until their first possible trial date

I hate the idea of plea bargaining, to the extent I'd ban guilty pleas altogether. A prosecutor who drops a charge before trial, or at the beginning of a trial, should have to hand over state money as compensation, also bear court costs. Even the practice of bringing the same charge with a range of severities (eg Murder II, Murder III) for the same crime should be banned. It's basically the prosecutor cutting their losses if the court is lenient, while getting the benefit if the court rules harshly.

Or more simply, just give everyone arrested and unable to afford bail, after consultation with a lawyer, a right to immediate trial. "Immediate" meaning before the end of the week, not 30 days for misdemeanors and 90 days for felonies. Sheesh, I might finish that tomorrow when I've calmed the fuck down ...

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

Voting after election day is not in itself fraud. The chances of such a vote NOT being postmarked are so low, that the intention to commit fraud cannot be inferred with enough certainty to rule out "duh, so that's why all the charts and talking heads and no game on the TV?"

Bear in mind that Trump's imprecation to "vote twice to test the system" got a pass on those grounds: the system failing, and counting both votes, is too remote a possibility to rule out that it was an honest mistake by the voter.

Still I think Thomas is right, and the case should have been heard. Individual officials can over-ride legislation, when specifically authorized by the legislation, and where the legislation is too vague to determine their action one way or the other. They should not do the latter if there is still time to query the legislature and have an amendment made, but that's obviously not the case a week before an election. There are grounds for the state Supreme Court's (or was it Circuit Court?) decision to go with a state official clearly going against the legislature. The actual consequences are minor, but particularly under time constraints of an election and implied emergency powers due to COVID, it seems worth hearing to me.

Why do you think SCOTUS has authority to overturn the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of the Pennsylvania Constitution?

Uh, because it's within the power of Pennsylvania to write ludicrous crap into their constitution, which violates the US constitutional rights of US citizens who have the bad fortune to be in the state at the time? And who possibly can't leave again because the state locked them up for said ludicrous reason ..?

Why do you think the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can make ANY ruling which is not subject to Federal review? There is no person in the United States, known to government or not, citizen or not, who is not protected by some part of the US Constitution. And state's rights can go fuck a coat of arms.

EDIT: I'll go further and say that if SCOTUS's reason for refusing certiorari was their own lack of jurisdiction, then they showed a cowardly lack of curiosity about whether PA's constitution is US constitutional. Still, if it was, surely some other state would have standing to challenge it directly.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

""""""earned""""""

Perhaps read about trumps real estate business instead of going off about president trump

You mean the businesses he bankrupted and then he begged the government for help? Donald Trump is the shittiest businessman to ever live in New York, but he's the best con artist so he kept people thinking he was some aristocrat when in reality he's a sad clown whose daddy gave him a shitload of money that he managed to squander and throw away.

[Kowani]

The Senate's holding a hearing on the Capitol storming

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

I do hope that the people of Texas are staying warm.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I do hope that the people of Texas are staying warm.

Dont worry, Papa Cruz came back to defend them against the vile communist democrats who helped raise a fuck ton of money for them.

But its dirty socialist money so Cruz will make sure it doesnt get to the people of Texas.

[Autumn Wind]

I do hope that the people of Texas are staying warm.

It’s supposed to get into the 70s in Houston today.

[Kowani]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

[Ifreann]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Ambitious.

[Shrillland]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

It's rambling. It's pure, only barely coherent, rambling against the Democrats more than anything else.

[Kowani]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

It's rambling. It's pure, only barely coherent, rambling against the Democrats more than anything else.

oh yeah no it's mindnumbingly stupid

[Proctopeo]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Based?

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

It's rambling. It's pure, only barely coherent, rambling against the Democrats more than anything else.

The fact it's targeting every significant politician and the RNC makes me think it's more anti-government than anti-Democrat.

[Ifreann]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Based?

It's rambling. It's pure, only barely coherent, rambling against the Democrats more than anything else.

The fact it's targeting every significant politician and the RNC makes me think it's more anti-government than anti-Democrat.

And also the king weirdo of Twitter. I'd guess it's one of Trump's true believers.

[Shrillland]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Based?

It's rambling. It's pure, only barely coherent, rambling against the Democrats more than anything else.

The fact it's targeting every significant politician and the RNC makes me think it's more anti-government than anti-Democrat.

I read the entire complaint, 60 pages I'll never get back, and it seems to be more directed towards Biden's actions with a dash of just tearing down the system.

[Untecna]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Who the...

Why the...
I can't even say anything, I may be getting brain cancer looking at this.
Edit: Mark Zuckerburg is on the list.

This just got weirder.

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Hmm. It it possible to gain a Legum Doctorate by having one's "thesis" deemed worthy of appeal in the courts?

It has that over-worked feeling of a good student trying to come top of their class.

I have detected a few phrases like "social media" that really shouldn't be in a serious legal case. Filing it in Waco of all places ("most honorable and storied" lol) is also rather questionable.

Still, I haven't finished the introduction yet. I will reserve the shredder er, judgement.

[San Lumen]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

A totally ludicrous case. good luck getting any judge to grant that.

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

There is a class action lawsuit against the entire Congress, all state governors, all secretaries of state, Jack Dorsey, Mike Podhorzer, Pete Sessions, the DCCC, the DSCC and the RNC which seeks to remove all of them from office on the grounds that the system is too corrupt to count as a Republican form of government (they also talk about several other supposed election law violations)

Who the...

Why the...
I can't even say anything, I may be getting brain cancer looking at this.
Edit: Mark Zuckerburg is on the list.

This just got weirder.

Rich Fucks are apparently on the side of the conspiracy, instead of the 328 million Americans.

It might have been a mistake to be so specific about the number of plaintiffs. They should have left a few million wiggle-room to allow for currently undiscovered conspirators who may be smoked out by the epic legal battle ahead.

[Kowani]

Because Maine doesn't have public defenders, they contract that service out to private lawyers
Turns out, they've been giving people lawyers who weren't legally eligible to take on their cases for years-1 of every 8 case assignments that required specialized representation was given to an attorney who was supposed to be ineligible to serve