Wisconsin’s Evers Urges Federal Judge Not To Make Changes At Youth Prison In Wake of Counselor Death

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Wisconsin’s Evers Urges Federal Judge Not To Make Changes At Youth Prison In Wake of Counselor Death

(Headline USA) Gov. Tony Evers asked a federal judge Wednesday not to impose any changes at Wisconsin’s youth prison after an inmate was accused of killing a counselor during a fight earlier this summer, insisting conditions at the prison have been slowly improving despite the death.

Evers, a Democrat, said in the letter to James Peterson, chief judge for the Western District of Wisconsin, that Republican lawmakers could soon ask him to give Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes Schools more leeway in punishing incarcerated children. The governor said that it’s important to remember that brutal staff-on-inmate punishments led to tighter restrictions on what action staff can take.

Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake is Wisconsin’s only youth prison. The facility has been plagued by allegations of staff-on-inmate abuse, including excessive use of pepper spray, restraints and strip searches.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in Madison in 2017 demanding changes at the prison. Then-Gov. Scott Walker’s administration settled the lawsuit in 2018 by agreeing to abide by a consent decree that prohibits punitive confinement, restricts confinement to 12 hours, restricts the use of mechanical restraints to handcuffs and prohibits the use of pepper spray. A court-appointed monitor has been checking the prison’s compliance ever since.

According to prosecutors, a 16-year-old boy attacked a counselor on June 24, punching her before fleeing into an outdoor courtyard. Counselor Corey Proulx confronted him, and the boy punched him in the face. Proulx fell and hit his head on concrete pavement. He was pronounced brain-dead two days later.

His death has pushed Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake staff to demand more freedom in dealing with inmates. Republican lawmakers sympathetic to their demands have been talking about asking Peterson to revise the consent decree to give them more latitude, including allowing them to use pepper spray. Sen. Van Wanggaard, chair of the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee, released a letter Wednesday to state Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy signed by a host of GOP legislators demanding he ask Peterson for changes.

“Lincoln Hills staff need to get the bullseye off their back, so that they may safely and efficiently ensure the security and welfare of themselves and the residents of Lincoln Hills,” the letter said.

Asked if Hoy would comply, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback released Evers’ letter to Peterson. The letter was dated Wednesday, but Cudaback said the administration had been working on it before receiving the Republicans’ request.

Evers reminded Peterson in the letter of the abuse that led to the consent decree in the first place and said Republicans are refusing to acknowledge that history. The governor added that he doubts the ACLU would support any changes.

He went on to detail changes at the youth prison, saying relationships between staff and inmates have improved and that Hoy received a letter last week from the president of Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators board recognizing Wisconsin as an emerging leader in prison reforms.

Evers added that since Proulx’s death, the facility has been working to increase staff-to-inmate ratios, utilizing overtime when needed. Supervisors regularly ask staff about their comfort levels, especially when staffing levels are lower, he said.

He intends to visit the prison later this month, and Hoy has been working there at least one day a week since Proulx’s death, the governor wrote.

Emily Stedman, one of the lead attorneys for the ACLU in the 2017 lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the governor’s letter.

Wanggaard aide Scott Kelly said in a text to The Associated Press on Wednesday evening that instead of being open to balance and change, Evers was instead doubling down on policies that created the dangerous conditions at the prison.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Detroit Judge Sidelined For Making Sleepy Teen Wear Jail Clothes on Court Field Trip

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Detroit Judge Sidelined For Making Sleepy Teen Wear Jail Clothes on Court Field Trip

(Headline USA) A Detroit judge who ordered a teenager into jail clothes and handcuffs on a field trip to his courtroom will be off the bench while undergoing “necessary training,” the court’s chief judge said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the girl’s mother said Judge Kenneth King was a “big bully.”

“My daughter is hurt. She is feeling scared,” Latoreya Till told the Detroit Free Press.

She identified her daughter as Eva Goodman. The 15-year-old fell asleep in King’s court Tuesday while on a visit organized by a Detroit nonprofit.

King didn’t like it. But he said it was her attitude that led to the jail clothes, handcuffs and stern words.

“I wanted this to look and feel very real to her, even though there’s probably no real chance of me putting her in jail,” he explained to WXYZ-TV.

King has been temporarily removed from his criminal case docket and will undergo “necessary training to address the underlying issues that contributed to this incident,” said William McConico, the chief judge at 36th District Court.

The court “remains deeply committed to providing access to justice in an environment free from intimidation or disrespect. The actions of Judge King on August 13th do not reflect this commitment,” McConico said.

He said the State Court Administrative Office approved the step. King will continue to be paid. Details about the training, and how long it would last, were not disclosed.

King, who has been a judge since 2006, didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment. At the close of his Thursday hearings, accessible on YouTube, he made a heart shape with his hands. The judge’s work includes determining whether there’s enough evidence to send felony cases to trial at Wayne County Circuit Court.

Till said her daughter was sleepy during the Tuesday court visit because the family doesn’t have a permanent residence.

“And so, that particular night, we got in kind of late,” she told the Free Press, referring to Monday night. “And usually, when she goes to work, she’s up and planting trees or being active.”

The teen was seeing King’s court as part of a visit organized by the Greening of Detroit, an environmental group.

“Although the judge was trying to teach a lesson of respect, his methods were unacceptable,” said Marissa Ebersole Wood, the group’s chairperson. “The group of students should have been simply asked to leave the courtroom if he thought they were disrespectful.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Walz Scrubs Controversial COVID Policy that Led to Killing Grandmas

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Walz Scrubs Controversial COVID Policy that Led to Killing Grandmas

(Headline USA) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration scrubbed a controversial COVID-era policy from its website as the vice presidential candidate faces increased scrutiny for his handling of the pandemic.

During the pandemic, Walz was one of several governors who passed an order stating that patients with COVID should be admitted into nursing homes after being discharged from hospitals.

“Patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who still require transmission-based precautions for COVID-19 can be transferred to congregate living facilities,” read the policy, according to Fox News.

Walz’s administration also encouraged families not to take their loved ones out of nursing homes, which quickly became COVID-19 breeding grounds.

“[Minnesoda Department of Health] strongly recommends against families bringing residents of long-term care facilities to their homes during this time,” said the MDH official guidance. “This recommendation applies whether residents have previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 or have recently tested negative for COVID-19.”

Walz defended the policy even after COVID deaths in long-term facilities began to spike.

“This was what everyone was doing,” he said in 2020. “This was not a mistake. It wasn’t like no one thought about this. There was complexity in how you deal with this.”

Now, however, it appears Walz is trying to cover up his role in the COVID deaths of elderly Minnesotans.

According to Fox News, the policy he once defended has been removed from his administration’s website and is only accessible via the Wayback Machine.

The scandal is reminiscent of Democrats’ attack ads on then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and then-vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., the latter of whom was accused of trying to “kill” the elderly in his efforts to repeal Obamacare.

Through their own COVID governance, however, Democrats oversaw the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home patients in states such as Walz’s Minnesota, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California, Gov. Phil Murphy’s New Jersey, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York and former Gov. Tom Wolf’s Pennsylvania.

Idaho Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Ranked-Choice Voting

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Idaho Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Ranked-Choice Voting

(Headline USA) The Idaho Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general over a ballot initiative that aims to open Idaho’s closed primary elections and create a ranked-choice voting system.

The high court did not rule on the merits of Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s arguments against the Idahoans for Open Primaries Initiative, but said Labrador should have first filed his case in a lower court instead of going directly to the state’s highest judicial panel.

Labrador filed the challenge last month, contending that organizers misled voters by using the term “open primaries” rather than “top-four primary” when collecting signatures. He also said the initiative violated the Idaho Constitution’s prohibition against having more than one issue on a single ballot initiative.

Idaho currently has a partisan primary system, with each political party setting its own rules for who may participate. Only registered Republicans are allowed to vote in the Republican primary, and voters who are unaffiliated or Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary.

The initiative would replace that system with a primary where all candidates seeking election would appear on one ballot. The top four vote-earners would advance to the general election. In the general election, voters would rank candidates by preference, and then voting would be tallied in rounds with the candidate receiving the least number of votes eliminated. If a voter’s top choice is eliminated, their second choice would get the vote in the next round. The process would repeat until someone wins a majority of votes.

Allegations of fraud in the initiative process are serious, Justice Robyn Brody wrote for the unanimous court in the Tuesday ruling, but she said those allegations first must be brought to a district court.

“The Attorney General’s petition fundamentally misapprehends the role of this Court under the Idaho Constitution and the role of the Secretary of State under the initiative laws enacted by the Idaho Legislature,” Brody wrote.

That’s because Idaho law doesn’t authorize the Secretary of State to make a factual determination on whether signatures are fraudulently obtained. Only someone with that kind of authority — a “clear legal duty to act” — can bring that type of lawsuit directly to the Idaho Supreme Court, Brody wrote.

It’s also too premature for the court to consider whether the initiative violates the state constitution’s one-subject rule, Brody wrote. That issue can be brought before the court only if Idaho voters approve the initiative in the November general election.

The Idaho Attorney General’s Office released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying it was considering next steps, and that it would, “continue to defend the people’s right to an initiative process free of deception.”

“We are disappointed that the court did not take up the single subject issue at this time but are confident that the people of Idaho and the courts will eventually reject this clearly unconstitutional petition,” the attorney general’s office wrote.

Luke Mayville, a spokesperson for Idahoans for Open Primaries, said the lawsuit is now “dead in the water,” because there’s not enough time before the general election to relitigate the case at the lower court level.

“The ruling is a major victory for the voters of Idaho,” said Mayville. “The court has slammed the door on the AG’s attempt to keep the open primaries initiative off the ballot, and the people of Idaho will now have a chance to vote ‘yes’ on Prop 1.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Palm Beach Officials Seek to Close Mar-a-Lago: ‘Our Residents Don’t Feel Safe’

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Palm Beach Officials Seek to Close Mar-a-Lago: ‘Our Residents Don’t Feel Safe’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) In the wake of last month’s attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life and a slew of threats, local government officials in Palm Beach, Florida, were considering shutting down access to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and resort, allegedly for “safety” reasons, the Palm Beach Daily News reported.

The Palm Beach Council met on Monday, directing city staff to investigate ways to handle the closure of a section of South Ocean Boulevard near Trump’s home that the Secret Service mandated following the July 13 the assassination attempt.

Nobody from the general public is allowed through without passing a number of security checkpoints along the way.

Palm Beach’s Council expressed concerns that its upcoming fall “social season”—and its associated crowds and congested traffic—might cause the town to become even more chaotic.

In order to deal with the issues, the council floated the idea of closing off access to Mar-a-Lago altogether—despite the fact that it remains an active resort with paying member, and that Trump often hosts large parties.

According to Mayor Danielle Moore, such a maneuver would be necessary for the good of the town.

“In my mind, if the road is closed, the Mar-a-Lago Club is closed,” said Moore, who is a registered Republican, according to Florida voter records.

“There’s no way in God’s green earth that they can bring 350 people into that club,” she added. “It’s completely illogical that you’ve got a road closed and then you’re going to let 350 strangers into your club.”

Council member Julie Araskog expressed concerns about the safety of residents, who feel endangered by road closures due to potentially slower emergency-response times.

“Our residents don’t feel safe right now,” Araskog said, noting that she has received calls from residents who have had difficulty getting caretakers and other staff through the checkpoints.”

Araskog said it was particularly difficult to get firetrucks through the various checkpoints.

According to city staff, the issues may be ongoing, as the relevant section of South Ocean Boulevard will be closed off minimally through the general election on Nov. 5.

TikTok Compares Itself to Foreign-Owned American News Outlets As It Fights Forced Sale or Ban

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TikTok Compares Itself to Foreign-Owned American News Outlets As It Fights Forced Sale or Ban

(Headline USA) TikTok on Thursday pushed back against U.S. government arguments that the popular social media platform is not shielded by the First Amendment, comparing its platform to prominent American media organizations owned by foreign entities.

Last month, the Justice Department argued in a legal brief filed in a Washington federal appeals court that neither TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, nor the platform’s global and U.S. arms—TikTok Ltd. and TikTok Inc.—were entitled to First Amendment protections because they are “foreign organizations operating abroad” or owned by one.

TikTok attorneys have made the First Amendment a key part of their legal challenge to the federal law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer or face a ban.

On Thursday, they argued in a court document that TikTok’s U.S. arm doesn’t forfeit its civil liberties because it is owned by a foreign entity. They drew a parallel between TikTok and well-known news outlets such as Politico and Business Insider, both of which are owned by German publisher Axel Springer SE. They also cited Fortune, a business magazine owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon.

“Surely the American companies that publish Politico, Fortune, and Business Insider do not lose First Amendment protection because they have foreign ownership,” the TikTok attorneys wrote, arguing that “no precedent” supports what they called “the government’s dramatic rewriting of what counts as protected speech.”

In a redacted court filing made last month, the Justice Department argued ByteDance and TikTok haven’t raised valid free speech claims in their challenge against the law, saying the measure addresses national security concerns about TikTok’s ownership without targeting protected speech.

The Biden administration and TikTok had held talks in recent years aimed at resolving the government’s concerns. But the two sides failed to reach a deal.

TikTok said the government essentially walked away from the negotiating table after it proposed a 90-page agreement that detailed how the company planned to address concerns about the app while still maintaining ties with ByteDance.

However, the Justice Department has said TikTok’s proposal “failed to create sufficient separation between the company’s U.S. operations and China” and did not adequately address some of the government’s concerns.

The government has pointed to some data transfers between TikTok employees and ByteDance engineers in China as why it believed the proposal, called Project Texas, was not sufficient to guard against national security concerns. Federal officials have also argued that the size and scope of TikTok would have made it impossible to meaningfully enforce compliance with the proposal.

TikTok attorneys said Thursday that some of what the government views as inadequacies of the agreement were never raised during the negotiations.

Separately the DOJ on Thursday evening asked the court to submit evidence under seal, saying in a filing that the case contained information classified at “Top Secret” levels. TikTok has been opposing those requests.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled to begin on Sept. 16.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Michigan’s Dem. Senate Candidate Caught Defrauding Farmers w/ Bogus Tax Credit

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Michigan’s Dem. Senate Candidate Caught Defrauding Farmers w/ Bogus Tax Credit

(Headline USA) Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is running for the state’s open Senate seat, has avoided paying thousands of dollars in property taxes because of an agriculture-related exemption for her property, even though she is not using the property for agricultural purposes, according to the New York Post.

Slotkin lives in Holly, Michigan, about 55 miles northwest of Detroit. The property has been classified under “agricultural improvements,” which include “buildings, structures, or fixtures suitable for use in farming which are located on agricultural land.”

Property is considered “agricultural land” under Michigan law if at least 50% of it is being used for agricultural purposes.

This designation also comes with a 100% property-tax exemption.

Slotkin’s grandfather purchased the property in 1956 and used it to raise cattle, according to the Lansing City Pulse. It has passed through multiple hands in the Slotkin family since then, but no one else has used it for agricultural purposes.

According to Michigan law, once land is granted the “agricultural” designation it can continue to receive property tax exemptions, which means Slotkin has avoided paying $2,700 per year in taxes since she moved into the property in 2023.

However, Slotkin has claimed several times that she does conduct agricultural activity on the land, despite the fact that there are no applicable agricultural licenses in effect on it, according to the Post.

Earlier this year, Slotkin even joined three House colleagues in forming the Congressional Specialty Crops Caucus.

“Phony politician Elissa Slotkin is lying to Michigan voters and pretending she is a farmer,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Maggie Abboud. “Slotkin also lied about her ‘living arrangement’ at a lobbyist’s house, so this is not a surprise.”

Slotkin’s campaign denied that the congresswoman was exploiting the state’s property tax exemption.

“Rep. Slotkin’s farm has been in her family for three generations since 1956,” a spokesperson said. “It has been agricultural since then, and Oakland County has confirmed on multiple occasions that the property qualifies for the agricultural exemption.”

Even CNN Agrees Walz’s DUI Arrest Is ‘Indefensible’

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Even CNN Agrees Walz’s DUI Arrest Is ‘Indefensible’

(Headline USA) CNN host Michael Smerconish admitted this week that vice presidential pick Tim Walz’s 1995 drunken driving arrest posed a serious problem for Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.

Walz was arrested in 1995 after being pulled over for going 96 mph in a 55 mph-zone and subsequently failing a sobriety test. His license was suspended for 90 days, and he offered to resign his teaching job at Alliance High School in his home state of Nebraska. 

In court, Walz was able to reduce the charge from a DUI to reckless driving, insisting that his inebriated driving was due to his “deafness.” 

But a police report contradicts this claim.

“A strong odor of alcoholic beverage was detected emitting from Mr. Walz[‘s] breath and person,” the report said. “Walz spoke sloppily and should not have represented a role that he had as having been a permanent role when it wasn’t.”

Walz has since repeatedly tried to downplay the arrest, insisting during a congressional campaign in 2006 that he was “not drunk” and that he was arrested because of a “misunderstanding” with law enforcement.

But CNN’s Smerconish said it doesn’t matter how Walz tries to spin the arrest.

“The DUI story is indefensible,” he said, adding that he doesn’t “buy” the Walz team’s explanations.

“To me, the DUI is bigger than the stolen valor allegation, not because of the drinking but because of the lie,” Smerconish continued, referring to Walz’s misrepresentation of his military service.

Smerconish then questioned whether Harris’s campaign fully vetted Walz before tapping him.

“Maybe this is as a result of the expedited nature of her ascendancy as a candidate,” he said. “But it makes me wonder how much they really knew about it.”

Walz has also come under fire for making false claims about his time in the National Guard. For example, the Minnesota governor falsely suggested he saw combat in Iraq even though he retired from service as soon as his unit received deployment orders.

WaPo Admits Kamala’s Price-Fixing Proposal Is Communist

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WaPo Admits Kamala’s Price-Fixing Proposal Is Communist

(Headline USA) Even a left-wing columnist for the Washington Post admitted this week that Vice President Kamala Harris’s recently announced economic plan to ban “price-gouging” was communist.

Amid growing scrutiny over her lack of clear policies, Harris teased part of her economic agenda on Wednesday, saying she would call for a federal ban on “price-gouging” by corporations if elected in November.

On one hand, the move sought to recognize the Biden administration’s failure to adequately address the cost-of-living crisis, as Harris seeks to distance herself from her current boss.

On the other hand, in order to avoid having to curtail profligate government spending and draconian regulations on the energy industry, Harris was forced to defend President Joe Biden’s claim—contrary to reality—that “corporate greed” was the root cause of the problem, rather than the failed leftist policies his administration has embraced.

Harris’s novel solution was to double down on Biden’s deflection, forcing private retailers to eat the cost by imposing fixed prices for certain goods.

But according to WaPo columnist Catherine Rampell, it’s “hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is.”

In a piece titled, “When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?” Rampell blasted Harris for endorsing a “sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food.”

Under Harris’s proposal, “supply and demand would no longer determine prices on profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would,” she said. “The [Federal Trade Commission] would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk.”

Moreover, Harris’s plan does not explain what would qualify as “price-gouging” under the ban.

“What are these ‘clear rules of the road’ or the thresholds that determine when a price or profit level becomes ‘excessive’? The memo doesn’t say, and the campaign did not answer questions I sent seeking clarification,” Rampell wrote.

Former President Donald Trump responded to Harris’s economic plan—which she formally rolled out Friday at a campaign stop in Raleigh, N.C.—with a new nickname for her: “Comrade Kamala.”

“We call it the ‘Maduro plan,’ like something straight out of Venezuela or the Soviet Union,” Trump said on Thursday during a press conference. “It is an admission that her economic policies have totally failed and caused really a catastrophe for our country and, beyond that, a catastrophe in the world.”

Trump argued that the way to bring down prices was to increase the U.S.’s output across the board.

“So when I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one,” he said.

“We will end Kamala’s war on American energy, and we will drill baby drill,” he added. “We’re going to drill baby drill—that’s going to bring down prices of everything, because energy brought it up.”

Trump Cites Kamala’s Ad-Hominems, Lawfare Abuse to Defend Personal Attacks

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Trump Cites Kamala’s Ad-Hominems, Lawfare Abuse to Defend Personal Attacks

(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he thinks he’s “entitled to personal attacks” on his Democratic rival, adding he’s “very angry” at Vice President Kamala Harris and questioning her intelligence.

Trump was asked during a news conference whether his campaign needs more discipline as he faces a Democratic ticket newly energized since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the party’s presidential candidate.

“As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country. I’m very angry at her that she would weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her. I think I’m entitled to personal attacks,” Trump said at his New Jersey golf club, where he invited reporters in his quest to saddle Harris with Biden’s unpopular economic record.

“I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think she’ll be a terrible president,” he added.

Trump also took issue with Democrats branding him and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “weird.” Harris is “weird in her policy,” he said.

Trump stuck close to his scripted economic message for more than half an hour, reading from a binder in front of him in a news conference at his New Jersey golf club. Later, he veered into familiar stories he enjoys telling at his rallies.

“Kamala Harris is a radical California liberal who broke the economy, broke the border and broke the world, frankly,” Trump told reporters.

Trump was flanked by popular grocery store items, including instant coffee, sugary breakfast cereals and pastries, laid out on tables as he highlighted the cost of everything from food to car insurance to housing. Posters showed the increase of prices for grocery staples.

At one point, as Trump talked about the 2020 election, he noticed a box of cereal.

“I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time,” Trump said. “I’m going to take them back to my cottage.”

As he turned to walk back inside, Trump did not respond to shouted questions about when he last went grocery shopping.

The event came one day after the Labor Department announced year-over-year inflation had reached its lowest level in more than three years in July — the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading.

But consumers are still feeling the impact of higher prices — something Trump’s campaign is banking on to motivate voters this fall.

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Americans are more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy and immigration, issues he has put at the center of his case for returning to the White House.

Harris is planning her own economic policy speech Friday in North Carolina, promising to push for a federal ban on price gouging on groceries.

Trump predicted he would beat Harris by more than he would have beaten Biden by “once she’s exposed.”

“People don’t know who she is,” Trump said.

Trump spoke to the press as he has stepped up his criticism of Harris for not holding a news conference or sitting down for interviews since Biden made way for her.

“I think I’m doing a very calm campaign,” Trump said after being asked about criticism from Republicans who want him to focus less on personal attacks.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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