Ketanji Brown Jackson Joins Conservative Justices in Upending Hundreds of January 6 Cases

Posted on by Lone Candle

“the Supreme Court’s decision centered around Joseph Fischer, a former Pennsylvania police officer who was charged with several offenses related to his conduct at the Capitol riot. According to the government, that lawlessness included, among other things, that he “forcibly assaulted a federal officer, entered and remained in a restricted building, and engaged in disorderly and disruptive conduct in the Capitol.”
But prosecutors tacked on another charge using the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which criminalizes “alter[ing], destroy[ing], mutilat[ing], or conceal[ing] a record, document, or other object, or attempt[ing] to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding,” or, per the following provision, “otherwise obstruct[ing], influenc[ing], or imped[ing] any official proceeding.” Those convicted face up to 20 years in prison.

Fischer challenged that charge, arguing that the statute as written requires the alleged obstruction in question be tied to the impairment of records, documents, or objects, which would not apply to him. The federal judge who initially evaluated Fischer’s petition sided with him; a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed that; and the Supreme Court reversed the reversal.”

…

“”Our commitment to equal justice and the rule of law requires the courts to faithfully apply criminal laws as written, even in periods of national crisis,” she writes. “We recognize this intuitive fact—that there is a certain category of conduct the rule is designed to prohibit—because we recognize, albeit implicitly, that the drafters of this rule have included these particular examples for a reason. We understand that, given the preceding list of examples, this rule was adopted with a clear intent concerning its scope.”

To buttress her case, Jackson looks to the history of the statute, which was enacted in response to the revelation that Arthur Andersen LLP, auditor for the disgraced energy corporation Enron, had torched potentially incriminating documents. “There is no indication whatsoever that Congress intended to create a sweeping, all-purpose obstruction statute,” Jackson concludes.

In response, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that he is “disappointed by today’s decision, which limits an important federal statute that the Department has sought to use to ensure that those most responsible for that attack face appropriate consequences.” Fortunately for him, he is still free to prosecute people for violating the laws that Congress enacted, which isn’t an unfair limitation.”

https://reason.com/2024/06/28/ketanji-brown-jackson-joins-conservative-justices-in-upending-hundreds-of-january-6-cases/

Politicians Need To Get Serious About Retaining Foreign Graduates

Posted on by Lone Candle

“”The U.S. spends resources training hundreds of thousands of international students every year, but only provides opportunities for a fraction of them to stay after graduation,” says Connor O’Brien, a research and policy analyst at the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), a bipartisan public policy organization. “This is an incredible gift to China and other competitors, who have their best and brightest educated in America and then forced back home by our backward immigration system.”
An EIG analysis released yesterday found that only four in 10 international graduates of U.S. universities end up staying in the country long-term, according to data from the National Survey of College Graduates. Three-quarters of Ph.D. recipients stay, while half of master’s degree recipients and just 17 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients do. Some may be leaving simply because their best employment prospects are in their home countries or elsewhere. Still, a key factor is that “a growing population of international students is competing for a fixed number of opportunities to stay,” the EIG analysis notes.

“Unless we expand skilled visa programs like the H-1B, or add more employment-based green cards, we will continue losing tens of thousands of talented graduates each year,” O’Brien argues. “There are some real downsides to guaranteeing green cards for new graduates”—it may create bad incentives for universities, for one—”but it is clear we need to get better at retention, and that requires more visas.”

A hostile immigration system means many international students never make it to the U.S. in the first place. An April report from the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan public policy organization, argued that international students increasingly see Canada as a more favorable destination. Between 2000 and 2021, international student enrollment in Canada increased by 544 percent, compared to a 45 percent increase in the United States.

Discussions about high-skilled immigration are often sidetracked in favor of unproductive arguments about the southern border—look no further than last night’s presidential debate for proof. That’s a shame. Border policy desperately needs reform and has deep humanitarian and economic implications, but attracting and retaining high-skilled foreign talent are pressing issues too.”

https://reason.com/2024/06/28/politicians-need-to-get-serious-about-retaining-foreign-graduates/

Numb to the Numbers

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The solution to the national debt lies in reevaluating and cutting back on unnecessary and wasteful programs, reforming entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, and implementing a more efficient tax system that encourages economic growth.
But none of this can even begin to happen until politicians perceive a demand for it from the American people. Rising debt reduces investment and can slow economic growth, while increasing worries about inflation and the strength of the U.S. dollar. It reduces confidence in the social safety net and increases the risk of a fiscal crisis. Perhaps when these problems manifest, the voters will demand that politicians take the issue seriously. But by then, it may well be too late for the economic stability and growth we have taken for granted.”

https://reason.com/2024/07/01/numb-to-the-numbers/

California fast-food franchise owners, consumers feel brunt of minimum wage hike

Posted on by Lone Candle

California fast-food franchise owners, consumers feel brunt of minimum wage hike

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-fast-food-franchise-owners-consumers-feel-brunt-of-minimum-wage-hike-174515934.html

Opioid deaths rose 50 percent during the pandemic. In these places, they fell.

Posted on by Lone Candle

“A multiyear experiment in this working-class city on Lake Erie’s banks holds clues to how America could get a handle on its overdose crisis — if politicians embrace the lessons.
Fatal drug overdoses in the U.S., driven by the synthetic opioid fentanyl, increased by more than half during the pandemic and remain near record levels. But in Lucas County, where Toledo is, they plummeted 20 percent between 2020 and 2022.

Researchers credit the county’s effort to bring together health department workers, treatment providers, clergy and law enforcement to look at where overdoses and deaths were happening, so they could target resources to where they were most needed. The community support, in turn, made it easier to overcome bureaucratic obstacles to getting drug users into treatment.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/26/opioid-epidemic-fight-funding-00164640

Black Voters in This City Could Determine 2024. And It’s Not Looking Good for Biden.

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Black voters in Milwaukee. An influential bloc that can determine if the state remains blue or flips this fall, these voters have serious and lingering doubts about Biden and whether he’s delivered on his promises to them. There’s no danger that Donald Trump will carry this historically Democratic city in November. But there is a considerable risk that an anemic showing in Milwaukee could cost Biden this critical swing state — and possibly the election.
Biden’s Milwaukee problem is a distillation of the challenges facing his reelection campaign nationally: In traditionally Democratic redoubts, polls suggest alarmingly low levels of support among Black and Latino voters. In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s underperformance in Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Detroit’s Wayne County — the urban centers that power Democratic fortunes in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan — enabled Trump’s surprise Rust Belt victories. This year, signs of a lack of enthusiasm for Biden in those places among Black voters is giving rise to fears of a repeat.

In Wisconsin, there isn’t much margin of error: The last two presidential elections here have been decided by less than 25,000 votes each. A low turnout among Black voters in Milwaukee — or a diminished winning margin for Biden — would deal a significant blow to his chances of carrying the state and its 10 electoral votes.”

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/21/biden-black-voters-enthusiasm-gap-milwaukee-00163496