“Gödel's Loophole is an "inner contradiction" in the Constitution of the United States which Austrian-American logician, mathematician, and analytic philosopher Kurt Gödel postulated in 1947. The loophole would permit the American democracy to be legally turned into a dictatorship…“
#NewYork Education Department Hindered an Abuse Investigation at Boarding School for #Autistic Youth
A judge ruled that the agency must cooperate in a #disability rights investigation into Shrub Oak International School, which charges up to $573K/year but has no meaningful oversight.
A ProPublica investigation found that would-be whistleblowers could not get state authorities to intervene at the #school.
Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
#Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Is Increasingly Using Consumer Protection Laws to Pursue #Political Targets
Paxton has repeatedly used #laws that are supposed to protect people from fraudulent or deceptive practices to pursue entities he disagrees with politically, including #hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and #LGBTQ+ groups.
Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, and will be sentenced on July 11. MSNBC's Katie Phang looks at the "novel legal theory" prosecutor Alvin Bragg chose to employ in this trial. "It’s important to take a minute to digest what the prosecution had to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt: Trump, with the intent to defraud, made (or caused to be made) false entries in an enterprise’s business records, and his 'intent to defraud included an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof,'" Phang writes.
A group of ordinary citizens plucked from the masses sat in judgment over one who had been and could yet again become the most powerful person on the planet and it returned a conviction.
A momentous victory for the rule of law and the idea that all citizens are equal before the law.
#SCOTUS gave a win to the #NRA in its #FreeSpeech dispute w/a #NY state ofcl it accused of coercing banks & insurers to avoid doing business w/the influential #gun advocacy group.
Alito’s Aggrieved Letter to #Congress Tips His Hand in the Jan. 6 Cases
“No one should be surprised that the author of Dobbs—a decision that cherry-picked and butchered history to reach a preferred outcome—would ignore the intimate ties between this flag and fringe right extremists. For #Alito and his fellow GOP appointees, originalism means slicing and dicing history to fit whatever reality you favor. The flagrant violation of the flag code? The winking support for “Stop the Steal”? It means exactly what the justice wants it to, and nothing more. Your offense is the real offense.”
Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. announced Wed that he will not recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases at #SCOTUS after Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he could be impartial following reports that an upside-down #flag flew at his home in the weeks after the… [#insurrection].
Tues 29 May 2024 🧵
Good morning! It’s the last day of the #TrumpTrial before jury #deliberations.
Today Justice #Merchan will give #JuryInstructions. Then they will discuss the case among themselves for the first time; they have not been allowed to even discuss it w/each other as yet.
Closing arguments took place yesterday, & the lawyers will have no further opportunity to address the jurors before they determine whether #Trump is #guilty or not guilty of 34 felonies.
Verdicts in Hong Kong’s biggest trial against democratic opposition come >3 yrs after police arrested 47 #democrats in raids at homes across the city. They were charged w/ #conspiracy to commit subversion under a #NationalSecurity law imposed by #China.
“The clash between the wife of a conservative #SCOTUS justice & a couple…in their 30s & liberal…played out over months….the…shouting match…at the height of tensions over the #2020election…might have happened in any mixed political community in America.”
#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.