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Category: Law/Crime

Five Supreme Court justices used the shadow docket to revive a Trump-era pro-pollution rule

Five Supreme Court justices used the shadow docket to revive a Trump-era pro-pollution rule

Mark Joseph Stern writes: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a 5–4 shadow docket order reviving a Trump-era ruling that radically limited the ability of states and tribes to restrict projects, like pipelines, that will damage the environment. With their decision, the majority upended decades of settled law recognizing states’ authority to protect their own waters without bothering to issue a single sentence of reasoning. Just two days earlier, Justice Amy Coney Barrett once again declared that the Supreme Court…

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Russian invaders are now treating the whole Ukrainian population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed

Russian invaders are now treating the whole Ukrainian population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed

Franklin Foer writes: On the morning of March 4, a teacher was sheltering in a basement in Bucha, an old railroad stop northwest of Kyiv that over the centuries had grown into a verdant suburb. The town lay along the Russian military’s intended path of conquest, leading into the Ukrainian capital. And while the invaders struggled to realize their overarching plan, they gained a toehold in Bucha. At 7 a.m., the teacher, huddled alone with her two dogs, heard a…

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Is Trump criminal referral by January 6 panel actually necessary?

Is Trump criminal referral by January 6 panel actually necessary?

Politico reports: Should the Jan. 6 committee ask the Justice Department to pursue a criminal case against Donald Trump? It’s a question with political heft but no practical effect — and some panel members are increasingly skeptical. After all, as multiple lawmakers on the select committee noted in recent interviews, the Justice Department is aware of the volume of evidence pointing to violations of the law by Trump. That evidence got underscored emphatically last week, when a federal judge ruled…

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January 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure

January 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure

The Associated Press reports: Lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are increasingly going public with critical statements, court filings and more to deliver a blunt message to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice. President Donald Trump and his allies likely committed crimes, they say. And it’s up to you to do something about it. “Attorney General Garland, do your job so we can do ours,” prodded Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia. “We are upholding…

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Trump used White House phone for call on January 6 that was not on official log

Trump used White House phone for call on January 6 that was not on official log

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump used an official White House phone to place at least one call during the Capitol attack on January 6 last year that should have been reflected in the internal presidential call log from that day but was not, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The former president called the phone of a Republican senator, Mike Lee, with a number recorded as 202-395-0000, a placeholder number that shows up when a call is incoming…

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The clearest evidence yet of Donald Trump’s criminal intent on January 6

The clearest evidence yet of Donald Trump’s criminal intent on January 6

Dennis Aftergut writes: On Tuesday, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reported in the Washington Post that the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 has the White House presidential phone log, and it shows a seven-hour gap in the record of his communications that fateful day. The gap’s importance is difficult to exaggerate. The evidence of former President Donald Trump’s criminal intent with regard to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election is building, day by day, so relentlessly that at…

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Ecuador’s high court rules that wild animals have legal rights

Ecuador’s high court rules that wild animals have legal rights

Inside Climate News reports: Wild animals possess distinct legal rights, including to exist, to develop their innate instincts and to be free from disproportionate cruelty, fear and distress, Ecuador’s top court ruled in a landmark decision interpreting the country’s “rights of nature” constitutional laws. The 7-2 ruling handed down last month in Quito is believed to be the first time a court has applied the rights of nature—laws that recognize the legal rights of ecosystems to exist and regenerate—to an…

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Legal scholars say Justice Thomas must recuse himself from any case related to the 2020 election

Legal scholars say Justice Thomas must recuse himself from any case related to the 2020 election

Jane Mayer reports: Several of the country’s most respected legal scholars say that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas must immediately recuse himself from any cases relating to the 2020 election and its aftermath, now that it has been revealed that his wife, Virginia (Ginni) Thomas, colluded extensively with a top White House adviser about overturning Joe Biden’s defeat of then President Donald Trump. On March 24th, the Washington Post and CBS News revealed that they had obtained copies of twenty-nine…

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Text of former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz’s resignation letter

Text of former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz’s resignation letter

The New York Times: The following is the full text of the resignation letter by Mark Pomerantz, who had investigated former President Donald J. Trump, but left after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, halted an effort to seek an indictment. Dear Alvin, I write to tender my resignation as a Special Assistant District Attorney and to explain my reasons for resigning. As you know from our recent conversations and presentations, I believe that Donald Trump is guilty of numerous…

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Why criminal cases against Trump are doomed

Why criminal cases against Trump are doomed

Paul Rosenzweig writes: Attorney General Merrick Garland is not going to save democracy. Nor is the attorney general of New York, Letitia James; the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg; nor the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis. As the apparent collapse of the New York district attorney’s investigation makes clear, criminal cases are hard to make. Donald Trump, despite his many seemingly criminal acts, is unlikely to ever spend a day in jail. Observers of the Trump malignancy have an…

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Two former British prime ministers back Nuremberg-style tribunal for Putin

Two former British prime ministers back Nuremberg-style tribunal for Putin

The Guardian reports: The former UK prime ministers Gordon Brown and Sir John Major are among those calling for the creation of a new international tribunal to investigate Vladimir Putin and those who helped plan his invasion of Ukraine. They have joined a campaign – along with leading names from the worlds of law, academia and politics – aiming to put the Russian president and others on trial. Launched with a website and a target of 2 million petition signatures,…

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The evidence is clear: It’s time to prosecute Donald Trump

The evidence is clear: It’s time to prosecute Donald Trump

Laurence H Tribe and Dennis Aftergut write: On 8 March, a jury took three hours to render a guilty verdict against Guy Reffitt, a January 6 insurrectionist. Donald Trump could not have been pleased. DC is where Trump would be tried for any crimes relating to his admitted campaign to overturn the election. Jurors there would have no trouble finding that the evidence satisfies all statutory elements required to convict Trump, including his criminal intent, the most challenging to prove….

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Attorney General Garland says the Jan. 6 investigation won’t end until everyone is held to account

Attorney General Garland says the Jan. 6 investigation won’t end until everyone is held to account

NPR reports: On his first anniversary as attorney general, Merrick Garland said he’s committed to unraveling the conspiracy behind the storming of the U.S. Capitol, in what he calls “the most urgent investigation in the history of the Justice Department.” Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot have asserted former President Trump could be charged with conspiracy and obstruction for his actions. But Democrats in Congress and even some of Garland’s friends have worried he’ll shy away…

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How Western firms quietly enabled Russian oligarchs

How Western firms quietly enabled Russian oligarchs

The New York Times reports: Behind a set of imposing metal doors in an easy-to-miss office building in a New York City suburb, a small team manages billions of dollars for a Russian oligarch. For years, a group of wealthy Russians have used Concord Management LLC, a financial-advisory company in Tarrytown, N.Y., to secretly invest money in large U.S. hedge funds and private equity firms, according to people familiar with the matter. A web of offshore shell companies makes it…

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GOP pushes for an ‘earthquake in American electoral power’

GOP pushes for an ‘earthquake in American electoral power’

Politico reports: A legal argument lurking in two Supreme Court cases could give Republican legislators in battleground states sweeping control over election procedures, with ramifications that could include power over how states select presidential electors. Republicans from Pennsylvania and North Carolina challenged court-ordered redistricting plans in their states based on the “independent legislature” theory. It’s a reading of the Constitution, stemming from the 2000 election recount in Florida, that argues legislators have ultimate power over elections in their states and…

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Democrats push DOJ to look at Trump after Jan. 6 panel’s blockbuster

Democrats push DOJ to look at Trump after Jan. 6 panel’s blockbuster

Politico reports: The Jan. 6 committee has dropped a stick of political dynamite by outlining a criminal case against former President Donald Trump, but the Justice Department decides whether to light the fuse. And Democrats are starting to nudge. In a blockbuster Wednesday night court filing, congressional investigators said there’s a strong case the former president committed felony obstruction when he tried to overturn the election, among other potential charges. Jan. 6 panel members, however, say DOJ shouldn’t wait for…

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