Since Alexander was last sentenced, Florida law seems to lean toward mandatory consecutive sentencing under "10-20-Life"...
A judge has granted a temporary protective injunction against U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson after his wife filed paperwork accusing the Orlando congressman of shoving and injuring her during an incident this past weekend. Lolita Grayson's petition for the injunction, dated Monday, says her husband pushed her against a door, causing her to fall to the ground, during a confrontation Saturday at their home on Oak Park Road near Windermere.... Asked about the incident, Orange County Sheriff's Office Capt. Angelo Nieves said in a written response that the agency "is currently conducting a Domestic Violence investigation which is open and active at this point." A heavily redacted Sheriff's Office document released Tuesday identified Lolita Grayson as the victim in the incident and listed the offense under investigation as domestic-violence battery.
A victory for the Romeike family, a loss for consistent enforcement of immigration laws....
Emails show negotiation over Lerner testimony, unclear what she will do tomorrow...
An analysis of the The Bar Passage Study (BPS) reveals that minorities are both less likely to graduate from law school and less likely to pass the bar compared to whites even after adjustments are made for group· differences in academic credentials. To account for these adjusted racial gaps in performance, some researchers put forward the "mismatch hypothesis," which proposes that students learn less when placed in learning environments where their academic skills are much lower than the typical student. This article presents new results from the BPS that account for both measurement-error bias and selection-onunobservables bias that makes it more difficult to find a mismatch effect if in fact one exists. I find much more evidence for mismatch effects than previous research ang report magnitudes from mismatch effects more than sufficient to explain racial gaps in performance.Here is part of our email exchange:
WAJ: I just want to confirm your ultimate finding in layman’s terms: There is evidence of a mismatch effect, and that effect is sufficiently pronounced as to account for differences in bar passage rates. Do I have that right? EDW: Yes this is accurate. Much of the difference in bar passage rates by race is explained by differences in academic credentials. But a significant gap still persists after controlling for these entering credentials. It is this remaining gap that the mismatch effect found in the paper can explain.Some other reading on the mismatch effect and related controversy:
Nothing is surprising anymore....
A Columbus principal suspended a student for three days last week after the child pointed a “ lookalike firearm” at another student in class and pretended to shoot. The boy’s age? 10. The “level 2 lookalike firearm” cited in his suspension letter? His finger. “I was just playing around,” said Nathan Entingh, a fifth-grader at Devonshire Alternative Elementary School in a far northern section of the district. “People play around like this a lot at my school.” Other kids have been caught playing pretend gun games on the playground at Devonshire and weren’t suspended, Nathan said. Devonshire Principal Patricia Price has warned students about pretend gun play numerous times this year, and everyone should know the rules by now, district spokesman Jeff Warner said. Nathan put his finger to the side of the other student’s head and pretended to shoot “kind of execution style,” Warner said.
Netanyahu to Abbas: "Recognize the Jewish state. No excuses, no delays. It's time." #AIPAC14
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 4, 2014
Peace is Israel's highest aspiration. I am ready to make a historic peace with our neighbours the Palestinians. #AIPAC14 #Netanyahu
— BICOM (@BritainIsrael) March 4, 2014
#BDS movement will fail, said @netanyahu in his #AIPAC14 remarks. More analysis of his speech via @JNSworldnews @ http://t.co/D2groTkSCn
— jns.org (@JNSworldnews) March 4, 2014
How's that workin' out for ya?...
Martha Robertson, the Democrat who's challenging Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, this fall, got a big boost Monday when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named her to its "Red to Blue" program -- signaling that she's one of the top Democratic House challengers in the country. The Democratic campaign committee selects challengers for the Red to Blue program when they've shown strong ability to raise funds, build a campaign and present a credible alternative to voters.
On November 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., a case arising out of commitment of the Green family, the sole owners of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., to live out their deeply held religious convictions by “operating their company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.” These principles were put to the test when the federal government mandated that the Greens and their family businesses provide four specific potentially life-terminating drugs and devices through their employee health plan in conflict with their deeply held religious convictions. While the Green family has no moral objection to providing 16 of the 20 FDA-approved drugs and devices that are part of the federal mandate, providing drugs or devices that have the potential to terminate a life conflicts with their faith. Accordingly, the Greens and their family businesses filed suit in September 2012 to defend their right to religious freedom under the Constitution and federal law. Throughout, the Greens have been assisted and represented in the legal case by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths.The case is scheduled to be decided by the Supreme Court by the end of the June term. Apart from the legal work being done on Hobby Lobby’s behalf, the company has also engaged in a fairly strong public relations campaign. They’ve created a number a videos, featured on YouTube and their website, including this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4pL32qQ_3k Hobby Lobby also appears to be engaging in a very active Twitter campaign to help control the narrative — to the extent possible — about their impending case.
Seeking to salvage an elusive Middle East peace plan, President Barack Obama pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday to make the “tough decisions” needed to move forward on talks with the Palestinians.But facing a U.S.-imposed April deadline, the Israeli leader declared pessimistically that, “Israel has been doing its part and, I regret to say, the Palestinians have not.” Obama and Netanyahu spoke before an Oval Office meeting on a snowy Monday in Washington. The meeting marked a more direct foray by Obama into the peace negotiations, which he has so far largely ceded to Secretary of State John Kerry.Barak Ravid, a correspondent with Haaretz Newspaper, posted tweets from the event - a handful are included below. (Video added -- Transcript here)
Obama: the timeframe for talks is coming to its end and tough decision will have to be made
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 3, 2014
Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source. To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco...
Family faces deportation to Germany, where they risk fines, imprisonment and loss of children for homeschooling....
Israel supporters turn their lonely eyes to you...
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