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November 2018

This past Wednesday the Ohio House voted by a 64 to 26 margin to pass HB 228, which seeks to bring Ohio self-defense law into the modern era. It is believed by advocates of this legal advance that the Senate version of the bill will pass that chamber easily, and with sufficient votes to overcome a promised veto by Ohio Governor John Kasich (R). Although the bill makes several changes to Ohio self-defense and gun law, the changes of most interest in the context of self-defense involve changes to the burden of persuasion on a legal claim of self-defense and the adoption of a “hard” stand-your-ground provision.

President Donald Trump will travel to California this Saturday to meet with victims of several deadly wildfires currently burning in the region that have already claimed the lives of over 70 people.
The state is currently fighting two fires, one outside of Los Angeles and another far more deadly fire north of Sacramento. As of Thursday afternoon, authorities had confirmed 56 deaths in the northern California fire known as the Camp Fire, and another three deaths in the southern fire, known as the Woolsey fire.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker upheld Florida law that "forbids county election offices from counting vote-by-mail ballots received after 7 p.m. Election Day." This was the last best hope for Democrats after suffering several setbacks in recent days, including Florida Governor Rick Scott gaining over 800 votes in the mandatory recount, yet as of this writing Nelson has yet to concede.

This “Case of the Week” involves a conviction and sentencing out of Texas this past week, in which Terry Thompson was sentenced to 25 years in prison as a result of his use of a BJJ-style choke hold that caused the death John Hernandez in May 2017, as reported this week by KTRK (ABC) Television News. I also previously covered this case right here at Legal Insurrection: “Law of Self Defense: Murder re-trial for man who confronted public urination.”

Friday, Georgia Democrat candidate for Governor Stacy Abrams acknowledged that she had not and would not win, but refused to concede. Similar to her election night speech, Abrams criticized Kemp and claimed he is "leveraging his role as the state’s top elections official to suppress voters," according to the AJC.

On Wednesday night, a man in Baltimore shouted, "Heil Hitler, Heil Trump" during a production of Fiddler on the Roof. When reports came out, outlets like Mediaite and The New York Post referred to the man as a President Donald Trump supporter. I scoured previous reports and most of them buried this simple fact: The drunk man hates Trump.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has decided to leave the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chaired, to lead the Senate Finance Committee. From Politico:
“The economy is better than it’s been in years and there’s a sense of optimism about the future of our country that people haven’t felt in a long time thanks to the pro-growth policies of a Republican President and a Republican majority in Congress,” Grassley said. “Looking ahead, at the Finance Committee, I want to continue to work to make sure that as many Americans as possible get to experience this good economy for themselves."