Hissyspit
Hissyspit's JournalTOM TOMORROW: Year In Crazy 2013, Part 2
Daily Kos Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/30/1263886/-Year-in-crazy-part-two
New York Is Said to Settle Suits Over Arrests at 2004 G.O.P. Convention
Source: New York Times
New York Is Said to Settle Suits Over Arrests at 2004 G.O.P. Convention
By COLIN MOYNIHAN
Published: December 23, 2013
The City of New York has agreed to resolve hundreds of federal civil rights claims filed by people who said they were unjustly arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention, according to people familiar with the cases.
- snip -
The arrests led to more than 600 individual claims, of which 112 have been settled. Lawyers also filed a class-action claim covering those who did not file suits.
The agreement would settle all or most remaining lawsuits, and is expected to include payments totaling several million dollars, according to people with knowledge of the cases, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been made public.
- snip -
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly have said repeatedly that the police performed admirably, allowing hundreds of thousands to protest peacefully while guarding against the possibility of vandalism and violence.
Yet there were many critics of the Police Departments actions: Officers with long orange nets swept up dozens of people at a time, including bicyclists on a raucous ride, people engaged in civil disobedience and passers-by who said that they had no connection to demonstrations.
Last year, a Federal District Court judge ruled that the police had wrongly surrounded and arrested more than 200 marchers on a sidewalk in Lower Manhattan during the convention.
Protesters contended that the mass arrests and prolonged detentions had been calculated to keep them off the streets. Police officials said the many arrests simply overwhelmed the system. On the last day of the convention, a State Supreme Court justice ordered the release of more than 550 of those arrested who had not seen a judge.
Charges against most of the 1,806 people arrested during the convention were dismissed outright or dropped after six months as part of an agreement typical for minor offenses. Of those, about 400 cases were dismissed based on videotape evidence that contradicted the original charges.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/nyregion/new-york-is-said-to-settle-suits-over-arrests-at-2004-gop-convention.html
Iraq Officials: Car Bomb Explosion Near Baghdad Church During Christmas Mass Kills at Least 15
Source: Associated Press / Reuters
BREAKING: Iraq officials: Car bomb explosion near Baghdad church during Christmas Mass kills at least 15
Car bomb near church kills 14 in southern Baghdad: police, medics
Wed Dec 25, 2013 4:40am EST
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed when a car bomb exploded near a church in southern Baghdad after a Christmas service on Wednesday, police and medics said.
The bomb went off in the Doura district while worshippers were leaving the church, police said, and most of the victims were Christian.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE9BO02R20131225
"I Believe In Father Christmas" - Greg Lake
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013, DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND
I believe we all are on the good list...Well, maybe not all...
But, regardless, Santa is located HERE right now, coming your way soon, so GET TO BED!
Took this tonight:
"I wish you a hopeful Christmas; I wish you a brave new year.
All anguish, pain and sadness, leave your heart and let your road be clear..."
Breaking: Federal judge denies Utah's request for a stay on same-sex marriages
Source: NBC News
@BreakingNews: Federal judge denies Utah's request for a stay on same-sex marriages - @sltrib http://t.co/15qF9n7m3a
Judge denies Utah AGs request to halt same-sex marriages
By Marissa Lang And Brooke Adams | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Dec 22 2013 06:15 pm Updated 1 minute ago
After listening to an hour of arguments regarding his controversial ruling last week allowing same-sex marriages in Utah, a federal judge on Monday denied the states request for a stay.
State attorneys had argued before U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby that same-sex couples who marry in Utah may be irreparably harmed if efforts to overturn his ruling succeed and those marriages are later invalidated.
Federal district Judge Robert Shelbys ruling that struck down Utahs Amendment 3 touched off a political firestorm and a mad rush by LGBT Utahns seeking marriage licenses to county clerks offices across the state.
On Monday at 12:15 p.m., Jennifer Napier-Pearce discusses the legal, cultural and political repercussions of the opinion with University of Utah law professor Clifford Rosky, Q Salt Lake editor Michael Aaron and BYU law professor Lynn Wardle.
A hearing began at 9 a.m. to hear the states request for a stay. Shelby retired to deliberate at about 10:20 a.m. He issued his decision at about 11:15 a.m.
Meanwhile, hundreds of same-sex couples resumed obtaining marriage licenses on Monday.
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57299146-78/marriage-state-sex-stay.html.csp
TOM TOMORROW: Year In Crazy 2013, Part 1
DAILY KOS LINK: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/23/1263883/-Year-in-crazy-part-one
Pussy Riot Member Released From Prison
Source: Associated Press
Dec 23, 1:45 AM EST
PUSSY RIOT MEMBER RELEASED FROM PRISON
BY NATALIYA VASILYEVA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW (AP) -- A jailed member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, who was found guilty of hooliganism after a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin, has been released from prison, her lawyer said Monday.
Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison for the performance at Moscow's main cathedral in March 2012. Samutsevich was released several months later on suspended sentence.
The band insisted that their protest was meant to raise their concern about increasingly close ties between the state and the church.
Alekhina's lawyer, Irina Khrunova, told The Associated Press that Alekhina was released from the prison colony outside the Volga river city of Nizhny Novgorod on Monday morning. Khrunova said that upon release Alekhina went into town to meet with human rights activists.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_PUSSY_RIOT
How Did I Miss This??
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=127885&sub=transWhat was I up to that weekend?
Why didn't one of you bozos tell me?
BREAKING: Federal Judge Strikes Down Utah’s Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Federal judge strikes down Utahs ban on same-sex marriage
By Brooke Adams | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published 17 minutes ago Updated 1 minute ago
A federal judge in Utah Friday struck down the states ban on same-sex marriage, saying the ban violates the U.S. Constitutions guarantees of equal protection and due process.
"The states current laws deny its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so doing, demean the dignity of these same-sex couples for no rational reason," wrote U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby. "Accordingly, the court finds that these laws are unconstitutional."
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57291925-78/ban-judge-sex-court.html.csp
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