Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalHow 2022 Became the Year Trans Hate Went Mainstream
It was 2014, and Gavin Grimm had just told his mom that he was transgender. Gavin was almost 15, and about to start his sophomore year at a Gloucester County high school in Virginia. Before school began, he went with his mom to ask the school’s administration if he could use the boy’s restroom. Initially, the school allowed it.
But about two months later, the school board implemented a new, restrictive bathroom policy and said that Grimm would either have to use a unisex bathroom, or use the girls’ washroom—the one that corresponded to his gender assigned at birth. Grimm sued the school board with support from the American Civil Liberties Union, and the case made its way through a variety of courts.
In 2021, after nearly seven years of fighting and after he had already graduated, Grimm won. “What I did, what my legal team did, what other trans people in this nation with similar cases have done, it mattered, it made a difference,” Grimm told VICE News. This massive legal victory meant that the U.S. court system upheld trans rights, and recognized the discriminatory nature of restrictive bathroom policies.
Today, however, Grimm is disillusioned.
“It feels like the needle moved a lot less than it felt like it would be back in 2018 when we were having this conversation,” Grimm told VICE News. “The victory was important, but it wasn't the tack to that conversation that I was hoping it would be.”
Grimm has every right to be disillusioned: In so many ways, this year in particular has been devastating as trans rights face attack after attack. Even as victories for LGBTQ people mount, anti-trans rhetoric and legislation has not slowed down, and now it appears GOP leaders and their supporters have manufactured a culture war over transgender and gender nonconforming identities. Hate targeting LGBTQ people, especially trans people and drag queens, has reverberated across the country, and hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ people have been introduced—about half of them have focused on trans people. States have also tried to equate gender-affirming care with child abuse: In Texas, the Department of Family and Protective Services was tasked with investigating families with trans kids.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d383z/anti-trans-violence-2022
Why is it that people, especially RepubliKKKans, can't simply mind their own damn business???
Informant warned FBI weeks before Jan. 6 that the far-right saw Trump tweet as 'a call to arms'
On Dec. 19, 2020, the day that then-President Donald Trump sent a tweet summoning his supporters to a “wild” protest in the nation’s capital on Jan. 6, one of the FBI’s own confidential sources warned the bureau that the far-right considered Trump’s message “a call to arms,” according to an email reviewed by NBC News.
That tip to the FBI, from a source who is still used by the bureau and spoke on the condition of anonymity, warned there was a “big” threat of violence on Jan. 6. It was among hundreds of pages of reports viewed by NBC News that this source sent to the FBI in the weeks before the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. The email, which has not been previously reported, warned that the Trump tweet was “gaining hold” on social media.
“Trump tweeted what people on the right are considering a call to arms in DC on Jan 6,” the confidential source wrote on the afternoon of Dec. 19, the day of Trump’s 1:42 a.m. “will be wild” tweet.
The information the source sent to the bureau in the weeks before the attack, pulled from extremist chatter on a variety of social media forums, included discussion of civil war, talk of hanging traitors and calls for militias to take up arms. It highlighted messages like “war is inevitable”; “hell is going to break loose”; “locked and loaded”; “my powder is dry, my guns are clean”; and “I’m not afraid of death and I’ll gladly take lives for the preservation of our country.” It included information on a “boogaloo” extremist who was prepared to die in D.C.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/informant-warned-fbi-weeks-jan-6-far-right-saw-trump-tweet-call-arms-rcna62683
The case of the 2 Grace Elliotts: a medical bill mystery
Earlier this year, Grace Elizabeth Elliott got a mysterious hospital bill for medical care she had never received.
She soon discovered how far a clerical error can reach — even across a continent — and how frustrating it can be to fix.
During a college break in 2013, Elliott, then 22, began to feel faint and feverish while visiting her parents in Venice, Fla., which is about an hour south of Tampa. Her mother, a nurse, drove her to a facility that locals knew simply as Venice Hospital.
In the emergency department, Elliott was diagnosed with a kidney infection and held overnight before being discharged with a prescription for antibiotics, a common treatment for the illness.
"My hospital bill was about $100, which I remember because that was a lot of money for me as an undergrad," said Elliott, now 31.
She recovered and eventually moved to California to teach preschool. Venice Regional Medical Center was bought by Community Health Systems, based in Franklin, Tenn., in 2014 and eventually renamed ShorePoint Health Venice.
The kidney infection and overnight stay in the E.R. would have been little more than a memory for Elliott.
Then another bill came.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/21/1142344716/the-case-of-the-two-grace-elliotts-a-medical-bill-mystery
Has anyone here had this problem? How did you solve it? I've come close, but not this bad.
America's Trumpiest court doesn't care if your right to a fair trial was violated
Federal law explicitly authorizes federal courts to review convictions and sentences handed down by state courts, and to invalidate them if a prisoner is held “in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.”
Last Thursday, however, a far-right panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit effectively eliminated state prisoners’ right to seek what is known as a “writ of habeas corpus” when they are imprisoned in violation of the Constitution or federal law, except in cases of “factual innocence.”
Among other things, this means that someone who is “factually guilty” of an unconstitutional crime — such as violating a Jim Crow law or a law prohibiting individuals from criticizing the president — would be stripped of their habeas rights in federal court. It could also potentially enable abusive conduct by police and prosecutors, such as coerced confessions or warrantless searches, by removing nearly all federal supervision of states that overlook such violations.
Judge Andrew Oldham’s decision in Crawford v. Cain is completely lawless. It finds this novel requirement that an unconstitutional or illegal conviction or sentence must stand, unless the prisoner shows they are innocent, within a federal statute that states that federal courts hearing habeas cases “shall summarily hear and determine the facts, and dispose of the matter as law and justice require.” Oldham, along with the two other Republican-appointed judges who joined his opinion, claims that only factual innocence “satisfies the law-and-justice requirement.”
Oldham’s opinion is only 19 pages, and he devotes only about six of them to this argument that the vague words “as law and justice require” eliminate federal habeas rights in nearly all cases. He cites no case law that even plausibly supports his argument, although he does quote from two recent Supreme Court decisions that state that habeas should only be available when “law and justice require” it to be available.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/20/23517050/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-habeas-corpus-criminal-justice-andy-oldham-crawford-cain
This "judge" is a full-on Nazi.
Donald Trump has an aide who follows him on the golf course to show him positive articles
Former President Donald Trump is as addicted to Being Online as the rest of us. But he also happens to be a 76-year-old with an army of sycophants and hangers-on aides and supporters who can do the dirty work of logging on for him.
To wit: Trump's aide, Natalie Harp, reportedly follows him around on the golf course to show him positive articles and posts online. She even sometimes has a printer on-hand for the president, reports The Washington Post.
Harp, a former host with One America News, "often accompanies Trump on his daily golf outings, riding the course in a golf cart equipped with a laptop and sometimes a printer to show him uplifting news articles, online posts or other materials," writes the Post.
If that weren't enough, Trump also has a constant incoming array of positive reinforcement. The Post reports that on quiet days another aide "called around to Trump’s network of allies across the country requesting that they dial the former president to boost his spirits with positive affirmations."
https://mashable.com/article/natalie-harp-trump-printer-tweets
I damn near filed this story under "Humor"!
A Missing Foster Child Was Finally Found. Grave Questions About the Child Welfare System Remain.
On Friday, a harrowing three-week search for a missing foster child came to a close: A five-year-old boy was flown back to Mt. Vernon, Washington, after he was allegedly kidnapped by his foster mother in late November and taken to Vietnam. The foster mother, Amanda Dinges, had recently learned that the boy, who goes by ND in court documents, would likely move back in with his mother in the weeks to come.
The boy arrived in Seattle on Friday morning, accompanied by FBI agents and victims’ advocates, and has reunited with his mother. Law enforcement is now turning to the arrest and extradition of Amanda and her mother, Amber Dinges, who are believed to still be in Vietnam.
Despite the relief of the saga’s outcome, the alleged kidnapping has shed light on problems that are far more systemic: red flags that child protective services missed in the lead-up to the kidnapping; an unwavering faith in the foster parent; and a subdued initial response by police and media when it became clear the boy was missing.
The Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) appears to have missed a series of warnings, leading to a ten-day gap between when ND was last seen at school and when the police were informed of his disappearance. The Mt. Vernon Police Department started looking for the boy on November 28th, but never put out an AMBER alert, saying there was no “danger of imminent death or serious bodily injury,” and “there have been no previous issues” with Dinges. The department didn’t publish photos of the Dingeses until a full week after they began their investigation, by which point, court records suggest, the Dingeses had already fled the country. With the exception of TV station King 5, local media was slow to cover the kidnapping; the Seattle Times has yet to write about the case.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/foster-care-missing-child-found-washington-state-vietnam/
This case is emblematic of problems in the system all over the US, not just Washington state.
Jake Tapper's daughter, 15, pens op-ed about 'almost dying' after misdiagnosis
Jake Tapper’s daughter, Alice Tapper, opened up about her appendicitis misdiagnosis — and how she says it almost cost her her life.
The CNN journalist’s 15-year-old daughter wrote an opinion piece for the network describing her experience getting sick, and how doctors originally diagnosed her with a viral infection.
“I almost died around Thanksgiving last year, and it was entirely preventable,” she wrote. “It started one weekend in November 2021 with stomach cramping, a low fever, chills and vomiting.”
Alice said when she was admitted to the hospital, she had low blood pressure, an elevated heart rate, intense abdominal pain and a high white blood cell count. She said the doctors and nurses “didn’t know what was wrong and stood around.” She added that their confusion made it seem like they were “waiting for me to tell them what to do.”
The teen was transferred to another hospital when her pain intensified, and she said her parents urged the providers to check for appendicitis.
“But since I was tender all over my abdomen — not just on my right side — the doctors ruled it out,” she said. “The doctors concluded that what I had must be a viral infection and would eventually just go away.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jake-tappers-daughter-15-pens-op-ed-almost-dying-misdiagnosis-rcna62446
The low blood pressure should have clued them in that something more than a viral infection was going on! Hypotension + a high white blood cell count is an almost sure sign that sepsis is setting in. Revoke a few diplomas!
An elderly woman in prison is losing her memory. Why won't California release her?
Prison guards stood by as Janet Carter, 69, sat in her wheelchair and tried to explain the gaps in her memory. It was May 2022 and her third time appearing before the California parole board, which would decide whether to free her after 25 years.
“I can’t remember a whole lot of stuff,” she said when a commissioner asked why she couldn’t articulate what she’d learned in prison programs. Her lawyer later pointed to a doctor’s report that documented some causes: Parkinson’s disease, early dementia, a neurocognitive disorder, chemotherapy and a head injury.
Despite Carter’s age, her rapidly deteriorating health and her repeated apologies for her memory loss, the commissioners denied her parole and admonished her for her inability to answer questions: “You’re manipulative … [You’re] lacking in sincerity … You do continue to pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society.”
Carter has been serving a life sentence since 1998. Advocates say that the refusal to release elderly incarcerated people is part of a growing humanitarian crisis in California and across the US, where an ageing population of people who have been locked up for decades have few or no opportunities to be freed.
“To come home would be a dream come true,” Carter said in a recent phone call. “I’m really looking forward to being with my family. And I want to try to pay back the community. I want to help other people. I want the people out there to know that the people in here really need their support.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/19/california-elderly-prison-losing-memory-release
This makes no sense whatsoever, and further proves that the US "justice" system is about revenge and not about rehabilitation at all.
Attorney for 10-year-old Wisconsin boy accused of killing his mom asks to lower bail to $100
An attorney for a 10-year-old Wisconsin boy accused of fatally shooting his mother because she wouldn't allow him to order a virtual reality headset from Amazon asked for the child's bail to be lowered from $50,000 to $100, court records show.
During a hearing Wednesday, the attorney, Angela Cunningham, asked for the lower bail amount because the child has no source of income, NBC affiliate WTMJ of Milwaukee reported.
“My team and I have spoken to him about his ability to post anything. He told us about piggy banks with savings that he had from gifts, from birthday gifts and scavenging through cushions in the couch that he's been able to save up,” Cunningham said in court, according to the news station.
A judge denied the request, keeping bail at $50,000. The court also set a travel restriction if bail is posted, requiring the boy to stay in Milwaukee County.
Attorneys for the child, who was charged as an adult with first-degree reckless homicide and an alternative charge of first-degree intentional homicide, asked for the latter charge to be dropped, according to court records. A decision has not been made on that matter.
The boy's attorneys did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/attorney-10-year-old-wisconsin-boy-accused-killing-mom-asks-lower-bail-rcna62151
Charging a 10 year old as an adult is appalling. The kid needs psychiatric help, not jail. Articles haven't said, but it's a good guess that he's Black.
Alabama inmate 'baked to death' in prison cell 'hotter than three hells,' federal lawsuit says
An Alabama inmate died after being “baked” to death in a sweltering prison cell described as “hotter than three hells,” his family alleged in a federal wrongful death lawsuit.
Thomas Lee Rutledge, 44, died of hyperthermia on Dec. 7, 2020, in the mental health ward at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, according to a lawsuit filed by his sister in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Alabama.
Rutledge was found unresponsive with a body temperature of 109 degrees in a cell reported to be between 101 to 104 degrees, the suit said, citing the Jefferson County Coroner’s report.
The amended complaint filed Nov. 30 accused prison staff, wardens and contractors —defendants in the lawsuit — who worked on the heating and boiler system at the facility of “deliberate indifference and malice” in his death.
The lawsuit alleged that the Donaldson facility had a new air conditioning system and controls installed in 2019 and 2020.
T Unit, the mental health ward where Rutledge was held, was not included in the project, according to the lawsuit. It’s unclear if any other wards or areas were left out of the project.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-inmate-baked-death-prison-cell-hotter-three-hells-federal-laws-rcna62097
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