Police Use of Force Report - NJ.com

Force Report
Police Use of Force in NJ

Buzzfeed ~ The Trump Moscow Tower

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/trump-moscow-micheal-cohen-felix-sater-campaign

Trump keeps making the case fir impeachment. ~ Jonathon Bernstein

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-11-29/trump-keeps-making-the-case-for-impeachment

Rhode Island case challenges schools adequacy

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/11/lawsuit-constitutional-right-education/576901/

Constitution Requires That Whitaker Be Replaced | New Jersey Law Journal

Constitution Requires That Whitaker Be Replaced | New Jersey Law Journal
by the Editorial Board

The president’s day-after-elections discharge of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replacement with a lawyer who has not been vetted by the Senate has generated a tsunami of commentary and challenges. The appointment of Matthew Whitaker bypassed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has overseen Robert Mueller’s investigations. Controversy ensued because a statute, 28 U.S.C. 508, specifically designates the deputy as “first assistant” who in the event of vacancy in the office of Attorney General “may exercise all the duties of that office.”

The legality of Mr. Trump’s decision has been endorsed by the opinion of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. The OLC in a comprehensive memo argues that the president has a choice: follow either the 1977 DOJ succession law §508, or use the 1998 Vacancies Reform Act, 5 U.S.C. 3345. In the event a presidential appointee confirmed by the Senate ”dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office“ the VRA allows the president three choices: fill the vacancy temporarily with the “first assistant,” another Senate confirmed officer, or an employee at the level GS 15 or higher. Whitaker is in the third category. He is now the superior of Senate-confirmed officers, and everyone else in the Department of Justice, including the FBI.

The fundamental choice to be made is whether §508 controls or the VRA offers the president the option to ignore the 1977 DOJ succession law and appoint temporarily an employee (here Sessions’ chief of staff) to perform all of the duties of the Office of the Attorney General. To make that decision, several principles are available: the more specific law (508) overrides the more general—the VRA; the VRA does not come into play because Sessions did not “resign” but was constructively discharged after months of public presidential insults and protests; the Constitution mandates the powers of the office of Attorney General be filled—except perhaps in special circumstances such as emergency—by someone appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. We think the Constitution provides the touchstone for that choice.

KEEP READING

Detroit kids need federal help

Let’s listen to the children in Detroit schools https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/11/26/let-listen-children-detroit-schools/KdmxIcxRXAJjHSJpUEUKMN/story.html

Courts dealing blows to Trump ~ Lithwick ~ Slate

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/11/donald-trump-losing-courts-jurisprudence.html

Ethics watchdog CREW demands Acting Attorney General Whitaker withdraw from Trump Investigation

At the center of the controversial dismissal of now former Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is the question of conflict of interest.  Because he was a witness Sessions recused (withdrew) from supervision of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election on behalf the Trump campaign.  His temporary replacement presents a different concern: the possibility that his advocacy role as a critic of the Russia investigation and defender of Donald Trump casts doubt on his ability to fairly assess the evidence and make appropriate choices.  
Although not a judge, the Attorney General is expected to be independent of the President, owing fealty to the Constitution and nation rather than the President himself.  And as a head of Department in the executive branch the Attorney General and the Department of Justice owes a duty to, like the president, serve the law faithfully - not to be the personal agent of the chief executive.

Such questions are the topic of an important new study forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review.  My Fordham Colleagues Andrew Kent, Jed Shugerman, and Ethan Leib look back and ask what does  it mean to "faithfully execute" the laws of the United States.

Using the principle of appearance of impropriety embedded in the  Code of Conduct of United States Judges the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on November 8 called upon the embattled Acting Attorney General to recuse from key investigations underway by the Department of Justice which he now heads.  On November 15, as new information about Whitaker's role as counsel to an allegedly fraudulent company World Patent Marketing emerged, along with evidence of his confidential relationship with President Donald Trump, CREW supplemented its demand for recusal made to the Justice Department's ethics officer..,

The November 8 letter reads, in part:

To ensure the integrity of the Department of Justice and its continuing commitment to the rule of law, Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker must promptly recuse from all Department of Justice investigations of President Donald J. Trump as well as the President’s current and former associates, businesses, and campaign. Those matters include (but may not be limited to):
• The investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller of any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Trump, matters that arose or may arise from that investigation, and of obstruction of justice and other attempts to interfere with this investigation; and

• The investigation of personal income, false statement, campaign finance, and other offenses involving Michael Cohen (the president’s former personal attorney), the Trump Organization, and the Trump Campaign by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, including any attempts to obstruct or interfere with this investigation.

 President Trump has been personally implicated in these two matters... 

2018 Woolsey Fire - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)

A familiar landscape transformed.
2018 Woolsey Fire - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)

Murder most foul! - not that it bothers me much - Donald J. Trump

Donald Trump's statement yesterday defending the Saudi Kingdom despite the murder of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi reached a new low for the morally bankrupt Executive.

America First!***

Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an “enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that – this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!

That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!

Sorry CJ Roberts...DJ Trump

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have “Obama judges,” and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an “independent judiciary,” but if it is why......

12:51 PM - 21 Nov 2018

Attorneys General are Department Heads under Article II, and Should Be Senate-Confirmed – SHUGERBLOG

Attorneys General are Department Heads under Article II, and Should Be Senate-Confirmed – SHUGERBLOG
by Jed Shugerman

In its memo on the Whitaker appointment as Acting Attorney General, the OLC re-labels the Acting AG an “inferior officer” to avoid the Senate confirmation problem. The OLC asserts that the temporariness of the acting appointment makes him “inferior,” but time-boundedness has no relationship to the fundamental problem that comes directly out of the Constitution’s text:

1. An Acting Attorney General is the head of a department, the DOJ, whether short- or long-term.
2. A head of a department is plainly a principal officer as a matter of constitutional text.
3. Principal officers must be confirmed by the Senate.

Each of these three steps are clear. The strong conclusion from this textual observation is that there can be no such office as Acting Attorney General or any kind of acting head. Statutes might delegate many tasks of a department head to deputies and assistants, but there should be no unconfirmed acting department head of any kind under Article II.

The weaker conclusion from this reading of Article II is that as long as Congress and the President have created an acting department head, that officer must be Senate-confirmed in some capacity, and probably limited to confirmed officers from that particular department, at least to mitigate the problematic constitutionality of this office, as a matter of constitutional avoidance.

James Baker - The Watergate Roadmap

https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-watergate-road-map-reveals-about-improper-contact-between-white-house-and-justice-department

Silverman: OLC Whitaker Memo Flawed

https://shugerblog.com/2018/11/20/the-olcs-whitaker-problems-big-and-small-article-ii-selective-textualism-department-heads-and-historical-cherry-picking/

Katyal: Whitaker can't supervise Mueller

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/12/rules-are-clear-whitaker-cant-supervise-muellers-investigation/

Stoicism is a luxury: Stacey Abrams

Recognizing defeat but refusing to concede:
Stacey Abrams: "You see as a leader, I should be stoic in my outrage and silent in my rebuke, But stoicism is a luxury, and silence is a weapon for those who would quiet the voices of the people. And I will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right."

Trump’s Nominee to Replace Kavanaugh Is a Staunch Defender of Dwarf-Tossing – Mother Jones

Trump’s Nominee to Replace Kavanaugh Is a Staunch Defender of Dwarf-Tossing – Mother Jones: Neomi Rao is best known as Trump's anti-regulation czar, but she's a veteran of the culture wars.

Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker unlawfully bypasses Senate-confirmed officers

@realDonaldTrump
So funny to see little Adam Schitt [sic] (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!
10:01 AM - 18 Nov 2018

There is a long tradition of presidents appointing loyalists as Attorney General.  Robert F. Kennedy and Griffin Bell come immediately to mind as the brother and childhood friends of John Kennedy and Jimmy Carter.  Professor Jed Shugerman has critically explored that history at length in a work in progress.

But there was an important post-Watergate shift which sought to buttress the independence of the office of the Attorney General and the entire Department of Justice from the presidency.  In 1977 the passage of 28  USC 508 governed succession in the Department of Justice in the event of a vacancy of the office of the Attorney General – head of the Department of Justice, itself created in 1870, a subject explored in the Stanford Law Review by Fordham legal historian Shugerman.  

The 1977 Act was preceded by  the 1976 Omnibus Crime Control Act 42 USC 3701 that created a ten year term for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who must be confirmed by the Senate.  The clear policy thrust is to strengthen independence of the Department of Justice and Attorney General. It is that which is threatened by Mr. Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General to assume oversight of  an investigation of the President himself. I discuss the legality of Trump’s appointment below
- GWC

Matthew Whitaker should step down as Acting Attorney General

Donald Trump's  day after mid-term elections discharge of Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard  Sessions and replacement with a lawyer who has not been vetted by the Senate has generated a tsunami of commentary and challenges.  The appointment of Matthew Whitaker bypassed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who has overseen Robert Mueller’s investigations.  Controversy ensued because a statute 28 U.S.C. 508 specifically designates the Deputy as “first assistant” who in the event of vacancy in the office of Attorney General “may exercise all the duties of that office”.

Yet Trump’s decision’s legality has been endorsed by the opinion of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.  The OLC, in a comprehensive memorandum,  argues that the President has a choice: follow either the 1977 DOJ succession law § 508, or use the 1998 Vacancies Reform Act, 5 U.S.C. 3345.  In the event a presidential appointee confirmed by the Senate  ”dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office“ the VRA allows the President three choices: fill the vacancy temporarily with the “first assistant”, another Senate confirmed officer, or an employee at the level GS 15 or higher.  Whitaker is in the third category.  By presidential fiat he is now the superior of Senate-confirmed officers, and everyone else in the Department of Justice, including the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller.

The fundamental legal choice to be made is whether § 508 controls or the VRA offers the president the option to ignore the 1977 DOJ succession law and appoint temporarily an employee (here Sessions' Chief of Staff) to perform all of the duties of the office of the Attorney General.  To make that decision several principles are available: the more specific law (§ 508) overrides the more general - the VRA.  In my view the VRA does not come into play because Sessions did not “resign” but was constructively discharged after months of public Presidential insults and protests, the Constitution mandates the powers office of Attorney General be filled - except perhaps in special circumstances such as emergency - by someone appointed by the President and Confirmed by the Senate.  We think the Constitution provides the touchstone for that choice.

The Constitution in Article II describes the head of a Department as a “ principal Officer”

...[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors (and)… all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The Constitution thus provides the answer.  Whitaker is serving as a “principal Officer”.   But he has neither been nominated by the President nor confirmed by the Senate.  The vacancy was created by the President, not by resignation, death, or unavailability of the Attorney General. There is no emergency or special circumstance that justifies putting a mere employee such as Whitaker - in a position superior to the Senate-confirmed and available officers - the Deputy Attorney General and the Solicitor General. The Constitution has made that choice for principal Officers.  Matthew Whitaker should step down and his place be filled by the Deputy Attorney General or other available Senate-confirmed officer.

- George Conk

November 15, 2018

Professor Campaign Donations Overwhelmingly Favor Democrats – The Fordham Ram

95% of faculty political contributions went to Democrats in the past 22 months.  Proud to have our contributions recognized. - gwc
Professor Campaign Donations Overwhelmingly Favor Democrats – The Fordham Ram: According to the data, the vast majority of Fordham’s professor who donate to campaigns are Democrats.

Advertising oneself as "expert" OK'd by New Jersey Attorney Advertising Committee

Lawyers' advertising is governed by RPC 7.1 which provides

A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. A communication is false or misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading.

What is "misleading" has long been he source of controversy.  Comparative claims of effectiveness  have been abjured.  But eve though they are statements of fact claims of expertise and specialization have been prohibited by many states.  One of the most restrictive - New Jersey - has now retracted its prohibitions.  The state Supreme Court's Advertising Committee (itself a disciplinary committee) has now declared that lawyers's claims of expertise and specialization are permissible - if accurate and substantiated.  But use of the term expert is limited to those certified by the State's Supreme Court or an organization approved by the American Bar Association. - GWC

OPINION 45 Committee on Attorney Advertising Attorney Advertisement Claiming “Expertise” and“Specialization” in an Area of Law(Superseding Opinion ) November 8, 2018

The Committee on Attorney Advertising received a grievance about a law firm website that states that the lawyers have “expertise” in tax law. The firm concentrates its practice in tax law. The firm’s principal lawyer has an L.L.M. in tax, is the author of numerous publications on tax law, lectures on tax law, served as an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service, and has been practicing tax law for more than 30 years. 


The Committee on Attorney Advertising previously prohibited lawyers from stating that they are “experts,” have “expertise,” are “specialists,” or “specialize” in an area of law unless they are certified by the Supreme Court or an organization approved by the American Bar Association. Use of these terms by lawyers who are not certified was considered to be misleading, in violation of Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1(a). After revisiting the issue in light of recent out-of-state First Amendment decisions in attorney advertising, the Committee has now determined that lawyers may use the terms “expertise,” “specialize,” and “specialist” in advertising provided the terms are accurate and the lawyers can demonstrate the necessary education, training, and experience to substantiate the claim. 

The Committee retains the restriction on the use of the term “expert” to lawyers who are certified by the Supreme Court or an organization approved by the American Bar Association. An “expert” is defined as a person “[h]aving special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1993). The Committee finds that a lawyer claiming to be an “expert” must be able to substantiate the claim with readily verifiable and objective criteria. Certification by the Supreme Court or an organization approved by the American Bar Association provides this objective verification of a lawyer’s “expert” status. 

The Committee notes that lawyers can have “expertise” in an area of law without having been certified as an “expert” by the Court or an approved organization. The term “expertise” reflects special skill and extensive experience in an area of law. Further, a “specialist” is a person “who devotes or limits his interest to some special branch (as of an activity, business, art, or science).” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1993). Devotion to an area of law (as a “specialist” or a person who “specializes”) does not, of itself, necessarily imply greater ability than that held by others. 

Accordingly, the Committee finds that the terms “expertise,” “specialist,” and “specialization,” if true, are not inherently misleading. Thus, their use, if accurate, is not prohibited under Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1(a).

KEEP READING

Congressman Poliquin files frivolous lawsuit to block Maine's ranked voting system

Jared Golden with more wood than he'll need this winter
Bruce Poliquin (R-ME 2d District) has filed a lawsuit seeking to throw out Maine's ranked voting system so that he can be declared the winner over Jared Golden (D-Lewiston).  He relies on a 1970 federal court decision which presents this issue: 

The sole question which we find necessary to reach in this case is whether the language of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that the United States Senators from each state shall be "elected by the people thereof" requires that a candidate for the Senate receive a majority of the votes cast at the general election in order to be elected.PHILLIPS v. ROCKEFELLER | 435 F.2d 976 (1970) | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (NY, CT, VT)

The Court's answer is NO.  And that about settles it.  The only reason to bring such an action is because you expect that the count will go against you.  Welcome Congressman Golden

Trump's direct assault on Florida ballot counting

This sort of baseless attack is how democracy is destroyed. ~gwc

@realdonaldtrump
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!

Tribe: Yes, Whitaker's Appointment Is Unconstitutional. Here's How To Challenge It. | HuffPost

Yes, Whitaker's Appointment Is Unconstitutional. Here's How To Challenge It. | HuffPost: It's not just Senate Democrats who would have cause to act.
by Laurence Tribe

Blumenthal's Choice: Sue to Remove Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney.General

Senator Richard Blumenfeld (D-CT) a member of the Judiciary Committee is contemplating suing to block the appointment by Donald Trump of Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General.  He should but he has a handful of legal theories to choose among.  A former state Attorney General (and Editor of the Yale Law Journal), he will not make any impulsive choices.   There are three principal contending views of the legality of the Trump appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General.

Neal Katyal and George (Mr. Kellyanne) Conway hold in an Op-Ed that the move violates the Appointments Clause of the federal Constitution which requires Senate confirmation of principal officers (those who report directly to the President) 

Stephen Vladeck of the University of Texas supports the view that the Vacancies Reform Act of 1898 (excerpted below) permits the appointment.  Relying on the 1898 case U.S. v. Eaton Vladeck argues in an Op-Ed that a temporary A.G. is not a principal officer and therefore does not require Senate confirmation.  Asha Rangappa in a long Twitter thread disputes Vladeck's reading of the Eaton case.  Vladeck himself assumes the Vacancies Act is operative, dismissing the argument that Sessions was fired - since his letter says that he resigned "[A]t your request".  A resignation is a resignation is a resignation.

Katyal and Conway are dismissive of arguments based on the "technicalities" of the Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.  Fordham's Jed Shugerman wades into those technicalities and concludes  in a blog post that the appointment is statutorily illegal.  He relies on 28 USC 508 which authorizes the Attorney General to designate the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General (here our hero Rod Rosenstein) to assume the duties of the A.G.  The technicalities arise here as to whether the A.G. had to in fact designate Rosenstein as successor in the event of vacancy.

But in my view Vladeck is too quick to dismiss the resignation point.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC 200 e -2 (a), et seq, forbids discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.  That act has given rise to a substantial body of  state and federal law regarding discriminatory termination.  One who has formally resigned may be found to have been discharged if the employer has made continuation intolerable by "badgering, harassment, or humiliation by the employer calculated to encourage the employee's resignation".   Trump's relentless humiliation of Sessions has been well documented, most recently by Margaret Hartmann in New York Magazine.

Senator Blumenthal should give careful consideration to the constructive discharge argument.  It has the virtue of simplicity - making the vacancies act unavailable, and leaving Rod Rosenstein in place in charge of the investigation by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. - gwc

Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 5 USC §3345. Acting officer"(a) If an officer of an Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the President, and other than the General Accounting Office) whose appointment to office is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office-
"(1) the first assistant to the office of such officer shall perform the functions and duties of the office temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the time limitations of section 3346;"(2) notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President) may direct a person who serves in an office for which appointment is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the time limitations of section 3346; or"(3) notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President) may direct an officer or employee of such Executive agency to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity, subject to the time limitations of section 3346, if"(A) during the 365-day period preceding the date of death, resignation, or beginning of inability to serve of the applicable officer, the officer or employee served in a position in such agency for not less than 90 days; and"(B) the rate of pay for the position described under subparagraph (A) is equal to or greater than the minimum rate of pay payable for a position at GS-15 of the General Schedule.The Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 provides:"5 U.S.C. §3345. Acting officer"(a) If an officer of an Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the President, and other than the General Accounting Office) whose appointment to office is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office-"(1) the first assistant to the office of such officer shall perform the functions and duties of the office temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the time limitations of section 3346;"(2) notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President) may direct a person who serves in an office for which appointment is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the time limitations of section 3346; or"(3) notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President) may direct an officer or employee of such Executive agency to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity, subject to the time limitations of section 3346, if"(A) during the 365-day period preceding the date of death, resignation, or beginning of inability to serve of the applicable officer, the officer or employee served in a position in such agency for not less than 90 days; and"(B) the rate of pay for the position described under subparagraph (A) is equal to or greater than the minimum rate of pay payable for a position at GS-15 of the General Schedule.

Balkinization: Who is the Attorney General?

Balkinization: Who is the Attorney General?: A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

Gerard Magliocca doubts the legality of Trump's appointment of Whitaker under the Vacancies Act if the Senate was not in recess. 

Balkinization: How Could Religious Liberty Be a Human Right?

Balkinization: How Could Religious Liberty Be a Human Right?: A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

by Andrew Koppelman

A growing number of scholars think “religious liberty” is a bad idea.  The unfairness objection is that singling out religion for special protection is unjust to comparable nonreligious conceptions of the good.  The distraction objectionasserts that religious liberty is a misleading lens: oppression sometimes occurs along religious lines, but the underlying conflicts often are not really about religious difference.  Both objections are sound, but under certain conditions religious liberty should nonetheless be regarded as a right.  Law is inevitably crude.  The state cannot possibly recognize each individual’s unique identity-constituting attachments.  It can, at best, protect broad classes of ends that many people share.  “Religion” is such a class.  Where it is an important marker of identity for many people, it is an appropriate category of protection.

That's the argument of my newly published article in the International Journal of Constitutional Law, here.  The same issue of the journal has a critical response by Prof. Gita Stopler, here, with a rejoinder by me, here.

Posted 12:26 PM by Andrew Koppelman [link] 

Bronx Victory Memorial - WWI monument

Bronx Victory Memorial, Pelham Bay Park.  Remembering those who served, fought, and died in WWI.

‘Black Girl Magic’: How 17 Black Women Swept Into Houston Courts – Talking Points Memo

‘Black Girl Magic’: How 17 Black Women Swept Into Houston Courts – Talking Points Memo: HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston area’s courts are going to be a lot more diverse thanks to a group of...

Twenty two Obama '08 Staffers win Seats in Congress and States

Young staffers were the heart of the Obama '08 victory.  Like my daughter who just returned from Michigan campaigning for victorious Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), they have remained loyal, committed, and connected.  Eight alumni are among the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and fourteen won state government positions.  Here is the Alumni Association report to members.  - gwc

Obama Alumni Association

“If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.” President Barack Obama, Farewell Address WE DID IT! In just 8 weeks, the 44 Fund raised nearly $270,000 for Obama alumni running for Congress. And today, because we came together to help our friends and former colleagues, EIGHT of those alumni will be joining the new Democratic majority in the 116th Congress! And it wasn’t just the House. Democrats won up and down the ballot, flipping Governors mansions and state legislative chambers. That includes FOURTEEN Obama alums who will join state and local governmentsacross the country. IN CONGRESS: Colin Allred - flipped TX-32 and will replace Rep. Pete Sessions Debra Haaland - won NM-01 and will be one of the first two Native American women ever in Congress Andy Kim - flipped NJ-03 and will replace Tom MacArthur, who *wrote the bill* to repeal Obamacare Tom Malinowski - flipped NJ-07 and will replace Rep. Leonard Lance Elissa Slotkin - flipped MI-08 and will replace Rep. Mike Bishop   Haley Stevens - flipped MI-11 and will replace Rep. David Trott Rashida Tlaib - won MI-13 and will be one of the first two muslim women ever in Congress Lauren Underwood - flipped IL-14 and will replace Rep. Randy Hultgren Most of these races were very close. Andy Kim’s race was won by less than 1%. As former campaign staff know, those are “field margins.” In other words, your donations, phone calls, and door knocking put our Obama alumni candidates over the top. THANK YOU for your support. IN LOCAL AND STATEWIDE RACES: Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor of California Buffy Wicks, State Assembly, California Giselle Hale, City Council, Redwood City, California Matt Haney, San Francisco Board of Supervisors Phil Weiser, Attorney General of Colorado Jena Griswold, Secretary of State of Colorado Dylan Roberts, State House, Colorado Joshua Tenorio, Lieutenant Governor of Guam Julian Cyr, State Senate, Massachusetts Wiley Nickel, State Senate, North Carolina Jordan Acker, University of Michigan Board of Regents Andrew Friedson, Montgomery County Council, Maryland Will Jawando, Montgomery County Council, Maryland Hans Riemer, Montgomery County Council, Maryland We have a lot of victories to celebrate. But we know that building a movement isn’t about one election. So today, we also want to celebrate the Obama alumni who had the courage to step into the arena and run for office - often against long odds - and who came up a little bit short. Thank you. You’re laying the foundation for a better kind of politics across America. And we’ll get ‘em next time. Finally, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who stepped up, in ways large and small, for the most important election of our lifetimes. Because of you, millions of Americans’ healthcare can’t be repealed. Because of you, we have checks and balances in Washington again. Because of you, a far-right legislative agenda has just been stopped in its tracks. We’ve got plenty of work to do, but because of you, change is possible. And together, we will keep bringing change to America. Sincerely, Your Friends at the Obama Alumni Association