Von Akers

@vonakers
6 Followers
51 Following
118 Posts
Democrat, here for the politics, news and other toot-worthy items. #The Resistance
@GottaLaff The lower court held that the statute didn’t apply to physical assaults to obstruct proceedings; the majority of the appellate court said the plain meaning of the statute includes assault as well as tampering with documents and records. The dissent basically agreed with the lower court. Both majority and dissent attempt to justify their readings of the statute using “canons of construction,” established guides to interpreting statutes. 2/
@GottaLaff Not so complicated despite all the parsing of the language of the statute under which the defendants were charged. That statute makes it a crime to corruptly interfere with documents and records to obstruct election proceedings or to otherwise corruptly obstruct election proceedings. 1/
Significant detail regarding #ClarenceThomas failure to disclose multiple gifts of travel from Harlan Crow over the years. In 2004, the LA Times reported on gifts Thomas disclosed he had received from Crow. After this reporting, Thomas didn’t stop accepting gifts from Crow; he just stopped disclosing them. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-06/the-times-reported-about-justice-thomas-gifts-20-years-ago-after-he-just-stopped-disclosing-them #JudicialEthics
After an L.A. Times story on Thomas' gifts, he stopped disclosing

A 2004 Los Angeles Times report disclosed gifts to Justice Thomas from rich Texan Harlan Crow. In response, Thomas stopped disclosing them.

Los Angeles Times

2/ cont’d…

BOTTOM LINE: The court, for now, has saved #DOJ's obstruction cases against Jan. 6 defendants, but it leaves a wide open question about whether future challenges to the "corrupt intent" element of the obstruction statute could prevail.

Via Elie Mystal:

People: It's wrong to hold #Trump accountable for repeatedly falsifying his business records.

Same People: The #Black guys used a bullhorn, get them out of here.

Still same people: Ban #drag shows

Somehow still the same people: Dead children are the price we pay for freedom. #GunViolence

Justice Thomas is corrupt. He should resign, but he won’t because he is also without shame. He also knows his GOP pals, bought by big donors like his own billionaire buddy, won’t ever hold him to account.
Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire

Island-hopping on a superyacht. Private jet rides around the world. The undisclosed gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the Supreme Court. “It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this,” says one former judge.

ProPublica

Tennessee has forcibly removed two of three elected Democrat officials simply because those officials wanted to protect children from unmitigated gun violence

The chamber vote was 72 to 25. Other red states will follow.

In fact, Florida has already made efforts to remove *all* Democrats from future ballots

Republicans are still in the middle of a coup attempt

DeSantis needs to go. This story needs to be heard and spread.