Monthly Archive: August 2024

CA Voters to Decide if Inmates Should Work

by · Aug 8, 2024 2:31 pm

ACA 8, a constitutional amendment placed on the November 5 ballot would abolish a California requirement that criminals sent to state prison or county jail do some kind of work while serving their time. Katy Grimes of the California Globe writes that a majority of the state legislature and Governor Newsom consider the work requirement to be slavery. The measure is called the End of Slavery in California Act. It was among the package of bills introduced by the Legislative Black Caucus as reparations for the descendants of American slaves. Two problems with this are; that there were no slaves in California, a state that never recognized slavery. The other is that the requirement for prison inmates to work is part of their punishment for committing crimes. People are not born as prison inmates. They have to earn that status by robbing, stealing, raping or murdering innocent people.

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Alabama Nitrogen Execution Case Settled/Dismissed

by · Aug 7, 2024 2:24 pm

Following the nitrogen hypoxia execution of Kenneth Smith earlier this year, Alabama murderer Alan Miller sued the state to change its execution protocol, despite having sued previously to demand that the state use nitrogen. The case filed in March was Miller v. Marshall, 2:24-cv-00197-RAH (USDC MD Ala.) On Monday, Alabama AG Marshall issued a press release announcing the case had been settled. “The two sides had spent months in discovery, anticipating a major hearing on August 6, but after reviewing key documents and deposing the State’s witnesses, Miller agreed to settle with the State. The terms of the settlement remain confidential, but the result will be the dismissal of Miller’s lawsuit with prejudice.”

Due to the confidentiality of the settlement, the federal district court record on PACER contains only a stipulation of dismissal, not disclosing the terms, and a dismissal order.

I have not been able to find anything from the other side, but the fact that the case is settled with the execution date intact tends to confirm the AG’s claim that the settlement is a capitulation after the plaintiff’s attorneys found they had no case. The lack of any information on the anti-death-penalty Death Penalty Information Center also tends to corroborate this conclusion. The DPIC’s modus operandi is to carefully curate information on the death penalty, presenting only information that supports opponents and burying information that supports proponents. Continue reading . . .

Chicago Will Showcase Kamala’s Crime Policies

by · Aug 5, 2024 2:24 pm

As the Democrat National Convention approaches, the words of its newly elected Mayor Brandon Johnson, “Chicago is a world-class city that looks like America and demonstrates the values of the Democratic Party,” will be tested by a grim reality.  As noted by Manhattan Institute scholar Heather MacDonald in today’s Wall Street Journal, progressive policies supported by Mayor Johnson and his predecessor Lori Lightfoot have turned the windy city into an open-air slaughterhouse. The Chicago approach to crime, which includes labeling police as racists, refusing to punish property and drug crimes, and undercharging most violent offenders, has been duplicated in other big democrat-controlled cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Oakland. All have suffered from dramatically increased crime and violence since the 2020 George Floyd Riots.

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