Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joins Commissioner of Senior Services Randall Hoak, Town of Cheektowaga Supervisor Brian Nowak, Erie County Legislature Majority Leader Tim Meyers and enthusiastic seniors to unveil a series of investments that were made possible through American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) funding.
Attorney General Pam Bondi may come to regret approving and then boasting about the arrest of a Wisconsin judge on Friday for allegedly trying to shield an immigrant from being scooped up by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside her courtroom.
That is the opinion of ex-U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance who appeared on MSNBC Saturday morning to poke holes in the DOJ's case against Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, with Vance calling the arrest outrageous and unlikely to lead to a conviction.
Speaking with the hosts of MSNBC's "The Weekend," Vance lambasted Bondi for running to Fox News to hype up the arrest where she told hosts, "We are going to prosecute you, and we are prosecuting you. I found out about this the day it happened. We could not believe, actually, that a judge really did that. We looked into the facts in great depth… You cannot obstruct a criminal case. And really, shame on her. It was a domestic violence case of all cases, and she's protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime."
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According to Vance, the arrest, with the judge photographed being taken into custody in handcuffs had little to do with "protecting a criminal defendant" than it did as a warning to other judges to not buck Donald Trump's policies.
Noting that the DOJ report on the arrest was at odds with what Bondi was claiming, the former prosecutor claimed it will likely come back to haunt the attorney general doing Trump's dirty work.
"This is all in violation of very clear DOJ policy," Vance accused. "You're not permitted in a case of an indictment or a complaint to go to the press and talk about anything that's not in the four corners of the document, because it prejudices the defendant's rights."
"We will probably see a motion to dismiss this case outright," she then asserted before continuing, "If this was a normal Justice Department. Pam Bondi, [FBI director] Kash Patel, anybody else who was talking about this case on national TV would be referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility for disciplinary action"
"This is not a functional Justice Department," she added. "So the dirty laundry will come out in the wash in these proceedings, where the facts just don't add up."
You can watch below or at the link.
- YouTube youtu.be
The Supreme Court is set to hear an Oklahoma case that will force the justices to choose between allowing more religious control of public schools or "respecting the wishes of the Founding Fathers," according to a new article in The Atlantic.
History professor Adam Laats laid out how, "In 2023, the Oklahoma government approved an application from the Catholic Church to create a virtual charter school. Like other charter schools, this one would be funded by taxpayers. But unlike other charter schools, this one would be explicitly religious, teaching students Catholic doctrine."
Laats wrote that Oklahoma’s state attorney general objected on the grounds that the approval violated the state constitution, as well as the U.S. Constitution.
He explained that the Founding Fathers foresaw "he death of public schooling if schools came under the authority of any specific religious denomination, or even if a school appeared to favor one denomination over another."
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"Oklahoma’s plan for a public school run by the Catholic Church would...fly in the face of the Founding Fathers’ intentions and go against two centuries of American tradition," Laats wrote. "And it puts the six members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority in a bind. In previous decisions, they have insisted that they will be guided by history, using that rationale to allow for more religion in public schools. In this case, however, if they want to follow their own rules, they must decide in the other direction."
Laats wrote that members of the religious right are "hopeful" about the case that the Supreme Court will hear next week, since SCOTUS has given them "some significant victories in recent years" that were guided by the justices' understanding of history.
"But the case from Oklahoma makes claiming history as a justification harder for the conservative justices," he wrote. "In this case, the history is unambiguous: The Founding Fathers would never have approved of a public school that taught the religious doctrines of one specific kind of Christianity."
In an MSNBC appearance, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey slammed several of President Donald Trump’s policies because of the negative impact they are having on scientific research.
“First, let's talk about Harvard. You actually have this post that you put up, Donald Trump's cuts to universities and hospitals mean scientists are being laid off, and shutting down life-saving research. It's bad for patients, bad for science, and bad for our economy. Give me a sense of your reaction to what is happening at not just Harvard, but beyond,” Host Mika Brzezinski asked.
“Well, this is bigger than Harvard, and I stand with Harvard,” Governor Healey said. “I support what they are doing it is very, very important that Harvard filed that suit and stand up to the bully that Trump is.”
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The Governor claimed the consequences of removing funding from certain colleges, NIH, and other outlets is large. “[UMass Medical] had to lay off 200 faculty members. They've had to rescind offers to 80 graduate students. Mika these are scientists, okay? These are people who are discovering and working on life-saving cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS, you name it, and all of that is being shut down.”
“Here's what also is happening, which Americans need to know. The ones benefiting from Donald Trump's misguided attacks on our universities and on research are benefiting China,” Healey said. “China is recruiting right now on our campuses all those scientists and faculty members, and students who've been laid off or had their offers rescinded and say, Come to China, we'll build you that lab. We'll give you staff. So, for a President who is about America first, he's making America last. He's making us weaker. He's making us less competitive, and it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart to know that patients will suffer [and] they're already suffering.”
She also believes, “[Trump] is driving everyone, including American students and faculty members, out of this country because they want to be able to do their research somewhere. So this is a very dangerous situation. Totally destabilizing and it's really pointing America in the wrong direction.”
The pair went on to speak about what the Bay State is doing to help small businesses dealing with tariff issues.
- YouTube youtu.be
