Fri - There Must Be 50 Ways to Need a Lawyer

Right Wing Goes Bonkers Over a Black Woman Playing a Flute

It was a masterstroke by the Library of Congress, and current Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first Black person in the role: Educate the public about the large collection of historic flutes at the Library of Congress, and its role in preserving not just books but objects, by inviting Lizzo to play some of the instruments. And it worked. Before this week, did you know the Library of Congress had hundreds of flutes? 

Excellent Exxon tapes. I posted them on the other board with credit to you.

Previous Guy's Personal Judge Continues to Do His Bidding

A judge appointed by former President Donald Trump ruled Thursday that Trump does not have to submit a sworn statement identifying any evidence he believes the FBI might have planted when federal agents executed a search warrant at his Florida estate last month.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon effectively overrules a directive from the special master she named to review evidence the FBI seized in the search Aug. 8. The special master, Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie of New York, last week ordered Trump’s team to submit a “declaration or affidavit” about whether anything on the FBI's list of items removed from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach had not been “seized from the Premises,” meaning items that were put there by someone else.

Trump has publicly insinuated several times without offering any proof that federal agents planted evidence during their search, which the Justice Department has said turned up 100 classified, secret and top-secret documents, as well as thousands of other documents it says belong to the government.

What Damage Will SCOTUS Do This Term?

RACE-CONSCIOUS STUDENT ADMISSIONS POLICIES

A legal fight coming before the court on Oct. 31 gives its conservative majority a chance to end affirmative action admissions policies used by many colleges and universities to increase their numbers of Black and Hispanic students. A group founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum is appealing lower court rulings that upheld race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Blum's group accused the schools of discriminating against applicants on the basis of race in violation of federal law or the U.S. Constitution. The schools have said they use race as only one factor in a host of individualized evaluations for admission without quotas to promote campus diversity.

VOTING RIGHTS ACT

The justices next Tuesday are set to hear arguments in an Alabama case that threatens to cripple a landmark civil rights law - the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting. Alabama is appealing a lower court's ruling invalidating a map approved by the state's Republican-controlled legislature drawing the boundaries of the state's seven U.S. House of Representatives districts. The lower court found that this map diluted the electoral clout of Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The map concentrated Black voting power in the state into a single district even though Alabama's population is 27% Black.

JUDICIAL SCRUTINY OF ELECTION LAW (This case could destroy elections as we know them in red states)

The justices will hear a Republican-backed appeal in a case from North Carolina that could give state legislatures far more power over federal elections by limiting the ability of state courts to review their actions. North Carolina's top court threw out a map approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature delineating the state's 14 U.S. House districts. That court determined that the districts were drawn impermissibly in a manner that boosted electoral chances of Republicans at the expense of Democrats. The Republican lawmakers in the case are invoking a contentious legal theory called the "independent state legislature doctrine" that holds that the Constitution gives legislatures, not state courts or other entities, authority over election rules including the drawing of electoral districts. An argument date is pending.

RELIGIOUS RIGHTS VS. LGBT RIGHTS

A major new legal fight pitting religious beliefs against LGBT rights is headed to the justices. The case involves an evangelical Christian web designer's free speech claim that she cannot be forced under a Colorado anti-discrimination law to produce websites for same-sex marriages. A lower court rejected business owner Lorie Smith's bid for an exemption from a Colorado law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and certain other factors. An argument date is pending.

NATIVE AMERICAN ADOPTION LAW

But wait! There's more!

"Surrounded" Is Never Good for an Army

Multiple pro-Russian Telegram accounts report that as of midnight, local time, Lyman is fully surrounded.





BARS are Russian reservist units, LPR are the fake “Luhansk People’s Republican” proxies, and they mean the 20th Combined Arms Army. “Boiler” is a funny translation of “cauldron,” which is exactly what it sounds like—a strategically large concentration of trapped enemy forces. “Boiler” actually works as well. Estimates are that Russians had 2,500-3,500 troops inside the city, and they are now fully cut off from escape. No reason for Ukraine to engage in costly street-by-street urban fighting. They can keep a blocking force to keep them contained while the main spearhead keeps moving.

Russian military reporter WarGonzo now saying they’ve lost contact with “several” units.