Injustice Systems

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Update:

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“The Constitution is for Americans,” Adams told reporters at his weekly City Hall press conference. “I’m not a person that snuck into this country. My ancestors have been here for a long time.”

What an idiot. First of all, the irony. The Dred Scott case declared that Adams’s own ancestors were not citizens and, thus, not protected by the Constitution or other law. Second, yeah, his ancestors didn’t “sneak in”. They were brought here against their will and enslaved. I’m not sure what his fucking point is. It’s not like his ancestors immigrated “the right way”. Third, he is absolutely, unequivocally, fucking wrong. The Constitution, and this nation’s laws, protect anyone under its jurisdiction. In other words, anyone who is a citizen or is currently within the borders of this nation. How do we know this? Because if such people commit crimes, they can be arrested and prosecuted. They are subject to this nation’s laws, which means they may also benefit from the protections afforded by those same laws. This isn’t just my opinion. This is settled law. It’s even in the Constitution:

14th Amendment, Section 1

nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

In addition, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin.

The current SCOTUS may very well agree with Adams, but they haven’t taken up the issue, and current precedent is clear: Anyone within the borders of the United States must be given due process.

ETA: Adams, and others like him, will probably argue that the sentence I quoted above from the 14th Amendment only applies to citizens. This is clearly not true. The sentences immediately preceding that one define citizenship. It’s how the Dred Scott decision was rendered moot. Had the drafters of the 14th Amendment intended for the due process clause to apply only to citizens, they would have used the word “citizen” instead of “any person”. Their intent was clear: even noncitizens are entitled to due process and equal protection.

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Signed up for this lecture on January 15th, and will report back:

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Interesting. I Googled that, and came up with this article from 2012, so apparently she’s been researching this awhile. But this article does provide more context. https://www.advocate.com/health/health-news/2012/08/05/shocking-report-doctors-using-drugs-prevent-lesbian-intersex-children

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Thanks for that effort!

Exactly what is ‘behavioral’ about being born intersex?

And why am I hoping for consistent, logical thought from such people?

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Is this something like eugenics?

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It’s in the ballpark, for sure.

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It’s referring to one specific intersex condition which isn’t chromosomal. Actually, all of this involves one specific condition which can manifest either as homosexuality, an intersex condition, being transgender, or just generally gender nonconforming, from what I can gather. Regardless, it’s not anything that needs to be cured. It’s all well within normal human expression.

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Much earlier: This isn’t the first time an appellate court ruled that Healey violated a defendant’s rights during sentencing.

In one rape case, Healey was criticized, and a 30-year sentence was overturned by the 1st District Court of Appeals because Healey lectured a Hispanic defendant that a “good Catholic fellow” shouldn’t commit adultery. Makar also wrote an opinion in that case.

In the case of a woman who shoplifted $17.19 of food from Walmart, he declared her a “danger to society,” something that should have been decided by a jury, the appellate court ruled.

And in a dissenting opinion a few months ago, Makar criticized Healey’s demeanor in a case where the Department of Corrections waived supervision fees for a poor mother who was struggling with a part-time job as a janitor. In response to the department’s lenience, “the trial judge went on a tirade,” Makar wrote of Healey. Healey even made offhand comments about the public defender’s advocacy. (“How lovely,” Healey said).

Recently: “At the hearing, Healey said he shouldn’t have offered [Alfred Scott] any lenience to begin with. “That will teach me a lesson,” he said at the conclusion of the hearing.”

It seems to me that Healy is incapable of taking a hint and learning worthwhile lessons. And I expect some future half-way decent defense attorney picking up on the bias of Healy’s statement of being too lenient.

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Jurors found Daniel Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Samantha Max, reporter covering public safety for WNYC/Gothamist, who was in the courtroom covering the trial. And Tiffany Cabán, NYC Council Member (District 22, Astoria, Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Woodside and Rikers Island), reacts to the news and shares legislation she’s working on related to mental health care.

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Alabama profits off prisoners who work at McDonald’s but deems them too dangerous for parole

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Institutional lynching of Robert Brooks, perpetrated by NY prison guards, some smiling and laughing while watching him get beat to death, recorded by body cams in standby mode (four officers had body cams but none were set to record).

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So the correction officers are going to be fired. Oh dear. Lucky they didn’t kill a CEO. Then they would really be in trouble.

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Guards like this aren’t trusted with CEOs who, by some miracle, get sentenced to prison.

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