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#726

Post by Foggy »

Now do Gruyère Whiz. :batting:
Out from under. :thumbsup:
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#727

Post by Sam the Centipede »

Honest labels! Let's demand honest ingredients in pasta!

Butterflies in farfalle!
Seashells in conchiglie!
Strings in spaghetti!
Feathers in penne!
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#728

Post by northland10 »

All the following of Kari Lake related cases on the Arizona appeals and Supreme Court dockets, I kept noticing a name coming up on case.

So, here are currently active cases on the Arizona appeals court, division one (only active cases).
1 CA-CV 23-0017 DANKO v. DESSAULES, et al. Feb. 24, 2023 5:46 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0781 DANKO v. DUFF Feb. 27, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0613 DANKO v. FAJARDO Mar. 3, 2023 5:48 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0084 DANKO v. FAJARDO Mar. 1, 2023 5:45 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0105 DANKO v. HENRY Mar. 2, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0011 DANKO v. LAMMERS Mar. 1, 2023 5:44 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0525 DANKO v. LEAVITT, et al. Feb. 23, 2023 5:44 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0768 [Ending] DANKO v. MANZI Mar. 2, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0083 DANKO v. MANZI Mar. 3, 2023 5:49 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0054 DANKO v. MCCORMICK, et al. Mar. 2, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0108 DANKO v. MCCORMICK, et al. Mar. 3, 2023 5:49 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0537 DANKO v. SHADD Feb. 13, 2023 5:44 PM
1 CA-CV 23-0001 DANKO v. STEVENS Feb. 27, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0583 DANKO v. STROM Mar. 3, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0770 DANKO v. STROM Feb. 28, 2023 5:47 PM
1 CA-CV 22-0534 DANKO v. WAINSCOTT, et al. Mar. 3, 2023 5:47 PM
The date is the last updated date but I think most were in the last few months. The few I peeked at were pro se.

As best as I could tell a few weeks ago, most of his cases came from some divorce and custody battle with the ex, and somehow involves one or both of them being in South Carolina, or something. He has been suing various attorneys, probably the ex, and I guess given the number of plaintiffs, Johnny down the hall.

I don't think suing everybody is a great strategy. This guy is giving GIL a run for his money.
101010 :towel:
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#729

Post by keith »

Sam the Centipede wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:20 pm
neonzx wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:49 am Cool. Now do champagne. :daydreaming:
I recall that in all/some countries of Yurp when Champagne first became a protected (in some way) name, the knock-offs started being labeled "Méthode champenoise". Although this term is still used and correct, producers in Champagne persuaded the EU that using it on labels was Avon to passing off, so that's not seen now.

Anyway, I like Freixnet cava from Spain: the same fun at a third of the price.

Oh gosh, my tongue still curls at the vile memory of some sticky yellow rubber from Australia that I bought in a Hong Kong supermarket – it was labeled "Parmesan". So I like origin labels.
Australia actually make some pretty good hard 'Parmesan like' cheeses. That "sticky yellow rubber" actually sounds like the American Velveeta goo. It might have been made in Oz, but the name would have been specified by the Hong Kong importer. The Chinese don't have a tradition of cheese making or eating so the market could take just about anything with out knowing. Conversely, Americans can be blithely ignorant that 'Chop Suey' and Egg Foo Yung have nothing to do with Chinese cooling (or do they?).

Also, Oz also stopped using the word Champagne years ago. Methode Champenoise is the technique - secondary, in bottle, fermentation, minimum time on lees, etc. Everything with bubbles is not Methode, but Oz makes some excellent sparkling wines - both Methode Champenoise and not Methode Champenoise.

Aussies also had a fight over the word 'Freixenet'. Winemakers have been forbidden to use the words Freycinet Peninsula on their labels. It isn't spelled the same way, Freixenet doesn't (or didn't at the time) sell cava in Australia, and the Freycinet growers barely exported to mainland Oz, let alone in a Freixenet market.

These days they are arguing over the word 'Prosecco'. Australian growers like Otto Dal Zotto and Alf Pizinni BUILT the market for Prosecco literally from scratch, working the promotion for years before it became fashionable in the early 2000. Italy cought on and unilaterally changed the name of the grape from Prosecco to Gleria so they could claim Prosecco as a domain name.

Meanwhile, they still sell 'Virginia Ham' (that has never been near Virginia) and Idaho Potatoes (registered trademark by the Idaho Potato Farmer Organization or whatever they are called) grown in Tasmania (of course).
Has everybody heard about the bird?
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#730

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

I discovered a wonderful prosecco while politicking in Arkansas. It's named Masottina and is a "product of Italy". It has a clean, champagne taste, not funky like some cavas and proseccos have. :biggrin:

ETA: Sam gets an award for his entry of the word "Yurp" in the Fogbow Lexicon, Snarksaurus and Atlas. :biggrin:
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#731

Post by Sam the Centipede »

keith wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:28 am
Sam the Centipede wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:20 pm [:snippity:
Oh gosh, my tongue still curls at the vile memory of some sticky yellow rubber from Australia that I bought in a Hong Kong supermarket – it was labeled "Parmesan". So I like origin labels.
Australia actually make some pretty good hard 'Parmesan like' cheeses. That "sticky yellow rubber" actually sounds like the American Velveeta goo. It might have been made in Oz, but the name would have been specified by the Hong Kong importer.
It wasn't a dig at Aussie cheese, which I know nothing about, but given the variety of cultures that have adopted the country I would expect some very good products of many sorts. Interesting what you say about the labeling rules. It's good when governments believe that consumers' preference for accurate, honest and clear labels is more important than producers' right to say mislead or misdirect in pursuit of sales.

It cabn be a surprise for a European when one realizes that the population of east Asia being generally lactose-intolerant means the huge variety of dairy-based foods ifound n many parts of the world is largely absent.
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#732

Post by RTH10260 »

Jury awards $8.25M to Black mother, daughters handcuffed outside Castro Valley Starbucks

By Lisa Fernandez
Published March 6, 2023 12:17PM Updated March 7, 2023 6:27AM
Alameda County KTVU FOX 2

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. - A federal jury awarded a mother and her two daughters $8.25 million after they were unlawfully searched and handcuffed by Alameda County sheriff's deputies at a Castro Valley Starbucks on their way to taking one of the young women to a college math test in Berkeley.

The women were not physically harmed by law enforcement, but the dollar amount of the award signals that the jurors felt the family's constitutional rights had been stripped from them because of the color of their skin.

"I think that everybody recognizes we all have implicit bias," their attorney, Craig Peters of San Francisco, said in an interview on Monday. "I have it. You have it. We've all got it. These officers are no different. And so, subconsciously, there was something going on that made them unreasonably suspicious of this family. I think that if this same scenario happened and these were white women, it would have played out very differently."

The verdict was reached March 1 following a two-day civil trial before U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup in San Francisco. A jury deliberated for 16 hours before awarding the mother and daughters this unprecedented amount from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

Specifically, the jury found Deputy Steven Holland liable for $2.7 million to mother Aasylei Loggervale and $2 million apiece to her daughters, Aaottae Loggervale, then 17, and Aasyeli Hardege-Loggervale, then 19.

The jury also found then-Deputy Monica Pope liable for $750,000 to both daughters, and that Alameda County is liable for the actions of its deputies.

It's possible the judge could lower the award if the county convinces him to do so. But nothing has been filed in court to indicate that so far.

Neither the Alameda County Sheriff's Office nor Kevin Gilbert, the attorney representing the county, responded for comment on Monday.

Both Holland and Pope have since been promoted.

The civil trial, also litigated by attorneys Joseph May and Brian Gearinger, alleged false arrest, invasion of privacy, negligence and violations of the 1st, 4th and 14th Amendments.




https://www.ktvu.com/news/jury-awards-8 ... -starbucks
Bodycam video: Deputies detain Black mother, daughters at Castro Valley Starbucks.

KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco
6 Mar 2023
Alameda County sheriff's deputies detain the Loggervale family at Castro Valley Starbucks in Sept. 20, 2019.
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#733

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compani ... smsnnews11
JPMorgan Sues Former Executive Jes Staley Over Jeffrey Epstein Connections

JPMorgan Chase filed a lawsuit Wednesday against former investment banking executive Jes Staley, accusing him of concealing the nature of his relationship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a longtime JPMorgan client whose child sex trafficking has landed the finance giant in legal hot water.

The suit suggests Staley may have been aware of Epstein’s sexual misconduct while he worked at JPMorgan, but he did not disclose that to the bank, alleging Staley “repeatedly abandoned the interests of JPMC in pursuit of his own personal interests and benefits and those of Epstein.”

JPMorgan was previously sued by an unnamed woman and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands—where Epstein owned a residence—for allegedly helping fund his sex trafficking operation by approving loans on his accounts.

In its lawsuit Wednesday, JPMorgan argued that if it is held liable in either of those two suits brought against the bank, Staley should be financially responsible for paying damages.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday also identified Staley as the subject of a sexual assault complaint involving one of Epstein’s friends, alleging Staley is the “powerful financial executive” referenced in the suit brought by the unnamed woman last year.

Staley could not immediately be reached for comment, but he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, claiming he was unaware of Epstein’s sex trafficking.

Staley’s career as a high-powered banker has come crashing down over the past few years, as he’s faced increasing scrutiny over his connection to Epstein. Staley left JPMorgan in 2013—also Epstein’s last year as a client at the bank—but he continued to rise in the banking industry, becoming CEO of London-based Barclays before leaving the post in 2021 following a regulatory investigation into his dealings with Epstein. Emails recently made public in the U.S. Virgin Islands’ lawsuit contain bizarre exchanges between Staley and Epstein, such as Staley allegedly telling Epstein, “That was fun,” followed by “Say hi to Snow White.” The suit said Epstein then asked Staley, “[W]hat character would you like next?” to which Staley replied, “Beauty and the Beast.” The U.S. Virgin Islands claims the messages were referring to underage girls the two were sexually exploiting. Staley has not been criminally charged, and Epstein was charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors but died by suicide while awaiting trial in 2019.
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#734

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states ... -a-no-show
In Fraud Case, Embattled Ozy Media Is a No Show
The embattled company Ozy Media is scrambling to find a lawyer to represent it against federal fraud charges


Ozy Media billed itself as “the New and the Next” as its charismatic cofounder, former MSNBC and CNN host Carlos Watson, attracted millions of dollars from investors on a promise to attract young, sophisticated audiences.

But on Wednesday, the once-buzzy company didn't even have representation in court as it was arraigned on securities fraud and wire fraud charges.

There was confusion when representatives for the company were a no-show at its arraignment at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn. A judge had to enter a plea of “not guilty” on its behalf.

Outside the courtroom, a public defender who had been hurriedly assigned to represent the company at the hearing quickly tried to make sense of the case. She asked a journalist what Ozy did and what the case was about.

Later, she was excused from what is expected to be a complex and sprawling case involving hundreds of thousands of documents and allegations that the company's executives misrepresented its financial standing and the size of its audience.

Founded in California’s Silicon Valley in 2013, Ozy marketed itself as a progressive digital platform, providing a place for fresh perspectives on news, culture entertainment, business and technology.

It published stories on a website, produced podcasts and TV shows and held an annual festival in New York's Central Park that was a mix of big-name music performances and talks by public figures.

But prosecutors said that while the company initially successfully raised tens of millions of dollars to fund its growth, it got desperate as it began hemorrhaging money.

Between 2018 and 2021, prosecutors said, Ozy and its founders lied to investors about the company’s debts and other pertinent financial information. The SEC contends that Watson and his company defrauded investors of about $50 million.

The company shut down in 2021, a week after a report by the New York Times detailed an episode in which the company’s chief operating officer impersonated a YouTube executive during a pitch to Goldman Sachs, which had been considering infusing money into the media enterprise.

Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges in late February accusing Watson and the company of bilking investors. Watson was also charged with identity theft over the alleged impersonation of several media executives. He has pleaded not guilty.

The company’s former chief operations officer, Samir Rao, pleaded guilty last month, as did Ozy’s former chief of staff, Suzee Han. Both were released on bail to await sentencing.

It was unclear why the company has been unable to retain a lawyer. Watson’s attorney could not be reached for comment. The company ceased business operations last week.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Siegel told the judge that prosecutors wanted to proceed with the case and asked the judge to appoint a lawyer for the company until it can find an attorney of its own.
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#735

Post by tek »

The company shut down in 2021, a week after a report by the New York Times detailed an episode in which the company’s chief operating officer impersonated a YouTube executive during a pitch to Goldman Sachs, which had been considering infusing money into the media enterprise.
Elon should try this.
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#736

Post by RTH10260 »

Ex-Goldman banker given 10 years in prison for role in 1MDB fraud scandal
Roger Ng, 50, found guilty by Brooklyn jury in massive embezzlement linked to Malaysian state investment fund

Edward Helmore in New York
Thu 9 Mar 2023 19.11 GMT

Roger Ng, the former Goldman Sachs banker at the center of the multibillion 1MDB embezzlement scandal, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, placing a capstone on one of the largest and most bizarre financial frauds of the past decade.

A jury in Brooklyn, New York, found Ng, 50, from Malaysia, guilty of violating US anti-bribery laws, money laundering and illegally skirting Goldman’s accounting controls, after a seven-week trial.

Ng is the only Goldman banker to have been tried and convicted in the scandal. The bank agreed to pay $2.9bn to settle a US-led investigation into its role in 2020.

In a lengthy sentencing hearing defense attorneys requested that Judge Margo Brodie release Ng on time served. They argued that Ng had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being held in Malaysian jail where he contracted rat- and mosquito-borne diseases.

“There’s no more deterrence I can think of than putting a Goldman Sachs director in a jail with a hole and contracting malaria and leprosy,” Ng’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said.

But US prosecutors, who had asked for a 15-year sentence, argued that the $35m Ng received in the scheme had not, to their certainty, been recovered.

After passing sentence, Brodie said that a 120-month sentence was “sufficient” to “reflect the seriousness of the crimes” that involved “complex financial deals that raised $6bn, paid $1.6bn in bribes, $1bn in kickbacks – money that was meant to benefit the people of Malaysia.”




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... 1mdb-fraud
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#737

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory ... k-97781342
Oregon closer to magic mushroom therapy, but has setback
Oregon is taking a major step in its pioneering of legalized psilocybin therapy with the graduation of the first group of students trained in how to accompany patients tripping on the psychedelic mushrooms


The graduation ceremony for 35 students was being held Friday evening by InnerTrek, a Portland firm, at a woodsy retreat center. About 70 more will graduate on Saturday and Sunday in ceremonies in which they will pledge to do no harm.

“Facilitator training is at the heart of the nation’s first statewide psilocybin therapy and wellness program and is core to the success of the Oregon model we’re pioneering here," said Tom Eckert, program director at InnerTrek and architect of the 2020 ballot measure that legalized Oregon’s program.

Another facilitator training effort in southern Oregon has left students upset and a lawyer in the Netherlands trying to figure out what happened.

Synthesis Institute — a company based in the Netherlands that has over 200 students in Oregon, according to an article in Psychedelic Alpha — was declared bankrupt Tuesday, Dutch court documents showed. The company's website, which as of Friday had not been taken down, shows tuition being $12,997. The students are trying to get refunds.

“Synthesis really just has ripped the rug out from under us, for a lot of people,” one of the students, Cori Sue Morris, told Psychedelic Alpha.

Roos Suurmond, a lawyer in Amsterdam specializing in insolvency law, confirmed she has been appointed as a trustee to deal with the bankruptcy. She said in an interview she could not yet answer questions on the bankruptcy as she had so recently been appointed and still must investigate.

By February, the company’s liabilities totaled around $850,000, and it could not afford to pay its employees in the U.S. and the Netherlands, Psychedelic Alpha reported.

A real estate purchase in southern Oregon did not help matters.

An Oregon limited liability company, Oregon Retreat Centers LLC, was formed by Synthesis co-founder Myles Katz, Psychedelic Alpha reported. It purchased a 124-acre rustic retreat near Ashland, Oregon, in Jackson County for $3.6 million and planned to turn the site into a psilocybin service center, but a zoning problem developed.

While Oregon voters approved the measure on psilocybin in 2020, it did not make the drug legal until Jan. 1, 2023. The psilocybin sessions are expected to be available to the public in mid- or late-2023.

In November, Colorado voters also passed a ballot measure allowing regulated use of “magic mushrooms” starting in 2024.
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#738

Post by RTH10260 »

Florida man serving 400-year sentence freed after being exonerated for robbery
Sidney Holmes, who served 30 years, released after new inquiry found eyewitness identification was likely ‘misidentification’

Maya Yang
Wed 15 Mar 2023 23.16 GMT

A man who served more than 30 years of a 400-year prison sentence has been freed after he was exonerated for armed robbery charges.

On Monday, 57-year-old Sidney Holmes was released from prison in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after the state decided to reinvestigate a 1988 armed robbery in which Holmes was accused of being the getaway driver.

Holmes was arrested on 6 October 1988 and then convicted following a jury trial in 1989 for allegedly serving as the driver for two unidentified men who robbed a man and woman at a gunpoint outside the store. The two men also stole the male victim’s car, according to Broward county state attorney Harold Pryor.

Holmes maintained his innocence and contacted the state attorney’s conviction review unit in November 2020.

“Prosecutors with the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) determined that Holmes had a plausible claim of innocence because of how he became a suspect and because of the precarious eyewitness identification that was the principal evidence against him at trial,” Pryor said.

Reinvestigation by the CRU found that eyewitness identification of Holmes was likely a “misidentification” partially due to photo and live lineup practices that were commonly used by law enforcement at the time, which Pryor described as “scientifically unreliable”.

Part of the misidentification included a civilian investigation launched by the brother of one of the victims which was based on certain similarities between his “extremely common Oldsmobile and the car used by the robbers, [which] overlooked differences between the two cars and was likely a misidentification of the vehicle”, said Pryor.

He went on to add that there is no evidence tying Holmes to the robber, aside from the incorrect identification of him as a suspect. In addition to both victims telling the CRU investigation that they believe Holmes should be released from prison, the Broward sheriff’s office deputies who performed the original investigation “expressed shock” that Holmes was sentenced to and had served so much time in prison.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... exonerated
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#739

Post by bob »

Florida man serving 400-year sentence freed after being exonerated for robbery
Sidney Holmes, who served 30 years, released after new inquiry found eyewitness identification was likely ‘misidentification’
"For completeness":
Why did Holmes get 400 years for robbery?

The prosecutor in the case, Peter Magrino, originally asked the judge to give Holmes an 825-year sentence.

“Based upon his prior contact in the criminal justice system and his actions in this case, [Holmes] should not be released from prison while his body is still functioning,” Magrino told the judge during a pre-sentencing hearing.

Holmes had two prior armed robbery convictions from 1984. According to the memo, the judge thought that an 825-year sentence was “perhaps a little bit too much,” so he sentenced him to 400 years.

In an interview with the review unit last year, Magrino told investigators he did not ask the judge for a life sentence, because Holmes would have been eligible for parole after 25 years, and reaffirmed his support for Holmes’ conviction.
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#740

Post by RTH10260 »

Management summary:

TX police cause major damage to home when felon barricaded inside, home owner was absent, lawyer uses "eminent domain" to win damages claim against city.



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#741

Post by RTH10260 »

US Christian group accused of covering up sexual abuse of minors
Lawsuits claim International Churches of Christ leaders failed to report as well as plotted to conceal abuse of women and children

Natalia Borecka in Los Angeles
Sun 19 Mar 2023 07.00 GMT

Michele “Chele” Roland was looking for salvation when she joined the International Churches of Christ. She never imagined that, three decades later, she would lead a legal battle accusing the controversial Christian religious organization of enabling and covering up the sexual molestation of children in its congregation, among other alleged abuses, but that’s exactly what she’s doing.

“They have covered the spectrum of abuse,” Roland said. “This is abuse of power – spiritually, physically, psychologically, financially and sexually.”

Roland and her attorney, Bobby Samini, have filed a series of lawsuits against the International Churches of Christ – abbreviated as ICOC – which allege that its leaders failed to report as well as plotted to conceal the sexual and emotional abuse of women and children who worshipped alongside them.

One of the lawsuits is from Roland herself. She accuses the church and its leaders of fostering an exploitative environment that resulted in her sexual assault by an ICOC recruit. Collectively, her complaint and the others accuse the ICOC of being a dangerous cult – the Los Angeles-based organization with about 118,000 congregants vehemently denies that characterization while saying it is on a fact-finding mission about the abuse allegations.

The lawsuits, which seek damages, describe disturbing instances of molestation against minors. And they accuse the ICOC, its founder, Thomas “Kip” McKean, and associated organizations of creating “a widespread culture of acceptance of the abuse of children”.

“What happened to your girls isn’t that big of a deal,” a church elder allegedly told a mother of two young girls who were sexually assaulted on church grounds, according to a February filing. “Most girls have been molested by the time they reach 18.”

Five women filed a complaint in December that said the ICOC failed to stop convicted pedophile and church member David Saracino from sexually assaulting them when they were between the ages of four and 17. According to the legal documents, Saracino received a 40-year prison sentence for raping a four-year-old in 2004.

Another February filing asserts that Anthony M Stowers, a transgender man, was molested from the age of three while in an ICOC preschool’s care. The legal documents allege that Stowers’s abuse occurred as ICOC members and leaders who were not employees of his school were given unfettered access to students.

Stowers, in the filing, recalls “many instances” in which he was pulled out of classes and brought to another ICOC property where he was molested as well as filmed and photographed while nude.

Like many of the other plaintiffs who attach their names to the allegations in the lawsuits, Stowers’s abuse purportedly continued into his teenage years, when he says he attempted to alert church leaders several times. His complaint asserts that ICOC staffers who were legally obliged to immediately notify authorities of his reports of abuse, including counselors, doctors, and psychologists, “actively concealed [them] and took no remedial action”.

That legal obligation existed whether or not they believed Stowers had evidence to back up his accusations, according to his complaint.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... xual-abuse
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#742

Post by Resume18 »

RTH10260 wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:54 pm
US Christian group accused of covering up sexual abuse of minors
Lawsuits claim International Churches of Christ leaders failed to report as well as plotted to conceal abuse of women and children

Natalia Borecka in Los Angeles
Sun 19 Mar 2023 07.00 GMT

Michele “Chele” Roland was looking for salvation when she joined the International Churches of Christ. She never imagined that, three decades later, she would lead a legal battle accusing the controversial Christian religious organization of enabling and covering up the sexual molestation of children in its congregation, among other alleged abuses, but that’s exactly what she’s doing.

“They have covered the spectrum of abuse,” Roland said. “This is abuse of power – spiritually, physically, psychologically, financially and sexually.”

Roland and her attorney, Bobby Samini, have filed a series of lawsuits against the International Churches of Christ – abbreviated as ICOC – which allege that its leaders failed to report as well as plotted to conceal the sexual and emotional abuse of women and children who worshipped alongside them.

One of the lawsuits is from Roland herself. She accuses the church and its leaders of fostering an exploitative environment that resulted in her sexual assault by an ICOC recruit. Collectively, her complaint and the others accuse the ICOC of being a dangerous cult – the Los Angeles-based organization with about 118,000 congregants vehemently denies that characterization while saying it is on a fact-finding mission about the abuse allegations.

The lawsuits, which seek damages, describe disturbing instances of molestation against minors. And they accuse the ICOC, its founder, Thomas “Kip” McKean, and associated organizations of creating “a widespread culture of acceptance of the abuse of children”.

“What happened to your girls isn’t that big of a deal,” a church elder allegedly told a mother of two young girls who were sexually assaulted on church grounds, according to a February filing. “Most girls have been molested by the time they reach 18.”

Five women filed a complaint in December that said the ICOC failed to stop convicted pedophile and church member David Saracino from sexually assaulting them when they were between the ages of four and 17. According to the legal documents, Saracino received a 40-year prison sentence for raping a four-year-old in 2004.

Another February filing asserts that Anthony M Stowers, a transgender man, was molested from the age of three while in an ICOC preschool’s care. The legal documents allege that Stowers’s abuse occurred as ICOC members and leaders who were not employees of his school were given unfettered access to students.

Stowers, in the filing, recalls “many instances” in which he was pulled out of classes and brought to another ICOC property where he was molested as well as filmed and photographed while nude.

Like many of the other plaintiffs who attach their names to the allegations in the lawsuits, Stowers’s abuse purportedly continued into his teenage years, when he says he attempted to alert church leaders several times. His complaint asserts that ICOC staffers who were legally obliged to immediately notify authorities of his reports of abuse, including counselors, doctors, and psychologists, “actively concealed [them] and took no remedial action”.

That legal obligation existed whether or not they believed Stowers had evidence to back up his accusations, according to his complaint.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... xual-abuse
Huh, you don't say . . .
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Two US mothers sue hospitals over drug tests after eating poppy seed bagels
New Jersey mothers allege hospitals performed tests without consent and say poppy seeds were reason for false positive results

Erum Salam
Mon 20 Mar 2023 10.00 GMT

Few people would ever expect that the simple act of eating a poppy seed bagel could lead to the investigation of young mothers and their newborn babies over suspected opiate use, but that is exactly what two women in New Jersey say happened to them.

The pair of new mothers are alleging the hospitals in which they gave birth violated their rights after performing drug tests on them without their consent. The drug tests came back positive and led them to be reported for possible neglect or abuse just days after giving birth.

But both mothers believe poppy seed bagels they ate for breakfast, combined with the highly sensitive drug tests used by the hospitals, were the reason for false positive results. They have now sued the hospitals involved, in a move backed up by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which also says the tests were a gross violation of their privacy.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... GTUS_email
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Cops Sue Afroman for 'Emotional Distress' After He Made Music Videos of Botched Raid
The footage came from Afroman's wife and security cameras inside his home. The plaintiffs allege they have faced embarrassment, ridicule, and humiliation.

By Joseph Cox
March 23, 2023, 7:44pm

A group of police officers who raided the home of rapper Afroman have sued the musician for "emotional distress" after he used footage of the botched raid in music videos for his songs “Lemon Pound Cake” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door,” as well as in social media posts. The officers allege they have faced embarrassment, ridicule, humiliation, and loss of reputation from Afroman’s posts.

Afroman was never charged with a crime. The footage was taken by Afroman's wife and Afroman's home security systems, meaning that there are no copyright issues here. Courts have given wide latitude to citizens filming the police and have generally decided that filming the police in public is a Constitutionally-protected activity. Filming within one's own residence using security cameras is, generally, legal.

The plaintiffs are Shawn D. Cooley, Justin Cooley, Michael D. Estep, Shawn D, Grooms, Brian Newland, Lisa Phillips, and Randolph L. Walters, Jr., according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Motherboard. They all hold various ranks with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. TMZ first reported the lawsuit on Wednesday.

The group is also suing Afroman’s record label Hungry Hustler Records; Media Access which Afroman uses to distribute his music; and three John Does who the plaintiffs believe are business entities in Adams County connected to the case. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege Afroman and others used the officers’ personas without authorization and violated their right to privacy. The plaintiffs are seeking damages of $25,000 per four counts, and that Afroman and the other defendants stop publishing the officers’ personas for commercial purposes.




https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy3zex/ ... tched-raid

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Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine mandate for US gov't workers

KEVIN MCGILL
Fri, March 24, 2023 at 12:49 AM GMT+1

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been blocked by a federal appeals court.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, in a decision Thursday, rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccinated.

The ruling from the full appeals court, 16 full-time judges at the time the case was argued, reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge 5th Circuit panel that had upheld the vaccination requirement. Judge Andrew Oldham, nominated to the court by then-President Donald Trump, wrote the opinion for a 10-member majority.

The ruling maintains the status quo for federal employee vaccines. It upholds a preliminary injunction blocking the mandate issued by a federal judge in January 2022. At that point, the administration said nearly 98% of covered employees had been vaccinated.

And, Oldham noted, with the preliminary injunction arguments done, the case will return to that court for further arguments, when “both sides will have to grapple with the White House’s announcement that the COVID emergency will finally end on May 11, 2023.”

The White House defended the order, citing the high compliance rate among the federal workforce and saying in a statement Friday that “vaccination remains one of the most important tools to protect people from serious illness and hospitalizations” against COVID.

Opponents of the policy said it was an encroachment on federal workers’ lives that neither the Constitution nor federal statutes authorize.

Biden issued an executive order in September 2021 requiring vaccinations for all executive branch agency employees, with exceptions for medical and religious reasons. The requirement kicked in the following November. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Trump, issued a nationwide injunction against the requirement the following January.

The case then went to the 5th Circuit.

One panel of three 5th Circuit judges refused to immediately block the law.

But a different panel, after hearing arguments, upheld Biden’s position. Judges Carl Stewart and James Dennis, both nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton, were in the majority. Judge Rhesa Barksdale, nominated by President George H.W. Bush, dissented, saying the relief the challengers sought does not fall under the Civil Service Reform Act cited by the administration.

The broader court majority agreed, saying federal law does not preclude court jurisdiction over cases involving "private, irreversible medical decisions made in consultation with private medical professionals outside the federal workplace."

A majority of the full court voted to vacate that ruling and reconsider the case. The 16 active judges heard the case on Sept. 13, joined by Barksdale, who is now a senior judge with lighter duties than the full-time members of the court.

Judge Stephen Higginson, a nominee of President Barack Obama, wrote the main dissenting opinion. "For the wrong reasons, our court correctly concludes that we do have jurisdiction," Higginson wrote. "But contrary to a dozen federal courts — and having left a government motion to stay the district court’s injunction pending for more than a year — our court still refuses to say why the President does not have the power to regulate workplace safety for his employees."





https://www.yahoo.com/news/appeals-cour ... 47938.html
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Six former students sue Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, alleging physical and sexual abuse

Susan Szuch, Springfield News-Leader
Thu, March 23, 2023 at 10:56 AM GMT+1

A former student has filed a civil lawsuit against a Christian boarding school outside of Humansville. Circle of Hope Girls Ranch now faces six lawsuits in federal court.

The most recent lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court's Western District of Missouri, states that "instead of providing a safe haven to (former student Sophia Ellis) and others, the (Circle of Hope Girls Ranch) — by the actions of its owners, employees, and/or agents — subjected (Ellis) to physical torture and psychological abuse for three years" starting in 2017. The suit is requesting a trial by jury and an unspecified amount of money.

According to the court document, Ellis was brought by her father via plane to the religious boarding facility, where she, among other things, saw other children being restrained and forced into a push-up position for extended periods of time, had her belongings taken and never returned, refused her medical treatment that resulted in a permanent wrist disability and had food and water withheld from her.

More:Missouri attorney general charges Circle of Hope Girls Ranch owners with abuse, child molestation, statutory rape

The five other lawsuits filed by former students contain similar claims of abuse. According to court documents, one former student began attending Circle of Hope at 9 years old, where she was confined to a dark room for multiple days at a time, was forced to wear nothing but a soiled diaper and was deprived of an education. Other former students allege that they were forced to participate in or witness sexual situations.

The lawyer representing five of the former students, Jarrett Johnson of McGonagle Spencer Gahagan has previously told the News-Leader that he does not comment on pending litigation. Johnson is also representing two former Agape Boarding School students in civil federal cases against the now-closed Stockton reform school.

The fifth former student, Maggie Drew, is represented by Rebecca Randles of Randles Mata, LLC.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/six-former-s ... 03690.html
(original: Springfield News-Leader)
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#747

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Guards at an Alabama jail 'intentionally' blew freezing air into a man's cell until he became hypothermic and later died, a lawsuit alleges

Rebecca Cohen,Michelle Mark
Fri, March 24, 2023 at 5:10 PM GMT+1
  • Alabama jail guards blew freezing air into the cell of a man who died, a lawsuit alleges.
    A new lawsuit alleges staffers the jail "caused extremely cold air to blow" into the man's cell.
    The man, Anthony Mitchell, was also deprived of water for 70 hours, according to the lawsuit.
In the nights before inmate Anthony Mitchell's death, guards at an Alabama jail intentionally blew frigid air into the cell of the 33-year-old, who later became hypothermic and died, a new document in a wrongful death lawsuit alleges.

According to an amended complaint, filed Monday by Mitchell's mother and reviewed by Insider, correctional officers "intentionally caused extremely cold air to blow through the roof vents" of Mitchell's cell in the Walker County Jail on the nights of January 25 and January 26.

Mitchell was carried out of his cell on January 26 after being incarcerated for 14 days "under hellish conditions," the lawsuit alleges.

By the time Mitchell was transported to a local hospital, his internal body temperature was 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and staff spent over three hours unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate him, Insider previously reported. He was then pronounced dead.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/guards-alaba ... 54453.html
(original: INSIDER)
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Post by Slim Cognito »

Burn the motherfuckers.
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:yeahthat:
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#750

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I looked to see if this proceeding (assume it’s a lawsuit agains Paltrow) appears elsewhere, but couldn’t find.
This posting is apparently one witness testimony in a lawsuit. I’m sure there’s more somewhere, or not.
Maybe it’ll get its own thread because it’s Paltrow, maybe this post’ll die here.
Anyway:


CNN

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand to testify on Friday in a Utah trial over a 2016 snow skiing accident, painting a picture of her version of events relating to the incident over roughly two hours of testimony.

The actress and businesswoman has been present in the courtroom since the trial began on Tuesday when lawyers representing Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, presented their opening statements to a seated jury.

Sanderson has accused Paltrow of crashing into him and causing him lasting injuries and brain damage while they were both skiing on a beginner’s run on a Utah mountain in February of 2016. Sanderson also claims Paltrow and her ski instructor skied away after the incident without getting him medical care.

Paltrow filed a countersuit against Sanderson in 2019 claiming that he skied into her.

The two have been in a legal battle for seven years.
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