Supreme Court Makes It Easier to Impose Life Without Parole on Juvenile Murderers

Conservative justices signal shift away from clemency for youth offenders

The Supreme Court on Thursday made it easier to sentence juvenile murderers to life in prison without parole, ruling against a Mississippi inmate who killed his grandfather when he was 15.

The question was whether courts must find that a youth offender has no capacity for change before sentencing him to life without parole. Writing for a majority of five, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the answer is no, a defeat for defendants across the country fighting life without parole sentences imposed while they were minors.

Thursday's decision breaks with a modern trend of clemency toward youth offenders at the High Court. It also reflects a continuing rightward shift in cruel and unusual punishment cases. The conservative justices signaled a similar rupture with precedents that favor death row inmates in a 2019 case about capital punishment.

The inmate in Thursday's case, Brett Jones, murdered his 67-year-old grandfather Bertis Jones in August 2004 by stabbing him eight times with a steak knife. The pair had argued earlier in the day when Bertis discovered that Brett's girlfriend had secretly been staying at the family home in Shannon, Miss. Jones was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in May 2005.

The Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile murderers are unconstitutional in the 2012 case Miller v. Alabama. Miller left open the possibility of life without parole for juvenile defendants who are "permanently incorrigible." Jones caught a break four years later in 2016, when the Court in Montgomery v. Louisiana said Miller also applied to juvenile murderers sentenced before 2012. Jones obtained a second sentencing hearing.

At the resentencing, Jones told the judge he grew up to be a better person and did his best to live a decent life in prison.

"I can't change what was already done. I can just try to show … I've become a grown man," Jones said.

The judge again sentenced Jones to life in prison.

Now before the High Court, Jones said his life sentence ought to be lifted because the sentencing judge didn't make any official finding that he is "permanently incorrigible." Kavanaugh said Miller and Montgomery "squarely rejected such a requirement." As long as the sentence isn't mandated by state law and the court has the option of imposing a lesser sentence, it is constitutional, he wrote.

"The resentencing in Jones's case complied with those precedents because the sentence was not mandatory and the trial judge had discretion to impose a lesser punishment in light of Jones's youth," Kavanaugh wrote.

He also noted that judges in death penalty cases aren't required to explain on the record why they accept or reject reasons for leniency. It would be "incongruous" to require that for life sentences, he said.

https://freebeacon.com/courts/supreme-court-makes-it-easier-to-impose-life-without-parole-on-juvenile-murderers/

The case is No. 18-1259 Jones v. Mississippi.

Biden Labor Board Invalidates Workers’ Vote to Reject Union

Workers forced to remain in union allied to Dems

President Joe Biden's labor arbiter threw out hundreds of votes from workers attempting to cut ties with a Delaware union.

The National Labor Relations Board overruled hundreds of Delaware poultry workers who had voted to reject union leadership. The agency said in a 3-1 ruling released Wednesday that a provision prohibiting workers from leaving a union for a set time period after a contract is signed allowed the board to ignore the workers' March 2020 vote. The decision reversed a regional NLRB director who had initially ruled in the workers' favor.

Oscar Cruz Sosa, the employee who led the charge to hold the election, ripped union leadership for disregarding the voices of workers. "The union has been harassing and intimidating us for a long time and it’s unbelievable that they’re going to get their way by having 800 ballots destroyed," Cruz Sosa told the Washington Free Beacon.

"We are very mad that the American labor law system let us down and is forcing us to pay dues and be in a union we don’t want," Cruz Sosa said. "While politicians scream about ‘counting every vote’ and making it easier to vote, they just ordered our 800 votes to be destroyed and never counted."

The decision marks a victory for the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, the nation's largest private sector union and a major backer of Democratic candidates. The union's PAC spent more than $1.2 million in 2020 electing Democratic candidates.

The case turned on a "contract bar," an NLRB policy that blocks workers from opting out of union representation for three years after a contract between union leaders and employers is signed. Representatives for the union argued that the contract bar should have blocked the election, an argument with which the NLRB, led by a chairwoman appointed by Biden, agreed. An NLRB regional director had sided with the workers because of a clause in the contract mandating that employees be part of the union.

"A majority of the Board reversed the Regional Director’s finding that the contract bar could not apply in this case because the contract contained a clearly unlawful union-security clause," the NLRB said in a press release announcing the decision. "A Board majority instead found that the union-security clause was capable of a lawful interpretation, which is all Board precedent requires for a contract bar to be effective. Member [John] Ring dissented from this portion of the Board’s holding."

The decision comes after the NLRB became engulfed in a political scandal over a series of unprecedented personnel moves made by Biden. As one of his first moves in office, the Democrat fired the NLRB's top prosecutor after the general counsel refused to resign. Glenn Taubman, a National Right to Work attorney who helped represent Cruz Sosa, said the Biden administration has repeatedly signaled that it "exists solely to please labor union officials."

"They do not give one whit about employees and employee rights. All they want is to force employees to pay dues to labor union officials, whether those employees want to or not," Taubman said. "The whole tone and tenor of this administration is, ‘We're here for the union bosses and if it's good for them, we don't care who it harms or it's bad for.'"

The NLRB declined to comment further on the decision beyond the press release. The United Food and Commercial Workers union did not respond to a request for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-labor-board-trashes-workers-anti-union-ballots/

Foreign Ministry: Israeli aggression on Syrian territories is blatant violation of Agreement on Disengagement

Damascus, SANA-Syria has affirmed that the Israeli aggression Thursday dawn on its territories is a blatant violation of the Agreement on disengagement, calling on the UN and Security council to condemn it and the hostile repeated acts against sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic.

“Israeli occupation forces, at 1:38 a.m. on Thursday April 22nd, 2021, launched a new missile aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan on the lands of Syria which targeted some regions in the surroundings of Damascus in a blatant violation of the Agreement on Disengagement of 1974,” Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that Syria calls on the UN, particularly Security Council to condemn the Israeli cowardly attack and the hostile repeated acts against sovereignty of Syria perpetrated by the three occupiers of ” Israel, US and Turkey” in a systematized manner. “

As a founding member at the UN, Syria still demands UN General Secretariat and Security Council to assume their responsibilities in the framework UN Charter, most importantly, maintaining international peace and Security and obliging Israel to respect the resolution relevant to the Agreement on Disinterment of 1974 and bring all sides that support terrorism and launch aggressions on the Syrian sovereignty into justice in line with resolutions 242, 338, 350 and 497.

http://sana.sy/en/?p=230566

Dozens of Iowa Prisoners Given Six Times the Normal SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Dose

https://sputniknews.com/us/202104231082703791-dozens-of-iowa-prisoners-given-six-times-the-normal-sars-cov-2-vaccine-dose/

>>13491123

page 752-53

https://archive.defense.gov/pubs/law-of-war-manual-june-2015.pdf

>>13491173

Rose City Antifa Part 01 of 01

https://vault.fbi.gov/rose-city-antifa/rose-city-antifa-part-01-of-01/view

Well they don't want you seeing to much of this!

>>13491249

pretty sure it has

Iowa Woman Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iowa-woman-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-charges-attempting-kill-two-children-because-their-race

Pfizer Vaccine Zoomed w Microscope! Are Living Cells Organisms Mixed In!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_BtQ_-wXvU

>>13491311

5:5

U.S. Military: 32 of 40 Gitmo Detainees Receive 1st Coronavirus Vaccine Dose

The vast majority of the prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have reportedly received the first dose of the vaccine against the Chinese coronavirus after the U.S. military began offering it early this week.

Of the 40 detainees held at the U.S. military prison, 32 had received the first dose of the two-shot Moderna vaccine as of Tuesday, U.S. Southern Command said, without explaining why the eight remaining men had not received the drug, the Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.

U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, oversees the American military base in Guantanamo, Cuba.

There is no requirement to inoculate the detainees at the prison, commonly known as Gitmo.

It is unclear if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks, and his four co-conspirators are among the vaccinated prisoners. They are still awaiting trial nearly two decades after they executed the attacks, the deadliest on American soil.

On Monday, the U.S. military resumed the effort to inoculate the detainees, initiated during the last days of the Trump administration, after the Pentagon halted it in response to outcry from the public, including victims of the attacks, and lawmakers, particularly Republicans.

At the time of the criticism, the vaccines were just being rolled out to troops and civilians at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo and were not widely available to the public in the U.S.

The move to begin vaccinating the prisoners coincided with President Joe Biden’s deadline for states to start inoculating all Americans older than 16 and all adults at the U.S. military base in Cuba.

Citing an official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the New York Times reported Monday that the Biden administration’s decision to vaccinate the prisoners aims in part to protect the undisclosed number of service members at the facility who had declined the inoculation.

“This is very much about the force protection of our people down there and the ability to move forward with the military commissions,” the official told the Times, adding, “We have a legal obligation under international law to properly vaccinate these detainees.”

Citing an unnamed senior defense official, the Associated Press (AP) added Monday:

The defense official said all 40 men held at the Navy base in Cuba will be offered the vaccination to comply with legal requirements regarding the treatment of prisoners and to help prevent COVID-19 [coronavirus disease] from spreading. Strict quarantine procedures had already sharply curtailed activities at the base and halted legal proceedings for prisoners facing war crime trials, including the men charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

“Obviously, we don’t want an outbreak of COVID [coronavirus disease] on a remote island with the challenges that would present,” the official told AP ahead of an official announcement.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/04/22/u-s-military-32-of-40-gitmo-detainees-receive-1st-coronavirus-vaccine-dose/

Whitehouse: ‘Every Bill Has to Be a Climate Bill’

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said that “every bill has to be a climate bill and there has to be a big climate bill” and the build back better bill will be a big climate bill.

Whitehouse said, “I think there will be a big climate bill. I think that the build back better jobs bill will be that climate bill. And we’re going to work very hard to make sure that it is that climate bill. And behind that comes Glasgow and the world conference to update the Paris Agreement and perhaps another round of legislation to fill in for that. And in the Senate right now, there are bills moving forward on industrial emissions, on agricultural emissions, on oceans-related issues, and a lot of these are bipartisan.”

He later added, “I think the rule has to be, every bill has to be a climate bill and there has to be a big climate bill. And if we follow that rule, I think we’ll get there.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/04/22/whitehouse-every-bill-has-to-be-a-climate-bill/

Marjorie Taylor Greene: AOC Agreed to Debate Me on Green New Deal

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted on Wednesday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) agreed to debate her over the Green New Deal.

Democrats regularly frame the Green New Deal as a legislative attempt to combat “climate change” and “global warming.”

Greene attached a photo of her and Ocasio-Cortez on the House floor to a tweet mentioning her New York colleague, “I’m glad I ran into you today … to plan our debate about the Green New Deal. After I finish reading all 14 pages, like we agreed, I’ll schedule time for our debate. #MTGvsAOC“

Greene also wrote, “[Ocasio-Cortez’s] Green New Deal will destroy the US’s oil and gas industry just after we became energy independent from President Trump’s #AmericaFirst policies. Our ability to export oil and gas gives the US great negotiating power in the world. China and Russia love the GND.”

I’m glad I ran into you today @AOC to plan our debate about the Green New Deal.

After I finish reading all 14 pages, like we agreed, I’ll schedule time for our debate.#MTGvsAOC pic.twitter.com/viuH5Uj0oD

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) April 21, 2021

.@AOC’s Green New Deal will destroy the US’s oil and gas industry just after we became energy independent from President Trump’s #AmericaFirst policies.

Our ability to export oil and gas gives the US great negotiating power in the world.

China and Russia love the GND.

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) April 21, 2021

I read your 14 page Communists manifesto @AOC.

Looking forward to debating you. #MTGvsAOC

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) April 22, 2021

Let's do it! https://t.co/nGpkUoCXu2

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) April 22, 2021

Greene invited Ocasio-Cortez to a televised debate on April 14, She tweeted, “I’d like to challenge you to a debate on the Green New Deal economic policy. Since you sponsored the Green New Deal and have a degree in Economics, I’m sure you are more than qualified.”

She continued, “I just have a degree in Business Admin and have owned a construction company for 20 years. A debate between AOC and I on the Green New Deal economic policy would be informative for the American People. They deserve to hear the two sides with pro’s and cons.”

“You can choose one moderator and I choose a moderator,” Greene added. “Then we can negotiate a major news network to host the debate. Let’s do this for The People. What do you say?”

Ocasio-Cortez linked what she described as “the climate crisis” to “racial justice” on Thursday. She stated, “We must recognize in legislation that the trampling of indigenous rights is a cause of climate change, that the trampling of racial justice is a cause of climate change.”

In 2019, Ocasio-Cortez remarked, “The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/04/22/marjorie-taylor-greene-aoc-agreed-to-debate-me-on-green-new-deal/

Afghan military will collapse without some US help, says top general in the Middle East

WASHINGTON — Afghanistan’s military “will certainly collapse” without some continued American support once all U.S. troops are withdrawn, the top U.S. general for the Middle East told Congress Thursday. Gen. Frank McKenzie also said he was very concerned about the Afghan government’s ability to protect the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said that as the U.S. pulls out all forces, “my concern is the Afghans’ ability to hold ground” and whether they will able to continue to maintain and fly their aircraft without U.S. aid and financial support. Later, at a Pentagon news conference, McKenzie said the U.S. will look for “some remote, televised way” to help the Afghan security forces perform maintenance on their aircraft without having U.S. personnel in the country.

“We’re certainly going to try to do everything we can from distant locations to assist the Afghans as they maintain the aircraft and other platforms that will be essential for the fight ahead of them,” the general said. He added later: “We’re going to try all kinds of innovate ways. The one thing I can tell you is, we’re not going to be there on the ground with them.”

In his testimony, McKenzie said it will be paramount to protect the U.S. Embassy and “it is a matter of great concern to me whether or not the future government of Afghanistan will be able to do that once we leave.”

McKenzie has spent the week detailing to lawmakers the steep challenges facing the U.S. military as it moves to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, as ordered by President Joe Biden last week. Walking a careful line, the general has painted a dire picture of the road ahead, while also avoiding any pushback on Biden’s decision.

U.S. officials have made it clear that military commanders did not recommend the full, unconditional withdrawal that Biden has ordered. Military leaders have consistently argued for a drawdown based on security conditions in the country, saying that pulling troops out by a certain date eliminates pressure on the Taliban and weakens U.S. leverage in the peace talks with the group.

Still, McKenzie said the Biden administration’s “deliberate and methodical” withdrawal discussion “was heartening,” implicitly drawing a contrast with former President Donald Trump’s penchant for making abrupt troop withdrawal decisions and announcing them by tweet.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/04/22/afghan-military-will-collapse-without-some-us-help-says-top-general-in-the-middle-east/

>>13491650

nah this is the General worried about his job and the fact he'll get investigated for war crimes once they withdraw