Was reading that were will be a pink moon tonight…coinky?
Supreme Court hears free-speech case with student Snapchat post a center of debate
“I shouldn't have to be afraid to express myself," says former high schooler Brandi Levy whose Snapchat post is at center of case.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday related to a Pennsylvania teenager whose profanity-laced Snapchat post got her kicked off her high school's cheerleading squad – a test case on First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. The teen, Brandi Levy, who made the post away from school and on the weekend, says, “I shouldn't have to be afraid to express myself." The case before the nine justices is the Mahanoy Area School District's appeal of a lower court ruling in favor of Levy that found that the First Amendment bars public school officials from regulating off-campus speech, according to Reuters.
Levy made the Snapchat My Story post in May 2017, two days after Mahanoy Area High School held cheerleader tryouts and Levy, a ninth-grader who had been a junior varsity cheerleader, failed to make the varsity squad. Such posts, which stay live for only 24, also include Levy and a friend holding up their middle fingers. Levy also reportedly made another post questioning why another girl made the varsity squad. Coaches ousted Levy from the squad for a year, saying she had broken rules. Backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Levy and her parents sued the district seeking reinstatement to the squad and a judgment that her First Amendment rights had been violated, the wire service also reports. A judge ordered Levy to be reinstated, saying her actions had not been disruptive enough to result in such punishment.
After the school district appealed, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia upheld the lower court decision. A decision in favor of Levy, could make it harder for teachers and administrators to curb bullying, racism, cheating and invasions of privacy, all frequently occurring online, outside school property or during off hours, according to the district and its supporters. The ACLU said giving educators the power to police off-campus speech would extend censorship everywhere young people go and prompt schools to conduct "dragnet online surveillance" of students, Reuters also reports. The Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June.
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/supreme-court-hears-free-speech-case-student-snapchat-post-center-debate#digital-diary
Additional sauce:
U.S. Supreme Court ponders cheerleader's profanity in free speech flap
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-ponders-cheerleaders-profanity-free-speech-flap-2021-04-26/
Governors Complain That Biden, VP Skip Weekly COVID Calls
The phone calls come from inside the new administration, but the president is not on the line. In fact, Joe Biden has not dialed in to any of the weekly COVID-19 coordinating calls with the nation’s governors since he came into office, a sharp contrast with his predecessor and a break from last year’s pandemic ritual. Every Tuesday, usually at 11 a.m. EST, all 50 governors dial in to the same conference call to coordinate federal and state responses to the coronavirus crisis. And until this past January, they heard each time from the vice president. Mike Pence, as head of the White House COVID task force, led those weekly discussions. Donald Trump dropped by from time to time. The calls continue under the current administration but without Biden. “It's been a real frustration, I think it's safe to say, for all 50 governors,” New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu told RealClearPolitics. Of course, he appreciates hearing from Jeffrey Zients (pictured), the new White House COVID response coordinator, and from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser. But Sununu told RCP, “It would go a long way if the president would just get on the phone, or the vice president would get on the phone and take questions. Allow us to ask the folks in charge questions.”
The Trump White House hosted a total of 40 COVID conference calls. Pence led 39 of them, according to that administration’s final COVID report first obtained by RCP. Trump participated in eight. Things are different now, said Pete Ricketts. “President Biden hasn’t been on any of them,” the Nebraska governor told RCP, “and Vice President Harris has only been on one, but that was for about five minutes and she didn’t take any questions.” Andrew Cuomo now leads the calls as chairman of the National Governors Association. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained that the New York governor was put in charge instead of the vice president because a change was needed. One of the reasons, Psaki told reporters in March, “is that there were operational aspects of the way the last administration approached COVID and approached the distribution of vaccines or approached planning and engagement with governors that wasn’t working.” The new approach was also required, a White House official told RCP, because the pandemic response has changed dramatically from the early days when little was known about the virus to now, when half of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine. And the COVID calls changed, the official added, only after the White House sought input from the states: “We took the feedback from governors in the prior administration that they wanted to have strong, regular, and coordinated response efforts with the federal government, and we’ve been focused on it.” The administration works daily with states, the official continued, because its “whole-of-government pandemic response is rooted in effective and consistent communication. … While these calls [with governors] play one role in our relationships, it is not the sole mechanism.”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/04/26/governors_complain_that_biden_vp_skip_weekly_covid_calls_145651.html
Recall CA Gov. Gavin Newsom Effort Qualifies for Ballot
If it works he will have more time to dine at the French Laundry. The California Secretary of State’s office announced the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom qualifies for the ballot: This is only the second time in California history that a governor has been voted to be removed from office. It remains unclear when the election will be held. As of Monday, more than 1,495,709 verified voters signed the recall effort, meeting the minimum threshold to force a special recall election. The next phase of the recall process is the 30-business day period in which voters may request county elections officials to remove their names from recall petitions. County elections officials must report any withdrawn signatures to the Secretary of State within ten business days of the end of the signature withdrawal period. The Secretary of State must then determine if the petition still has the requisite number of valid signatures to initiate a recall election.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/04/recall-ca-gov-gavin-newsom-effort-qualifies-for-ballot/
Notable
Pentagon Reveals 3-Hour Long IRGC "Swarming" Incident Of US Vessels In Gulf
US Navy officials have revealed to The Wall Street Journal that a pair of Coast Guard ships were recently "swarmed" by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fast boats in the Persian Gulf earlier this month as they conducted patrols in international waters. The report says "The incident occurred April 2, just as the U.S. and Iran announced they would conduct negotiations toward renewing the 2015 multilateral nuclear accord." It was considered by the Pentagon to be a major incident (unlike the more frequent, minor exchange of "warnings" between rival military vessels in the region) given the IRGC boats encircled and "buzzed" the US vessels for up to three hours.
A US Navy spokesperson condemned the "unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers" and underscored the Iranian side failed to back off after multiple radio warning attempts communicated. It's rare that such an incident occurred with US Coast Guard ships… naturally we wonder what United States Coast Guard ships were doing so far away from… the US coast. The US Navy apparently provided a photo of the incident in progress. The incident is recounted in further detail by the WSJ as follows: U.S. Navy officials confirmed that three fast attack crafts and one ship known as Harth 55, a 180-foot, twin-hulled support vessel, swarmed the two Coast Guard ships while they were patrolling international waters in the southern portion of the Persian Gulf. The larger vessel repeatedly crossed in front of the bows of the two U.S. vessels, the Monomoy and the Wrangell, coming as close as 70 yards away, officials said. That forced the Wrangell to have to make defensive maneuvers to avoid collision, Navy officials said. The Harth 55 is perhaps the most distinctive somewhat recent addition to Iran's Navy, considered a high-speed vessel capable of carrying a helicopter and up to 100 troops.
The timing of the public disclosure of this "new" swarming event revelation is interesting given it comes a day after leaked audio of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif surfaced. In it he candidly admits that the IRGC often overrides government decisions, even suggesting the late IRGC Quds Force chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani tried to sabotage Iran's seeking to restore the JCPOA nuclear deal. Could the IRGC's April 2 swarming event in the Gulf (just as the Vienna talks were about to get started) have been part of an attempt of hardliners leading the military establishment to derail attempts of 'moderates' at engagement with the US?
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pentagon-reveals-3-hour-long-irgc-swarming-incident-us-vessels-gulf
https://twitter.com/yarbatman/status/1386759084527980554
Iranian Ships Swarmed U.S. Coast Guard Vessels in Persian Gulf, Navy Says
https://www.wsj.com/articles/iranian-ships-swarmed-u-s-coast-guard-vessels-in-persian-gulf-navy-says-11619461317
Indeed, no doubt he pulls an executive order of some kind to gummy up the works of the people of CA..