Category Archives: Law

Bodycam footage shows Arizona authorities opening fire on suspect as he aims gun at K9’s head

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Authorities in Arizona released body camera footage showing a suspect in Tucson pointing a handgun at a police dog’s head before the suspect was fatally shot by officers.

“Police, get down. Police, get down,” Tucson police SWAT officers were heard yelling at suspect Francisco Javier Galarza, 49, on Aug. 25 outside a Circle K.

The SWAT team had been surveilling Galarza due to felony arrest warrants connected to a home invasion and bank robbery, the Arizona Republic reported.

“He’s out, just say when,” one of the officers in the bodycam footage says before officers got out of a vehicle and pursued Galarza.

“Take him here,” another officer responded.

Galarza refused to comply with officers and tried to flee, video shows.

“Runner, runner, runner, runner,” an officer yelled as officers ran toward the suspect.

Galarza is seen in the bodycam footage, which was released by the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team, pulling a handgun out of a bag while running from officers on the convenience store parking lot.

A police K9 named Kiro was also deployed to help apprehend the suspect. Video footage shows the K9 was able to get Galarza on the ground before the suspect aimed the gun at the dog’s head.

Law enforcement officials with the SWAT team said the gun was also aimed at officers, prompting two of the cops to open fire on Galarza.

Galarza was given medical attention before the Tucson Fire Department arrived, but he was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later determined he was in possession of a loaded Taurus G3 9mm, the Arizona Republic reported.

The Tucson Police Department told Fox News Digital later Sunday that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department will investigate the officer-involved shooting.

Consequences of NOT being ethical in life

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13,657,378 views Nov 10, 2010 University of Central Florida students study for test and get accused of cheating. Somehow a test bank of 700 questions floats around in the class. Students studied the 700 questions for a 50 question exam. The professor finds out and makes all students retake the exam. He claims he has a forensic analysis team on the case. No one can get out of retaking the exam unless they have a signed note from god.

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Control of Religion in China through Digital Authoritarianism

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Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, PRC officials continue to assert far-reaching control over China’s diverse religious communities. As more religious activity and resources move online, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, PRC authorities have expanded use of digital tools to surveil and suppress online religious expression. Invasive surveillance technologies track and monitor religious groups and individual believers that authorities deem a threat. On March 1, 2022, new Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services went into effect, which require a government-issued permit to post religious content online and ban the online broadcasting of religious ceremonies, rites, and worship services, among a host of other restrictions infringing upon Chinese citizens’ freedom of religion or belief.

A hearing was held on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 10am. The hearing was not held in chambers due to the pandemic that the Chinese ultimatly caused.

This hearing will assess the shifting landscape for religious freedom in China and the PRC’s use of digital repression to bolster Chinese Communist Party control of religion. Witnesses will address the many ways that digital and biometric technologies targeting religious believers in China are applied more broadly for social control, and the potential for like-minded authoritarian states to adopt the PRC’s model of technology-enhanced religious repression.

Opening Statements

Senator Jeff Merkley, Chair

Chairman-Merkley-Opening-Statement-Freedom-of-Religion-Hearing_0Download

Representative James McGovern, Cochair

McGovern-statement-CECC-913-hearing-statement_0Download

Witnesses

Panel 1

Nury Turkel, Chair, U.S. Commmission on International Religious Freedom

[Testimony]

Panel 2

Karrie Koesel, Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame

[Testimony]

Chris Meserole, Director of Research, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative, Brookings Institution

[Testimony]

Emile Dirks, Postdoctoral Fellow, Citizen Lab

[Testimony]

More information can be found at the CECC website here.

New California law could raise fast-food workers’ minimum wage to $22 an hour

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This week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an act into law that could raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to over $20 an hour for the first time in American history.

On Sept. 5, AB 257, or the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, was signed into law by Newsom. The law, authored by Assemblymember Chris Holden, authorizes the creation of a Fast Food Council, which will be made up of 10 representatives from labor and management sectors and set minimum standards for workers in the industry.

According to an Aug. 5 statement by the governor’s office, members of the Fast Food Council will include fast-food workers and their advocates, franchisees, franchisors and representatives from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the Department of Industrial Relations.

Further, the standards the council will address will include conditions related to health and safety, security in the workplace, the right to take time off from work for protected purposes, protection from discrimination and harassment, and worker wages.

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Florida police to start ticketing drivers for loud music beginning July 1

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Starting on July 1, days before the Fourth of July holiday, Florida police will start ticketing people for loud music.

According to WJAX, the Florida statute controlling radio volume once again becomes enforceable on July 1 and will be enforced statewide. Basically, police will start ticketing drivers for playing their music too loud when on the road.

The statute says that “it’s unlawful if the sound coming from a motor vehicle is plainly audible from 25 feet or more, or louder than necessary for convenient hearing in areas with churches, schools, or hospitals,”.

Tickets could cost about $114, since it’s a noncriminal traffic infraction that is punishable just as a nonmoving violation.

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Where abortion stands in your state: A state-by-state breakdown of abortion laws

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The U.S. Supreme Court voted Friday to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion.

In the 6-3 decision, along party lines, the court ruled that “the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.”

Abortion laws and restrictions vary by state and, now the federal protection has been overturned, abortion will not be accessible everywhere in the U.S.

Some states have trigger laws in place that immediately ban abortion once Roe was overturned. Others guarantee the right to an abortion via laws or constitutional amendments.

Here is where abortion laws stand in each state, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health, and further reporting.

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Puppy Sale Ban goes into effect

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Almost every commercial pet store in Orange County will no longer be allowed to sell dogs, cats and rabbits, starting Wednesday.

An ordinance that passed with a 4-3 vote last summer is now in effect.

The health services department said the ordinance was drafted due to dogs and cats in large-scale pet stores having their health and welfare disregarded in order to maximize profits.

Supporters said it will stop puppy mills that commonly breed thousands of often sick puppies and sell them to stores nationwide.

People in the county will still be able to foster and rescue pets from local animal shelters and animal rescues. Pet stores will also be allowed to provide space and shelter for local rescues and animal shelters.

Three Orlando-area stores challenged the rule, saying it would bankrupt their businesses, but a judge allowed the ban to stay.

Only one store in Ocoee is exempt from the rule after city commissioners voted to opt out.

Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows

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The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.

The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Deliberations on controversial cases have in the past been fluid. Justices can and sometimes do change their votes as draft opinions circulate and major decisions can be subject to multiple drafts and vote-trading, sometimes until just days before a decision is unveiled. The court’s holding will not be final until it is published, likely in the next two months.

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House passes landmark marijuana legalization bill

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The House passed legislation Friday that would legalize marijuana nationwide, eliminating criminal penalties for anyone who manufactures, distributes or possesses the substance.

Lawmakers approved the measure in a 220-204 vote.

Download a summary of the bill here (Word Format) :Download

The legislation, dubbed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, passed in the House last year, but did not move forward in the Senate. In addition to decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, the bill would establish procedures for expunging previous convictions from people’s records and impose a tax on the sale of cannabis products.

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