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Will the Supreme Court Agree to Review the Court-Created Concept of Legal Immunity?

The brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has re-energized a national debate over misconduct by law enforcement officials that the Supreme Court may be poised to enter.

The justices could announce as early as Monday that they will consider whether law enforcement and other officials continue to deserve “qualified immunity” that protects them from being sued for official actions.

“It’s a vivid and tragic example of our culture of near-zero accountability for police officers,” says Jay Schweikert, a criminal justice analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, one of the leading advocacy groups seeking to limit or eliminate qualified immunity. “People understand that officers are rarely held to account.”

USA Today

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Bill Clinton, Then the Republicans, Helped Move American Pharmaceutical Companies Overseas

Before 1996, the tax code gave makers of drugs and medical devices favorable treatment for manufacturing products in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico. At that time, Puerto Rico was the American engine of pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing. Many, if not most, domestic companies had a presence there. In an effort to curb “corporate welfare,” however, the Republican Congress passed and President Clinton signed the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, which phased out the tax exemption. The results were predictable.

The manufacturers reduced or eliminated their operations in Puerto Rico, moving them to China, India and Ireland, which welcomed their presence with favorable economic policies.

Another law passed in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, further discouraged manufacturing on the island [Puerto Rico]. Under the act, income generated from the Puerto Rican operations of U.S. companies is treated as foreign income and subjected to double taxation.

The Hill

Pictures of boxes, all marked “Made in China” at a Kroger pharmacy:

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Radical Groups: Boogaloo Bois – Out to Kill Cops

One commenter added, “I’m looking for fellow Minneapolis residents to join me in forming a private, Constitutionally-authorized militia to protect people from the MPD, which has killed too many people within the last two years.”

These exchanges offer a window into an extremely online update of the militia movement, which is gearing up for the northern summer. The “Boogaloo Bois” expect, even hope, that the warmer weather will bring armed confrontations with law enforcement, and will build momentum towards a new civil war in the United States. 

Bellingcathttps://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/27/the-boogaloo-movement-is-not-what-you-think/

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Federalist Society: The Right-Wing Legal Network Is Now Openly Pushing Conspiracy Theories

The right-wing legal network spawned by the Federalist Society has finally gone full Trumpian. It has morphed from a group of apparently principled conservatives debating high-minded theories of legal interpretation, into a secretly-funded cabal spouting conspiracy theories such as the myth of widespread voter fraud. We’ve certainly seen hints that this was the case and also signals that it was coming. But we have now approached peak-hackery, and that hackery is now being directed at manipulating elections. That part really is new, and it is a dangerous development that threatens the rule of law.

Slate

Related:

Captured Courts: The GOP’s big money assault on the Constitution, our independent judiciary, and the rule of law.
Debbie Stabenow, Chuck Schumer, Sheldon Whitehouse