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CINCINNATI -- The leader of a group supporting black police officers blasted Cincinnati's police union president for a recent Facebook post addressed to "Black Lives Matter Protestors (sic)."

Officer Eddie Hawkins, president of the Sentinel Police Association, called Sgt. Dan Hils' recent Facebook post inappropriate and absurd.

Hawkins released a statement regarding the post, which Hils posted Saturday, when several groups marched from Fountain Square to The Banks demanding "justice for Sam DuBose." Ray Tensing, a former University of Cincinnati police officer, shot DuBose in the head during a traffic stop in July 2015. DuBose was black; Tensing is white.

A judge dismissed charges against Tensing Monday after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict in two trials. DuBose didn't have a gun. Tensing claimed DuBose tried to speed away from the stop, causing him to fear for his life.

In the post, Hils said he wanted to help their objective at the rally today protesting black lives lost. He then listed the names of 32 black homicide victims, saying ...I wanted to let you know first how many of those black lives lost were in police interventions. Ok, get ready for ithold on and take a deep breathare you sure that you are ready?.................Ok, thats right it is zero (0), not a one, zilch.

Some commented on Hils' post, thanking him for bringing the information into the public sphere. Others were critical, saying Hils undermined police brutality by listing the victims of "black on black crime."

Hawkins said he was disturbed by recent events surrounding Hils, including the Facebook post and his recent withdrawal from the process of updating Cincinnati's landmark Collaborative Agreement on police-community relations.

I reject Dan Hils' inappropriate post referring to black on black crime, which amounted to telling the black community that they cannot be upset about police involved shootings until every single homicide involving a black victim is resolved, Hawkins said in a statement.

He said black police officers are often caught in the middle of being blue and being black.

The fact is we are divided; not by race, but by right versus wrong, and what appears to be right for some is not necessarily right for others. Hils' comments ignores the plight and feelings of the black officers who he is supposed to serve, Hawkins said.

Hils declined to comment over the phone, but he said he would issue a written statement Thursday.

Link:
FOP president's Facebook post addressing Black Lives Matter ... - WCPO

Charges against 17 Black Lives Matter protesters arising from a Commerical Street protest last summer have been erased.

In January, the protesters, who blocked a section of Commercial Street on a busy summer night and were arrested after refusing to disperse, agreed to plead guilty to violating a city ordinance on disorderly conduct. The deal called for the 17 to pay $200 each toward a victims compensation fund and to attend a restorative justice meeting with Portland police officials to discuss the protest. The protesters paid the fine, but the meeting with police fell apart after the protesters refused to be split into two groups to talk to Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck and were told that a representative of the District Attorneys Office would also attend the session.

The January deal called for the charges to be dismissed after six months, as long as the protesters abided by the terms of the deal and did not commit any criminal offenses in the interim. That deadline lapsed Wednesday and none of the protesters committed new offenses, said Jennifer Ackerman, an assistant district attorney in Cumberland County, so the court will automatically wipe out the charges.

In essence, the protesters and the DAs office agreed to disagree over whether the group had complied with the terms of the deal on the meeting with police, Ackerman said. However, the DAs office already lost an effort to have a judge determine that the protesters had breached the agreement. The judge refused to do so in May and turned aside the DAs office request to have the original criminal charges restored.

Although the judge called for both sides to try again on the meeting, it never took place. After the judges ruling, DA Stephanie Anderson said she would not seek to reschedule the meeting and that he protesters would have to come to her to reset the session, which they did not do.

To put the onus on my clients is entirely unfair, lawyer Tom Hallett, who represented the protesters at the hearing in May, said Wednesday. This was a clear victory for the Black Lives Matter side.

Original post:
Court will erase trespassing charges against Black Lives Matter protesters - Press Herald

On Thursday morning, Rep. Al Green will propose a constitutional amendment that would explicitly bar the president from granting himself a pardon.

"Nobody wants to see that," the Texas Democrat told BuzzFeed News. "Bigger than the current president, this is for all presidents. If we can't stop one, we'll stop the rest."

Green said on Wednesday evening that he doesnt think such an amendment is needed he thinks the Constitution doesnt allow such a self-pardon. But hes laying the groundwork to try to pass an amendment like this, should it become necessary.

Our president has given signals that he is reviewing the Constitution and, in the process of reviewing it, it has been published that the review includes that possibility of his considering pardoning himself, Green who already has filed articles of impeachment against President Trump said.

Trump has discussed pardon issues in the Oval Office, his new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, acknowledged this past week. The president himself tweeted over the weekend that all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon. Its not clear whether the discussion or the presidents tweet related to any possible self-pardon consideration. But the vagueness of the explicit references to pardon power and Trumps general unpredictability have raised speculation about how the president might want to use it.

In hearing that, Green said, and also after hearing that constitutional scholars differ on whether the president can or cannot pardon himself, it seemed appropriate as a matter of fact, it seemed absolutely necessary that we take some action so as to bring clarity to this issue.

The presidential pardon power is both simple and expansive in the Constitution. [H]e shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, the Constitution states, except in cases of impeachment.

The amendment proposed by Green also is simple:

The president shall have no power to grant to himself a reprieve or pardon for an offense against the United States.

Green said that he sides with scholars like Laurence Tribe, Norm Eisen, and Richard Painter who wrote recently in the Washington Post that Trump cannot pardon himself. They cite a 1974 opinion of the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel concluding the same thing.

I dont believe this is necessary, Green said of the proposed amendment, and he plans to enter that view into the congressional record in his Thursday morning floor speech. Nonetheless, he acknowledged, others disagree and, regardless, Trump or another president could do it anyway (although legal fights could, and likely would, follow).

Im not doing this with the expectation of the committee taking this up any time soon. I want the legislation to be there in the event there is a need for it, Green said. It may take such an amount of time that the first president to try to do it might succeed, but the legislation would still be there so as to prevent the next.

He told BuzzFeed News that at least two other Democratic House members Seth Moulton and Brad Sherman will be co-sponsoring the resolution at its introduction.

As the resolution to be introduced notes, an amendment introduced through Congress would require a two-thirds vote by both chambers. Then, it also would require ratification by three-quarters of all 50 states.

Chris Geidner is the legal editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC. In 2014, Geidner won the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association award for journalist of the year.

Contact Chris Geidner at chris.geidner@buzzfeed.com.

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A Democrat Is Proposing A Constitutional Amendment To Ban Presidents From Pardoning Themselves - BuzzFeed News

Calling it an emergency rally, local progressive and Democrat groups raised their voices and their protest signs in the center of town Wednesday evening in opposition of the pending Senate health care bill.

Gathering on the corner of Valencia Boulevard and McBean Parkway, members of CA25 United for Progress, Womens Initiative Network, SCV Young Democrats and Democratic Alliance for Action gathered to voice their support for the Affordable Care Act.

When you bring more numbers out, it shows there is more support for the Affordable Care Act, Philip Germain, chair of CA25 United for Progress said.

The rally of about 30 people came a day after the Senate voted 51-50 to begin discussing a future health care bill. On Wednesday, the Senate failed to approve a repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a set replacement in a 45-55 vote.

The groups have done a collaborative rally once before, the first time in February in front of Congressman Steve Knights (R-Palmdale) Santa Clarita office on Center Point Parkway.

Knight voted in favor of the House Republicans American Health Care Act in April, receiving backlash from local ACA supporters.

We want him to know the majority of his constituents oppose this, Germain said.

The progressive groups chair shared his personal connection to the ACA, saying he feared the implications of its repeal for his father who has cancer.

President of SCV Young Democrats Andrew Taban cited similar concerns, saying he knows someone who would be at risk of losing their home in order to continue paying for health insurance.

This isnt just another rally or protest, Taban said. These are humans lives.

While all the groups in attendance have different mission statements, they all have the same common goal, according to Taban. It would be productive if legislators could work together as the groups were doing at the rally, he said.

Specifically concerned about women and children, Womens Initiative Network Co-founder Julie Olsen said it was important for government officials not to repeal the ACA, but to address the parts of it that need fixing.

Community members have been especially politically involved recently, Olsen said, participating in the movement for health care by participating in protests and emailing and calling their elected officials.

Whats wonderful about this is everyone feels there is something that can be done, Olsen said.

Democratic Alliance for Action member Tom Gapen said living in a traditionally Republican area makes it important for him to voice his ideals as a Democrat.

As Democrat, liberal and progressive thinkers, we need to band together against the three branches of governmentwho are making really poor decisions, Gapen said.

One local Democrat was riding his bicycle by the protest when he decided to spontaneously join in.

If I can support people like this, I can have my voice heard, Santa Clarita resident Sam Eze said.

Eze said he and his sister are currently looking to get documented for school under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), so he wants to rally with Democrats.

I think I am a Democrat now, Eze said. They are the only ones who seem to care about people in general.

See the original post here:
Democrat groups rally together to continue health care conversation - Santa Clarita Valley Signal

Sen. Joe Donnelly / Getty Images

BY: Brent Scher July 27, 2017 5:00 am

Twelvedays after it was revealed that Sen. Joe Donnelly (D., Ind.) was invested ina company that recently outsourced manufacturing jobs to Mexico, the senator facedtaunts of "Mexico Joe" as he exited a Washington, D.C., fundraiser.

Donnelly has taken steps to escape further criticism for his investment in Stewart Superior, a company that has been in the family for generations. He has sincesold his stock in Stewart andscrubbed all mention of the Mexico factory from its website.

The steps have not quelled attempts by Republicans to make Donnelly's outsourcing hypocrisy a majorpolitical issue as he gears up to defend his seat in 2018.

Members of the National Republican Senatorial Committee were prepared outside a Tuesday afternoon fundraiser attended by Donnelly with signs calling him"Mexico Joe" and pointing out his May 2016 statement that outsourcing is "unpatriotic."

A spokesman for the NRSC said Donnelly "better get used to" the critique.

"Whether hes at a swanky Capitol Hill fundraiser or back in Indiana, Joe Donnelly wont be able to hide from the fact that he profited from shipping jobs overseas," said spokesman Bob Salera. "Mexico Joe had better get used to folks calling him out for his outsourcing hypocrisy."

Republican groups have also pressed Donnelly to answer questions regarding what he will do with his profits from Stewart Superior. He has been urged to donate the profits, which from 2014 to 2016 were as high as $80,000, to charity.

Donnelly's campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the Republican strategy.

Donnelly, however, has continued tomake outsourcing one of his primary issues.

Just last week, Donnelly highlighted his work to advance the End Outsourcing Act and directly criticized Carrier for utilizing Mexican labor costs in the same way as Stewart Superior.

Donnelly left the fundraiser without engaging the Republican protesters.

Excerpt from:
Republicans Keep Outsourcing Heat on Democrat Joe Donnelly - Washington Free Beacon