Episode 1: Alice + Freda Forever by Alexis Coe
In this episode, we talk about Alexis Coe #39;s new book Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis. Also discussed: the Fifth Amendment, monster truck rallies, Janet #39;s propensity for arson, lesbian...
By: The Book Report
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Episode 1: Alice + Freda Forever by Alexis Coe - Video
Last evening (November 13), attorneys Mike Aguirre and Maria Severson filed a suit in federal court saying that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Southern California Edison took 17.4 million ratepayers' property (money) by charging them $3.7 billion for electricity while the San Onofre nuclear plant was shut down, beginning in early 2012.
The theory is that the regulatory body and Edison were taking customers' private property without just compensation. That is banned by the Fifth Amendment.
Also named in the suit are Michael Peevey, president of the commission, and Mike Florio, one of the commissioners.
The only way that the California Public Utilities Commission could force customers to pay for failed generators at San Onofre would have been to show that Edison acted reasonably in obtaining the generators, according to the suit.
However, Edison deployed the steam generators without a safety license amendment from the Nuclear Regulator Commission. The decision came from the top of Edison, says the suit. Edison has admitted there were design errors causing steam generators to fail. A nuclear scientist was hired to do a study, but when he reported there had been errors, the CPUC obstructed his investigation, thus thwarting any determination of whether Edison was responsible for the failure, according to the suit, which notes that Peevey is a former president of Edison.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) owns 20 percent of the now-shuttered San Onofre, but is not named in the suit because it had opposed Edison's plans for replacing the old steam generators with four new ones.
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Suit says CA public utilities commission violated 5th Amendment
Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 8:56 am | Updated: 12:06 pm, Wed Nov 12, 2014.
Charter school officials pleaded 'Fifth' 77 times Associated Press |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Officials from an embattled Philadelphia charter school invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 77 times at hearings on the future of its charter.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1xgZtMI ) administrators from the Walter Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School refused to answer questions on topics ranging from qualifications to the accuracy of invoices.
Last week's hearings were part of the Philadelphia school district's fight to revoke Walter Palmer's charter amid academic and financial stability concerns. The school's also the subject of a federal investigation.
A court recently ordered the school to return $1.5 million to the district after finding it enrolled twice the number of students allowed.
Walter Palmer shut down its high school last month in the city's Frankford neighborhood, forcing 280 students to enroll in other institutions.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com
2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Charter school officials pleaded 'Fifth' 77 times
4 5 Decrypting Your Devices Fifth Amendment Privilege 10 51
By: Artadys
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4 5 Decrypting Your Devices Fifth Amendment Privilege 10 51 - Video
Even in a school district with more than its share of charter-school controversies, the answers stood out. Questioned about billing practices, two officials of an embattled Philadelphia charter school cited their Fifth Amendment right to silence - 77 times.
At hearings on whether to revoke the Walter D. Palmer school's charter, the questions ranged from hard-nosed ("Isn't it true that you lied . . . about accurately submitting invoices?") to humdrum ("Do you have a master's degree?").
Daira Hinson, the Palmer school's director of administration, invoked the Fifth Amendment 22 times in the hearings, which ended last week. Richard Troutman, its controller, did so 55 times.
"It is the first time in anybody's knowledge that a witness has pleaded the Fifth in a charter hearing," said district spokesman Fernando Gallard. "It's very surprising that two high-level administrators decided to plead the Fifth when we are asking questions on issues of overpayment. We're talking about $1.5 million over one single fiscal year."
The Inquirer obtained a transcript of the hearings via a Right To Know Law request.
While last month's abrupt closing of the Palmer charter's high school in Frankford caused turmoil for students and staff, the transcript sheds new light on the scope of the school's problems - which also include an ongoing federal investigation. An agent from the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general's office sat in on portions of the hearings.
Another witness in the hearings was school founder Walter D. Palmer, who stressed that citing their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination did not make school officials "guilty of anything."
On Monday he also defended his school in an Inquirer interview, saying, "They could bring a U-Haul in, and they are not going to find any culpability."
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Palmer school officials cited Fifth Amendment in charter revocation hearing - 77 times