In a major ruling today, as reported by the Detroit News, the Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a proposal onto the Nov. 8 ballot that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, a highly charged issue that political experts said would affect the election.
The high court on Thursday overruled a deadlocked Board of State Canvassers and ordered the four-member panel to certify the ballot proposal as Prop 3 for the Nov. 8 ballot, discarding arguments that spacing issues in the petition initiative were enough to disqualify the measure.
The high court also ruled the Board of State Canvassers should do the same for a voting rights proposal seeking, among other things, to allow for nine days of early voting in Michigan. Canvassers had deadlocked over a challenge accusing the ballot committee of failing to list all of the impacted areas of the Michigan Constitution on its petition.
It is safe to say, that these issues will cause the November election turnout to be the largest in memory during a non-presidential election. Look for radio, TV, billboards, and social media to be filled with ads asking us to vote for or against the two referendums. There are no limits on campaign funding for referendums, so the money will flow.
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Two cases caught my attention today which shows how the prosecutors are sometimes caught in a catch-22 when it comes to releasing prisoners prior to completing the full sentence. No matter what their good intentions, something will comeback and bite them.
The first was in the NY Times.
Brooklyn prosecutors are seeking to throw out 378 criminal convictions — mostly low-level drug and traffic offenses, dating to 1999 — that relied on 13 former New York Police Department officers who were later convicted of crimes related to their work.
The move is part of an expansive effort by prosecutors across the city to review cases, even decades old, that involved discredited police officers. It reflects a broader push to scrutinize police testimony and a recognition of the catastrophic effects that even misdemeanor convictions can have on people. It would be among the largest mass dismissal of convictions in the country, according to data collected by the National Registry of Exonerations.
Last fall, the Queens district attorney moved to dismiss 60 such cases. The Bronx district attorney has also vacated more than 250 convictions that relied on a single officer, who has since been accused of lying in other cases. The total is expected to rise to 496.
On Wednesday, Eric Gonzalez, the district attorney in Brooklyn, asked a state judge to vacate the first 15 convictions under his purview, all of which involved felonies and several of which resulted in prison time, according to the prosecutor’s office and the Legal Aid Society. Mr. Gonzalez’s office will seek to dismiss the remaining cases over the next few weeks.
The second involved yesterday’s senseless murder shooting spree in Memphis.
Per the Guardian, four people were killed and three wounded after a 19-year-old went on a shooting spree in Memphis on Wednesday. The alleged gunman was apprehended after a frantic manhunt that effectively shut down the city, and the teenager is expected to face multiple felony charges when he appears in court. The rampage, which the authorities said included no fewer than eight crime scenes and crossed into neighboring Mississippi, took place over at least 15 hours.
In 2020, he was also charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. Then 17, he was initially charged in juvenile court, the records said, but his case was transferred to adult court. Mayor Strickland said he was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge, aggravated assault, but served only 11 months and was released from prison in March.
Quote of the Day: “If Mr. Kelly served his full three-year sentence, he would still be in prison today and four of our fellow citizens would still be alive,” Memphis Mayor, Jim Strickland
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Onion of the Day: After playing (and losing) his last match at this U.S. Open, Nick Kyrgios destroyed two more tennis rackets in a fit of pique after the final point early Wednesday morning. Later in the day, he got a parting gift: a $14,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, by far the largest fine of the tournament. That brought his total in fines for this U.S. Open to $32,500: real money for most but just a fraction of his $445,000 in total prize money for reaching the quarterfinals in singles.
This sort of episode is nothing new. Kyrgios is the most fined player in the sport’s history. He estimated in June that he was “approaching about $800,000” for his career, though it was unclear if he was referring to American or Australian dollars, but the fine figures made public are significantly lower. Whatever the precise amount, his U.S. Open total does not approach $113,000 in fines that he accrued for his behavior in just one second-round match at the Western and Southern Open in 2019, when he insulted the chair umpire Fergus Murphy and left the court to smash two rackets. See Video of the Day.
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Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence and mass killings?
Orchid of the Day: Queen Elizabeth II who passed away today at age 96 after being the longest reigning monarch. Surrounded by drama of her family, she always showed dignity and grace when in the public eye.
Question of the Day: Which political candidates will benefit with the addition of the two referendums to the November election?
Video/Image of the Day: Nick Krygios’ temper tantrum after losing in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.