Category: Justice

‘Social Justice Lawyers’ Told WPATH to Avoid ‘Evidence-Based Review’ of Sex-Change Guidelines for Minors, Docs Reveal

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Pediatrician with child patient

The World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) avoided “evidence-based” reviews of child sex-change procedures on the advice of “social justice lawyers,” a court filing states.

Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall of Alabama filed a motion for summary judgment in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Wednesday, seeking to beat back a challenge to Alabama’s law restricting the procedures. The Alabama attorney general’s office accused WPATH of placing “advocacy concerns” at the forefront of the creation of the organization’s “Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8” (SOC-8), which was based in part on the advice of the “social justice” attorneys who advised the organization to avoid seeking evidence-based recommendations.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Began ‘Going Through Testing’ for Mental Health in Summer of 2001, Parents Told Police

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale began receiving treatment from a speech pathologist in September 2001, which is when a mental health professional first indicated to the killer’s parents that Audrey Hale suffered from autism, according to a transcript of the July 12, 2023 police interview with Ronald and Norma Hale obtained by The Tennessee Star from a source close to the investigation.

The Star previously published police documents which established Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) prior to her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, when she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members before she was heroically shot by two responding police officers.

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Jen Psaki Calls Steve Bannon ‘A Brain Bending Communicator’ Who Sounds ‘Almost Rational’ After Interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl

Michael Patrick Leahy
Steve Bannon

Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday that Steve Bannon is “a brain bending communicator” who sounds “almost rational” after the program played ABC’s Jonathan Karl’s exclusive interview with the former Trump White House advisor and current WarRoom host.

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Opinion Issued Aims to Clear Up ‘Medical Emergency’ in Arizona Abortion Laws

The Center Square
Kris Mayes

Attorney General Kris Mayes issued an opinion as abortion policy in the state is likely to be on the ballot in November.

The 15-week law is still on the books in Arizona, and it was signed into law by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022. The opinion, which was sent to four Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, is meant to explain what can be considered a “medical emergency” under the law.

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Second Effort to Recall Wisconsin Speaker Fails

The Center Square
Robin Vos

Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will not face a recall election after the Wisconsin Elections Commission threw out more than a hundred signatures on a petition.

The WEC voted 4-2 on Thursday afternoon to reject the Vos recall petition after it found the number of signatures submitted by the deadline insufficient. Commission staff had recommended Wednesday the commission accept the petition signatures.

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Commentary: Supreme Court Overturns DOJ’s Use of Key January 6 Felony Court

Julie Kelly
January Six

In a devastating but well-deserved blow to the Department of Justice’s criminal prosecution of January 6 protesters, the U.S. Supreme Court today overturned the DOJ’s use of 18 USC 1512(c)(2), the most prevalent felony in J6 cases.

The statute, commonly referred to as “obstruction of an official proceeding,” has been applied in roughly 350 J6 cases; it also represents two of four counts in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s J6-related criminal indictment of Donald Trump in Washington.

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Journal Lacks Evidence for Early Police Claim Audrey Hale Targeted Covenant over ‘Resentment’ for Time at School

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

The journal police recovered from the vehicle Audrey Elizabeth Hale drove to the Covenant School, where she claimed the lives of six on March 27, 2023, does not contain evidence Hale harbored “resentment” the five years she spent as a student at the school.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained approximately 80 pages of Hale’s writings, in the form of Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) photos, from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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America First Legal Files Amicus Brief with SCOTUS to Support Freedom for Bannon Pending Appeal

Kaitlin Housler
Stephen Bannon

America First Legal (AFL) filed an amicus brief Wednesday on behalf of Georgia U.S. Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11), who chairs the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, in support of Stephen K. Bannon’s emergency stay application to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking his continued release pending further appeal of his convictions.

Bannon, former chief of staff to former President Donald Trump and host of the popular show War Room, was sentenced to four months imprisonment for a 2022 conviction on contempt of Congress charges for ignoring a subpoena from the January 6 Select Committee.

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Tennessee Department of Children’s Services Sued for Alleged Abuse of Disabled Children

Peter D'Abrosca
Disabled Child

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) has been sued by an activism group that supports disabled people, claiming that DCS has neglected and mistreated vulnerable disabled children. 

“When Youth enter Defendants’ facilities, they struggle to find the basic support that every child needs and deserves, such as education, mental healthcare, medical care, and physical safety,” a lawsuit filed by Disability Rights Tennessee says. “Defendants fail to provide evidence-based services designed to treat or rehabilitate Youth. Indeed, Defendants lack any coherent strategy for rehabilitating young people in their care or addressing behavioral issues, instead defaulting to incarceration. Youth therefore have no meaningful way to progress in their treatment and rehabilitation.”

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New Evidence Turned over to Congress Disputes Hunter Biden Testimony About Controversial Firm

Just the News
Hunter Biden in front of US Capitol building (composite image)

Already accused of lying to Congress about other issues, Hunter Biden’s February impeachment inquiry testimony distancing himself from a controversial securities firm directly conflicts with evidence the FBI seized years ago, including his signature on an employment contract that made him the firm’s vice chairman.

The documents were gathered by FBI and SEC agents back in 2016 and were recently obtained by Congress and shared with Just the News, but not until after Hunter Biden had already given his deposition in February to the U.S. House as part of his father’s impeachment inquiry.

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Couple Accused of Using Their Adopted African-American Children as Slaves

ADN America
Donald Lantz and Jeanne Whitefeather (composite image)

In Kanawha County, West Virginia, Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, face serious charges after being charged with forcing their adopted African-American children to work in inhumane conditions and keeping them locked up in A barn.

Lantz and Whitefeather pleaded not guilty in Kanawha County court on Tuesday  . The charges include trafficking of minors, use of minors in forced labor and child neglect with significant risk of causing serious injury or death.

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Arizona Court Rules Opioid Settlement Funding Is Legal

The Center Square
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs

The opioid settlement funds headed to the Arizona corrections system are legal, according to a judge’s ruling on Monday.

The part of the budget that would divert $115 million in total to support the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry with what’s outlined as substance abuse treatment. Although the original legal action from Attorney General Kris Mayes resulted in a temporary restraining order for the funds to be transferred, this recent decision from the Maricopa County Superior Court scrapped that. 

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DOJ Tries to Shut Down Case That Exposed Biden Admin Colluded on Medical Standards Used to Justify Child Sex Changes

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Merrick Garland

The Department of Justice (DOJ) moved Monday to shut down a lawsuit that exposed the Biden administration’s collusion with a transgender medical organization to develop the very standards it is now using to defend child sex changes at the Supreme Court.

After the Supreme Court agreed to take up the Biden administration’s challenge to Tennessee’s ban on child sex changes, the DOJ asked a lower court to put another case challenging a similar Alabama ban on hold pending the high court’s decision. While the DOJ requested a halt on the Alabama case to “avoid the prospect of re-litigation of the claims” after the Supreme Court issues its ruling, the defendants argued the government likely has another motive: shielding information about the administration’s involvement in developing the standards it heavily relies on from the Supreme Court.

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Heritage Foundation’s John Malcolm Breaks Down Supreme Court Decision Making It More Difficult to Challenge Government Collusion with Social Media Companies

Kaitlin Housler

John G. Malcolm, vice president at the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Murthy v. Missouri on Wednesday will make it “more difficult for people to challenge a government’s collusion with social media companies” moving forward.

Murthy v. Missouri was brought by the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, along with five individual plaintiffs.

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Nashville Police Deny Chief Acknowledged Vanderbilt University Medical Center Staff Failed Duty to Warn Potential Victims of Covenant Killer Audrey Hale

Tom Pappert

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Wednesday denied Chief John Drake privately acknowledged staff at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) knew Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale told mental health professionals she fantasized about killing her father and committing a mass shooting at a school, but failed to warn potential victims in violation of Tennessee Code 33-3-206, as was alleged by a source familiar with the investigation to The Tennessee Star on June 19.

MNPD Public Affairs director Don Aaron contacted The Star on Wednesday via email to state, “Chief Drake confirms that he DID NOT acknowledge what” The Star first reported in its June 19 article.

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Outgoing Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital President Created Psychiatric Crisis Evaluation Process Before Covenant Killer Audrey Hale was Referred for Commitment

Tom Pappert
Mary Pawlikowski

The outgoing president of Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH), part of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), combined the hospital’s services to patients in psychiatric crisis in 2016, three years before the Covenant School killer was referred to VPH for commitment and instead enrolled in an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP).

The Tennessee Star reported on June 7 that Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigators learned within hours of Hale’s March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, which claimed the lives of six, that the killer was a 22-year mental health patient of VUMC.

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Key House Chairman Intervenes in Bannon Case, Tells Supreme Court Democrat January 6 Contempt Was ‘Invalid’

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The House subcommittee chairman investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot’s intelligence and security failures made an extraordinary intervention Wednesday at the Supreme Court, telling the justices he believes an earlier Democrat-led investigation into the tragedy was “factually and procedurally invalid” and therefore could not lawfully hold ex-Trump adviser Stephen Bannon in contempt.

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Maricopa County Elections Worker Arrested for Stealing Tabulator Programming FOB/Key Also Allegedly Broke into AZ Senate

Rachel Alexander
Walter Ringfield

An Arizona State Capitol insider with knowledge of recent incidents there told The Arizona Sun Times that progressive activist Walter Ringfield, Jr. – the same man who was arrested for allegedly stealing an election machine tabulator key fob – was caught breaking and entering into the Arizona Senate recently. Video surveillance footage allegedly caught him stealing collectible coins from the security area and walking around on the third floor unauthorized. When apprehended by security, he was asked to leave. The insiders said that Ringfield told security he was there to deliver some documents to State Senator Juan Mendez (D-Tempe).

News reports about the election key fob theft broke a Monday. According to a police report obtained by The Sun Times, surveillance video shows Ringfield putting the set into his pocket.

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Illegal Immigration a Top 2024 Election Issue with Immigrant Crime Map, Poll Shows Problem

Just the News
Illegal Immigrants Arrested

Illegal immigration is one of the most important problems for Americans, and a new “Illegal Alien Crime” map as well as a poll about language surrounding the issue highlights the significance of the border crisis in the minds of voters ahead of the 2024 election.

Polling from Gallup shows that U.S. adults have consistently ranked immigration as a top issue every month since at least November 2023. The polls come as the Biden administration has overseen record numbers of illegal immigrant encounters.

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Obama-Appointed Judges Strike Down Parts of Biden’s Student Loan Repayment Plan

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President Biden with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona

Obama-appointed federal judges blocked parts of the Biden administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan on Monday in response to Republican states’ lawsuits.

Judge John A. Ross of Missouri and Judge Daniel Crabtree of Kansas blocked parts of the administration’s SAVE plan, which was an income-driven repayment program intended to lower monthly costs for borrowers. The court rulings prohibit the Department of Education from further lowering payments or eliminating more debt through the program, Politico reported.

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Audrey Hale Wrote Entry Titled ‘For Media’ in Journal Recovered by Police After Covenant School Attack

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote in the journal police recovered from her vehicle an entry that appears to include instructions for the media about how to refer to the killer.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation.

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Groups Sue to Stop Georgia Law Barring Charitable Bail

The Center Square
Fulton County Inmates

Two groups have filed a federal lawsuit to stop elements of a state law they say bars charitable bail activity.

The ACLU of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit on Friday, asking a judge to declare Section 4 of Georgia Senate Bill 63 unconstitutional and issue a temporary restraining order barring the law from taking effect on July 1.

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Feds Surveilling Thousands of Americans’ Mail Each Year

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USPS Mailbox

The United States Postal Service (USPS) gave law enforcement thousands of names, addresses and other details from the letters and packages of Americans without court approval, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The USPS said it generally only granted information requests from law enforcement agencies when it aided in tracking down a crime suspect; however, records obtained by the Post showed that 97 percent of the 60,000 requests from law enforcement were approved over an eight-year period. Between 2015 and 2023, over 312,000 letters and packages were recorded without receiving judicial approval.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Wrote in Journal About Training with Firearm She Purchased with Pell Grant, Concealed in Family Home

Tom Pappert
Gun Range

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote in the journal police recovered from her vehicle about training at a Nashville gun range with one of the weapons she purchased using federal Pell Grant funds and concealed in her family home.

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained Hale’s journal and a tranche of police documents from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation, and on June 6, including a journal entry in which Hale claimed to witness an accidental firearm injury while training at a Nashville gun range just two days prior to her devastating March 27, 2023 attack.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center Started Center to Assist with Mental Health ‘Intervention’ One Day After Covenant School Attack

Tom Pappert
Therapist

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital announced the creation of its Behavioral Health Clinical Services Center (CSC) on March 28, 2023, just one day after Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale committed her attack that claimed the lives of six, including three children.

The Tennessee Star confirmed it obtained a portion of police documents from the Covenant case earlier this month, including documents that show Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at VUMC who began receiving treatment in 2001 when she was just six years old.

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Confirmed: Steve Bannon to Report to Federal Prison in Connecticut to Serve Four Month Sentence

Peter D'Abrosca
Steve Bannon

According to a report by CNN, Steve Bannon, former Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, will be ordered by a judge to report to a Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, stemming from a 2022 conviction on contempt of Congress charges for ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.

Bannon has been ordered to report to prison on July 1 following a rejected appeal. 

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Exclusive: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Says SCOTUS Decision to Take Up Case Challenging State Law Banning Transgender Treatment for Minors Will Be a ‘Major Step Toward Clarity’

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show for an exclusive interview where he discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments and rule on whether Tennessee’s law that bans “gender-affirming care” on minors violates the Constitution.

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Journal Recovered by Police Reveals How Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Spent Final Months Before Attack

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Tennessee Star confirmed on June 5 it obtained the journal recovered by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) from the vehicle of Audrey Elizabeth Hale after her devastating attack on the Covenant School claimed the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adults.

Apparently started by Hale in January 2023, the journal reveals how the killer spent her final months before she was slain by heroic police officers responding to the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.

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Criminal Referral Accuses DOJ’s Kristen Clarke of ‘Perjury,’ ‘False Statements’

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assistant attorney general for civil rights Kristen Clarke

The Justice Department’s Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, will be hit with three ethics complaints and a criminal referral Monday, The Daily Signal has learned.

Article III Project is filing both the ethics complaints and criminal referral, which calls upon Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a criminal probe into Clarke on the grounds that she “knowingly and willfully” made “materially false statements” and that she committed “perjury.”

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Maricopa County Temp Worker Arrested for Alleged Theft at Election Center

Just the News
Walter Ringfield mugshot

A temporary worker at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) was arrested for theft, forcing the county to reprogram its security equipment, which will cost around $20,000.

On Friday, Walter Ringfield, 27, who was on probation for a prior felony, was arrested for allegedly stealing a security fob and keys from MCTEC, KTAR News reported. Ringfield was booked on charges of theft and criminal damage.

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