@mbwilliams
Made from Maine Wabanakiak, Isles of Shoals fishermen, and Welsh coal miners. Oregon transplant. Constitutional law and state/tribal/fed gov't wonk (JD). North Atlantic historian obsessed with wampum, cod fishing, and dual-host pathogens.
To be fair, there are some strange English names. One of my family names is Treworgye (Cornwall) and I don’t even try to pronounce (or spell) some of the Welsh ones. I only recognized Ogles because my 2nd gr-grandmother was from the same county and I recall it in vital records.
It is in fact English, from Northumberland. But it looks like his branch planted itself in central Tennessee 200+ years ago and became poorer with each generation—to the point where his father ended up in the TN Industrial School (reform school for delinquent orphans.) I guess that's assimilating?
(1) The accused declared, ordered, or otherwise indicated that there shall be no survivors or surrender accepted; (2) The accused thereby intended to threaten an adversary or to conduct hostilities such that there would be no survivors or surrender accepted; (3) It was foreseeable that circumstances would be such that a practicable and reasonable ability to accept surrender would exist; (4) The accused was in a position of effective command or control over the subordinate forces to which the declaration or order was directed; and (5) The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with hostilities.
✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here.
Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning:
Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime.
And recognized as such by the US Government.
From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled. I just have to now reconstruct 4 pages of arguments. But for all you baby lawyers, don’t assume the other side has a clue, isn’t acting in bad faith, or isn’t relying on hallucinating AI. This case was decided 25+ years before it was revisited by SCOTUS.
Discovered at 2am that the case upon which opposing counsel based their main argument was “clarified” in a decision by SCOTUS that essentially nullified their argument. I’m usually really good about checking cases, but this was a narrow holding that just happened to be on point. Still, my bad.
Important ruling on immigration operations in Minnesota
Judge Tostrud (Trump appointee):
"Plaintiffs have made a clear showing that Defendants have adopted a POLICY authorizing federal immigration officers to conduct investigatory stops based on ethnicity or race without reasonable suspicion."
1/
His lawyer should be disbarred for not telling him to spit out the gum before his depo.
So the Mad King won't sign any other bills passed by Congress until a version of the SAVE ACT—not yet passed by the House—is amended to add anti-trans edicts and passed by both chambers.
Sounds like a threat, but unless he vetoes bills, they become law after 10 days (if Congress is in session.)
I love that Marcy has also adopted the Mad King title for Trump—not because it's snarky, but because it's true. He is in deep cognitive decline, and it's reaching a crisis point, not just for the US, but for the world.
emptywheel.net/how-to-captu...
See, it's not so hard. Sen. Murphy can do a training for you all if need be. Just. Say. No.
I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.
JD Vance is also a Kentucky Taulbee. I just looked it up, and yes, same family as the Congressman shot (in self-defense) referenced by Markwayne.
As the Gulf crisis widens, so does its Environmental Footprint - For the whole essay search in your Browser for Juan Cole's Informed Comment http://dlvr.it/TRLzdT
I just came here to say this. She did great.
I shared this, having only read half, mostly because I feel strongly about promoting good work by other NDNs. Now that I've finished, I _urge_ folks, especially in the West, to read it.
New piece: THE COLORADO RIVER DOES NOT REACH 2030 8,000 words of near-future climate fiction built from today. Every element drawn from published science or political dynamics already in motion. It's about snow, heat, a dam, a grid, and a 74-year-old woman who couldn't afford her electricity bill.
So how long before Sheehy claims he was acting under color of law and claims qualified immunity?
Trump won't fire Noem for all the violations of human rights and trashing the Constitution, but for stealing $200M. See, only he's allowed to do that.
Pretty sure the Speech and Debate Clause doesn’t immunize against physical assault. In fact, we know from the criminal trial of Preston Brooks’ brutal beating of Charles Sumner that it doesn’t.
This is the version that wipes out vote by mail, including in the 8 states that now use it exclusively, and all early voting as well.
Here too. All my 3rd gr-granddads but one on my dad's side came from the coal mines in the Rhondda Valleys in Wales, and landed in the coal mines of Wilkes-Barre, PA. Dad was the first to fully escape.
Paternal: Coal miner, then WPA, then factory worker (Polaroid). Maternal: Court stenographer and non-commissioned naval officer in WW2 and Korea. After Korea, worked for a book distributor (which landed me zillions of books as a kid.)
Thank you for this! I will check them out.
Taking the youngest to southern England and Wales this summer, so let the planning begin. Never having been, of course I don't have a clue. Suggestions welcome.
Ignoring every limit on federal courts’ authority, the Court takes the unprecedented step of staying a state trial court’s decision in a redistricting dispute on matters of state law without giving the State’s highest court a chance to act. Because that order violates basic principles of jurisdiction, federalism, and equity, I respectfully dissent.
Don't take my word for it. Here's J. Sotomayor:
The first thing law students learn in Civ Pro, Con Law, and Fed Courts classes is to start exams with "federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction..."
For layfolk, this is the basis of our federalist system. The SCOTUS majority is staging a coup.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
the kind of thing that gets played at a war crimes trial
Just realized that Trump is going to use the war to pump the economy with massive defense spending.
His father was almost born there: His grandparents returned to NYC 2-3 months before his father's birth, after trying to move back to Germany and being rejected due to Friedrich's draft dodging 20 years earlier.
