Supreme Court Seems Unlikely to Support Reduced Sentences for Crack Offenders Getty Images Kevin Daley • May 4, 2021 4:30 pm
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In its latest foray into the war on drugs, the Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed ready to say that low-level crack cocaine offenders do not qualify for reduced sentences under a bipartisan criminal justice reform law.
The 2018 First Step Act made some drug offenders eligible for resentencing, but four federal courts and the Trump administration said its benefits don t extend to people convicted for possessing small quantities of crack cocaine. Tarahrick Terry, the defendant in Tuesday s case, was convicted for possessing a few grams of crack in 2008 and is seeking a lighter sentence for himself and others like him, but the Court seemed to be against him by a lopsided margin.
An inspector general’s report on the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs LaSalle Veterans’ Home is a maddening story of incompetence and chaos at every level.
The IG report, released Friday, tells the story of an allegedly AWOL agency director; an in-over-his-head chief of staff; a crucial failure to fill an important upper management position; an unconscionably delayed IDVA management response at all levels to a clearly and rapidly deteriorating situation both in the surrounding communities outside the home and when the virus inevitably spread inside the facility; an unprepared and woefully uninformed management on multiple issues, including basics about personal protection equipment; an abject failure to properly train and equip staff; multiple failures to ask for outside help and accept it when offered; and staff infighting and managerial timidity.
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With Burgess Everett and Andrew Desiderio.
BIDEN’S SENATE DEM RINGER: President Biden came into office with a built-in legislative advantage: He served in the Senate for 36 years and knows the ways of the chamber. But he’s got another leg-up as he deals with a Senate that’s changed plenty in the intervening 12 years: His vice president has fresher contacts, particularly in the Democratic Caucus. And in the run-up to Biden’s speech on Wednesday and introduction of his families plan, Vice President Kamala Harris was quietly reaching out to Senate Democrats to gauge their enthusiasm.
Illinois Congressional Leaders Introduce Distracted Driving Bill
The bill is aimed at reducing crashes involving distracted drivers and preventing roadside deaths through the use of technology and increased public awareness
April 30, 2021
Adobe Stock/Michele
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), every day about eight people in the U.S. are killed in crashes involving a distracted driver. This amounts to roughly 3,000 deaths and 400,000 injuries each year from distracted driving. About one in five of those deaths involve people outside a vehicle such as construction crews, pedestrians, cyclists, and roadside first responders which has made roadway accidents the leading cause of officer-line-of-duty deaths nationwide.
Resolution would allow remote voting during national emergencies
The U.S. Capitol building.(WVIR)
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - A bipartisan resolution would allow senators to vote remotely during a national crisis.
Supporters say during certain crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may advise against convening the full Senate in the Capitol.
According to the resolution, if the majority and minority leaders jointly determine a national crisis exists, they can allow Senators to securely vote remotely.
Remote voting would then be allowed for up to 30 days.