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Vote Blue This Election—A One Time Only Action to Resist Fascism and Renew Democracy
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The Supreme Court Bump Stock Ruling Explained
The Supreme Court Bump Stock Ruling Explained
Civil Rights Policy Brief #226 | By: Arvind Salem | June 25, 2024
Featured Photo: www.newsnationnow.com
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On October 1, 2017, a shooter equipped with a bump stock, a contraption fixed to assault rifles and generating automatic fire with a single trigger pull, opened fire at the Route 91 Festival shooting in Las Vegas, NV, executing the deadliest mass shooting in American history, tragically killing 58 individuals.
In the aftermath of this shooting, following pressure to ban bump stocks, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under the Trump administration banned bump stocks for civilian use. However, as a federal agency, rather than Congress, its authority stretched only to enforcing existing law, not creating new ones. Yet, the ATF justified their rule as an extension of the ban on machine guns, relying on the “… National Firearms Act, which defined machine guns as weapons that can “automatically” fire more than one shot “by a single function of the trigger.””
The Court, in a 6-3 decision across ideological lines on the case Garland v. Cargill, ultimately ruled that this regulation was an unconstitutional overreach of executive authority. Justice Thomas, writing for the majority, wrote that “We hold that a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock is not a ‘machine gun’ because it cannot fire more than one shot ‘by a single function of the trigger”
In dissent, Justice Sotomayor criticized the Court for focusing on the technical inner workings of a gun, made clear not only by Justice Thomas’s language, but also by the fact that he employed many diagrams to explain his opinion, rather than focusing on the equivalent effects of both firearms on the victim. Referencing the similar characteristics, Sotomayor wrote that “When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.”
Policy Analysis:
This decision is notable not only as another example towards the court’s seeming hostility towards gun control regulations, but also for its implications on other, newer, gun control regulations. These accessories, like bump stocks, have the net effect of turning legal semi automatic weapons into illegal machine guns. Many of these accessories are specific types of triggers, such as forced-reset triggers” or “wide-open triggers”, that allow shooters to fire more than 900 rounds in a minute with one continuous squeeze. In 2022, the AFT imposed restrictions on these triggers, but with this latest decision, gun owners could sue, and with this case as a precedent, spelling doom for these regulations. In fact, immediately after the court issued its ruling, lawyers for gun-rights groups suing to overturn the trigger restrictions filed a letter, which cited the new bump-stock decision. Through this decision, the court has set, or at least largely clarified, their definition of what constitutes a machine gun: that step is a critically important one for all cases involving gun accessories.
Engagement Resources
The following are all gun advocacy groups that argue for responsible gun control legislation and work to educate the public and legislators on the necessity of gun regulations. Given the executive branch’s diminished ability to act on this issue following this decision, readers interested in supporting gun control advocacy may be interested in these groups that also focus on legislative advocacy on all aspects of this issue.
Stay in-the-know with the latest updates from our reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. We depend on support from readers like you to aide in protecting fearless independent journalism, so please consider donating to keep democracy alive today!
AIPAC’s War Chest Draws Opposition
AIPAC’s War Chest Draws Opposition
Foreign Policy Brief #146 | By: Mindy Spatt| June 18, 2024
Featured Photo: www.middleeastmonitor.com
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AIPAC’s Political Action Committee has a huge war chest and has announced plans to spend it defeating “the Squad” and other legislators it believes are insufficiently pro-Israel. To do so the group is allying itself with republican donors and candidates, some of whom are hard core Trump supporters. Progressive Jewish groups are pushing back, but J Street, the liberal lobbying alternative to AIPAC, is not among them.
Analysis
The powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC, the American Public Affairs Council, has announced plans to spend a $100 million war chest to defeat the Squad and other elected officials who have spoken out publicly in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, opposed military aid to Israel or are perceived as pro-Palestinian. Although AIPAC’s efforts often focus on defeating progressives by pushing more moderate democrats, several high profile republican donors are major contributors to AIPAC’s Political Action Committee, the United Democracy Project including Paul Singer, a Nikki Haley megadonor, and the sponsor of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s luxury vacations.
One of AIPAC’S top targets is New York City District 16 Representative Jamaal Bowman. Bowman was one of the first in Congress to call for a ceasefire, and has been outspoken in his opposition the war in Gaza. Bowman’s challenger for the democratic nomination is George Latimer, a Westchester County official who entered the race with the backing of AIPAC. J Street, the lobbying firm that formed as liberal alternative to AIPAC’s hard line on Israel has backed Bowman in the past, but will not support him in this year. The group issued a statement saying “We have been pleased to work with Congressman Bowman for over four years to promote a shared set of values and principles rooted in the pursuit of justice, equality, and peace. The past few months have, however, highlighted significant differences between us in framing and approach.”
Despite record spending, AIPAC has had limited success. Dave Min, a moderate state senator running for California’s Representative Katie Porter’s House seat, has not called for a Ceasefire, but has been critical of Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu. AIPAC put $4.5 million into his primary race, but their candidate failed to beat him. AIPAC also failed to defeat Summer Lee, a freshman congresswoman from Western Pennsylvania who won election to Congress two years ago despite millions being spent by AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups who consider her pro-Palestinian. AIPAC didn’t waste much of its money on her recent reelection bid, but Republican megadonor Jeffrey Yass did, bankrolling ads attacking Lee for calling for a ceasefire and supporting her opponent, Bhavini Patel, who Lee easily defeated.
With J Street no longer providing an alternative for progressive Jews a new coalition has sprung up to oppose AIPAC’s influence, simply called “Reject AIPAC.” Leading anti-occupation groups involved in the campaign include the Justice Democrats, the advocacy arm of Jewish Voice for Peace and the activist organization IfNotNow. Other established progressives in the coalition include the Sunrise Movement and the Working Families Party. “We have watched as AIPAC has done everything it can to silence growing dissent in Congress against Netanyahu’s assault on Gaza,” said the coalition in a statement, “even as Democratic voters overwhelmingly support a ceasefire and oppose sending more blank checks to the Israeli military.”
The coalition recently announced that it plan to spends a least a million dollars to defend the Squad and other lawmakers who have earned AIPAC’s ire. They are highlighting the “dark money” bankrolling AIPAC’s campaigns and urging democratic candidates not to accept funding from AIPAC or seek its endorsement. Eva Borgwardt, IfNotNow’s Political Director said in a statement, “AIPAC is not just an obstacle to progress for Israelis and Palestinians. Their intervention in Democratic primaries serves as a huge obstacle to necessary policies like universal healthcare, meaningful climate action, and workers’ rights. AIPAC’s endorsement should be as welcome in progressive circles as the NRA or the fossil fuel lobby.”
Engagement Resources:
- AIPAC’s Dark Money Arm Unleashes $100 Million Blitz on Progressives, by Brett Wilkins, March 4, 2024, https://www.commondreams.org/news/aipac-2024
- United Democracy Project Outside Spending Summary 2024, https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2024?cmte=C00799031&tab=summary
- Reject AIPAC, https://www.rejectaipac.org
Stay informed with the latest insights from our dedicated reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to continue in helping to protect democracy and empower citizenship.
The Murky World Of Sports Betting
The Murky World Of Sports Betting
Social Justice Policy Brief #166 | By: Reilly Fitzgerald | June 19, 2024
Featured Photo: www.thehill.com
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Sports betting is an industry worth $330 billion; at least the legal side of it is. It is also an industry that is very much of questionable morals. The United Nations has stated in their Global Report on Corruption in Sport (2021) that the sports betting industry is the #1 factor in sports corruption. This has been seen around the world with individual leagues, teams, athletes, sponsors, and more, getting into major legal trouble over the placing of bets. Sports betting has led to organizations, both law enforcement and sports-oriented, to partner together to attempt to solve this issue before it becomes an even larger problem.
Analysis
In the United States, sports betting has had an intriguing history. Obviously, some sports are well-known for betting and wagers like horse racing. In 1992, the United States Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which outlawed sports betting federally; with some exceptions. Fast-forward to 2018 and the United States Supreme Court case Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); the United States Supreme Court ruling in this case struck down PASPA and allowed for states to determine whether or not to allow legalized sports betting. According to ESPN, sports betting has taken-off as a major industry across the United States (bringing in $330 billion in six years of legalization); over 30 states have legalized sports gambling, along with DC and Puerto Rico.
Legalized sports betting has taken many shapes ever since the 2018 decision; however, it has never been made more readily available to the average person as it is now. There are hundreds of online platforms for people to join and place their bets. Some of the major names of companies operating in the US are DraftKings Sportsbook, ESPN BET, BetMGM Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbooks, and Fanatics Sportsbook among MANY others. These are all accessible as websites or mobile apps that function with both Android or Apple iOS. Some of these platforms also allow for users to play their favorite casino games too, aside from the sports gambling; and some are even partnered with, or run by, some of the largest casinos. For example, Caesars Entertainment owns the famed Caesars hotel and casino in Las Vegas but they also operate Caesars Sportsbook (another online sports gambling platform). All of these sites make access to potential earnings quite easy to access, and many over multiple ways to place bets. DraftKings has over 18 sports that are available for placing bets; the soccer section, for example, has over 40 different leagues and tournaments to bet on (and again, that is just for soccer).
Joseph Gillespie of the FBI, agent in charge of their unit that targets sports gambling, has gone on record as stating that sports gambling allows for a gateway for organized crime to create profits extort money around the world. The FBI is not the only law enforcement or regulatory entity interested in cracking down on illegal sports gambling. INTERPOL has also been gathering data and working on impacting the illegal sports gambling industry. FIFA, at their last World Cup in 2022 in Qatar, trained 400 football Integrity officers to ensure that there was no risk, or instances, of match manipulation; according to FIFA, no examples of match manipulation were found.
It appears that each league, or competition (World Cup or Olympics), are in charge of setting their own rules as far as sports betting is concerned; what I mean is that there is not one governing body of all sports in the world that has created a rule on this issue. For example the English Football Association’s (The FA) rule on sports betting is that “no participant can bet on a match or competition that they are involved in” that season; and participants are “prohibited” from passing inside information for betting purposes. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has, since 2006, included a provision regarding sports betting in their Code of Ethics, that says it “prohibits all accredited persons at the Olympic Games from betting on Olympic events.”
There have been several high-profile cases of athletes being busted and severely punished for their role in illegal sports gambling. Ottawa Senator hockey player Shane Pinto received a 41 game suspension for his role in placing bets. Toronto Raptor basketball player Jontay Porter is facing a life suspension from the NBA for his role in illegal sports gambling. In the English Premier League, there have been three high-profile cases of illegal sports gambling and the role of league players. Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali missed most of the 2023-2024 season due to committing 50 breaches of English Premier League sports betting rules; he is allowed to return at the end of August 2024 for the upcoming season. However, if he has one more breach of sports betting rules, he will miss the entirety of the 2024-2025 Premier League season, according to Sky Sports. Brentford FC player Ivan Toney has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction, according to the Associated Press, for violating over 200 breaches of the Premier League’s sports betting rules; he served an eight month ban and returned in January this year to playing. Toney’s breaches included 13 instances where he placed bets on his own team to lose matches (clear examples of match fixing). Most recently, Lucas Paqueta is being charged with “alleged failures to comply” with an FA investigation into four matches during the 2022-2023 season that he allegedly was intentionally gaining yellow cards in matches due to bets that were placed. Paqueta denies these charges.
It is clear that sports gambling is a clear and present danger to the world of clean sport and fair competition as we know it. The sports world has always had its fair share of illegality and impropriety, you need only to look at the role of performance enhancing drugs in sports like baseball and cycling to understand that. However, I think this could be the next hurdle for the governing bodies of sports to tackle.
Engagement Resources
- FA Sports Betting Rules Page – https://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/policies/betting-rules#:~:text=No%20Participant%20can%20bet%20on,passing%20inside%20information%20for%20betting
- IOC Prevention of Competition Manipulation –https://olympics.com/ioc/integrity/prevention-competition-manipulation
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The Tech Companies Feting and Financing Trump
The Tech Companies Feting and Financing Trump
Technology Policy Brief #112 | By: Mindy Spatt | June 17, 2024
Featured Photo by Indy Silva for U.S. Resist News, 2024
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Apparently no one can stay mad at Donald Trump for long, especially if they’re a billionaire. Not Blackstone Equity Group CEO Steve Schwarzman, who has dropped his calls for new republican leadership and is backing Trump. Not high profile hedge fund manager Nicolas Pelz, who publicly regretted voting for Trump after January 6 but now is back on board. Not David Sacks, the venture capitalist who recently hosted Trump for a fundraiser at his San Francisco mansion despite having previously said Trump should be disqualified from holding office. And not Jacob Helberg, who had a key role in Pete Buttigieg’s campaign in 2020 and recently threw $1 million Trump’s way.
Analysis
Sack’s gathering – where top tickets were $500,000 per couple – was reportedly sold out and raised $12 million for the former president, who has been raking in cash all over the country since he was convicted of 34 felonies. Executives from tech companies including Coinbase and the crypto investor twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were in attendance and were apparently wooed by Trump’s vows to go after Senator Elizabeth Warren, who advocates for enhanced consumer protections for crypto buyers. Sacks and his cohost, Chamath Palihapitiya, both have huge investments in bitcoin.
Also on hand for the party was Stuart Alderoty, the Chief Legal Officer of bitcoin company Ripple. While the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking $2 billion in fines and penalties against Ripple, industry groups are pushing a bill in Congress, the Financial Innovation And Technology for the 21st Century Act, that would drastically cut away at the SEC’s powers.
It’s no surprise the notoriously anti-regulation tech sector is aligned with Trump, who is bullishly against any form of regulation or consumer protection. Most technology companies opposed Biden’s appointment of Lina Kahn as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, knowing she would aggressively pursue monopoly charges against Amazon and huge companies.
Over at the Labor Department Biden’s pick for Secretary, Julie Su, still hasn’t been confirmed and faces vociferous opposition from Uber, Lyft and other companies that use gig workers and fear Su would institute expanded rights for them.
Shaun Maguire, a partner at the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which has interests in Nividia, Reddit, Instacart, Google Door Dash Apple, previously voted democratic but announced he would back Trump just hours after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Without acknowledging the economic synergies between his companies and Trump’s policies, Maguire posted on X shortly after Trumps’ conviction “I just donated $300k to President Trump,” adding, “The timing isn’t a coincidence.”
Alderoy’s Ripple is one of the tech companies behind Fairshake, a super PAC which is set to spend close to $100 million to influence elections in November. In a recent report on a major crypto conference Rueters described Ripple President Monica Long as “optimistic that a lobbying push by the crypto industry will yield results in this year’s U.S. elections.”
Jacob Helberg, the former Buttigieg supporter, is a senior advisor at Palantir, an artificial intelligence firm that does extensive government contracting work, including with the U.S. Department of Defense. He may not be a billionaire on his own, but he is married to one, venture capitalist Keith Rabios. Helberg called the San Francisco event “proof that President Trump’s campaign is creating a generational realignment among technology founders, Millennials, gays & Jewish Americans that transcends party lines and makes him more competitive in even the most traditionally blue communities.”
Many of us here in San Francisco would emphatically disagree with Helberg. Some made their feelings known to Trump and his friends with 33 foot tall chicken balloon in Trump’s likeness, dressed in a striped prison suit, that cruised the bay in front of Alcatraz Island and was likely visible from the pricey party.
Engagement Resources
- ‘Crypto industry’s lobbying drive will pay off in US elections, Ripple president says‘ by Elizabeth Howcroft and Hannah Lang, June 4, 202410:59 PM, https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-industrys-lobbying-drive-will-pay-off-us-elections-ripple-president-says-2024-06-04/
- ‘Massive inflatable ‘Trump Chicken’ is back in the S.F. Bay Area’ by Michael Cabanatuan, June 6, 2024, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/inflatable-trump-chicken-is-back-in-sf-bay-19496963.php
- ‘Here’s the list of Trump supporters who went to his fancy Pac Heights fundraiser‘ by TIM REDMOND, June 10, 2024, https://48hills.org/2024/06/heres-the-list-of-trumps-sf-supporters/
Stay in-the-know with the latest updates from our reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. We depend on support from readers like you to aide in protecting fearless independent journalism, so please consider donating to keep democracy alive today!
Story of Pulitzer winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, an oppositionist imprisoned in Russia: Part 2
“Others will come to take our place.”
Story of Pulitzer winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, an oppositionist imprisoned in Russia: Part 2
Foreign Policy Brief #145 | By: Yelena Korshunov| June 10, 2024
Featured Photo: www.reuters.com
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In September 2023, the US Embassy in Moscow issued a public press statement dedicated to Russian publicist, politician, and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza’s imprisonment, “The United States strongly condemns the politically motivated case against Mr. Kara-Murza and the Russian government’s escalating campaign of repression against those who want their voices to be heard in the direction of the country. We reiterate our call for the immediate release of Mr. Kara-Murza, as well as the release of more than 600 political prisoners in Russia.”
In April 2024 the US State Department issued a statement on the two-year anniversary of the detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza by Russian authorities, “Two years ago, Russian authorities detained Vladimir Kara-Murza on flimsy and politically motivated grounds, accusing him of opposing the Russian government’s war against Ukraine,” states foreign ministry spokesman Matthew Miller. “His unjust sentence, egregious 25-year sentence, and ongoing prison sentence demonstrate the Kremlin’s desire to silence dissent, punish critics, and suppress fundamental freedoms. He [Kara-Murza] continues to demonstrate commitment to the principles of democracy, freedom of speech and the rule of law in a country where the government does everything possible to suppress them,” a State Department spokesman said. “We stand in solidarity with Kara-Murza and his family at this difficult time and once again call for his release, as well as the release of all political prisoners unjustly detained in Russia.”
Members of the US Senate and House of Representatives called for the Biden administration to officially label Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza as “unlawfully and wrongfully detained”. The politician was sentenced to a long term for “a powerful voice in support of democratic Russia and dreams of a peaceful rule of law state”, and “his only crime was opposing the crimes of the Putin regime,” emphasizes the letter from congressmen and senators. The appeal, initiated by the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin and Senator Roger Wicker, notes that Kara-Murza is a legal permanent resident of the United States, and his wife and three children are US citizens. “Releasing him and saving his life is in the national interests of the United States. The time has come to act,” they say in Congress. The appeal to the US administration was signed by 80 legislators from both houses of parliament and from both major parties – Republican and Democratic.
After the death of Aleksei Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza sent an open letter to the Russian opposition portal Medusa now located in Latvia. “Remember, Brodsky [Iosef Brodsky – Nobel laureate, Russian poet and essayist, 1940-1996] wrote to a friend that he [Brodsky] liked a thief better than a bloodsucker. Today there is no such choice – the people in power in Russia embody both. And they are completely hypocritical and deceitful,” he said in the letter. “Official propaganda has been creating a myth about Putin’s ‘popularity’ for many years. Even some opponents of the current government believe in this. But a strong and popular leader is not afraid of opponents – he defeats them in open debate and in free elections. Putin’s regime relies on instilling fear in society and destroying any alternative – not in the figurative, but in the literal sense of the word.”
“The Putin’s regime is not really fighting the opposition – it is fighting the future”, he continued. “This, of course, can be done for some time (even, as we see, quite a long time) but the result is still clear in advance. It is impossible to stop the future. Russia will definitely become a democracy. In the foreseeable future it [Russia] will be a ‘normal European country’ that Alexei Navalny liked to talk about. I am telling you this as a historian. Even if they kill all of us, who today are called ‘faces of the opposition,’ it means that others will come to take our place.”
For part one of the Kara-Murza series, click here.
Engagement Resources
- U.S. Mission to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe): Join Statement on the Second Anniversary of the Arrest of Vladimir Kara-Murza, https://osce.usmission.gov/joint-statetment-on-the-second-anniversary-of-the-arrest-of-vladimir-kara-murza/
- U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Russia: Marking 2 Years of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Unjust Detention, https://ru.usembassy.gov/marking-two-years-of-vladimir-kara-murzas-unjust-detention/
- Human Rights First: Free Vladimir Kara-Murza, https://humanrightsfirst.org/free-kara-murza/
Stay informed with the latest insights from our dedicated reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to continue in helping to protect democracy and empower citizenship.
TIME FOR A U.S. MIDDLE EAST PEACE POLICY
TIME FOR A U.S. MIDDLE EAST PEACE POLICY
JUNE OP ED | By: Ron Israel & the U.S. Resist News Staff | June 2024
Featured Photo: www.hoover.org
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We believe President Biden should announce a sweeping policy aimed at promoting a broad-based Middle East Peace. Such a policy would help win him points with disaffected voters, especially young people, and encourage those in countries throughout the region who put peace above their own country’s current narrow self-interest. We suggest that Biden’s Peace in the Middle East Policy contain the following elements:
‣ Recognition of Palestinian Statehood: 144 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations have already recognized Palestinian statehood, including France Belgium, Ireland, Spain and Norway. The United States needs to join this list. Palestinian statehood is a precursor to the establishment of a two-state solution.
‣ Endorsing the International Legal Decisions on the Israel/Hamas War: The International Criminal Court (ICC)and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) In recent weeks have each made decisions indicting Israeli leadership for its conduct of the war in Gaza (in violation of international law). The US has condemned these decisions and refused to join the long list of countries supporting them. This reaction sets the U.S. apart from the rest of the world and damages our reputation as a supporter of international justice.
‣ Suspending Provision of Military Assistance: The U.S. needs to suspend any further military assistance to Israel that will help perpetuate the war in Gaza. The U.S. has long supported Israel’s right to defend itself in a sea of hostile neighbors, but we need to draw the line when it comes to Israel’s use of our military aid for the war in Gaza.
‣ Endorsing and Providing Leadership for a 2-State Solution: Supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state, on equal footing with Israel, seems to be the only sustainable solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The United States needs to come out and openly endorse such a solution. We need to pledge resources to help a 2-State come into being, such as providing training to strengthen the governance capacity of Palestinian leadership. We need to support free and fair elections in Palestine.
‣ Providing Leadership for a Middle East Marshall Plan: Gaza faces an enormous task of rebuilding itself after the conclusion of its war with Israel. Other areas in the Middle East, e.g. Syria and Lebanon, that have been damaged in conflict, also face large reconstruction challenges. The United States needs to lead and support an effort to provide reconstruction aid and assistance to these countries, an effort similar in scope to the Marshal Plan at that supported the reconstruction of Europe at the end of World War II.
‣ Support for the Recognition of Israel: Once the Gaza war is over the U.S. should continue efforts, begun under the Abrahamic accords, to persuade other Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon, to recognize Israel. Increased recognition of Israel in the region will help ease tensions
‣ Increased Recognition of the Rights of Women and Other Basic Human Rights: In many Middle Eastern countries the rights to equal opportunity for women and other human rights are being denied. An essential part of the US policy for peace in the Middle East needs to be a call for all countries in the region to support human rights, especially the rights of women.
Unfortunately there may be little likelihood that the U.S. will invoke such a comprehensive Peace in the Middle East Policy. However, there would be huge political and diplomatic upsides if we were to do so. President Biden would likely gain increased voter support especially from young people supporting the Palestinian cause. And the U.S. would strengthen its relationships with countries in the region who tend to sympathize with the Palestinians.
Stay informed with the latest insights from our dedicated reporters by subscribing to the U.S. Resist Democracy Weekly Newsletter. Your support is crucial in safeguarding fearless, independent journalism. If you appreciate our content, please consider donating today to continue in helping to protect democracy and empower citizenship.
Louisiana Requiring Display of Ten Commandments In All Public Schools Is Unconstitutional
Louisiana Requiring Display of Ten Commandments In All Public Schools Is Unconstitutional
Civil Rights Policy Brief #225 | By: Rod Maggay | June 10, 2024
Featured Photo: www.nbcnews.com
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Policy Summary: During the 2024 Regular Session of the Louisiana State Legislature House Bill No. 71 was introduced. The bill’s purpose is to require every elementary, secondary and post-secondary public school in the state and every non – public school that receives state funding to display prominently in each classroom a copy of the Ten Commandments.
The bill includes technical requirements regarding the display (size of poster, location of the text on the poster, size of font) and the commandments that are mandated to be listed as part of the commandment set.
Both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature have Republican majorities and House Bill No. 71 passed overwhelmingly in both houses. However, passage was not unanimous as a number of Democrats voted against the bill. Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, has signaled that he supports the bill and intends to sign the bill when it reaches his desk. If the bill becomes law, Louisiana would become the first state in the country to require the display of the Ten Commandments in all of a state’s school. LEARN MORE
Policy Analysis: Louisiana House Bill No. 71 is part of a current, larger trend where states are trying to insert Christianity and religion into more aspects of public life. This is a dramatic departure from years past, even centuries past, where there has been an acknowledged separation of church and state. However, the Supreme Court’s turn to the right in recent years has resulted in a number of decisions that has eroded this wall of separation.
To begin, the Supreme Court has already decided in a decision that a state requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools is unconstitutional. In 1980 the Supreme Court decided Stone v. Graham. That case specifically held under the Lemon v. Kurtzman test that Kentucky could not require all of the schools in its state to post the Ten Commandments because the legislature did not put forth a secular legislative purpose. While having a copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall was not used to indoctrinate or instruct children, the Court held their presence on the wall was an endorsement of religion and therefore unconstitutional under the First Amendment since Kentucky made the presence of the Commandments on the classroom wall mandatory.
If the issue has already been decided unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, why did Louisiana introduce a bill to do exactly what the Supreme Court already said was prohibited?
Religious conservatives, evangelicals and right wing religious figures have been quietly working to try and introduce more religion, specifically Christianity, into civic public life. Their efforts got a tremendous boost with the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency in 2016 and his selection of three Supreme Court justices during his one term. His appointments to the Court shifted a previous 5-4 liberal majority into a 6-3 conservative majority that is more accommodating to religious positions. With this shift, the Supreme Court has been able to issue decisions that have made it easier for religious groups to sidestep the premise of a separation of church and state. Now taxes can be used for private religious schools, religion can be invoked to discriminate against LGBQT+ persons and employees of the state can now demonstrate their faith in a more public manner even when they are publically representing their state sanctioned workplace. These current positions would likely have never been allowed had the Court not changed to a more ideologically conservative court.
The situation in Louisiana is part of this larger trend but also hints at what the legislators behind the bill might want long – term. The legislators likely knew that their bill was unconstitutional. But by passing the bill, they were probably thinking that if the bill is challenged then they could bring the battle to the appeals process and eventually the Supreme Court a few years down the road. If the composition of the Court holds for the next few years, then these legislators will likely see an appeal that will be heard by a Court that is sympathetic to their cause. And once before the Court, they will then have an opportunity to ask for a reversal of the 1980 Stone v. Graham decision. And based on what has happened in recent years, it is not a stretch to think that the high court will overturn the rule prohibiting the mandatory display of the Ten Commandments in all public schools. The danger is not only to our secular Constitution but to non – Christian students – Jewish, Muslim, or no – faith – who face the prospect of attending classes where they could feel excluded because a state legislature has decided that the Christian faith is the preferred faith. Ordinary people would no longer have their religious beliefs chosen for them but by a state legislature which is likely what the Founding Fathers did not want for this country. This is a dangerous road for our country to be going down. LEARN MORE
Engagement Resources
- The Hill – newsgroup article explaining the many versions of the Ten Commandments and why there will be difficulty and discord when choosing which version to display.
- Justia – legal website with text of 1980 Supreme Court decision Stone v. Graham.
This brief was compiled by Rod Maggay. If you have comments or want to add the name of your organization to this brief, please contact rodwood@email.com.
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Tackling the Thirst: Water Scarcity and the Rise of Innovative Conservation Technologies
Tackling the Thirst: Water Scarcity and the Rise of Innovative Conservation Technologies
Environment Policy Brief #169 | By: Inijah Quadri | June 03, 2024
Featured Photo: www.knowesg.com
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Water scarcity has become a critical global issue that impacts over 2 billion people, living primarily in regions plagued by drought, land overuse, and pollution. The United Nations projects that, by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world could be under stress conditions due to water shortages. This growing crisis is compounded by the dual challenges of climate change and rapid population growth, which strain the limited freshwater supplies crucial for hygiene, health, agriculture, and industry.
In response to these daunting challenges, innovative water conservation technologies are being developed and deployed worldwide. These advancements include precision agriculture, smart water management systems, and revolutionary water purification techniques. Such technologies not only aim to reduce water usage but also improve the management and distribution of this scarce resource, offering sustainable solutions to a global problem.
Analysis
The underlying causes of water scarcity include natural variability in precipitation and human impacts such as water mismanagement, over-extraction for agriculture, and pollution. Inefficient water usage in agriculture, which consumes approximately 70% of global freshwater, exacerbates the problem. Traditional irrigation systems, which are prevalent in developing economies, can have efficiencies as low as 35%, meaning that over half the water used often does not benefit plants directly.
Technological innovations are addressing these inefficiencies in transformative ways. For example, precision agriculture technologies utilize GPS and IoT sensors to tailor water and nutrient delivery to the specific needs of each plant, significantly reducing waste. Israel, a leader in this technology, has implemented drip irrigation systems that can increase water efficiency by up to 90%. These systems deliver water directly to the plant roots, dramatically reducing evaporation and runoff.
Greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting are other pivotal technologies that improve water availability in urban areas. Cities like San Francisco have adopted municipal codes that require all new, large buildings to include greywater systems for non-potable uses such as toilet flushing and landscaping.
Additionally, AI-powered smart water management systems are being utilized in cities to optimize water distribution and reduce leakage. These systems use predictive analytics to manage everything from reservoir levels to pipe pressures, minimizing losses and ensuring efficient use of resources. An example of this is in Singapore, where the Public Utilities Board uses smart systems to monitor and adjust its water network in real time.
Policy Recommendations
To combat water scarcity effectively, governments and stakeholders must prioritize the integration of advanced water technologies through robust policy frameworks and substantial investments. Policies should focus on:
- Funding Research and Development: Increase funding for research into new water-saving technologies and methods. Government grants can incentivize innovation and lower the financial risks for companies developing new technologies.
- Encouraging Adoption through Incentives: Provide tax breaks, subsidies, and rebates to encourage industries and municipalities to adopt efficient water technologies.
- Regulating Water Use: Implement stricter regulations on water usage in agriculture and industry to push the adoption of more efficient systems.
- Educational Campaigns: Promote water conservation awareness through educational programs that inform the public about the importance of water conservation and how they can contribute.
By leveraging these resources and adopting forward-thinking policies, stakeholders worldwide can address the pressing issue of water scarcity, ensuring a sustainable and water-secure future for all.
Engagement Resources:
- Water.org (https://www.water.org/): Advocates for sustainable water solutions in developing regions, providing innovative financial products to enable water and sanitation projects.
- Alliance for Water Efficiency (https://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/): Offers resources and guidance on water conservation measures and technologies, advocating for policies that support efficient water use.
- Water Footprint Network (https://www.waterfootprint.org/): Provides detailed insights and tools for assessing and managing water use at both the corporate and individual levels.
- Global Water Partnership (https://www.gwp.org/): A vast network supporting water resource management policies worldwide, promoting sustainable water use practices.
- International Water Management Institute (https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/): Focuses on research for better water management practices in developing countries, highlighting sustainable solutions to tackle water scarcity.
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Will Artificial Intelligence Save California… or Ruin It?
Will Artificial Intelligence Save California… or Ruin It?
Technology Policy Brief #111 | By: Mindy Spatt | June 07, 2024
Featured Photo by Indy Silva for U.S. Resist News, 2024
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While some are looking to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry to revive California’s faltering tech sector, especially in San Francisco, city Supervisor Dean Preston is worried about its impact on elections. He held a hearing recently during which he found out that the San Francisco Department of elections has no jurisdiction whatsoever over deep fakes.
“I am alarmed to learn …. there is a lack of real ability to enforce against fake AI content,” Preston, said. He comes by his concerns honestly. An online news outlet, BHH News, posted a false report last year saying Preston had resigned due to attacks on him by Elon Musk. The story was reposted by MSN before Preston’s office was able to get it removed. The real story is that Musk, owner of San Francisco based X, disagrees with Preston, a democratic socialist, on key issues and hence is going after him.
Concerns over election misinformation are not new, but are growing along with the explosive growth of the industry; Chat GPT acquired a million users just five days after it was founded in November 2022. By January 2023 it had a million additional users, and it is now up to over 180.5 million users. In a newly released poll, the advocacy group Free Press found that 79 percent of people worry that information they find online is “false, fake, or a deliberate attempt to confuse.”
Analysis
While the San Francisco Department of Elections may be unable to act, the California Legislature certainly has the ability to do so. California has been a leader in privacy, and could become one in AI if a set of bills before the legislature this year passes. But the bills will have to get past a wealthy and well-connected lobbying effort from an industry that always fights tooth and nail against any oversight.
One major area of contention is large language models (LLM), a type of artificial intelligence program that can recognize and generate text and is trained on huge sets of data. California’s proposed Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act would establish safeguards before models LLMs could be used, and require reporting of safety incidents. The dangers include arbitrary code execution, data poisoning, data drift, bias predictions and toxic output and the impacts can be biased algorithms, misinformation and even the creation of lethal weapons.
The California Chamber of Commerce leads a coalition of industry groups hostile to the bill and sent an opposition letter including this choice bit of doublespeak:
This, unfortunately, does not better protect Californians. Instead, by hamstringing businesses from developing the very AI technologies that could protect them from dangerous models developed in territories beyond California’s control, it risks only making them more vulnerable.
Another effort moving forward is the California AI Transparency Act, (CAITA), a bill that requires providers of large generative artificial intelligence systems to label AI-generated images, videos, and audio with embedded disclosures. It also requires a detection tool for users to determine whether content was created by AI. The author, State Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) said “AI-generated images, audio and video could be used for spreading political misinformation and creating deep fakes. CAITA will advance provenance, transparency, accountability, and empower individuals to make choices aligned with their values.”
Other bills under consideration include California Assembly Bill 2930 which would place limitations on the use of automated decision-making tools. Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, an east bay democrat, has authored a bill to compel online platforms to add watermarks to images and videos before elections this fall. And California Senate Bill 893 would create an Artificial Intelligence Research Hub to “facilitate collaboration” and identify risks from AI in both government and the private sector.
Taken together the bills would provide the most robust legislative framework in the country for AI oversight. That is if they are passed and signed, a scenario Governor Newsom recently cast doubt on. “We dominate in this space. I want to continue to dominate in this space. I don’t want to cede this space to other states or other countries,” he recently said during an AI summit in San Francisco. “If we over-regulate, if we overindulge, if we chase a shiny object we could put ourselves in a perilous position.”
But Supervisor Preston may take heart in Newsom’s indication that he’s in favor of laws to prevent election misinformation and deceptive content, because “I’ve got personal reasons to believe that’s legit — the voice, videos, these AI bots, the persuasion campaigns.” In order to have an impact on November’s election, legislation would have to be approved on an urgency basis which requires a two-thirds vote in both the Assembly and Senate.
Engagement Resources:
- “How California and the EU Work Together to Regulate Artificial Intelligence,” By Khari Johnson, Cal Matters, May 24,2024.
https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2024/05/ca-eu-ai-regulation/ - “In Regulating A.I., We May Be Doing Too Much. And Too Little,” by Tim Wu, NY Times, Nov. 7, 2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/07/opinion/biden-ai-regulation.html - “Gavin Newsom warns against perils of over-regulating AI” by Jeremy White, Politico, May 29, 2024
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/29/newsom-california-artifical-intelligence-regulations-00160519
Check out UsRenewNews.org/AI for more news on Artificial Intelligence policies, technologies, and trends.
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The Week That Was: Global News In Review
The Week That Was: Global News In Review
Foreign Policy Brief #144 | By: Abran C| June 06, 2024
Featured Photo: www.vecteezy.com
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Members of the Texas National Guard stand near a razor wire fence used to prevent migrants from crossing into the United States from Mexico along the Rio Bravo river, January 22, 2024
[File: Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]
Biden’s asylum ban
The Biden administration has recently instituted a broad asylum ban on migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border. Migrants caught crossing illegally can now be quickly denied asylum claims and deported or turned back to Mexico under the measure. The US Department of Homeland Security has said there will be exceptions for unaccompanied children, people who face serious medical or safety threats and victims of trafficking. Biden has shifted his approach to border security further to the right as immigration has again emerged as a top issue for Americans in the run-up to the US Presidential elections where he will once again face Donald Trump.
The measure will prevent any migrants who cross the southern border without authorization from applying for asylum if the average number of unauthorized daily crossings passes 2,500. Last month the average number of unauthorized daily crossings reported by the US Border Patrol was 3,700. The new regulations are said to remain in place until the number of unauthorized crossings drops below a daily average of 1,500. With the restrictions to be reimposed whenever numbers increase again. Still, operational questions about the measure’s implementation remain unclear, including how the administration would quickly deport migrants from far-away countries and how many non-Mexican migrants Mexico would be willing to accept under the new enforcement policy.
The location of burial sites identified on satellite imagery close to the Al Raqw migrant camp. Photograph: Maxar/HRW
Saudi Arabia: Mass Killings of Migrants
According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, titled: They Fired on us Like Rain, details Saudi border guards who are claimed to have killed hundreds of mainly Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers, who made their way across the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023. Approximately 750,000 Ethiopians reside and work in Saudi Arabia. While many migrate for economic reasons, a large number have fled because of human rights abuses and armed conflict in Ethiopia. The report stated that a UN backed investigation should be launched and “if committed as part of a Saudi government policy to murder migrants, these killings, which appear to continue, would be a crime against humanity”.
Garry Conille addresses the audience during a ceremony with members of the transition council, where he is presented as Haiti’s interim Prime Minister, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti June 3, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Ero
Situation in Haiti
Haiti’s new interim Prime Minister Garry Conille stated that the new administration and other leaders in the country were setting aside their differences to work for the good of the country, which is battling a devastating crisis fuelled by gang wars. According to Unicef, as many as 4.4 million people in the country are in urgent need of food assistance, and 1.6 million people face emergency levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition. A Kenya-led mission to help Haitian police and security forces combat the gangs is expected to arrive in the Caribbean nation in the coming weeks. The mission has been supported by the US, which will not be sending troops but will be providing logistical support to the mission, including intelligence sharing, communications, and air power.
MIKE TUCKER, (2024, March 27) Thousands of Kanak protesters march behind banner, “No to colonialism,” in Noumea, New Caledonia.
Riots in New Caledonia
Mass protests erupted in New Caledonia after France’s parliament voted to implement electoral reforms that would allow French residents who have lived in the Pacific Islands territory for 10 years or more to vote in provincial elections. The Islands Indigenous Kanak community, who make up 40% of the islands’ population, fear these reforms will undermine their efforts to win independence from France. The French government imposed a strict crackdown on the protests, deploying troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport, with hundreds of heavily armed French marines and police patrolling the capital, Noumea. The government also temporarily banned TikTok, and placed those it accused of organizing the protests under house arrest.
At least seven people were killed in the latest civil unrest, with barricades erected across major roads and commercial sites looted and set on fire. New Caledonia has been a French territory since colonization in the late 1800s. Politics remains dominated by debate about whether the islands should be part of France, autonomous or independent, with opinions split roughly along ethnic lines.
For more updates, articles, in-depth analysis and weekly reviews on Global News, click here.
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