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SCOTUS respects mandatory minimum wages for certain drug traffickers

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U.S. Supreme Court, theGrio.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Friday that 1000’s of small-time drug dealers are ineligible for reduced prison sentences under a bipartisan Trump-era criminal justice overhaul.

The justices took up the case of Mark Pulsifer, an Iowa man convicted of distributing at the least 50 grams of methamphetamine, to resolve a dispute between federal courts over the meaning of the word “and” in an obscure provision of the 2018 law. First Step Act.

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Contained within the law of the so-called The safety valve provision is meant to guard nonviolent, low-level drug dealers who conform to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors from facing often longer, mandatory sentences.

The United States Supreme Court with the Justice sculpture within the foreground, April 19, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Some courts have concluded that the usage of the word actually means “and”, while others have concluded that it means “or”. The defendant’s eligibility for a shorter sentence trusted the end result.

“Today we agree with the government’s view of the criminal record provision,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the bulk in a 6-3 decision that didn’t divide the justices along liberal-conservative lines.

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In his dissent, Justice Neil Gorsuch described the First Step Act as perhaps “the most important criminal justice reform bill in a generation.” But under the court’s decision, “thousands more people in the federal criminal justice system will be deprived of a chance — simply a chance” at a reduced sentence, wrote Gorsuch, who was joined by Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor.

Nearly 6,000 people convicted of drug trafficking in fiscal yr 2021 alone are amongst those that could qualify for reduced sentences, in accordance with data collected by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

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This provision lists three criteria enabling judges to depart from mandatory minimum sentences, which generally bear in mind the seriousness of previous offenses. Congress wrote this section negatively in order that a judge could exercise sentencing discretion if a defendant “does not have” the three varieties of criminal history.

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Before making their decision, the judges considered how one can determine safety valve eligibility – whether any one in every of the conditions was enough to disqualify someone, or whether all three were required for exclusion.

Pulsifer’s lawyers argued that every one three conditions have to be met before an extended sentence might be imposed. The government stated that one condition was enough to acquire the mandatory minimum.

Kagan wrote that the language “creates an eligibility checklist and requires the defendant to meet each of its conditions.”

Two of the three conditions involved Pulsifer. The trial court and the eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis ruled he was entitled to a mandatory sentence of at the least 15 years. In fact, he received 13 and a half years in prison for unrelated reasons.

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Pulsifer, now 61, just isn’t scheduled to be released from prison until 2031, in accordance with federal Bureau of Prisons records.

Congress can still change the law if it decides the court was incorrect.

The case is Pulsifer v. U.S., 22-340.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Politics and Current

Trump’s staff are trying to stop the “abuse” of Elon Musk’s relationship with the president, who cannot demand him because “there is no leverage over him, and Elon gives Zero FS”

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He is a spoiled brat of the inner circle of the magician, opening the thumb with Donald Trump’s “Tatus”, seemingly remaining a privileged son.

A jealous older brother Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump, who once enjoyed the same close president, declared war with the younger, richer Nemesis a couple of months ago, swearing that he banished him on January 20.

But this date has passed, and Elon is still standing, often alongside the president.

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The president of American Elekt Donald Trump and Elon Musk observe the launch of the sixth Starship Spacex rocket test on November 19, 2024 at Brownsville, Texas. The owner of the billionaire SpaceX, Elon Musk, Trump’s trustee, was used to manage the latest performance of the government department together with the former presidential candidate Vivka Ramaswamy. (Photo Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

However, this week, the General Director of Tesla could go too far. Musk undermined Trump’s announcement on Tuesday about an investment price $ 500 billion in the infrastructure of artificial intelligence, claiming that supporters of the “Stargate project” only a fraction of the proposed investments price $ 500 billion.

He even published a joke This suggested that the directors were burning Crack “to come up with the number of $ 500 billion for Stargate.”

Bannon saw, telling Musk journalists, “he should not reverse what the president was already talking about. This is unacceptable and unsatisfactory. You see how he is out of control.”

Trump, when asked about the number of Musk’s failures at a press conference on Friday, seemed to move his arms.

“I mean that Elon does not like one of these people,” Trump replied, referring to musk contempt for the general director of OPENAI Altman itself, one of the primary investors of the Stargate project.

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That’s all? No pink slip? Even insult? What does the President’s Musk have?

“It is obvious that he abused the proximity of the president,” Trump’s ally he said Politico. “The problem is that the president has no levers over him, and Elon gives zero f – s.”

As Politico noted: “It is very unusual for the senior adviser-Muska-in public to criticize the president’s initiatives, and his broadly favorable speculation in GOP circles about whether he and Trump will finally seem.”

But there are no signs of the upcoming breakup. Trump is unable to hide his feelings and although there have been reports that he has enough musk, the general director of Starlink retains almost unusual access to the president.

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Musk even has an office in West Wing, during which he pilots the “Department of Government”, an advisory commission created by Trump to eliminate waste in the federal government.

“We are now working with him to understand his ideas – the ideas are innovative. Make done not so much,” said a political official of the White House.

Bannon called on the chief of staff of Susie Wiles to “sit (musk) down” and “immediate sorting”.

He should already know: no person puts Elon in the corner.

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This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Black historians and leaders condemn the executive order of Trump addressed to the Smithsonian African American Museum: “Literal attack on Black America” ​​- essence

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Black historians and leaders condemn the executive order of Trump addressed to the Smithsonian African American Museum:

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, near the Washington monument. (Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group by Getty Images)

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One of the latest executive orders of President Trump is to arouse serious slack and for a reason. New order entitled “Restoring truth and mental health to the history of America” He follows the Smithsonian institution particularly the National Museum of History and Culture of African American-conquering it consisting in pushing “a divisible, focused ideology on the race.”

But about this: the executive order ignores key facts about the history of America, akin to the founders’ fathers wrote slavery in the structure and announced enslaved people as three fifth people.

As Essence informed earlier, the order is about by JD Vance Vice President liable for reviewing the museum content and gives the internal secretary Doug Burgum the right to examine whether any monuments have been removed or modified “to consolidate a false reconstruction of America’s history.” In other words, direct effort is to rewrite history to match the president’s narrative – one which removes the influence of racism and black contribution to the nation.

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In 2017, at the starting of his first term, Trump actually praised the African American Museum and culture, saying that “he was deeply proud, that there is now a museum that honors millions of African Americans and women who built our national heritage.” Now he conducts the effort to undermine the institution itself, which he once called the treasure. But historians and black leaders don’t withdraw. As Clarke put it: “Let’s be a bright, black story is America’s story. Every rhetoric that opposes this concept is not only incorrect, but grossly racist.”

Historians, supporters of civil rights and black political leaders shouldn’t have this. Here’s what that they had to say about the latest attempt to whiten history.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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HHS Secretary HHS RFK JR. Fluoring in water can worsen health differences for black Americans

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The United States of the Secretary for Health and Social Welfare, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., reversed the tenth anniversary CDC guidelines to recommend water fluoridation. The position applies to public health experts who claim that practice has reduced the occurrence of oral disease.

Kennedy, who has long been a skeptic of fluoride safety in the water, announced on Monday that he would order CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) to stop the advisory advice for countries about water fluoridation, fulfilling the promise he made after the election of President Donald Trump in November last yr. On the identical day, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will start reviewing “new scientific information” on the potential health threats of fluoride in drinking water, in keeping with the Associated Press. The Federal Agency is responsible for determining the utmost allowed fluoride level in public water systems.

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As the perfect health secretary in the country, Kennedy doesn’t have the best to force states to stop the fluorisation of drinking water, but taking a step to order CDC reversal in this matter could have a major impact. . CDC Earlier he said that fluorine in drinking water strengthens tooth health and reduces the niches, replacing minerals lost over time for normal consumption.

The federal government has supported Water fluorization from 1950 and started to find out the rules on how much fluoride needs to be added to drinking water in 1962.

Public health experts questioned that there’s a threat to the health of fluoride in drinking water, especially considering the fluoride level allowed for 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. Revelation of recommendations and potentially reduction or elimination of water fluoridation concerns a very negative impact on health supporters who’re afraid of black and brown communities.

The Jamiya Williams and Terrance Carter sink is slowly crammed with water when washing dishes in its apartment on September 1, 2022 in Jackson, Mississippi. Water pressure increased in their apartment on Wednesday; However, the water remains to be dangerous to drink. (Photo Brad Vest/Getty Images)

King said that eliminating the usage of fluoride in drinking water, combined with a disproportionate lack of access to healthcare, may prove harmful to black and brown American children and adults.

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“These populations are particularly threatened due to the limitation of dental insurance, and the lack of available dental suppliers. The increased incidence of the dental recess and the occurrence of expensive conditions that can be prevented can be the result,” he explained.

Scientific data show that the differences in the health of the oral cavity amongst black children have existed for years, despite the intervention of public fluoridation of drinking water in their communities. According to Study from the National Institutes of Health“Although the availability of insurance has increased, research indicates that it remains unused by the African American community.”

The claim of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

There are also other aspects that could be available apart from access to insurance and care. “Socio-cultural factors also affect the way African Americans experience oral health, from the patient’s relationship with the value determined on the health of the oral cavity,” notes the NIH study. “African Americans have a fragile history with the medical community, and sometimes they show evidence of distrust for doctors. This distrust can lead to the avoidance of African Americans.”

Without the intervention of fluoridation, public health experts are afraid that the health of the Black Americans may worsen.

Administrator EPA Lee Zeldin praised Kennedy’s move about water fluoridation and said that the brand new review of the agency would inform her “future steps”.

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“Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this problem. His spokeswoman played a key role in our decision to review the threats associated with exposure to fluorine, and we are involved in cooperation with him, using solid sciences when we develop our mission of human health and the environment,” he said.

Watch: why the US made little progress in improving the health of Black Americans

(Tagstranslate) Robert F. Kennedy JR (T) Trump administration

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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