google-site-verification=cXrcMGa94PjI5BEhkIFIyc9eZiIwZzNJc4mTXSXtGRM The Supreme Court is considering whether cities can criminalize homelessness - 360WISE MEDIA
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The Supreme Court is considering whether cities can criminalize homelessness

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On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court held an oral argument on whether cities can superb unhoused people for sleeping outdoors in the event that they can’t go to hunt shelter.

The Supreme Court previously declined to listen to a comparable case from Boise, Idaho, in 2019. But over the past 4 years, homelessness rates across the country have increased dramatically. US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines homelessness to incorporate each sheltered individuals who live in emergency shelters, transitional shelters, and hotels, and unsheltered individuals who live outdoors in cars or abandoned buildings which were deemed uninhabitable.

Additionally, if someone cannot stick with a friend for greater than 14 days, additionally they fall under this classification. As of January 2023, there have been 653,104 homeless Americans.

In this case, the agricultural town of Grants Pass, Oregon, began imposing $295 fines on people sleeping outdoors as a consequence of skyrocketing housing costs and a rise within the variety of tents in public spaces. As with the lower court ruling within the Boise case, US 9vol District Court of Appeal based in San Francisco “repealed a law that made it illegal to camp in places where there were not enough shelter beds as cruel and unusual punishment.”

As in most high-profile cases, the justices look like divided on ideological grounds. “Sleep is a biological necessity. It’s a bit like respiratory… But I would not expect you to think about respiratory in public places a criminal offense,” said liberal judge Elena Kagan. “You don’t arrest children who’re covered with blankets. You don’t arrest individuals who sleep on the beach,” Judge Sonia said Sotomayor.

But on the conservative side, Justice Clarence Thomas he skeptically asked, “Have we ever applied the Eighth Amendment to civil penalties?” Judge Samuel Alita asked, “What happens if a person finds this person homeless because of past life choices or their refusal to make future life choices?”

The crux of the argument is whether Grants Pass treats homelessness as a “status.” “Doing so would violate the 1962 case of Robinson v. California, which found it violated the Eighth Amendment, which recognized drug addiction as an illegal “status.” ABC news reports.

If the Supreme Court decides to rule in favor of the Oregon city, it would have far-reaching consequences for homeless people who find themselves currently struggling to make ends meet in cities across the country, which is able to disproportionately impact the Black population.

According to a 2023 article published within the journal ” Journal of ethnic health disparities“[h]“Homelessness is a public health crisis that affects millions of Americans every year.” Additionally, “black Americans are four times more likely to experience homelessness in their lifetime compared to white Americans.”

The Supreme Court is expected to announce its ruling before the tip of June 2024. However, the Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to remit the case to a lower court. The White House believes that additional evidentiary findings are needed with a purpose to issue a final ruling.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Politics and Current

President Biden reaffirms support for Israel amid protests

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Joe Biden, pro-Palestinian, Israel, Gaza, students, protesters, UCLA, Columbia University, president


President Joe Biden’s virtue signaled to the nation his strong and continued support for Israel’s unjust occupation of Gaza and its brutality against the Palestinians.

On May 2, the Commander-in-Chief addressed the press and voters regarding the violence that occurred on May 1 during protests at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The 81-year-old president expressed his belief that folks had the proper to protest and assemble peacefully, but using violence wouldn’t be tolerated. He also stated that the United States just isn’t a “lawless country” and that there have to be order in “civil society.”

“The first is the right to freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble and express one’s voice. The second is the rule of law. Both need to be maintained. We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people and suppress dissent. The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is the best tradition of how Americans respond to the problems that arise. But… but we are not a lawless country either. We are a civil society and there must be order,” Biden said.

“We have often encountered moments like this throughout our history because we are a large, diverse, free-thinking and freedom-loving nation. At times like these, there will always be those in a hurry to score political points. But this is not the moment for politics. This is a moment for clarity.”

Biden continued: “Let me be clear. Peaceful Protest in America – Violent protest is not protected; is a peaceful protest. When violence occurs, it is against the law.”

He maintained his support for Israel, although he expressed that Palestinians, Arabs and their supporters didn’t should be persecuted.

“But let’s get this straight too. There should be no place on any campus in America for anti-Semitism and threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it is anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.”

When a reporter asked Biden whether pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses had modified his support for Israel, he replied: “No.”

Although Biden alluded to protesters inciting violence and chaos against Jewish students, pro-Palestinian supporters don’t seem like a gaggle causing violence on various college campuses.

On May 1, roughly 150–200 pro-Israel supporters apparently attacked a pro-Palestinian camp on the University of California, Los Angeles, attacking students and others standing with Palestinians in Gaza. Aggressive supporters of the colonizers were armed with sticks and tried to remove the barricade from the protester’s headquarters.

The disturbing footage shows various men kicking and punching others while they were on the bottom.

At Columbia University in New York, Palestinian students and their supporters sharply criticized the varsity for calling SWAT on its students.

Jewish Columbia University student Cameron Jones revealed that there have been numerous Jewish students on campus who had renounced their Zionist faith and Israel’s egregious actions.

Guardian indicated universities, including Columbia, Harvard, and Penn State, have demonstrated incredulous bias against students supporting Palestinians in Gaza. When teachers and administrators could empower their students to fight for what they believed in, they called the police. Specifically, there have been students at Columbia in April detained and tied up zippered, although there have been no violent explosions. A recent Gallup poll found young adults’ support for Israel dropped dramatically.

Biden’s virtue signaling adds further fodder to the continued saga between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Politics and Current

Testimony reveals businessman accused of organizing wife’s murder tried to leave country and pumped millions into lover’s business before insurance payout

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Woman Gunned Down In Murder-For-Hire Plot Wanted To Work On Her Marriage

Omar Collymore was to receive $77 million in compensation within the event of his wife’s death. Then got here the love triangle, a series of bullets on his wife and her taxi driver in St. Andrew in Jamaica and murder charges.

The 41-year-old businessman is currently on trial on charges of hiring a success man in 2018 to kill wife Simone Campbell-Collymore, and disturbing latest revelations emerged during his testimony this week.

Omar, an American citizen born in Barbados, recently testified during his trial that on the day of his wife’s funeral, he tried to flee Jamaica out of fear for his life.

Woman shot dead in connection with murder-for-hire wanted to work on her marriage
Simone Campbell-Collymore and her husband Omar, who’s currently on trial over her death. (Facebook)

He revealed in court that he had been shot at an insurance company in Kingston shortly after his wife’s death. The ambush resulted in him being hospitalized, where he was visited by a U.S. Embassy official who warned him to take extra precautions.

According to his testimony this week, after being released from the hospital, Omar visited the U.S. Embassy and was advised to leave the island for his own safety. Eventually, embassy officials escorted him to the airport.

Pressed by prosecutor Andrea Martin-Swaby concerning the strange departure date, the widower claimed he was unaware that his late wife’s funeral was happening, citing the dearth of a telephone, The Jamaica Gleaner reported.

Before the plane took off, Omar said he was pulled from the plane for questioning concerning the brazen daylight shooting of his wife and taxi driver Winston Walters. When police released him, he reportedly selected to stay overnight at a guesthouse, recently telling a court he selected the place because he and his wife had fond memories there.

Amid tensions of their marriage, Omar began a three-year affair with an unidentified woman, and his latest testimony sheds light on the character of their relationship. When prosecutor Andrea Martin-Swaby questioned Omar, he revealed that he had pumped $3 million into an organization owned by his mistress – despite the fact that his wife told him their corporations were in arrears. He claimed that he tried to get well the cash in 2017, but to no avail.

His lover, described as a gym trainer, denied receiving any financial advantages from Omar. However, she admitted that he paid her rent and took her on trips abroad, including: to her marital home in Miami, Florida, – reported the Jamaican Gleaner.

The woman previously told the court that she began an ice cream company with Omar and his friend, however the two pulled out of the deal before it went into effect and she didn’t remember how much startup money or other funding he provided.

Omar and Campbell-Collymore married in 2010 and moved to Jamaica shortly thereafter, where they lived with Campbell-Collymore’s parents until Omar’s affair disintegrated their marriage.

During the trial, text messages revealed that Campbell-Collymore was initially open to resolving the problem. However, as time passed, separation was considered and she was willing to sign a luxury vehicle deal to cut off all ties with him. It was also noted that Omar was having financial difficulties and had sought help from Campbell-Collymore before his death.

Wade Blackwood, a member of the Unruly Gang, is one of two men who shot at Campbell-Collymore in video footage of the incident. He was convicted of the crime in 2021 after pleading guilty to two counts of murder and illegal possession of a firearm. He received two life sentences, which were later reduced to life imprisonment with the chance of parole in 20 years.

Although Omar stood to make millions within the event of his wife’s death, former insurance agent Campbell-Collymore told a court in April that Omar was in search of two additional policies with a $10 million critical illness cover despite the fact that his wife already had one – suspicions concerning the beleaguered widower. His co-defendant, Michael Crayboss Adams, can also be accused of murder.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Inside Biden’s Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony honoring Black luminaries including ‘Grandma Juneteenth’

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“Grandma Juneteenth” and the person who contributed to part of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speech received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden on the White House on Friday.

They were amongst 19 people, including current and former elected officials, who received the nation’s highest civilian honors.

Known as “Grandma Juneteenth” for her a long time of work to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, Opal Lee is a 97-year-old retired teacher in Texas. After the ceremony, Lee said she “don’t know how to express” the way it felt “to be in the room with all these people who have achieved so much.” Those honored included Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh, broadcast journalism icon Phil Donahue, former New York mayor and businessman Michael Bloomberg and Olympic gold medalist Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky.

“Having June 11 as a national holiday was something so many of us have wanted for so long,” Lee said. “There is so much more to do.”

In a packed East Room, Biden called the recipients “amazing people” whose “relentless curiosity and ingenuity, ingenuity and hope have sustained faith in a better tomorrow.”

Other recipients included black luminaries similar to Clarence B. Jones, who was King’s lawyer and helped craft the unique “I Have a Dream” speech, and the late civil rights activist Medgar Evers.

Evers’ award was accepted posthumously by his daughter, Reena Evers-Everette.

Biden praised Evers as “a patriot shot dead by the poison of white supremacy” whose “spirit endures.” He praised Jones for “holding up the pen as a sword and giving words to a movement that has brought freedom to millions of people.”

Biden’s close allies also received the honour, including former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and current Republican Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; former Vice President Al Gore; former Secretary of State John Kerry, who most recently served as Biden’s climate czar; and Rep. James “Jim” Clyburn, D-S.C., to whom Biden credited his presidency.

“I wouldn’t be standing here as president and giving these awards if it weren’t for Jim,” Biden said of Clyburn, 83, who notably endorsed Biden within the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and saved his campaign, which was struggling on the time.

US President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Freedom to US Republican James Clyburn (D-SC) during a ceremony within the East Room of the White House, May 3, 2024, in Washington. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Lee organized the 4.5-mile walk to commemorate the 2 and a half years it took for enslaved black people in Galveston, Texas, to learn that that they had been emancipated by the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln.

In 2021, Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, solidifying June 19 as a federal holiday. When he signed the bill, he handed Lee the primary of many pens used to sign it.

“June 11 is a day of profound significance and power to remember the original sin of slavery and the extraordinary ability to weave together our most painful moments to achieve greater visions of ourselves,” Biden said. “SM. Opal Lee set out to make history, not erase it. We are a better nation because of you.”

American retired teacher and activist Opal Lee attends the Presidential Medal of Freedom award ceremony on the White House in Washington, DC, May 3, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was first established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. Civilians who’ve received this presidential honor include civil rights activist Rosa Parks, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, former South African President Nelson Mandela, author Maya Angelou, actor Sidney Poitier, activist Bayard Rustin, entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey and athlete Michael Jordan, amongst others.

After the awards presentation, Biden concluded his remarks by saying, “It makes you proud to be an American, right?” to a room full of applause.

Vice President Kamala Harris congratulated the winners on Saturday in a social media post, sharing a photograph of herself with Biden and Lee.

“You represent the best of America,” she wrote within the post.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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