K Rahall

Shock Video Shows ICE Agent Assaulting Woman Who Asked If He’s A Good Christian Hundreds protested Tuesday at an ICE facility in southwest Colorado after agents detained two children on their way to school.

This is ugly. But the reason this lady was protesting is even worse. ICE thugs detained two children and their father on their way to school. One child appears to have been beaten in detention, and no one seems to know where the 12-year-old girl is right now. The family had been seeking asylum.

The R Justices own so much of what Trump is doing...

(ordering the murder of civilians, directing prosecutions of political opponents, gutting administrative agencies, razing the White House, & treating taxpayer $ and the federal govt as his personal piggy bank.)

newrepublic.com/article/2022...

MUNGIA, J. (concurring)—I concur with the majority’s opinion.1 And yet I dissent. Not from the majority’s opinion, but I dissent from the racism embedded in the federal case law that applies to this dispute. FEDERAL INDIAN LAW IS A PRODUCT OF THE RACIST BELIEFS ENDEMIC IN OUR SOCIETY AND OUR LEGAL SYSTEM While it is certainly necessary to follow federal case law on issues involving Native American tribes and their members, at the same time it is important to call out that the very foundations of those opinions were based on racism and white supremacy. By doing this, readers of our opinions will have no doubt that the current court disavows, and condemns, those racist sentiments, beliefs, and statements.

Since the founding of our country, the federal government has characterized Native Americans as “savages”: They were “uncivilized.” They had little claim to the land upon which they lived. At times, the federal government attempted to eradicate Native Americans through genocidal policies. At other times, the federal government employed ethnic cleansing by forcibly removing children from their parents’ homes to strip them from their culture, their language, and their beings.2 Federal Indian case law arises from those racist underpinnings. The majority correctly cites to Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 8 L. Ed. 25 (1831), which is one of the foundational cases involving tribal sovereignty. That opinion is rife with racist attitudes toward Native Americans. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the majority, describes a tribe’s relationship to the federal government as one of “ward to his guardian.” Id. at 17. In effect, the opinion presents tribal members as children, and the federal government as the adult. That theme would follow in later opinions by the United States Supreme Court—as would the theme of white supremacy. Cherokee Nation began with the premise that Native American tribes, once strong and powerful, were no match for the white race and so found themselves “gradually sinking beneath our superior policy, our arts and our arms.” Id. at 15. The white man was considered the teacher, the Native Americans the pupils:

Meanwhile they are in a state of pupilage. Their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian. Id. at 17. This characterization of superior to inferior, teacher to student, guardian to ward, was repeated in later United States Supreme Court opinions. In Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553, 23 S. Ct. 216, 47 L. Ed. 299 (1903), often characterized as the “American Indian Dred Scott,” 3 the Court used that rationale to justify ruling that the United States could break its treaties with Native American tribes. These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation. They are communities dependent on the United States. Dependent largely for their daily food. Dependent for their political rights. . . . From their very weakness and helplessness . . . there arises the duty of protection, and with it the power. Id. at 567 (quoting United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375, 383-84, 6 S. Ct. 1109, 30 L. Ed. 228 (1886)). Our court also carries the shame of denigrating Native Americans by using that same characterization: “The Indian was a child, and a dangerous child, of nature, to be both protected and restrained.” State v. Towessnute, 89 Wash. 478, 482, 154 P. 805 (1916), judgment vacated and opinion repudiated by 197 Wn.2d 574, 486 P.3d 111 (2020). 3 See A

Returning to Cherokee Nation, Justice William Johnson’s separate opinion was less tempered in how he considered the various Native American tribes: I cannot but think that there are strong reasons for doubting the applicability of the epithet state, to a people so low in the grade of organized society as our Indian tribes most generally are. Cherokee Nation, 30 U.S. at 21. Native Americans were not to be treated as “equals to equals” but, instead, the United States was the conqueror and Native Americans the conquered. Id. at 23. In discussing Native Americans, Justice Johnson employed another racist trope used by judges both before and after him: Native Americans were uncivilized savages. [W]e have extended to them the means and inducement to become agricultural and civilized. . . . Independently of the general influence of humanity, these people were restless, warlike, and signally cruel. . . . . But I think it very clear that the constitution neither speaks of them as states or foreign states, but as just what they were, Indian tribes . . . which the law of nations would regard as nothing more than wandering hordes, held together only by ties of blood and habit, and having neither laws or government, beyond what is required in a savage state. Id. at 23, 27-28. This same characterization was used by Justice Stanley Matthews in Ex parte KanGi-Shun-Ca (otherwise known as Crow Dog), 109 U.S. 556, 3 S. Ct. 396, 27 L. Ed. 1030 (1883). Justice Matthews described Native Americans as leading a savage life.

Washington Supreme Court Justice Mungia has an extraordinary opinion condemning "the underlying racism and prejudices that are woven into the very fabric" of SCOTUS opinions about Native people.

"We must clearly, loudly, and unequivocally state that was wrong.”
www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf...

Noem has trained them well

We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.

I am just so fucking proud of her.

Fun fact: Doctor Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, close friend of Trump and RFK Jr., and self-admitted fraudulent supplement huckster, sells multiple forms of leucovorin through his supplement company, iHerb, which he didn’t divest when taking his federal gov role.

When the history of this fascist period is written, special attention will be paid to some of our epoch’s most grotesque figures: leaders of liberal nonprofits and think tanks. It’s incredible to see someone, at this moment, put their name on this quote:

Public comment opens today on a proposed FRE 609 reform! The main change would be the addition of “substantially” to the 609(a)(1)(B) balancing. In other words, it aims to make it harder to admit felony convictions against those testifying in their own defense at criminal trials tinyurl.com/2c6mazxd

You can comment on this proposed change; so can your students; and so can those who have been directly impacted by the rule. If you’re looking for ideas on teaching impeachment or more information on the proposal, check out my chapter in the forthcoming book “Critical Evidence.” tinyurl.com/3x8kyen4

She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩

Tomorrow at #SEALS2025 I’ll present my forthcoming article “Interrogating the Facts of the Case,” which examines the risks of erasing the interrogation room from the criminal law classroom (& elsewhere). Come find me and co-participants at 8-10am, Magnolia C. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

After 37 Years, Brooklyn Man Finally Exonerated for a Murder He Says He Didn’t Commit Brian Kendall was 17 when police accused him of a homicide he insisted he didn’t commit. A Brooklyn DA unit now says he’s “likely innocent.”

Brian Kendall was 17 when police accused him of a homicide he insisted he didn’t commit. A Brooklyn DA unit now says he’s “likely innocent.”

Opinion | RFK Jr.: HHS Moves to Restore Public Trust in Vaccines We’re reconstituting an advisory committee to avoid conflicts of interest.

RFK Jr just disbanded ACIP, the CDC's independent advisers on vaccines. www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-...

you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.

“Thank you again. Thank you again. Won’t forget it,” Trump says while shaking the hand of Supreme Court Justice John Roberts after the State of the Union.

Tyranny requires your fear, your silence, and your compliance.

Democracy requires your courage.

Important and appropriate A1 play in the NYT print paper today for the story Kirsten Grind and I did on the 11 federal agencies that had targeted Musk companies for investigations/lawsuit that have now been disrupted in a way that benefits Musk. A free link as well.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/u...

If you wish to vote in New York City's mayoral Dem primary in JUNE (=the election that'll pretty much decide the next mayor), you must be registered as a Democrat *BY FRIDAY.*

An insanely early deadline bound to leave people vote out. At least make sure you're not one of them if you're interested!

They hate women. That’s it.

In the meantime, over at the State Department, here are the words of the new head of public diplomacy:

Freeze of US foreign aid assistance will result in humanitarian disaster Loss of services supported by USAID will affect millions of the world’s most vulnerable people

The loss of services supported by USAID will affect millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Here's our statement on how the freeze of US foreign aid assistance will result in humanitarian disaster: www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/freez...

Trump last July: These guys are the radical Right - Project 2025 - I don’t know what the hell it is. They read some of the things in that and it’s some pretty extreme stuff. But I don’t know anything about it.

The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...

As I explained to lawmakers — now more than 15 years ago — for-profit insurers like UnitedHealth and Cigna must assure investors and financial analysts every three months that they know how to control their health plan enrollees’ use of medical goods and services so that plenty of their premium dollars can be diverted to profits. Congress would ultimately include language in the ACA to require health plans to spend at least 80% to 85% of premiums insurers take in on enrollees’ care, known as the medical loss ratio. But big insurers have figured out if they also become health care providers — by buying physician practices, clinics, and pharmacy benefit managers — they can meet that threshold by paying themselves and avoiding payment for their customers’ care.

Insurers must spend 80-85% of premiums on care by law. "But big insurers have figured out if they also become health care providers—by buying physician practices, clinics, and pharmacy benefit managers—they can meet that threshold by paying themselves and avoiding payment for their customers’ care."

A very important and grounding piece to read and keep in mind going forward. This time, let’s do better to avoid the collective fatigue and stay focused on the bigger picture.

A White Supremacist Renounces Racism in an Oregon Prison James Paulk once fully embraced racial segregation in prison. Now he considers it one of his biggest regrets.

“I never felt like I fit anywhere. There were some guys that showed me a lot of attention. … I just latched on to them.”

prisonjournalismproject.org/2024/11/22/h...

Republicans don't care if women die from abortion bans — but they don't want you to know about it Women will keep dying, but the GOP is working hard to destroy the evidence

Both Texas and Georgia are destroying evidence of all maternal mortality, blocking proof that women are dying from abortion bans.

This story has a lot more going on than you think. Especially since Republicans are lying about the public cases.

www.salon.com/2024/12/02/d...

Trump pardoned his son-in-law's daddy, his campaign manager who lied to protect him, his NSA who lied to protect him, his Coffee Boy who lied to protect him, his rat-fucker who lied to protect him, & his former campaign manager who had just helped him launch an insurrection.

youtube.com/watch?v=ytYz...