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09 December 20
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"Live for Nothing, or Die for Something" Republican Talk of Sedition Intensifies
Kathryn Krawczyk, Yahoo! News
Krawczyk writes: "Arizona's Republican Party has a disturbing call to action for its followers."
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Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, left, talks with Chief Justice John Roberts on the steps of the Supreme Court following his official investiture at the Supreme Court June 15, 2017, in Washington, DC. (photo: Win McNamee/Getty)
Supreme Court Denies Trump Allies' Bid to Overturn Pennsylvania Election Results
Ariane de Vogue and Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to block certification of the commonwealth's election results, delivering a near fatal blow to the GOP's long-shot bid to invalidate President-elect Joe Biden's victory."
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This undated photo provided by family attorney Sean Walton shows Casey Goodson. The fatal shooting of 23-year-old Goodson by an Ohio sheriff's deputy on Friday, is now under investigation. (photo: Family Photo/Courtesy of Attorney Sean Walton /AP)
Federal Investigators Join Probe Into Casey Goodson Shooting Death
Brakkton Booker, NPR
Booker writes: "The Department of Justice announced Tuesday it is joining the investigation into the death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson, a Black man who was shot and killed by law enforcement in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday."
U.S. Attorney David DeVillers of the Southern District of Ohio said the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and the FBI, along with the Columbus Division of Police, are all investigating the case.
The agencies "will review the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dec. 4, 2020 shooting of Casey Goodson and take appropriate action if the evidence indicates any federal civil rights laws were violated," according to a press release.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office identified Jason Meade, a 17-year veteran of the force, as the deputy who opened fire during the encounter with Goodson. The sheriff's office said Meade was assigned full-time to a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force at the time of the shooting.
Meade was part of a team that had just finished a search for "violent suspects" when he shot Goodson, according to police investigators, which resulted in Goodson's death.
Goodson was not the object of the search, according to police, nor was he wanted by law enforcement.
Family and activists are calling for justice in the case, saying Goodson was shot in the back three times. Goodson's family described him as a family man and one who had no criminal history.
His family said at the time of the shooting that he was carrying a sandwich.
Law enforcement said Goodson was waving a gun.
The Sheriff's Office said deputies do not wear body cameras and investigators said no other law enforcement officers witnessed the shooting.
Reporter Paige Pfleger of member station WOSU reported Monday that Goodson's concealed-carry license was current, according to documentation provided by family attorneys.
DeVillers, of the Justice Department, said there was enough evidence uncovered thus far open a probe.
"After being briefed about the circumstances surrounding the incident by CPD, I believe a federal investigation is warranted," DeVillers said, according to Columbus member station WOSU.
"I have contacted the FBI and have requested that they work in conjunction with CPD to investigate this case through our office."
The station notes that the Columbus Police Chief said he welcomes the probe from federal officials.
People attend a rally with former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro and Jon Ossoff, Democratic candidate for the Senate, on Dec. 7, 2020, in Lilburn, Georgia. (photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Georgia Counties Cut Back Early Voting Sites Ahead of Senate Runoffs, Alarming Voting Rights Advocates
Jane C. Timm, NBC News
Timm writes: "Four of the 10 most populous counties in Georgia are reducing the number of locations where people can vote early in the state's Senate runoff races, prompting outcry from civil rights and voting rights organizations."
Civil rights and voting rights groups warned that the reduction will particularly harm Black and Latino voters.
In Cobb County, the state’s third most populous county with more than 760,000 residents, election officials have announced five early voting locations, fewer than half of the 11 used for early voting ahead of last month's general election.
Advocates warned that the reduction of early voting sites will particularly harm Black and Latino voters in the state by making it harder to access the polls.
“We are especially concerned that these closures will be harmful to Cobb County’s Black and Latinx voters because many of the locations are in Black and Latinx communities,” a group of advocates, including Georgia branches of the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in a letter Monday to local officials, calling on them to maintain 11 early voting sites for the runoff. They included a map that showed how most of the early voting locations are in areas with a higher shares of Black voters.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Cobb County Elections Director Janine Eveler said she didn't have the staff to run more early voting sites.
Turnout in runoff races is typically far lower than it is in general elections, but the stakes are much higher this time as party control of the U.S. Senate will be decided by the state's two Senate contests Jan. 5.
If both Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are victorious, Democrats will control the chamber with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tiebreaking vote. But if either Republican, Sen. David Perdue or Sen. Kelly Loeffler, wins, the Senate remains in GOP hands, an outcome with consequences for President-elect Joe Biden's first-term agenda.
Early voting was hugely popular in Georgia's November election, in which the vast majority of voters cast a ballot by mail or in-person early.
"It's deeply concerning," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said on MSNBC when asked about the reductions reported by NBC News. "Clearly there is an attempt to make it even more difficult in the state of Georgia to vote."
Cobb, which includes suburbs of Atlanta, is a critical county for Democrats, who will need to rack up high margins of voters in more urban areas to compete in the traditionally red state that Biden narrowly flipped blue. In Cobb County, Biden beat President Donald Trump by 14 points, according to county election results, playing a key role in his statewide win. Ossoff and Warnock lead Perdue and Loeffler in the county by 10 points and 12 points, respectively.
In Cobb County, people waited for hours during early voting this fall, amid high turnout.
Early voting in Georgia — also known as “advance voting” — begins three weeks before the election. For the Jan. 5 runoff, early voting will start Dec. 14.
Some large counties are planning for the same number of early voting sites as they had in the November general election. The state’s two largest counties, DeKalb and Gwinnett, will both have the same number of early voting sites in the runoff as they did in the general election. Others are cutting back.
Chatham County, the fifth most populous county with nearly 300,000 residents, will have five early voting location, down from six earlier this fall, according to information posted on the county’s website. County results show that Biden won by more than 18 points in Chatham, while the Democratic Senate candidates had at least a 17-point lead over the Republican incumbents.
Forsyth County, the eighth most populous county with more than 244,000 residents, will have five early voting locations, down from 11 ahead of the November election. Trump won that county by 22 points, with the Republican Senate candidates enjoying double-digit margins, too.
Hall County, the tenth most populous county with just over 200,000 residents, will have four early voting sites, down from eight. Trump won Hall by 43 percentage points, with Senate Republican candidates dominating in the Senate races there, too.
Asked about the cuts, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said counties have control over their own election administration.
“They set their budgets and manage turnout of voters accordingly,” Jordan Fuchs, deputy secretary of state, said.
County officials contacted by NBC News did not respond immediately to requests for comment, but budgets may be a driving force in some closures. Georgia’s counties just paid for two recounts, including one requested by the Trump campaign, according to election officials.
Migrants are seen outside the US Border Patrol McAllen Station in a makeshift encampment in McAllen, Texas, May 15, 2019. (photo: Loren Elliott/Reuters)
How ICE Became the Face of Trump's Immigration Crackdown and Where It Goes From Here After Biden Is in Charge
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed
Aleaziz writes: "As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, ICE, which is responsible for immigration enforcement and deportations inside the nation's borders, is at a crossroads, its reputation in tatters and the scope of its mission in question."
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Thailand. (photo: Getty Images)
Thailand: Law Against Opposition to Monarchy Returns Amid Protests
Deutsche Welle
Excerpt: "Protest leaders are charged with insulting the monarchy as authorities attempt to criminalize the demonstrations, which have seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Bangkok since July."
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An unseasonably warm day in Central Park last month. (photo: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Alamy Live News)
November's Global Temperatures Are Highest Ever, Breaking Records
Henry Fountain, The New York Times
Fountain writes: "Last month was the hottest November on record, European researchers said Monday, as the relentlessly warming climate proved too much even for any possible effects of cooler ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean."
European scientists reported that November’s global temperatures were the highest ever, surpassing the previous record, set in 2016 and 2019.
Scientists with the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that global temperatures in November were 0.1 degree Celsius (about 0.2 degree Fahrenheit) above the previous record-holders, in 2016 and 2019. November 2020 was 0.8 degree Celsius (or 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average from 1981 to 2010.
Warm conditions persisted over large swaths of the planet, with temperatures the highest above average across Northern Europe and Siberia, as well as the Arctic Ocean. Much of the United States was warmer than average as well.
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