US

Houston museum unveils $85 million dinosaur hall

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
HOUSTON (AP) -- Pups in her womb, a large eye visible behind the rib cage, one baby stuck in the birth canal, all fossilized in stone, modern-day evidence of how this ancient marine beast, the Ichthyosaur, died: in childbirth....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Boy rescued above waterfall not scared - at first

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
SNOHOMISH, Wash. (AP) -- A 13-year-old boy rescued at the top of a 270-foot waterfall in Washington state says he just wanted to cool off, but soon found himself stuck precariously on a rock for hours as crews tried to reach him....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Chicago police get high marks for NATO protests

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
CHICAGO (AP) -- The sight of Chicago police raising billy clubs against demonstrators Sunday was the kind of image that has dogged the city's police force longer than most of those who clashed with protesters have been alive....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Obama's preference for talks with Iran faces test

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's preferred path to end the Iranian nuclear standoff faces a stern test this week when world powers sit down with Iran in another bid to press it to meet international demands to prove it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Failure will strengthen calls for military action....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

What is hate? Rutgers webcam case rekindles debate

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- A week before Dharun Ravi was sentenced to jail for using a webcam to spy on a gay college roommate who later killed himself, supporters rallied in his support, arguing that New Jersey laws should be changed so that someone in his situation could not be found guilty of a hate crime....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Joplin commemorates anniversary of deadly tornado

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- A day of solemn remembrances and forward-looking celebrations is planned Tuesday as Joplin commemorates the anniversary of a tornado that ripped the city in half....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Mich. jury close to finish line in stabbings trial

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Jurors must decide whether strong physical evidence in the first trial from a series of stabbings in Michigan is outweighed by the mental health of a 35-year-old Israeli immigrant who is charged with murder....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Born to run barefoot? Some end up getting injured

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Swept by the barefoot running craze, ultramarathoner Ryan Carter ditched his sneakers for footwear that mimics the experience of striding unshod....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Summit doubleheader short on surprises

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
CHICAGO (AP) -- A long weekend of economic and security summits was heavy on stagecraft and light on surprises....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Obama praises Joplin's resiliency after tornado

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- One year after a deadly tornado devastated their city, President Barack Obama praised the residents of Joplin, Mo., for a spirit of perseverance and resiliency that he said could serve as a model for a nation still grinding its way through tough economic times....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

NYTimes Editorial: "The Right to Record"

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00

NYTimes Editorial: The Right to Record:

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department took an important stand last week, declaring that citizens have a First Amendment right to videotape the actions of police officers in public places and that seizure or destruction of such recordings violates constitutional rights.

The Justice Department made the statement in a federal lawsuit brought against the Baltimore Police Department by Christopher Sharp, who used his cellphone to take video of the police arresting and beating a friend at Pimlico on the day of the 2010 Preakness. The officers took Mr. Sharp’s cellphone while he was recording and wiped the phone clean of all videos before returning it to him.

The Courts of Appeals for the First and Seventh Circuits have wisely found that the Constitution protects the right to videotape police officers while they perform official duties. The video taken by another witness of the beating at Pimlico shows that the right to record is crucial to holding police accountable for their actions.

Business Insider: "I Spy An Occupy: Obama’s DHS Surveils Legit Protesters"

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00

Business Insider: I Spy An Occupy: Obama’s DHS Surveils Legit Protesters:

Remember the Occupy Movement? Since last November, when the NYPD closed the Zuccotti Park encampment in downtown Manhattan-–the Movement’s birthplace and symbolic nexus—-Occupy’s relevance has seriously dwindled, at least as measured by coverage in the mainstream media. We’re told that this erosion is due to Occupy’s own shortcomings—-an inevitable outcome of its disjointed message and decentralized leadership.

While that may be the media’s take, the U.S. Government seems to have a different view.

If recent documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) are any indication, the Occupy Movement continues to be monitored and curtailed in a nationwide, federally-orchestrated campaign, spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

. . .

The right to public assembly is a central component of the First Amendment. The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect Americans from warrantless searches—with the definition of “search” expanded in 1967 to include electronic surveillance, following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Katz v. United States. Assuming the Occupy protesters refrain from violence—and the vast majority do, in accord with a stated tenet of the Occupy movement—the movement’s existence is constitutionally protected, or should be.

The DHS’s monitoring, documenting, and undermining of protesters may in fact violate the First Amendment. In a recent piece for Dissent Magazine, sociologist James B. Rule explains the fundamental importance of a movement like Occupy in the American political landscape.

Fierce GovernmentIT: "Surveillance through GPS is not the same as using cellular tower data, say law enforcement officials"

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00

Fierce GovernmentIT: Surveillance through GPS is not the same as using cellular tower data, say law enforcement officials by Molly Bernhart Walker:

The boundaries of surveillance are being called into question as the law enforcement community seeks continued warrantless access to electronically-generated location data while privacy advocates say a January 2012 Supreme Court case means all geolocation data is protected by the Fourth Amendment.

In the wake of the case (.pdf), United States v. Antoine Jones, two congressmen--Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.)--have proposed a bill (H.R. 2168 [.pdf]) that would require law enforcement obtain a warrant before accessing any geolocation data. The Jones case ruled that the FBI could not attach a Global Positioning System device to a car without a warrant.

6 missing after boat reported sunk in Gulf

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- An extensive daylong search by the U.S. Coast Guard turned up no sign of six people who had radioed that their fishing boat was sinking in the Gulf of Mexico off Galveston....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Mich. police: Grandmother shot grandson 8 times

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Jonathan Hoffman frantically told a 911 dispatcher he had been shot in the chest by his grandmother and was going to die, a police detective testified Monday....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Obama snubs Pakistan head over supply routes

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
CHICAGO (AP) -- In an unmistakable snub, President Barack Obama left Pakistan off a list of nations he thanked Monday for help getting war supplies into Afghanistan....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

In Joplin, a senior year to remember after tornado

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- There were tearful remembrances for lost classmates and jokes about spending their senior year in a converted department store....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

DEA probed in wake of Secret Service investigation

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department inspector general's office was investigating possible misconduct by two or more Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Colombia unrelated to the Secret Service incident with prostitutes at a Cartagena hotel, federal officials said Monday....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Obama: Joplin graduates are source of inspiration

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- President Barack Obama says the graduating seniors of a Missouri town devastated by deadly tornadoes are a "source of inspiration" to him and the nation....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Boy rescued above waterfall not scared - at first

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2025-06-16 13:00
SNOHOMISH, Wash. (AP) -- A 13-year-old boy rescued at the top of a 270-foot waterfall in Washington state says he just wanted to cool off, but soon found himself stuck precariously on a rock for hours as crews tried to reach him....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US
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