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☆ Opinion | The Tawdry Decade of Trump Could Desensitize Any Juror
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The resulting hung jury would be just the vindication that Mr. Trump needs. Even if hiding the purpose of the $130,000 payoff to Ms. Daniels violated New York law, the juror might think, so what? Everyone already knows Mr. Trump is a liar and a cad, a womanizer and a cheat. Again and again, Ms. Daniels testified in much greater detail, and with more editorializing, than was asked of her. Mr. Trump’s lawyers objected often, and when they didn’t, Justice Juan Merchan stepped in himself, testily warning Ms. Daniels more than once to “just answer the questions.”

Persons: Donald Trump, MAGA, Trump, Trump’s, Ms, Daniels, Juan Merchan, ” Locations: York, New York

☆ Opinion | Judging the Justices on the Presidential Immunity Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When litigants bring their dispute before a court for resolution, their expectation is that the court will reach a decision based on the facts in their case, not on some hypotheticals bearing scant relevance to their situation. The indictment against Donald Trump includes detailed allegations about his actions in trying to remain in the presidency. Those are the only allegations that the court should be considering in a narrow opinion determining if Mr. Trump has immunity. In more than 200 years with 44 presidents preceding Mr. Trump, he is the only one ever accused of criminal behavior. Does it even make sense for the court to be so fixated on the next rogue president?

Persons: Jesse Wegman, Donald Trump, Trump

☆ Opinion | Trump’s Immunity Case Was Settled More Than 200 Years Ago
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This is more or less what Justice Elena Kagan seemed to be wondering during the oral arguments in Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 immunity case at the Supreme Court on Thursday morning. “Wasn’t the whole point that the president was not a monarch and the president was not supposed to be above the law?” she asked. Like her, I had assumed those questions were answered decisively in the affirmative more than 200 years ago. But now, after almost three hours of circuitous debate and bizarre hypotheticals at the Supreme Court, I’m not so sure. And they tried to draw a distinction between official acts, for which a president might have immunity from prosecution, and private acts, for which no immunity would apply.

Persons: Elena Kagan, Donald Trump’s Jan, “, ”, I’m, Trump Organizations: Supreme

☆ How Do You Teach Constitutional Law With This Supreme Court? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you attended law school at any time over the past half-century, your course in constitutional law likely followed a well-worn path. First you learned the basics: the Supreme Court’s power to say what the Constitution means. Finally you studied how the court balances individual liberties against the government’s need to act in the public interest. They are more interested in upholding fundamental democratic principles and, perhaps most important, preserving the court’s integrity, than about imposing a partisan agenda. But now, the court’s hard-right supermajority, installed in recent years through a combination of hypocrisy and sheer partisan muscle, has eviscerated any consensus.

Persons: Bush, Gore

☆ Opinion | O’Connor’s Most Vital Work Was After She Stepped Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

You can tell a lot about a person by what he or she regrets. This holds especially for Supreme Court justices, whose decisions can, with a single vote, upend individual lives and alter the course of history. Minnesota, like many states that elect judges, had imposed such a ban in order to preserve the appearance of judicial impartiality. The decision was 5 to 4, with Justice O’Connor joining the majority. What stands out for me is what she said and did after leaving the court.

Persons: Justice Lewis F, Powell Jr, Harry Blackmun, Sandra Day O’Connor, Justice O’Connor, O’Connor —, Roe, Wade Organizations: Republican Party of Minnesota Locations: Minnesota

☆ Opinion | What Is Happening in Vermont?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Farhad Khan has lived in Middlebury for most of his 30 years in the state. The number of such incidents has gone up in recent years, he said, especially since Donald Trump’s election. “Just like the U.S., Vermont likes to think it’s exceptional,” said Mia Schultz, a Black Vermonter and the president of the Rutland-area N.A.A.C.P., who is not Muslim. But the thing is, people of color are not.”I brought up the state’s enormous white population as a demographic curiosity when she stopped me. Vermont’s problem is not in recruiting people of color, she said, but in retaining them.

Persons: Amoody, ”, Farhad Khan, “, — Abdul, Mohammed —, Amtul, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Mia Schultz, You’re Locations: Middlebury, Burlington, Vermont, U.S, , Vermont, Rutland

☆ Worth the money: We tried and rated pumpkin pies from Costco, Trader Joe's and more—the winner was clear
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cooking the perfect turkey is hard enough on its own without worrying about stuffing, cranberry sauce, casseroles and mashed potatoes. By the time dessert rolls around, the thought of making pie dough, blending a pumpkin pie filling and baking it to perfection can feel like a bridge too far. But if you want to outsource dessert to a supermarket near you, you'll need to choose from countless options. CNBC Make It tried a quintet of pies from a variety of national and regional chains to determine the best store-bought option. Staffers were asked to sample pie from the following five chains and select their favorite.

Organizations: CNBC, Wholesale, Costco Walmart

☆ Opinion | We Waited 200 Years for This Supreme Court Ethics Code?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“One of the themes we’ve heard from Chief Justice Roberts and others is essentially this message of: Just trust us. In recent months, Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett have publicly supported the adoption of an ethics code. The most glaring defect of the new code is its complete lack of any enforcement power. And yet the absence of any discipline or enforcement was the central flaw that led to calls for an ethics code in the first place. “A justice should not allow family, social, political, financial or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.” Well, sure.

Persons: we’ve, Justice Roberts, ” Alicia Bannon, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, ”, bender, What’s, —, Thomas, Alito Organizations: Brennan Center for Justice, Times

☆ Opinion | Speech and Antisemitism on Campus
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

And he rightly suggests necessary limits on a culture of free speech, including prohibitions on harassment and targeting based on ethnic or religious identity. We can build our bastions of free speech on the foundational layers of moral clarity and intellectual integrity. To the Editor:Re “What Is Happening on College Campuses Is Not Free Speech,” by Gabriel Diamond, Talia Dror and Jillian Lederman (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 11):Protecting free speech on campus requires bravery and intellectual honesty, not partisan definitions. As Jewish students, we share in the real fear surrounding the rise of violent threats against our communities. Upholding free speech requires empathy and consistency, and we must understand that intimidation and fear on campuses are real, and they are not felt only or even primarily by Jewish students.

Persons: Jesse Wegman, Wegman, Rabbi, Ari Berman, Gabriel Diamond, Talia Dror, Jillian Lederman, ”, Eliana Blumberg Rita Feder Michael Farrell, Rosen Providence, Lawrence D, Platt Los Angeles, Joshua Rosenbaum Brooklyn, Joe Manchin, … Organizations: Hamas, Yeshiva University, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish, Brown University, College, University, Touro University Locations: Israel, Chicago, R.I, American, Europe

☆ Opinion | The Problem of Campus Speech Is Even Harder Than You Think
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Examples abound of abhorrent speech by students and faculty members, mostly aimed at Israel, Jews and even Jewish students — and yet abhorrent does not equal criminal. By imposing speech codes that ban what they deem offensive speech without clearly defining it, they have encouraged illiberalism in an environment designed to cultivate the liberal arts. Administrators continue to face intense pressure to make statements and take sides, whether from students, faculty members, donors or lawmakers. “There’s no answer that will please everybody,” Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the Berkeley School of Law and an expert on free speech, told me. Obviously there are legal red lines to a culture of free speech: threats, intimidation and harassment, to name the obvious ones.

Persons: Harry Kalven Jr, “, ” Erwin Chemerinsky, Mr, Chemerinsky, he’s, Suzanne Nossel, ”, Nossel, —, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Cornell University, don’t, University of Chicago, Universities, Berkeley School of Law, Civil, PEN America, University of North, Texas Locations: Israel, Vietnam, Berkeley, University of North Carolina, Florida

☆ Opinion | The One Audience Trump Can’t Hoodwink
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The witness stand in Justice Arthur Engoron’s courtroom at 60 Centre St., in Lower Manhattan, is an ordinary wood-paneled box off to the side of the bench. But for Donald Trump, who is on trial for fraudulently overvaluing his New York real estate assets, it might as well be a cage of kryptonite. That signature rambling filibuster has propelled Mr. Trump through every venture of his life, from real estate to reality television to the American presidency. He relies on it to control the room, to manipulate the crowd, and to avoid addressing any topic he doesn’t want to. That doesn’t work in court, where the judge is in charge, the rules of evidence are in effect and the witness has sworn to tell the whole truth.

Persons: Arthur Engoron’s, Donald Trump, Trump, Engoron, Trump’s Organizations: St Locations: Lower Manhattan, York

☆ Wegman Is Selling His Chelsea Home and Studio, Asking $16.5 Million
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Vivian Marino | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the last three decades, the artist William Wegman has kept his main studio at 245 West 18th Street, a two-story, double-wide building in Chelsea. Mr. Wegman and his wife, Christine Burgin, also had part of their family home on the upper level, which was connected to the second floor of a neighboring building they co-owned. 239-243, was sold in 2019, the empty-nester couple renovated the floor above the studio to use as their Manhattan residence. But then Covid hit, and they left the city for their country home in Ghent, N.Y., where Mr. Wegman maintains another studio. “Everything changed with the pandemic,” said Ms. Burgin, 63, a book publisher and former art gallery owner, adding that Mr. Wegman’s main assistant also relocated upstate.

Persons: William Wegman, Wegman, Christine Burgin, ”, Burgin, Wegman’s Locations: Chelsea, Manhattan, Ghent, N.Y, Rangeley , Maine, “

☆ Opinion | Trump’s Lawyers Should Have Known Better
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

With so many lawyers involved in the Watergate criminal scheme, the American Bar Association started requiring law schools to provide ethics instruction or risk losing their accreditation. In Fulton County, Ga., three of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers — Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis — have now pleaded guilty to crimes in service of Mr. Trump’s scheme to overturn the 2020 election and stay in the White House. All three have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the sprawling state RICO case against Mr. Trump. Two other Trump lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, still face criminal charges in the Georgia case. If Mr. Trump’s 2020 racket was “a coup in search of a legal theory,” as one federal judge put it, these lawyers provided the theory, and the phony facts to back it up.

Persons: Richard Nixon’s, John Dean, Nixon’s, Donald Trump’s, — Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis —, Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Chesebro, Powell Organizations: American Bar Association, House, Trump Locations: Fulton County ,, Georgia

☆ A Criminal Jury May Be the Best Way to Hold Trump Accountable - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film masterpiece “12 Angry Men,” two jurors nearly come to blows while deliberating over a first-degree murder case on a sweltering summer afternoon in New York City. After they are separated, one of the other jurors, a soft-spoken watchmaker played by George Voskovec, steps forward to break the awkward silence. We have a responsibility,” the juror says, in a halting, vaguely Eastern European accent. That we are, what is the word … notified! I’ve been thinking a lot about “12 Angry Men” lately, and the seriousness with which it takes the jurors’ humanity and the importance of their role.

Persons: Sidney Lumet’s, ”, George Voskovec, I’ve, Donald Trump Locations: New York City, Fulton County ,

Listening to the men in the short Opinion Video above is like encountering visitors from another planet. They are serving life sentences at Angola prison, in rural Louisiana, with little to no hope for release. The men are among the thousands in Louisiana — and more than 50,000 nationwide — locked up for life without parole. The point is not to diminish the severity of the crimes that put these men behind bars. But, ask yourself as you watch the video, how long is long enough?

Organizations: . Sentencing Locations: Angola, Louisiana, Louisiana —, Maryland, South Carolina, New Mexico

☆ Do You Know a Politically Motived Prosecution When You See One? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

If you’re feeling bewildered by all the claims and counterclaims of politicization, you’re not alone. The Justice Department will always be led by a political appointee, and most state and local prosecutors are elected. That means extremely clear rules for investigators and prosecutors and eternal vigilance for the rest of us. So how to distinguish an investigation or prosecution based solely on the facts from one motivated improperly by politics? More often, though, it takes some work to determine whether an investigation or prosecution is on the level.

Persons: you’re, Jim Jordan of, it’s, McCarthy, Hillary Clinton, James Comer of, Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Comer Organizations: Trump, Democratic, The, Fox News Locations: Russia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Benghazi, James Comer of Kentucky

As depressing as the outcomes often were, these tortuous paths of jurisprudence were often absurd. A closer look at the opinions helps illustrate how legal decision-making is often deeply entwined with the justices’ deeply held passions and religious beliefs, their occasionally tense relationships with their colleagues and their personality quirks. Here are a few mostly tin medals for the outstanding lowlights (and a few highlights) of the year. ImageMost compassionate opinion correcting a historical American injustice:Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurring opinion in Haaland v. Brackeen upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law intended to prevent the forcible adoption of Native American children by nonnative families. Only the assertion of federal power through the child welfare act ended most of these abuses.

Persons: ’, Neil Gorsuch’s, Justice Gorsuch Organizations: Indian Child Welfare Locations: Haaland

☆ Opinion | Does Justice Alito Hear Himself?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

And appearances count, perhaps nowhere more than at the Supreme Court, which is the final arbiter of many of the most fraught issues of American life. Justice Alito is hardly the first member of the current court to face charges of serious ethical lapses. Justice Thomas has mostly kept his mouth shut, though he did issue a brief statement after the ProPublica article about him. Justice Alito, by choosing to speak up at length and in a forum that he knew would be both friendly and prominent, muscled his opinion into public view. For instance, Justice Alito defended his decision not to report Mr. Singer’s freebie because it was “personal hospitality,” which he believed, like his colleague Justice Thomas, did not need to be reported.

Persons: Alito, Clarence Thomas, Ginni, ProPublica, Thomas’s, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Justice Alito, Singer’s, Justice Thomas, Singer, he’d Organizations: Supreme, Trump White House Locations: Alaska

☆ Opinion | The Impossible Task of Defending Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In this account, the “deep state” has always had it in for Mr. Trump, targeting him for things that other officials, especially Democrats, get away with. “If you’re Donald Trump, they’re going to come get you for anything,” Byron Donalds, a Florida congressman, said on CNN on Tuesday. In contrast, it has taken the government more than a year to get the hundreds of classified documents Mr. Trump took from the White House. Even now, it would be foolish to assume that everything in Mr. Trump’s possession has been turned over. And what of Mrs. Clinton, against whom Mr. Trump still seems to believe he is running, seven years later?

Persons: McCarthy, debasing, Trump’s, let’s, Trump, Donald Trump, ” Byron Donalds, you’re Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, they’re, Biden, Mike Pence, Merrick Garland, Walt Nauta, Clinton, Mr, Chris Christie, ” Organizations: Prosecution, Republican Party, Mr, CNN, House, New Locations: Miami, Florida, Delaware, New Jersey

☆ Opinion | Republicans Are No Longer Calling This Election Program a ‘Godsend’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Because of our decentralized election system, the responsibility to sort out this mess falls to the states. Federal and state laws require states to maintain accurate voter rolls, but the states have no established way to communicate and coordinate with one another. The existence of searchable voter data itself is relatively new: As recently as 2000, only seven states had computerized statewide voter databases. One early effort, like the Interstate Crosscheck program, failed miserably because of inadequate data analysis and poor security practices. That information — drawn from voter rolls, D.M.V.

Persons: ERIC, “, ”, Danielle Lang, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Federal, District of Columbia Locations: Florida, ”, Ohio

☆ Target workers reveal the best perks and biggest frustrations of the job
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But as attractive as the incentives may be for new applicants, some Target workers say the daily realities of working for the company can make those perks lose their luster. Most workers who spoke to Insider said that managers often pull them from one task to another to support a lean-staffing model. Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesAdditionally, all the workers Insider spoke with agreed that the company's interest in tracking metrics on activities from restocking and repricing to drive-up-order fulfillment can increase the pressure on workers. The company's benefits website says hourly workers' benefit eligibility is reviewed annually and averaged over the prior twelve months. A majority of the sources Insider spoke with said a big reason they sought a job at Target was that they love shopping there — and they still do.

☆ Rheinmetall wins subcontractor role on Norway's Leopard tank order
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 14 (Reuters) - Rheinmetall has been hired as a subcontractor in the Norwegian armed forces' order for 54 Leopard 2 battle tanks from Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW), the German manufacturer said on Friday. Rheinmetall said the contract was worth 129 million euros ($142.74 million) and could increase by 44 million euros if Norway executes an option to buy an additional 18 tanks. A key subcontractor to KMW, Rheinmetall will supply components such as main armaments, fire control technology and parts of the sensor suite over a period of around four years, it said in a statement. Norway had originally planned to acquire 72 tanks, but in recent months focused on a scaled-down purchase after its chief of defence recommended spending more on helicopters, drones and long-range artillery. ($1 = 0.9038 euros)Reporting by Andrey Sychev, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A day in the life of a delivery driver in NYC working 10-hour shifts and covering 100+ miles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Native New Yorker Andy Zhicay makes deliveries for the same-day and next-day courier called MetroSpeedy. On any given day, he makes hundreds of deliveries in New York's boroughs, Long Island, or Connecticut. Zhicay says his detailed knowledge of the city makes him good at his job. On a long shift through multiple New York City boroughs and the areas outside, a driver can easily cover 100 miles. "It takes me to spots I would never go without the job," Zhicay said.

☆ For fans Super Bowl no longer a game, it's an 'experience'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

PHOENIX, Feb 11 (Reuters) - In just a half-century of evolution the Super Bowl has gone from sports event, to America's biggest party, to a week long and very expensive immersive "experience". Next year it will almost certainly make another leap when "immersive experience" and "party" morph into one big Super Bowl supernova in Las Vegas, as Sin City hosts the game for the first time. "If you go back 10 years ago Super Bowl was only about the game and now it is much, much more," said Wilder. For John Wegman, a businessman from Rochester and a Buffalo Bills season ticket holder, seeing a Super Bowl was on his bucket list. "Super Bowl with my father, my mother, my brother was a bucket list thing and we are doing it in style."

☆ Opinion | Donald Trump Has Told Americans Exactly Who He Is
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

When Mr. Barr resigned in December 2020, Mr. Trump attempted to replace him with Jeffrey Clark, an environmental lawyer in the Justice Department who had expressed a willingness to help Mr. Trump subvert the election. Mr. Trump was informed of the threats, too, before he whipped the mob into a frenzy and urged them to march on the Capitol. Before that happens, Mr. Trump must be “required to answer for his actions,” as Mr. Thompson rightly said. It sounds so basic and yet, with Mr. Trump, it has remained so elusive. Led by Mr. Trump, the party has morphed into the greatest threat to the Republic since the Confederacy: a revanchist cult that refuses to accept electoral defeat.

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