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Nevada ACLU requests investigation into alleged partisan hand-countRENO, Nev. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada asked the state’s secretary of state Wednesday to investigate what it called a “coordinated partisan election administration effort” during rural Nye County’s hand-count of mail-in ballots that was shut down last week until after polls close. The ACLU said a hand-count volunteer openly carrying a firearm removed an ACLU observer from a hand-count tally room, which the organization said it recently discovered was Nye County GOP Central Committee Vice Chair Laura Larsen. The ACLU said the situation “poses questions” surrounding Nye County interim clerk Mark Kampf’s delegation of authority to partisan officials to remove observers from hand-count rooms, particularly during a hand-count process that deals with tabulation of ballots. It’s the latest development in a conflict between the rural county’s election administration and the ACLU that has spanned lawsuits, infighting and a Nevada Supreme Court ruling late on Oct. 27 that prompted Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, to shut down the hand-counting until after polls close on Election Day. Read the story.

☆ LR-131: Montana could establish law that makes any infant born alive a legal person
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Proponents say that the law is necessary to preserve infant life after birth. Opponents say the measure is misleading and infringes on the right of providers to make medical decisions. Ballot measure detailsThe state of Montana is set to vote on a controversial amendment that would establish any infant born alive, including infants born alive as a result of abortion, must have its life preserved by medical staff. The proposed law would also require medical staff to provide care to keep the infant alive and report the born-alive infant. They also argue that the law will put an unnecessary burden on healthcare providers who try to make the best decisions for their patients.

☆ Amendment 2: Kentucky voters could establish that citizens don't have the right to abortion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kentucky's Amendment 3 will change the constitution to clarify that the right to abortion does not exist. Opponents argue that it will make it more difficult to pass future abortion rights legislation. Currently, there are three lawsuits challenging abortion law in Kentucky, all of which assert that the state's constitution provides a right to abortions. Those in support argue that the amendment is necessary to remove future legal challenges to the state's abortion law. Those opposed say the amendment will make it harder to pass abortion rights legislation in the state or argue that a person's right to abortion is protected.

☆ Over 200,000 trans people could face voting restrictions because of state ID laws
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Seaton showed his state ID. “So I expect that we’re going to hear more stories of trans people being harassed, whether by voters, poll workers, poll monitors or other folks who are present during the election.”Impact of voter ID laws on trans votersVoter identification laws differ widely by state. Eight of those states have strict photo ID laws. Since the 2020 election, 12 states have enacted new or stricter voter ID laws, according to VoteRiders, a nonpartisan voting rights organization. In the 15 states without ID laws, voters’ identities are usually verified by checking them against their voter registration information, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

According to Harvard, around 40% of U.S. colleges and universities consider race in some fashion in admissions. The Supreme Court has been upheld such policies, most recently in a 2016 ruling involving a white woman who sued after the University of Texas rejected her. Ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could require the court to overturn its 2016 ruling and earlier decisions. 'DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION'The lawsuits accused UNC of discriminating against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Harvard's use of race was "meaningful" and not "impermissibly extensive" because it prevented diversity from plummeting.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was released and “reunited with his family” in Pakistan, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday. “We are glad that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad is finally reunited with his family,” the statement said. The Pentagon said in a statement Saturday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had “notified Congress of his intent to repatriate Saifullah Paracha to Pakistan” last month. Following Paracha’s release, 35 detainees remain in Guantanamo Bay and 18 have been cleared for release, according to Amnesty International. The most high-profile prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay prison is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

☆ Asian American groups criticize Seattle's anti-Asian hate budget reduction in new proposal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Asian American organizations are calling out the 2023 budget put forth by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, who proposed reducing the city’s fund to combat anti-Asian hate by nearly half. The budget proposal, announced last month, would reduce the city’s hate crime funding from $400,000 in the 2022 adopted budget to $167,000 in the 2023 budget. Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said cities cutting funding for Asian American communities is concerning. Anti-Asian hate crimes rose exponentially since the beginning of the pandemic, increasing 339% in 2021, according to data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. “Anti-Asian hate crimes, which surged in the past two years due to the COVID pandemic, still continue and appear in national news.

☆ Hand vote count on hold after Nevada Supreme Court calls it illegal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Nye County officials and their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. She said “no alternative hand-counting process may proceed” until she and the county can determine if there are any feasible alternatives that would comply with the Supreme Court order. After counting 900 ballots Wednesday, Kampf said his goal was to count about 2,000 ballots per day. While the state Supreme Court allowed the count to go ahead, it blocked a plan to livestream the counting, ruling that video can only be released only after polls close Nov. 8. Trump won 69% of the vote in Nye County although President Joe Biden won Nevada by about 2.4%.

Here is a summary of significant cases filed ahead of the Nov. 8 election and where they stand. The case is now before the Nevada Supreme Court, which earlier this month blocked officials from livestreaming the count ahead of election day. And in North Carolina, Republicans lost a bid to shorten the deadline for election officials to receive mail ballots from Nov. 14 to Nov. 11. Another lawsuit in Illinois, challenging the counting of mail ballots up to two weeks after election day, is pending. In Texas, the Justice Department and civil-rights groups are challenging a wide-ranging 2021 state law that criminalizes many voter outreach efforts.

Here is a summary of significant cases filed ahead of the Nov. 8 election and where they stand. County election officials halted the hand count in response to a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court late Thursday, the ACLU said. And in North Carolina, Republicans lost a bid to shorten the deadline for election officials to receive mail ballots from Nov. 14 to Nov. 11. Another lawsuit in Illinois, challenging the counting of mail ballots up to two weeks after election day, is pending. In Texas, the Justice Department and civil-rights groups are challenging a wide-ranging 2021 state law that criminalizes many voter outreach efforts.

☆ Nevada officials begin unprecedented hand count of ballots
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

A historic disaster is brewing in Nye County,” ACLU Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah said in a statement after watching the first several hours of ballot counting. Nye County, an old silver mining region between Las Vegas and Reno, is home to about 50,000 residents, including 33,000 registered voters. Trump won 69% of the vote in Nye County even as President Joe Biden won Nevada by about 33,500 votes. Nye County wanted to start counting its early ballots before Election Day rather than risk missing the state’s Nov. 17 certification deadline. The most populous county in the continental U.S. to rely exclusively on hand-counting is Owyhee County, Idaho, which has one-fifth of the registered voters as Nye County.

☆ New frontline of U.S. abortion battles emerges in New Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

A woman and child attend an anti-abortion rally outside of the Hobbs City Commission Chamber in Hobbs, New Mexico, U.S., October 17, 2022. The New Mexican abortion provider within closest reach for most Texas women is currently in Albuquerque - about a four-hour drive from Clovis and five hours from Hobbs. Voters in Lubbock, Texas, which is near the New Mexico border, outlawed abortion in 2021. In New Mexico, Dickson worked with conservative lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, who was the architect of Texas’ 2021 “heartbeat” abortion law. Read more:U.S. abortion clinic moves up the street to escape one state’s banEXPLAINER-How abortion became a divisive issue in U.S. politicsHow Texas’ abortion ban hurts Big Oil’s effort to transform its workforceWIDER IMAGE-With U.S. abortion access in jeopardy, this doctor travels to fill a void

Fischer is also the author of Kentucky’s 2019 “trigger” law, which went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and makes most abortions illegal in the state. This year, with 84 seats up for election in state supreme court races nationwide – the highest number in recent years, according to election tracking organization Ballotpedia – these down-ballot races are taking on a heightened significance and scrutiny. Four out of seven of Kentucky’s state Supreme Court seats are up on Nov. 8, with three of those races contested. But if the amendment loses, a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood attempting to overturn the ban would move forward before the state Supreme Court. A ‘new frontier’In Montana, Republicans have accused the seven-member state Supreme Court of holding a “liberal bias,” particularly while Democratic governors filled court vacancies in recent years.

☆ 'Changed my life': Trans teen testifies against nation's first ban on gender-affirming care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act bars minors in the state from receiving certain gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries. Carolyn Kaster / APThe American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of four trangsgender youths and their parents, as well as two physicians who provide gender-affirming care. ‘Changed my life for the better’The parents of four transgender young people represented in the suit spoke to how gender-affirming care has improved their children’s lives. Donnie Saxton of Vilonia, Arkansas, said his 17-year-old son, Parker, became “a new person” after coming out as trans and receiving gender-affirming medical care, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Three other states — Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee — have also passed measures restricting gender-affirming care for minors.

And Black families are affected the most. “And that means more Black families are impacted,” said Samuel Gross, the registry’s founder and senior editor. “This has caused deep wounds to Black families.”Thompson’s point is easily seen in Termaine Hicks’ family dynamic. While in prison, Hicks wrote a letter to his son every month for 16 years. And especially families … ”“The disproportionate representation of communities within our prison systems tend to impact Black families and communities more,” she said.

☆ Landmark trial begins over Arkansas' ban on transgender youth care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The nation’s first trial over a state’s ban on gender-confirming care for children begins in Arkansas this week, the latest fight over restrictions on transgender youth championed by Republican leaders and widely condemned by medical experts. The families of four transgender youth and two doctors who provide gender-confirming care want Moody to strike down the law, saying it is unconstitutional because it discriminates against transgender youth, intrudes on parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children and infringes on doctors’ free speech rights. Arkansas was the first state to enact such a ban on gender-confirming care, with Republican lawmakers in 2021 overriding GOP Gov. Hutchinson, who had signed other restrictions on transgender youth into law, said the prohibition went too far by cutting off the care for those currently receiving it. Children’s hospitals around the country have faced harassment and threats of violence for providing gender-confirming care.

☆ The last shots of the American Civil War were fired in Russian territory
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Blake Stilwell | We Are The Mighty | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

During the US Civil War, Union and Confederate ships fought naval battles all over the world. She took 38 prizes and more than 1,000 prisoners, some of them joining the Confederate ship. From there, Shenandoah terrorized American ships in sea lanes around the Cape of Good Hope, through the Pacific, and into the Bering Sea off Alaska. Even after the Civil War was over, Shenandoah continued her Pacific rampage. The skipper just didn't believe Lee's surrender ended the war, even when American whaling captains told him so.

☆ Man says LGBTQ people 'deserve death' at school board meeting in Arkansas
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A man was recorded on video Tuesday night saying LGBTQ people “deserve death” during a school board meeting in Arkansas where several anti-LGBTQ policies were passed. The video was recorded by a person attending the meeting and verified by NBC News. “While the Conway School Board appreciates the insight and perspectives given in these comments, the personal narratives of individual patrons do not represent the school district or school board’s feelings or stances on issues.”The school board approved anti-transgender policies and bans on two books with LGBTQ themes at the meeting. Minutes from a meeting last month show at least one board member agreed with challenges to remove the books. “Tonight the Conway School Board voted to ban books — and worse — to single out students for unfair treatment,” the group tweeted.

☆ Explainer: Marijuana pardons in U.S. help thousands, leave others in prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Biden has called on governors to issue similar pardons regarding state marijuana offenses. Biden's pardons announced Oct. 6 affect about 6,500 people convicted of cannabis possession at the federal level. Research by the American Civil Liberties Union has shown Black Americans are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana possession. Most states that have legalized marijuana have also moved to expunge the records of nonviolent offenders or issue pardons. But thousands of people continue to be arrested for marijuana offenses annually.

☆ Pennsylvania school district created culture of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, complaint alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a federal complaint Thursday alleging one of the largest school districts in the state has created a widespread culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ students, particularly those who are transgender and nonbinary. The lawyers interviewed dozens of LGBTQ students and their parents, as well as current and former teachers and staff. The bullying forced some of them to miss school, and in 2019, a former transgender student attempted suicide, according to the complaint. Serving more than 18,000 students, Central Bucks drew national attention in 2021 as debates over pandemic policies gave way to larger culture-war clashes in the community. Amid a surge in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy in school boards across the country, Walczak said, the alleged circumstances at Central Bucks are not an isolated situation.

The eventual ruling could cripple the Voting Rights Act, whose passage was fueled by historic marches for Black voting rights and the violent response by local authorities in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery. Democratic President Joe Biden's administration and a number of voting rights groups are supporting the plaintiffs. The case centers on a Voting Rights Act provision, called Section 2, aimed at countering voting laws that result in racial bias even absent racist intent. Conservative states and groups already have successfully prodded the Supreme Court to limit the Voting Rights Act's scope. In a major 2019 ruling, the Supreme Court barred federal judges from curbing the practice, known as partisan gerrymandering.

Most are operated by GEO Group and rival CoreCivic Inc (CXW.N), but dozens are owned by smaller companies. GEO Group and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Immigrant advocates have said private facilities often are overcrowded and understaffed, subjecting detainees to inhumane conditions. While campaigning for the 2020 election, Biden said he wanted to end the use of private detention centers to house immigrants. California's law prohibits the operation of any private detention facilities in the state, including prisons, but the lawsuits only challenged the ban on immigrant detention centers.

☆ Montana accepting transgender birth certificate changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

(AP) — The state health department has restored the ability for transgender people to apply to correct the gender marker on their Montana birth certificate after a judge blocked enforcement of a law that would have required them to have surgery first. The gender designation forms are available on the department’s website. Montana is required to process the applications after District Judge Michel Moses issued a temporary injunction against enforcing a state law that would have required transgender residents to have undergone a surgical procedure before changing the sex on their birth certificate. However, the state did not begin accepting applications and instead passed a rule saying that nobody could change the sex on their birth record unless there was a clerical error. No applications requesting a gender designation change had been returned to the state Vital Records department as of mid-day Thursday, Ebelt said.

A decade-old scandal at a Massachusetts crime lab — which led authorities to dismiss tens of thousands of drug convictions — may involve wrongdoing by more people than was previously known, according to a recent court order. At least one person was referred to the state attorney general’s office in 2015 for potential prosecution, Judge John T. Lu wrote last week. The ruling stokes lingering doubts about statements by the state inspector general’s office over the past eight years that Dookhan was the “sole bad actor” at the Hinton lab. Bizuayehu Tesfaye / APDookhan’s misconduct at the Hinton lab was exposed in 2012, after she had worked there for nearly a decade. A spokesman for the inspector general’s office declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

☆ Judge blocks Indiana abortion ban week after it took effect
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana judge on Thursday blocked the state’s abortion ban from being enforced, putting the new law on hold as abortion clinic operators argue that it violates the state constitution. Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon issued a preliminary injunction against the ban that took effect one week ago. The ban, which includes limited exceptions, replaced Indiana laws that generally prohibited abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and tightly restricted them after the 13th week. The Indiana abortion ban includes exceptions allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest, before 10 weeks post-fertilization; to protect the life and physical health of the mother; and if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly. The new law also prohibited abortion clinics from providing any abortion care, leaving such services solely to hospitals or outpatient surgical centers owned by hospitals.

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