The disturbing series of events which led her back to the synagogue raises further questions about whether law enforcement is adequately aware of and prepared for increasingly prevalent anti-Jewish threats. A survey released this month by the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic beliefs have intensified across the country.

“With the increase in antisemitism over the last few years, every time that there’s a threat to a Jewish institution, it dramatically increases anxiety,” Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League Mark Toubin told the editorial board.

Law was originally charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief for the Jan. 14 break-in, despite the fact that the state penal code classifies “damage or destruction inflicted on a place of worship” as a felony offense. By the time prosecutors upgraded the initial misdemeanor to the more appropriate felony charge, Law had already been freed on a $100 bond handed down by a magistrate, who denied the DA’s request to fit her with an ankle monitor.

After Law skipped out on her arraignment hearing Friday, and was arrested Saturday afternoon at the synagogue, the DA this time asked for a $10,000 bond with GPS monitoring and an explicit curfew. Instead, Magistrate Judge Jannell Robles granted a $5,000 personal bond with neither of those conditions. By Sunday morning, Law had again bailed out of jail, to the shock of many community members following the case.

An Instagram post on Law's account followed shortly after, in which she proclaimed she is a Messianic Jew, a controversial sect generally not considered members of the Jewish faith. They consider the conversion of Jews to messianic Judaism a central part of their mission.....

Finally, in a court hearing on Monday, a visiting felony court judge revoked Law's bail, pending a hearing, and ordered a psychological evaluation. But her threatening and harassing posts and erratic behavior have put Houston's Jewish community on edge, questioning, as many of us are, why a woman who trespassed at a house of worship and desecrated a sacred text was not immediately charged with the appropriate offense. And why, given a chance to right that initial wrong, a steward of our justice system instead allowed a woman who had violated her bond conditions and was very likely a public safety risk to walk free on a low bond.

The disturbing series of events which led her back to the synagogue raises further questions about whether law enforcement is adequately aware of and prepared for increasingly prevalent anti-Jewish threats. A survey released this month by the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic beliefs have intensified across the country.

“With the increase in antisemitism over the last few years, every time that there’s a threat to a Jewish institution, it dramatically increases anxiety,” Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League Mark Toubin told the editorial board.

Law was originally charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief for the Jan. 14 break-in, despite the fact that the state penal code classifies “damage or destruction inflicted on a place of worship” as a felony offense. By the time prosecutors upgraded the initial misdemeanor to the more appropriate felony charge, Law had already been freed on a $100 bond handed down by a magistrate, who denied the DA’s request to fit her with an ankle monitor.

After Law skipped out on her arraignment hearing Friday, and was arrested Saturday afternoon at the synagogue, the DA this time asked for a $10,000 bond with GPS monitoring and an explicit curfew. Instead, Magistrate Judge Jannell Robles granted a $5,000 personal bond with neither of those conditions. By Sunday morning, Law had again bailed out of jail, to the shock of many community members following the case.

An Instagram post on Law's account followed shortly after, in which she proclaimed she is a Messianic Jew, a controversial sect generally not considered members of the Jewish faith. They consider the conversion of Jews to messianic Judaism a central part of their mission.....

Finally, in a court hearing on Monday, a visiting felony court judge revoked Law's bail, pending a hearing, and ordered a psychological evaluation. But her threatening and harassing posts and erratic behavior have put Houston's Jewish community on edge, questioning, as many of us are, why a woman who trespassed at a house of worship and desecrated a sacred text was not immediately charged with the appropriate offense. And why, given a chance to right that initial wrong, a steward of our justice system instead allowed a woman who had violated her bond conditions and was very likely a public safety risk to walk free on a low bond.

The disturbing series of events which led her back to the synagogue raises further questions about whether law enforcement is adequately aware of and prepared for increasingly prevalent anti-Jewish threats. A survey released this month by the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic beliefs have intensified across the country.

“With the increase in antisemitism over the last few years, every time that there’s a threat to a Jewish institution, it dramatically increases anxiety,” Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League Mark Toubin told the editorial board.

Law was originally charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief for the Jan. 14 break-in, despite the fact that the state penal code classifies “damage or destruction inflicted on a place of worship” as a felony offense. By the time prosecutors upgraded the initial misdemeanor to the more appropriate felony charge, Law had already been freed on a $100 bond handed down by a magistrate, who denied the DA’s request to fit her with an ankle monitor.

After Law skipped out on her arraignment hearing Friday, and was arrested Saturday afternoon at the synagogue, the DA this time asked for a $10,000 bond with GPS monitoring and an explicit curfew. Instead, Magistrate Judge Jannell Robles granted a $5,000 personal bond with neither of those conditions. By Sunday morning, Law had again bailed out of jail, to the shock of many community members following the case.

An Instagram post on Law's account followed shortly after, in which she proclaimed she is a Messianic Jew, a controversial sect generally not considered members of the Jewish faith. They consider the conversion of Jews to messianic Judaism a central part of their mission.....

Finally, in a court hearing on Monday, a visiting felony court judge revoked Law's bail, pending a hearing, and ordered a psychological evaluation. But her threatening and harassing posts and erratic behavior have put Houston's Jewish community on edge, questioning, as many of us are, why a woman who trespassed at a house of worship and desecrated a sacred text was not immediately charged with the appropriate offense. And why, given a chance to right that initial wrong, a steward of our justice system instead allowed a woman who had violated her bond conditions and was very likely a public safety risk to walk free on a low bond.

IN THE MONTHS ahead of what’s likely to be a brutal Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump and his 2024 campaign are laying the groundwork for his big, bombastic return to major social media platforms. Such a return, though, would inevitably involve Trump screwing over one of his own companies — and he’s been telling confidants that he is prepared to do just that.

When Trump first founded Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), he agreed to a “social media exclusivity term” that required him to “first channel any and all social media communications” to his Truth Social account for six hours before posting the content to other platforms, according to SEC filings.

Since late last year, former President Trump has informed several people close to him that he doesn’t want to re-up the exclusivity agreement with his social media company, Truth Social, two sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone. “There’s not going to be a need for that,” is how one of the sources recalls Trump describing his soon-to-expire contractual obligation.

The 18-month term of that requirement is up in June — right as the Republican primary is expected to begin heating up. After that, Trump’s exclusivity term would automatically renew for six month periods “unless notice is given.” In the event his exclusivity term expires, Trump would still be “required to post contemporaneously to Truth Social.”....

Regardless of what happens with his exclusivity term, Trump’s agreement with the company grants him greater freedom in campaigning for his upcoming 2024 run. His agreement exempts posts as long as the content “specifically relates to political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the vote efforts,” according to the SEC filings.

The recent accounts of Trump’s growing restlessness with his own platform come at a time when the former president — once exiled from mainstream social media for instigating a deadly insurrection — could return to some of those platforms. Twitter, now owned by right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, reinstated Trump’s account in November, but Trump demurred and said he’d stay with Truth Social. The Trump campaign has also pressed Facebook to end the indefinite suspension of his account put in place after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

On what would have been the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, President Biden will issue a Presidential Memorandum on Further Efforts to Protect Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services. Vice President Harris will announce the Presidential Memorandum in Florida later today, where she will speak about the next steps in the fight for reproductive rights and reinforce the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protecting access to abortion, including medication abortion.

Since the day of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, President Biden has emphasized the need to protect access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over 20 years and accounts for the majority of all abortions in the United States.

Earlier this month, the FDA took evidence-based action to support safe access to mifepristone by allowing the continued use of telehealth to prescribe the medication and creating a new option for certified pharmacies to dispense it to patients.

Some state officials have taken steps to try to prevent women from legally accessing medication abortion and to discourage pharmacies from becoming certified by the FDA.
Today, President Biden will sign a Presidential Memorandum to further protect access to medication abortion.

In the face of barriers to medication abortion and concerns about the safety of patients, healthcare providers, and pharmacists, today’s Presidential Memorandum announces actions to:

Protect Legal Access to Medication Abortion. The Presidential Memorandum directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), to consider new guidance to support patients, providers, and pharmacies who wish to legally access, prescribe, or provide mifepristone—no matter where they live.

Safeguard Patient Safety and Security. To ensure that patients understand their right to access reproductive healthcare despite roadblocks, the Presidential Memorandum directs the Secretary of HHS, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of DHS, to consider new actions to ensure that patients can access legal reproductive care, including medication abortion from a pharmacy, free from threats or violence. The President has long made clear that people should have access to reproductive care free from harassment, threats, or violence. Pharmacies should be treated no differently.

The Attorney General and the Secretaries of HHS and DHS will also provide recommendations to the White House Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, which was established by President Biden in Executive Order 14076, on additional ways to address barriers faced by patients, providers, and pharmacies in safely and legally accessing or providing medication abortion, consistent with evidence-based requirements set by the FDA.

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Statement from President Biden on the Shooting in Half Moon Bay, California
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Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in the latest tragic shooting in Half Moon Bay, California. For the second time in recent days, California communities are mourning the loss of loved ones in a senseless act of gun violence.

Following a briefing from my homeland security team, I have directed my administration to ensure local authorities and the broader Half Moon Bay community have the full support of the federal government in the wake of this heinous attack.

Yesterday, Senator Feinstein — alongside Senators Murphy, Blumenthal and others — reintroduced a federal Assault Weapons Ban and legislation that would raise the minimum purchase age for assault weapons to 21. Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action. I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this Assault Weapons Ban to my desk, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe.

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“We’re getting more tips,” Amy Herdy announced Friday night after the Sundance Film Festival premiere of “Justice,” a documentary she produced about the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

The film’s existence was a surprise, with the festival only revealing on Thursday, its opening night, that it was making a very last-minute addition to the lineup: the first documentary from “Swingers” and “The Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman. Within half an hour of the news getting out, Liman said in the post-screening Q&A, the film team started hearing from people who had sent the FBI tips before Kavanaugh’s confirmation, which the agency did not further investigate.

Suddenly, what was finished began anew. The tips were compelling enough for the team to start investigating and filming again with plans to add footage to the completed film, Liman said. In a wild and rare move, the finished documentary had converted back to a work in progress......

If there’s a smoking gun in Liman’s film, it’s a voice message left on the FBI tip line from Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, who attended Yale with Kavanagh and Ramirez.

In the previously unheard recording, Stier says classmates told him not just that Kavanaugh stuck his penis in Ramirez’s face, but that afterward, Kavanaugh went to the bathroom to make himself erect before allegedly returning to assault her again, hoping to amuse an audience of mutual friends. In the film, Ramirez says she’d suppressed the memory so deeply she couldn’t recall this second incident, even when Farrow explicitly asked her about it.

Stier’s message to the FBI also cites another incident involving a different woman, which he says he witnessed “firsthand”: A severely inebriated Kavanaugh, his dorm mate, pulling his pants down at a different party while a group of soccer players forced a drunk female freshman to hold his penis.

Statement from President Joe Biden on the 50th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Decision
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Today, instead of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, we are acknowledging that last year, the Supreme Court took away a constitutional right from the American people.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision, Americans, time and time again, have made their voices heard: women should be able to make these deeply personal decisions free from political interference. Yet, Republicans in Congress and across the country continue to push for a national abortion ban, to criminalize doctors and nurses, and to make contraception harder to access. It’s dangerous, extreme, and out of touch.

I’ll continue to fight to protect a woman’s right to choose. Congress must restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law – it’s the only way we can fully secure a woman’s right to choose in every state.

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