January 8, 2015

Honda Hit With Record $70 Million Fine for Not Reporting Deaths

Source: New York Times

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has fined Honda Motor $70 million for failing to submit reports of fatal accidents and injuries to the government.

It is the largest amount that the safety regulator has ever levied against an automaker. The penalty stems from the automaker’s failure to report 1,729 death and injury claims to the agency for the past 11 years, and its failure to report certain warranty and other claims in the same period.

“Today’s announcement sends a very clear message to the entire industry that manufacturers have responsibility for the complete and timely reporting of this critical safety information,” Mark Rosekind, the new head of the agency, said Thursday.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/business/honda-fined-70-million-in-underreporting-safety-issues-to-government.html?emc=edit_na_20150108

January 4, 2015

DID CHRISTIE GO EASY ON A HUMAN TRAFFICKER JUST TO BUST A SMALL-TIME POL?

By Olivia Nuzzi

DID CHRISTIE GO EASY ON
A HUMAN TRAFFICKER JUST TO BUST A SMALL-TIME POL?

Chris Christie built his reputation as a crime-fighter. So why did he cut a deal with an accused sex slave ringleader—and send to jail a Democratic mayor, instead?

Beginning in 2003, members of a smuggling ring in Honduras approached girls, some just 14 years of age, and talked them into illegally entering the United States with the promise of waitressing jobs.

After making it over the border, during which time the smugglers allegedly raped some of the girls, they landed in Houston, Texas. They were temporarily held there before making the rest of their journey north to Hudson County, New Jersey.

That’s when the girls learned the truth. They were never going to be waitresses.

The girls worked in one of several bars, Puerto de la Union in Guttenberg or Puerto de la Union II and El Paisano in Union City, owned by Luisa Medrano. They were on the job for 48 hours per week, making just $240 -- money that would have to go to pay off their smuggling debts, which ranged from $10,000 to $20,000. For that tiny salary, the girls were required to dance and drink with male patrons, and they were encouraged to prostitute themselves.

"If you wanted a beer, it was $4 … If you wanted a 'special beer' it was $14," Francisco Arroyo, a truck driver and customer at Puerto de la Union, told the Hudson Reporter. "These girls would do everything to the guys. I couldn't believe it was happening."

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/feature/2014/did-christie-go-easy-on-a-human-trafficker-just-to-bust-a-small-time-pol.html

January 2, 2015

A Tale of Two Cities -- By Governor Mario Cuomo, Democratic National Convention, 1984

January 1, 2015

UPDATED Judge: Clerks have duty to issue same-sex marriage licenses

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge says that Florida’s county court clerks have a legal duty to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but he has stopped short of ordering them to do so.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a ruling Thursday in Tallahassee federal court responding to requests to clarify his previous order that Florida’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. He stayed that order, but the stay is scheduled to expire at the end of the day Monday.

The association representing county clerks said the ruling applies only to Washington County, where a lawsuit filed by two men became a key basis for Hinkle’s order. Gay rights groups said Hinkle’s order applies statewide. Hinkle warned Thursday that clerks who don’t start issuing the licenses when the stay expires could face future lawsuits or other legal consequences.

“History records no shortage of instances when state officials defied federal court orders on issues of federal constitutional law. Happily, there are many more instances when responsible officials followed the law, like it or not. Reasonable people can debate whether the ruling in this case was correct and who it binds. There should be no debate, however, on the question whether a clerk of court may follow the ruling, even for marriage-license applicants who are not parties to this case,” Hinkle wrote. Hinkle said while his order doesn’t require a clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, “the Constitution requires the clerk to issue such licenses.”

-snip-

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2015/01/01/judge_clerks_have_duty_to_issue_same_sex_marriage_licenses/

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UPDATE:

Read the full decision, here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/251461351/4-14-cv-00107-109-Florida-Federal-Order