Calista241
Calista241's JournalU.S. Supreme Court grants stay of execution to Georgia killer
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution tonight to condemned killer Keith Tharpe, three and a half hours after he was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection.
In a 6-3 decision, the court’s justices were apparently concerned about claims that one of Tharpe’s jurors was racist and sentenced Tharpe to death because he was African-American.
Three justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — dissented.
The high court will now decide whether to hear Tharpe’s appeal, and, if it doesn’t, the court said the stay of execution shall terminate automatically. But that will not happen tonight.
Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/supreme-court-grants-stay-execution-georgia-killer/gV7r2RtzmLz3udW8dsGL7K/
U.S. appeals court agrees that University of Cincinnati can't suspend student accused of sex assault
Source: WCPO Cincinnati
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal’s 3-0 ruling agreed with a federal judge’s 2016 preliminary injunction after the student appealed his University of Cincinnati suspension. He claims his constitutional rights to due process were violated.
Judge Richard A. Griffin, writing the appeal court’s opinion, said the judges are “sensitive to the competing concerns” in the case and agree UC has a strong interest in eliminating sexual assault on its campus and providing appropriate discipline for offenders.
The University of Cincinnati student referred to as “John Doe” contends he was denied a fair hearing without confronting his accuser, who failed to appear at his university disciplinary hearing. He contends their sex at his apartment in 2015 was consensual, while she had reported it wasn’t. He met the woman referred to in court documents as “Jane Roe” through a dating app.
The court ruling said with the “he said/she said” nature of the case, UC officials needed to provide fundamental fairness to a state university student facing long-term exclusion.
Read more: http://www.wcpo.com/news/education/higher-education/uc-news/us-appeals-court-agrees-that-university-of-cincinnati-cant-suspend-student-accused-of-sex-assault
Chelsea Manning says she was denied entry to Canada
Source: Reuters
Chelsea Manning was turned back at the Canadian-U.S. border because she was convicted of espionage for passing information to Wikileaks, the former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Monday.
Manning told Reuters via direct message on Twitter that she drove up to the Canadian border in Lacolle, Quebec, on Thursday evening, planning to vacation in Montreal and Vancouver.
She said she was stopped at the border and detained overnight before being handed a report stating she was inadmissible “on grounds of serious criminality,” according to a picture of the report she posted online.
The offenses Manning was convicted of under the U.S. Espionage Act “would equate to an indictable offence, namely Treason” if committed in Canada, the report reads.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-immigration-manning/chelsea-manning-says-she-was-denied-entry-to-canada-idUSKCN1C02OW
Nasa facility honors African American woman who plotted key space missions
Source: The Guardian
Katherine Johnson, the mathematician whose calculations influenced some of the most important missions of the space age, on Friday helped Nasa open a new research and development facility that bears her name.
The 99-year-old cut the ribbon for the Katherine G Johnson Computational Research Facility at the Langley research center in Hampton, Virginia, where she was honored as a trailblazing human computer.
In a pre-taped video message, Johnson laughed when asked how she felt about a building being named in her honor.
You want my honest answer? I think theyre crazy, she said. I was excited at something new, always liked something new, but give credit to everybody who helped. I didnt do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question and succeeded there.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/sep/22/hidden-figures-mathematician-katherine-johnson-nasa-facility-open
From her Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson
Johnson co-authored 26 scientific papers.
President Barack Obama presented Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of 17 Americans so honored on November 24, 2015. She was cited as a pioneering example of African-American women in STEM.
In 2016, Johnson was included in the list of "100 Women", BBC's list of 100 influential women worldwide.[40] NASA stated, "Her calculations proved as critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program, as they did to those first steps on the country's journey into space."
Trump administration backs bill to halt aid to Palestinians
The Trump administration declared its firm support Thursday for a bill that would suspend U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends what critics have described as a long-standing practice of rewarding Palestinians who kill Americans and Israelis.
The State Department announcement comes nearly six weeks after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the measure. The legislation, which is named after an American who was stabbed to death in Israel by a Palestinian, reflects bipartisan outrage over what lawmakers have termed a "pay to slay" program endorsed by the Palestinian Authority.
"The Trump administration strongly supports the Taylor Force Act, which is a consequence of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization's policy of paying terrorists and their families," the State Department said.
The department added that President Donald Trump "raised the need to end any part of this program that incentivizes violence against Israeli and American citizens with President Mahmoud Abbas last May in both Washington and Bethlehem.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-administration-backs-bill-halt-aid-palestinians-49852922
Iceland government collapses over paedophile furore
Source: BBC
A furore over a paedophile's links to PM Bjarni Benediktsson has led to the collapse of Iceland's ruling coalition.
The Bright Future party said it was leaving the three-party coalition after nine months in office, blaming a "serious breach of trust". Mr Benediktsson said the country should hold elections as soon as possible, preferably in November.
Earlier it emerged the PM's father wrote a letter recommending a convicted paedophile have his "honour restored".
This old Icelandic system permits convicts to have certain civil rights restored - enabling them to run for public office, qualify for certain government jobs or serve as an attorney or solicitor, for example - if three letters of recommendation from persons of good character are provided.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41280080
Former St. Louis police officer found not guilty in murder trial
Source: Washington Post
The St. Louis region prepared Friday for demonstrations following the acquittal of a white former police officer who was charged with murder last year for fatally shooting a black driver after a car chase and then accused by prosecutors of planting a gun on the victim.
Prosecutors charged Jason Stockley, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer, with murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. According to the probable cause statement, Stockley was caught saying he was "going to kill this motherf‑‑‑er, don't you know it" and was heard telling another officer to drive into Smith's slowing car.
The court document, submitted by the St. Louis circuit attorney, said Stockley then approached Smith's window and fired five times into the car, hitting Smith "with each shot" and killing him. In addition, prosecutors say, there was a gun found in Smith's car, but it was later determined to only have DNA from Stockley.
State and local officials say they have been preparing for the unrest that could follow Stockley's acquittal Friday, following demonstrations that erupted after other area police shootings, acquittals and decisions not to file charges.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/09/15/st-louis-tenses-for-verdict-in-murder-trial-of-former-police-officer/?utm_term=.c7a9c097a65a
Equifax, software maker blame each other for opening door to hackers
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Equifax and a software company are blaming each other for a glitch that allowed hackers to obtain Social Security numbers and other sensitive info for 143 million people.
The Atlanta-based company, one of the nation’s three key credit bureaus that track individuals’ credit histories, said late Wednesday that hackers breached a vulnerable spot in a U.S. website application called Apache Struts CVE-2017-5638. Equifax disclosed last week that it discovered in July that hackers had tapped a large trove of personal data on most adults in America.
But in a statement Thursday, Apache Software Foundation, which provides the application, said it provided and announced a patch for the software fault on March 7, well before Equifax said the security breach began in mid-May.
“In conclusion, the Equifax data compromise was due to their failure to install the security updates provided in a timely manner,” the foundation said.
Read more: http://www.ajc.com/business/equifax-software-maker-blame-each-other-for-opening-door-hackers/p5wJS5CgTLrmKUL59CTAjM/
Apache is a very common coding language used in websites. Vendors like Apache regularly release these security patches that the vast majority of companies implement in a timely manor. Equifax is in deep shit, IMO.
Involuntary manslaughter charges dropped in Penn State frat cas
Source: ABC News
Involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges have been dropped against eight former Penn State University fraternity members in connection with the death of a pledge at the fraternity house earlier this year, a Pennsylvania judge announced today.
But Centre County District Judge Allen Sinclair said today the cases against those students and four others will head to trial for less serious alleged offenses: reckless endangerment, alcohol-related charges and hazing.
Sinclair also today dismissed charges completely against four former fraternity members who were facing single counts of either tampering with evidence or recklessly endangering another person.
....
The charges, initially against 18 students, stemmed from the death of Timothy Piazza, a 19-year-old sophomore and pledge at Beta Theta Pi, who died Feb. 4 after he fell down the stairs during a night of drinking for a pledge ceremony at the house on the night of Feb. 2.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/involuntary-manslaughter-charges-dropped-penn-state-fraternity-hazing/story?id=49543863
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