The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

Stacking the court system

From CQ Politics~

“Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy dropped a bill today that would create dozens of new appellate and district court judgeships.

“After years of debate and federal courts struggling to adjudicate cases despite the overwhelming burden of heavy caseloads, the time to enact a comprehensive federal judgeship bill is long overdue,” Leahy said.

The legislation would establish four new judgeships on the 9th Circuit; two on the 2nd Circuit; and one judgeship each in the 1st, 3rd and 6th Circuit courts. It would create one temporary slot on the 3rd, 8th and 9th Circuit benches. The bill also would establish 38 permanent new district court seats across the country.” (more…)

Three reasons why this should grab your attention:

# One party is apparently solidly behind this proposed legislation (in this case, it happens to be Democrats).
#Federal judges have been complaining for years regarding low pay. (Judge Paul Cassell Resigns, Bemoaning Low Judicial Pay, Alabama’s First Black Federal Judge Plans to Resign, L.A. Judge Says He Can’t Afford to Remain on Federal Bench.
#Back in 2006, there were roughly 51 VACANCIES on Federal benches across the nation. Why would you create new judgeships if you have not even filled up the present openings?

Make no mistake about it, the judges have already been picked. I want to see the list.
Reshaping America, one judge at a time.

Your girl up the street might be in trouble with the law…

…just for watching your kids.

(AP) IRVING TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood’s children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don’t see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she’d be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

[...]

Under state law, no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers. Snyder said she stopped watching the other children immediately after receiving the letter, which was well within the four-week period. (more…)

Translation: Kids need to be in government-approved centers for care.