Bloomberg Law [paywall but most of the article is available free]: “The US Supreme Court is poised to reckon with what constitutes an official presidential act in weighing former President Donald Trump’s claim that he’s immune from being criminally prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Trump argues the charges are all based on actions he took in his official capacity as president. Prosecutors say nothing he did in trying to remain in power despite his loss was conduct of the office. The justices could try to draw a line between these starkly different views and end up with a ”mixed decision where the former president is immune for allegations stemming from certain types of acts but not others,” said Smita Ghosh, appellate counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, a public interest law firm and think tank. With little guidance for the court to go on, legal scholars warn it’s not easy to make a distinction between acts that are immune from criminal liability and those that aren’t. An “official act” of the presidency isn’t a term that’s rooted in the Constitution or a federal statute. It was created largely by the Supreme Court in Nixon v. Fitzgerald, said Matthew Seligman. He’s a fellow at Stanford Law School’s Constitutional Law Center and co-counsel on a brief supporting the government in Trump’s case..”
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Category Archives: Government Documents
Nearly 2 in 5 Americans breathe unhealthy air
Washington Post: “A rising number of Americans — nearly 2 in 5 — has been living with unhealthy levels of air pollution, while the United States experienced a record number of days between 2020 and 2022 with very unhealthy or hazardous air, according to a new report. More than 90 million people are living in… Continue Reading
The Man Who Killed Google Search
Where’s Your Ed Act via Metafilter – “Edward Zitron has been reading all of google’s internal emails that have been released as evidence in the DOJ’s antitrust case against google. Zitron concludes that Google Search died on February 5th, 2019. It was on that date at Google’s HQ evil lair an emergency meeting, aka a… Continue Reading
Global Public Procurement Dataset
Data is Plural: “The Global Public Procurement Dataset provides standardized data on 72 million government contracts in 42 countries. The dataset, constructed from official sources by the Budapest-based Government Transparency Institute, represents $17 trillion in total procurement. It begins in the 2000s for most of the countries and concludes in 2021. For each contract, it… Continue Reading
10 Times as Much of This Toxic Pesticide Could End Up on Your Tomatoes and Celery
ProPublica – “Against the guidance of scientific advisory panels, the EPA is relying on industry-backed tests to relax regulations on acephate, which has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. “It’s exactly what we recommended against,” one panelist said. When you bite into a piece of celery, there’s a fair chance that it will be coated with… Continue Reading
FTC’s Noncompete Rule: What You Should Know
Under the final Noncompete Rule, the FTC adopts a comprehensive ban on new noncompetes with all workers, including senior executives. The final rule provides that it is an unfair method of competition—and therefore a violation of Section 5—for employers to enter into noncompetes with workers. Note: The regulation’s effective date is 120 days after Federal… Continue Reading
America’s produce has a ton of pesticides
Quartz – “Consumer Reports’ latest investigation suggests that 20% of commonly sold fruits and vegetables contain unsafe levels of pesticides. Some of your favorite produce might be dicier to eat than assumed. An analysis from Consumer Reports published Thursday suggests that a substantial portion of commonly sold fruits and vegetables have a significant risk of… Continue Reading
America’s Highest Value International Exports, by State
OnDeck: “The U.S. trade deficit hit nearly $1 trillion in 2022, as America imported some $948.1 billion more than it exported. This $103 billion increase on the previous year’s deficit came as the U.S. and its partners sought to restructure and redefine global supply chains following pandemic disruption and trade barriers with China — with… Continue Reading
Inside Amazon’s Secret Operation to Gather Intel on Rivals
WSJ via MSN: “For nearly a decade, workers in a warehouse in Seattle’s Denny Triangle neighborhood have shipped boxes of shoes, beach chairs, Marvel T-shirts and other items to online retail customers across the U.S. The operation, called Big River Services International, sells around $1 million a year of goods through e-commerce marketplaces including eBay,… Continue Reading
375,000 Native Animals Killed by Federal Program in 2023
Center for Biological Diversity: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services reported killing 375,045 native animals in 2023, according to recent data released by the program. The federal wildlife-killing program targets wolves, coyotes, cougars, birds and other wild animals, primarily to benefit the agriculture industry in states like Texas, Colorado and Idaho. According to the… Continue Reading
Unregulated water contaminants
Via Data is Plural: “Through the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, the Environmental Protection Agency “collect[s] data for contaminants that are suspected to be present in drinking water and do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act.” The current version of the rule requires public water systems to test for lithium and… Continue Reading
Determining the true value of a website
Digital.gov – A GSA case study: “It’s more complicated than you might think. Cleaning up: A hypothetical scenario Consider this scenario: you’ve been told to clean up a giant room full of Things Your Agency Has Made in the Past and Now Maintains for Public Use. This means disposing of the Things that no longer… Continue Reading
