Good morning! Today is the International Day of the Ninja — try not to hurt anyone. It’s also the 81st anniversary of Utah’s ratification of the 21st Amendment, ending America’s disastrous, 13-year experiment with alcohol prohibition. More Utah news below…
“On fire” –> Big jobs report this morning. The labor market added 321,000 jobs last month, exceeding forecasts by almost 100,000. Earnings are up, too, but the official unemployment rate remains unchanged at 5.8 percent. Kevin Hall has the details for McClatchy.
Trouble in Cleveland –> Dana Liebelson and Ryan Reilly report for HuffPo that a 9-month federal probe found “shocking, systemic brutality” and incompetence in the Cleveland police department. Included in the report was one incident in which a sergeant fired at a kidnapping victim who had escaped wearing only boxer shorts.
Garner protests –> Demonstrations continued on Thursday against the police killing of Eric Garner. On Wednesday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Missouri man rammed his car into local protesters and then drew a handgun when they confronted him. The man was arrested and there were no serious injuries. AND: One would think that conservatives would be especially outraged that five government agents seized a citizen on the street for failing to pay taxes and strangled him to death. At The Atlantic, Peter Beinart challenges us to “Imagine that Eric Garner had been white.” ALSO: ThinkProgress explains how the Supreme Court “helped make it possible for police to kill by chokehold.”
Related –> Megan Cassidy reports for The Arizona Republic that around the same time that the Eric Garner grand jury’s decision was being announced, “a White police officer who was feeling threatened used lethal force on an unarmed Black man” in Phoenix. The police say Rumain Brisbon was uncooperative when approached about a loud music complaint and a scuffle ensued. A local civil rights activist told Cassidy, “The statements given to me by neighbors, friends and family members are in direct contrast to what has been disseminated by the Phoenix Police Department.”
Unconstitutional conservatism –> Missouri passed a law that would punish insurers who accept subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. At ThinkProgress, Ian Millhiser writes that while the law is a political stunt — unambiguously unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause — if the Supreme Court rules against the government in the latest challenge to the ACA, it would likely come into effect. AND: In 2012, Utah lawmakers hatched a scheme to “take back” thousands of acres of federal land in the state and exploit their fossil fuel reserves. The deadline for the feds to turn over the land, which they have ignored, comes at the end of this month. An editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune argues that there’s deep risk in turning Utah into a petro-state. AND: Back in February, former Republican Senator Bob Bennett patiently explained in the Deseret News that Utah couldn’t “take back” what it never owned — the land in question passed from native Americans to the Mexican government and then directly to the US government before the state of Utah was established.
Contempt –> Notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, is in hot water with a federal judge, who may seek contempt charges as a result of Arpaio’s office failing to investigate “wrongdoing” by a special anti-smuggling unit. Experts say there’s a small chance that as a result of the standoff, Arpaio could be jailed , according to TPM’s Jacques Billeaud.
Krugman v. Schumer –> Paul Krugman strongly disagrees with NY Sen. Chuck Schumer’s view that Democrats made a big mistake trying to reform the health care system in 2009.
Twice victimized –> AFP reports that despite years of media attention on the issue, a new survey of servicemen and women finds that “sexual assault victims in the US military say they are often ostracized by their peers or denied promotion by their commanders for reporting a crime to authorities.”
Not exactly a groundswell –> MoJo’s Stephanie Mencimer reports that outgoing Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann took to Fox News to rally tea partiers from across the country to descend on Washington, DC, in protest Obama’s executive action on immigration. About 40 showed up.
Religious liberty –> After a long fight, Florida has reversed itself and will allow the Satanic Temple to erect a religious display in the state capital. The state government has long allowed other religious displays during the holidays, but fought against the Satanists’ inclusion. Mark Joseph Stern reports for Slate.
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