Daily United States News

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Baltimore uneasily awaits answers on black man's death - Reuters

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Baltimore remained on edge on Wednesday, with police in riot gear deployed near the site of a wave of rioting as citizens expressed anger over the death of a black man after his arrest by local police.

The city had a less violent night on Tuesday, the first day a new overnight curfew took effect following Monday's rioting, which saw buildings and cars burned as looters clashed with police.

The smell of smoke hung in the air near a West Baltimore CVS pharmacy that was torched two days earlier, while area residents said they wanted to see legal action against the six police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray, 25, two weeks earlier.

"The thing that makes me angry about this is he didn't do anything," said landscaper Levi Artes, 45, as he stood near a transit station. "He didn't sell any drugs, he wasn't fighting with anyone, he just tried to avoid the police.

"If I killed somebody, I'd be in jail now."

Gray died in a Baltimore hospital on April 19 of spinal injuries sustained while he was in police custody. He had been arrested after fleeing from police in a high-crime area and was carrying a switchblade knife.

Gray's death has renewed a national movement against law enforcement's use of lethal force, which protesters say is disproportionately exercised against minorities. Protests flared after police killed unarmed black men last year in Ferguson, Missouri; New York City and elsewhere.

Baltimore Police have said they will conclude their investigation by the end of the week, when the results will be turned over to state prosecutors and followed by an independent review.

"The six officers should be arrested and jailed," said Gray's friend Ashley Cain, who is 19 years old and unemployed.

The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a separate probe into possible civil rights violations in the city of 620,000 people.

Schools reopened on Wednesday after the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was lifted. The city's Major League Baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, was set to play on Wednesday, though in a rare move, no fans would be admitted to the stadium.

'CURFEW IS ... WORKING'

Shortly after the curfew began late on Tuesday night, police in riot gear fired rubber bullets and lobbed gas canisters at a few hundred protesters who stood in front of the burned-out pharmacy in the city just 40 miles (64 km) from Washington.

Commissioner Anthony Batts told reporters around midnight only 10 people had been arrested, adding: "The curfew is in fact working."

In Chicago on Tuesday, about 500 people demonstrated outside police headquarters and marched in solidarity with the people of Baltimore, chanting "Stop Police Violence." At least one person was arrested, but the event was mostly peaceful.

St. Louis media reported that two people were injured overnight following gunfire in nearby Ferguson during a protest near where unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by police last August. It was not clear if the shootings were linked or connected to the demonstration.

Monday's rioting in Baltimore followed a week of largely peaceful protests in the city, where almost a quarter of the residents live below the poverty line, with demonstrators demanding answers in Gray's death.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she acted cautiously on Monday to avoid a heavy-handed response that would incite violence.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will discuss the violent protests in Baltimore and call for reform in the U.S. justice system, including the use of body cameras by police across the country, in a speech in New York on Wednesday.

The neighborhood that saw the worst of the violence was already filled with many burned-out buildings and vacant lots that had not been rebuilt since the 1968 riots that followed the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Residents said relations with police had long been strained, with Gray's death a flashpoint.

"They're supposed to protect and serve, but they harass us," said 20-year-old community college student Dayrick Lucas. "I'm afraid of the police."

(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel; Editing by W Simon and Lisa Von Ahn)

Clinton calls for end to 'mass incarceration' as riots become campaign issue - Los Angeles Times

Hillary Clinton on 'hard truths about race and justice'

By Evan Halper contact the reporter

Hillary Rodham Clinton focused her presidential campaign Wednesday on the unrest in Baltimore, vowing to work to upend the criminal justice system by ending the “era of mass incarceration” and equipping every police officer on the street with a body camera.

Her speech at Columbia University in New York City marked the unveiling of Clinton’s first major policy proposal as a presidential hopeful, coming as candidates are under pressure to confront racial disparities in the criminal justice system highlighted by the violence in Baltimore.

“What we have seen in Baltimore should, and I think does, tear at our soul,” Clinton said. “The patterns have become unmistakable and undeniable. … We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America.”

Baltimore erupted in rioting Monday night, following the funeral of Freddie Gray, an African American man who was mortally injured while in police custody.

Clinton’s plan also stems from the “listening tour” she has been on since launching her campaign this month. In round-table meetings with residents in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, the issue of drug abusers whose troubles were compounded by mental health problems played prominently.

“Our prisons and our jails are now our mental health institutions,” Clinton said. “I was somewhat surprised in both Iowa and New Hampshire to be asked so many questions about mental health.”

Clinton is joining a chorus of politicians demanding that police officers everywhere be equipped with body cameras.

“For every tragedy caught on tape, there surely have been many more that remained invisible,” she said. “This is a common-sense step.”

The sentencing reforms Clinton will champion focus on nonviolent offenders. She said they will include shifting people found guilty of such drug crimes from lockups to treatment and rehabilitation programs. Other alternative punishments would also be explored for low-level offenders, particularly minors, a Clinton campaign aide said.

Sentencing reform has broader political appeal than it once did. Tea party Republicans concerned about government overreach have joined Democrats in raising concern about inequities in the criminal justice system. Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican running for president, is among those pushing for the kinds of sentencing reform Clinton will propose Wednesday. Paul, whose ideology leans libertarian, argues the United States locks up too many people for minor offenses for too long a time.

Clinton alluded to the idea’s inter-party appeal in her speech Wednesday.

“There seems to be a growing bipartisan movement for common-sense reform,” she said. “Without the mass incarceration that we currently practice, millions of fewer people would be living in poverty.”

Clinton repeatedly returned to what she says is racial injustice at the core of the existing policies, citing statistics that highlight how much harder the criminal justice system is on blacks than whites.

“We have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance,” she said. “These recent tragedies should galvanize us to come together as a nation to find our balance again.”

Twitter: @evanhalper

8:08 a.m.: This story has been updated with Clinton's remarks.

Son: Former Illinois Gov. Dan Walker dies at age 92 - seattlepi.com

CHICAGO (AP) — Former Illinois Gov. Dan Walker has died at age 92.

Walker's son Dan Walker Jr. told The Associated Press that his father passed away early Wednesday at his home in Chula Vista, California.

The Democrat was governor from 1973 to 1977.

Walker was seen at the time as a new breed of Illinois politician. An attorney, he disdained traditional political organization and won office in 1972 on the strength of his personality. But as governor, he alienated both Republicans and Democrats, accomplishing little.

After a single tumultuous term, Walker also had major legal troubles while the head of a bank. He was sentenced to prison in 1987 for fraudulently obtaining more than $1 million in loans.

He's survived by his wife and seven children. Funeral services are pending.

Live courtoom coverage: Survivors tell gruesome details of Colorado theater ... - Colorado Springs Gazette

CENTENNIAL — One after another, they told their gripping, heart-breaking stories to a jury: A bullet-riddled woman urging her husband to save himself and their son because "I'm ready to die here." A police officer rushing a dying 6-year-old girl to an ambulance. A young wife who saw her husband's bloody face and thought he wouldn't live to hold the baby she was carrying.

Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, left rear in light-colored shirt, watches during testimony by witness Derick Spruel, upper right, on the second day of his trial in Centennial, Colo., Monday, April 27, 2015. Standing at left is prosecutor Lisa Teesch-Maguire. (Colorado Judicial Department via AP, Pool)

Prosecutors called 10 witnesses Tuesday in the trial of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, and they created a powerful image of the carnage and grief left behind after the July 20, 2012, assault on a suburban Denver movie theater.

One juror wept, and in the gallery, spectators buried their heads in their hands or shook with silent sobs.

The trial continues Wednesday morning.

Holmes' attorneys didn't ask a single question in cross-examination — perhaps not hoping to drag out the gruesome details a minute longer than necessary. In opening statements the day before, they had acknowledged that he was the killer, and that the attack was horrific, but they said schizophrenia had taken over his mind and compelled him to kill.

Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of killing 12 people and injuring 70. His attorneys hope to convince the jury he didn't know right from wrong at the time of the massacre and should be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital.

Prosecutors aim to convince the jury Holmes knew what he was doing was illegal and immoral and should be sentenced to die. But rather than attacking the insanity claim, they launched their case with devastating accounts from people who lived through the nightmare. Among their stories:

___

'I'M READY TO DIE HERE'

Rita Paulina, her husband and son decided to make a run for safety even amid the gunfire. They headed for a door when she saw a man standing in their path, holding "something long" in the darkness. "I told my son to go back," she said. They headed for a rear exit, but bullets tore into her arm and leg and she fell to floor. "I told my husband, 'Just leave me here.... I'm ready to die here." He refused and hoisted her onto his back, carrying her outside. She lay back and closed her eyes, and heard her teenage boy ask if she was dead. "I told my son no, I was praying to God."

___

'I REALIZED THAT SHE WAS GONE'

Aurora police Sgt. Michael Hawkins heard about the shooting over his police radio and barreled to the scene at 100 mph. Inside the Century 16, another officer summoned him to a tier of seats where 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan lay, shot in her abdomen. Hawkins picked her up and ran out the front of the theater, the crowd parting when they saw the child. "They all let out a scream," he said. Then he felt her go limp. "I looked down at her and realized she was gone," Hawkins said, his strong, clear voice fading to a grieving whisper. She was the youngest to die that night.

___

'I TOLD HIM THAT I LOVED HIM'

As Holmes fired a shotgun into the audience, Katie Medley squeezed her body to the floor, desperate to protect the baby she was about to deliver. She looked up and saw her husband, Caleb, an aspiring stand-up comic, still in his seat. "That's when I saw blood pouring from his face and I knew he'd been shot in the head," she remembered. She decided make a run for it to try to save their baby. She took Caleb's hand, thinking she'd never again see him alive, and felt him squeeze hers back. "I told him that I loved him and that I would take care of our baby if he didn't make it," she said. She later gave birth to a healthy son, Hugo, now 3. Caleb survived, but he lost an eye and was left unable to walk and barely able to speak.

The Kids of Gay Marriage Are All Right - Daily Beast

Gay couple walking on beach with child on shoulders

Alamy

MODERN FAMILY

04.28.159:22 PM ET

In today’s Supreme Court arguments, Justice Kennedy recognized that gay parents are just as capable of raising healthy, happy kids as straight people. Strangely, he also called the science that proves it “too new” to be trusted.

Advocates for same-sex marriage got a positive sign during Tuesday’s opening arguments of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that could decide whether marriage licenses of all couples—including gays and lesbians—must be recognized nationwide.

John J. Bursch, Michigan’s special assistant Attorney General, was trying to convince the court that same-sex couples were unable to have the same emotional attachment as their adoptive, straight counterparts when Justice Anthony Kennedy butted in.

“It goes back to the basic point where you began where you had some premise that only opposite-sex couples can have a bonding with the child,” he said. “That was very interesting, but it's just a wrong premise.”

Kennedy’s declaration sounded like a big victory for gay-rights activists—and it may be. But, curiously, it appeared that he didn’t want to hear the science that supports his statement.

“A lot of people have experienced being around a gay or lesbian family in the last 10 years because they’re a lot more comfortable being out. It is personal. But we have really good research that holds up that this a positive experience.”

“Well, part of wait and see, I suppose, is to ascertain whether the social science—the new studies—are accurate. But that it seems to me, then, that we should not consult at all the social science on this, because it’s too new,” Kennedy told Mary L. Bonauto, the attorney arguing for gay marriage.

“You think you say we don’t need to wait for changes. So it seems to me that if we’re not going to wait, then it’s only fair for us to say, well, we’re not going to consult social science.”

Bonauto immediately countered: Research almost universally says that gay parents are just as (or more) likely to produce a happy, healthy adults as children from opposite-sex, two-parent households.

“These issues have been aired repeatedly, there is, as you all have heard, a social science consensus that there’s nothing about the sex or sexual orientation of the parent,” said Bonauto.

And it’s not particularly new science, either.

“And this isn’t just research about gay people,” she said. “It’s research about, you know, again, what is the effect of gender, it goes for 50 years.”

She’s right.

“Every reputable and peer-reviewed study that has been done over the last few decades proves it. Kids, by every important metric or marker, raised by gay or lesbian parents do as well as kids raised by a mother and a father. That includes longer research projects,” says Judy Appel, the executive director of Our Family Coalition, a nonprofit that supports gay and lesbian families with children.

There’s the 2010 Stanford study that says “children of same-sex couples are as likely to make normal progress through school as the children of most other family structures.” There’s the 2007 Florida State University paper that says “Children (of gay and lesbian adoptive parents) have strength levels equal to or exceeding the scale norms.”

There are even some studies, like this one from UCSF and another from the University of Melbourne last year, that say kids of gay and lesbian parents might be better off socially, emotionally, and academically.

Then there’s the worry that the sample size is too small or that the studies aren’t long enough. But those concerns have been dispelled, too, in this Tufts study from 2013 that concludes “extensive data available from more than 30 years of research reveal that children raised by gay and lesbian parents have demonstrated resilience with regard to social, psychological, and sexual health despite economic and legal disparities and social stigma.”

Ignoring these findings and delaying recognition of gay marriage is not benign, Bonauto argued on Tuesday.

“In terms of waiting, I do think the effect of waiting is not neutral. It does consign same-sex couples to this outlier status, and there will be profound consequences that follow from that,” she said.

Even Chief Justice John Roberts—who, by the end of the debate, raised more questions about the Supreme Court’s right to step in on this issue than Kennedy—believed that withholding this science would make gays and lesbians second-class citizens, if temporarily.

“You’re quite right that the consequences of waiting are not neutral,” he said.

That’s why opening arguments, Appel believes, took such a personal turn on Tuesday.

“Those against same-sex marriage have extolled that position (that gay and lesbian parenting, as a concept, harms children) and have actually backed off from it. They’ve lost ground in many of the cases that have been coming up through the courts. They know they don’t have the science or the research or foundation to support it, so they have to make it this personal thing,” she said.

Instead, Bursch focused on the idea of marriage as a tradition and that a sudden shift in public opinion simply isn’t enough to grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide.

But Appel didn’t appear to mind that the trial veered into personal experience—she could just as easily argue that as well as scientific evidence.

“I have two kids, a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old. Our kids go to school with everybody else. We do everything that all other families do. We have the same struggles; the same joyous moments. Parenting is a really personal thing. It doesn’t surprise me that the arguments become this personal thing. A lot of people have experienced being around a gay or lesbian family in the last 10 years because they’re a lot more comfortable being out,” she said.

"It is personal. But we have really good research that holds up that this a positive experience.”

Baltimore uneasily awaits answers on black man's death - Reuters

The city had a less violent night on Tuesday, the first day a new overnight curfew took effect following Monday's rioting, which saw buildings and cars burned as looters clashed with police.

"If I killed somebody, I'd be in jail now."

Baltimore Police have said they will conclude their investigation by the end of the week, when the results will be turned over to state prosecutors and followed by an independent review.

"The six officers should be arrested and jailed," said Gray's friend Ashley Cain, who is 19 years old and unemployed.

The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a separate probe into possible civil rights violations in the city of 620,000 people.

'CURFEW IS ... WORKING'

Commissioner Anthony Batts told reporters around midnight only 10 people had been arrested, adding: "The curfew is in fact working."

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she acted cautiously on Monday to avoid a heavy-handed response that would incite violence.

Residents said relations with police had long been strained, with Gray's death a flashpoint.

"They're supposed to protect and serve, but they harass us," said 20-year-old community college student Dayrick Lucas. "I'm afraid of the police."

(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel; Editing by W Simon and Lisa Von Ahn)

Poll: Millennials like Clinton but are still undecided on GOP favorite - CBS News

A new poll of 18- to 29-year olds by the Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP) finds that Hillary Clinton is the clear favorite in a hypothetical Democratic primary, while potential Republican primary voters have no definitive front runner, with more than a third of respondents undecided.

Clinton would get the support of 47 percent of potential Democratic primary voters. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has said she is not running for president but still has an ardent following, would get 11 percent support. Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet declared a candidacy comes in third with 8 percent support, followed by former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (3 percent), former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (2 percent) and Vermont's independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (1 percent). Twenty-eight percent of potential primary voters say they are still undecided.

The most popular opinion at this very early stage in the cycle among potential Republican primary voters is no opinion at all, with 36 percent of prospective young Republican primary voters expressing no favorite candidate. The leader among the rest of the pack is Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (8 percent), followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (7 percent), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (7 percent) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tied at 5 percent. Other presumed and actual candidates all get four percent support or less.

Of that group, only Cruz, Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio - who received 2 percent support - have declared official candidacies.

"There are plenty of opportunities for Republicans to make inroads with this generation," said John Della Volpe, the IOP polling director.

Play Video

CBS Evening News

Millennials unafraid to debate issues of race

Elaine Quijano speaks to millennials about the Ferguson protests, white privilege and what they want for the future.

The poll also probed attitudes about race, finding that young Americans are split on the question of whether they trust the American judicial system to judge people without a bias for race and ethnicity. Nearly half of young people, 49 percent, said they had "not much" or "no" confidence, while an equal percentage said they had "some" or "a lot" of confidence. Attitudes had some correlation with race, with a majority of young white Americans (55 percent) saying they had had some or a lot of confidence, while only 44 percent of Hispanics and 31 percent of African Americans said the same. Republicans also tended to be much more confident in the system, with 66 percent saying they had some or a lot of confidence people would be judged without bias for race and ethnicity, while only 46 percent of young Democrats said the same.

Other key findings from the poll include:

A majority of young Americans, 55 percent, say they would prefer the White House remain in Democratic hands after President Obama's second term ends, although a majority of young white voters say they would prefer a Republican president (53 percent).
There is an even split, 49 percent to 49 percent, on support or opposition to the national protests of police treatment of African Americans. Support once again had a correlation with race, with just 37 percent support from young whites, 59 percent support from Hispanics and 81 percent support from African Americans.
Eighty percent of young people say they would support mandatory body cameras for police officers on patrol when it is presented as a reform to reduce racial inequalities in the criminal justice system.
Nearly six in 10 young adults, 57 percent, say they would support sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Middle East. There is also growing support for the idea that the U.S. should take the lead in solving international conflicts, which jumped from 25 percent in March 2014 to 35 percent in March 2015.
Three in four young Americans believe global warning is a "proven fact," and just 23 percent say it is an unproven theory. But they are split on support for the Keystone XL pipeline, with 50 percent supporting and 48 percent opposing the pipeline. Nearly six in 10 young people oppose fracking, while 40 percent support it.
Eleven percent of women ages 18 to 29 who were surveyed in the poll said they have been victims of sexual assault. Two in 10 say they know a close friend or family member who was a victim. Five percent said they had been a victim and were also the friend of a victim.
After years of decline, young Americans are beginning to show more trust in the president, the military, the Supreme Court and the United Nations. Trust is up slightly in the federal government (25 percent), Congress (17 percent), Wall Street (14 percent) and the media (12 percent), though levels remain low.
Mr. Obama's approval rating is up seven percentage points over the past six months, giving him an approval of 50 percent among young Americans. He has seen an increase in support from all major subgroups, especially young Hispanics, where his approval is up to 65 percent in March 2015, from 49 percent in October 2014.

The poll is based on online interviews with 3,034 interviews with young Americans between 18 and 29 years old. The data collection took place from March 18 through April 1. The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Initially, participants are chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the web-enabled KnowledgePanel.