cnn.com: John Edwards’ trial began today in Greensboro, North Carolina. The prosecution claims that Mr. Edwards broke the law to hide the fact that he was going to have a baby with his mistress. According to cnn.com, Mr. Edwards faces prison time if convicted of the charges of filing false and misleading campaign disclosure reports.
It was big news last week when prosecutors charged George Zimmerman with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. But Zimmerman could walk free if a judge decides his actions fall under Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which gives broad leeway to people to shoot in self-defense. There is no way to undo what happened in the Zimmerman-Martin encounter, but some good can still come of it: it could lead states to repeal their misguided “stand your ground” laws.
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cnn.com: A ruling is expected in a race discrimination class-action in Iowa based on an update from cnn.com:
The plaintiffs’ attorneys say the discrimination is not necessarily a result of overt racism. They say the discriminatory hiring was often the result of implicit bias – an unconscious preference of the mostly white hiring officials for white applicants over black applicants.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs faced a key obstacle – proving the existence of something that white people might not be able to see. They had to show that discrimination might take place, even if it’s not intentional.
In an interesting subplot, the judge who certified the class action declined to remove the representative after she was convicted of embezzling $43,000 from an employer. His reasoning: It occurred after the alleged discrimination happened. We question whether the prospective employers may make a case for an instinctive, “gut-level” reaction to that particular plaintiff.
forbes.com: According to the latest from Forbes, Fox news employee who provided material to the Gawker to expose the “seedy underbelly” (not our choice of words) of Fox news may have more than a civil lawsuit on his hands. According to New York state law, he may have committed a crime. Fox News says he’s now at the mercy of law enforcement personnel though Fox News no doubt plans to vigorously pursue claims against him, if for no other reason than to make sure that no future employee has the same bright idea.
Denver Post: “A federal court has thrown out a 2010 Colorado law meant to spur online retailers like Amazon to collect state sales tax. . . . ‘I conclude that the veil provided by the words of the act and the regulations is too thin to support the conclusion that the act and the regulations regulate in-state and out-of-state retailers even-handedly,’ [Judge] Blackburn wrote in his opinion. The law and the rules to carry it out ‘impose an undue burden on interstate commerce’ and are unconstitutional, the judge wrote.”