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Attorney General Keith Ellison kept a diary in 2021 as he directed the prosecution of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Tuesday, the world will be able to read those diaries.

"Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence," will be published by 12 Books, with a foreword by Floyd's brother Philonise and blurbs from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Ben Crump, who represented the Floyd family. Ellison will speak about the 304-page book and his work at Macalester College's John B. Davis Lecture Hall at 7 p.m. May 25.

The book is described as a "spoke-by-spoke" look at parties involved in the attempt to end the chain of violence, including prosecutors, police unions, activists and the media. Ellison told the New York Times that he worked on "Break the Wheel" in the early hours of the morning, prior to reporting for work, hoping to create "a historical account and a guide to officials when faced with a case of police misconduct."

According to the Times, Ellison's book is heavily focused on the process of jury selection, which resulted in what the author calls "the single most diverse jury I had ever empaneled."

Ellison was re-elected as attorney general last fall by just 21,000 votes. Chauvin is currently serving his sentence in Tucson, Ariz.

Originally posted here:
Keith Ellison to publish George Floyd trial diary Tuesday, with intro ... - Star Tribune

[*This story was updated at 12:26 a.m., May 16, 2023, to reflect updated unofficial vote tallies]

Democrat Heather Boyd won the special election to replace former state Rep. Mike Zabel, D-Delaware, preserving the Democratic one-vote majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Boyd, a former congressional staffer from Upper Darby Township, received about 60% of the vote in the election, according to unofficial tallies. The contest coincided with the municipal election primary election on Tuesday.

Her Republican opponent, Katie Ford, who ran on a moderate conservative platform, received about 40% of the vote with about 1% of ballots cast for Libertarian candidate Alfe Goodwin, unofficial tallies showed.

Boyd arrived at a post-election party at Caseys Saloon and Restaurant in Drexel Hill to raucous cheers and chants, and thanked her supporters and family for their efforts during the eight-week campaign.

A number of Democratic House leaders including Majority Leader Matt Bradford, of Montgomery County, and Appropriations Committee Chairperson Jordan Harris, of Philadelphia, were in attendance.

This election has been about all of you in this room and countless others who arent here today who cared enough and believed enough and worked hard enough to make the difference, Boyd said.

Ford declined to comment in a text message.

Gov. Josh Shapiro congratulated Boyd in a tweet and said he looked forward to working with her as Delaware Countys newest state representative.

Together, well work to get things done for Pennsylvanians and protect real freedom, Shapiro tweeted. And to Delco: Thank you for showing up to defend our rights and the Democratic House majority.

Former U.S. attorney general and National Democratic Redistricting Committee Chairperson Eric Holder said in a statement that Boyds election would ensure the rights and freedoms of her constituents are protected. He attributed the Democratic House majority her victory secured to the most recent redrawing of Pennsylvanias legislative districts.

For the previous decade, gerrymandered maps allowed Republicans to maintain an unbreakable, unfair grip on the Pennsylvania General Assembly. These new maps are a win for democracy and the people of Pennsylvania, Holder said.

In another special election for Republican state Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culvers former 108th House District seat in Northumberland and Montour counties, Republican Michael Stender defeated Democrat Trevor Finn in a similarly lopsided election with nearly 66% of the vote, according to unofficial tallies.

Boyd received more than $1 million in support from the House Democratic Campaign Committee that paid for campaign ads critical of Fords positions on abortion and her suitability for state office in light of her history of bankruptcies.

Ford responded in ads where she told voters that her financial troubles were the result of her decision to seek treatment for her son, who has autism.

Ford also said in a televised debate that she would not support a proposed constitutional amendment declaring there is no constitutional right to abortion, or state funding for the procedure, that the Republican- controlled General Assembly approved last year.

Under the state constitution, an amendment must pass both chambers in successive sessions before going to voters.

Boyd attributed her victory to the work of volunteers who knocked on tens of thousands of doors in the district to get out the word about the election.

You rolled up your sleeves, you got to work and you let the 163rd be heard, Boyd said.

Democratic leaders said the district would be a safe Democratic seat in a General Election with presidential or gubernatorial candidates on the ballot. But in a primary election dominated by partisan super voters, a Democratic victory was not certain.

Boyd said she felt the weight of the consequences of the election but tried not to make it the focus of her campaign.

I tried not to focus on it because ultimately this is about my district. The majority is its own challenge. And thats somebody elses issue, Boyd said. For me, it was focusing on the voters. Its my community. Its where I feel the strongest.

More here:
Democrat Heather Boyd wins special election, securing Democratic ... - Pennsylvania Capital-Star

A desperate battle has been waged at the Capitol to address the number one killer of people between the ages of 18 and 45 fentanyl. Minnesota may finally be on a better path.

Thanks to a coalition including grieving families, community leaders, law enforcement and prosecutors, common sense legislation increasing penalties for fentanyl trafficking to equal the penalties for heroin are included in the public safety bill (SF2909) thats on its way to Gov. Tim Walz for his expected signature. A bill to require and fund lifesaving Narcan in Minnesota schools is included in the education finance bill.

These glimmers of hope confront a sobering reality. Well more than 107,000 Americans and more than 1,200 Minnesotans were killed by drug overdoses in 2021, and fentanyl is the biggest killer. Fentanyl deaths are rising sharply. One kilogram of fentanyl can kill 500,000. The emergency department at Hennepin County Medical Center is overwhelmed by 100 overdose patients a week.

As a prosecutor, I have witnessed this carnage: Parents appearing at court hearings scared to death that if released from jail and without treatment, their children will die. Heartbroken friends and families of overdose victims speaking at sentencing hearings. Desperate addicts marshaling strength and courage to fight a demon that has consumed them.

We have a moral imperative to do everything in our power to save the lives of our young people from this poison. Success will require us to recognize two essential truths.

First, the threat from fentanyl and other powerful synthetic drugs is a threat to public health exponentially greater than any prior drug epidemic we have faced.

Second, knee-jerk partisan narratives must be rejected in favor of a nuanced approach that considers every possible solution.

Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin.

Experts suggest that between 40% and 60% of fentanyl pills are potentially fatal.

Fentanyl is present in as many as 90% of the counterfeit oxycodone pills seized by law enforcement, and is frequently mixed with cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin.

Its so bad that bipartisan legislation in Congress seeks to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Indeed, given its lethality it may be more accurate to consider it a poison than a drug.

There is no clear historical precedent for fentanyl or other super-charged synthetic drugs. Yes, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs have ruined and taken lives. Never, however, have we been faced with a drug that carries a significant potential of a life-threatening overdose every time it is used. But for Narcan and the heroic work of emergency responders, far more overdoses would result in death.

Prior to the 2023 legislative session, boilerplate political narratives blocked any progress. As recently as 2021 the Minnesota Senate, with Republicans in the majority, passed a bill increasing penalties for fentanyl trafficking by a decisive bipartisan vote of 62-5. The bill never received a vote in the DFL-majority House. The legislation requiring and funding Minnesota schools to have lifesaving Narcan failed to survive the legislative gridlock in both 2021 and 2022.

Some folks on the left would label any effort to prosecute purveyors of this poison for profit as a part of the failed War on Drugs strategy of the past.

But thats the wrong analysis, given Minnesotas approach to prosecuting drug offenses coupled with fentanyls unique threats to public health.

Minnesota is in fact a probation-first/treatment-first state. Our prison rates by population are low, whereas the number of residents on probation is comparatively high. In courthouses throughout the state, defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges continue to find ways to keep users and user-dealers out of prison. The Minnesota Drug Sentencing Reform Act of 2016 aimed specifically to keep addicts out of prison wherever possible.

Knowingly selling fentanyl again, a poison as much as a narcotic even if in part to fuel an addiction, is a criminal act worthy of punishment. Selling a product as lethal as fentanyl knowing the result could be overdose or death cannot be excused as simply an act of addiction or economic desperation.

Concerns from progressives as to the unequal impact of the War on Drugs on communities of color have merit. A different racial inequity, however, can be seen in the tragic disparities in death rates by fentanyl overdose in our Indigenous communities and communities of color. Minnesota has among the largest racial disparities gap in overdose deaths in the United States. As a percentage of population, more than nine times as many Indigenous residents die of overdoses as white Minnesotans. Overdose deaths among Black Minnesotans are three times as high as in white Minnesotans.

The storyline we hear from the right has also been destructive. Addiction is a disease. Deterrence through harsher penalties must be focused rather than indiscriminate. Fentanyl is coming into the United States through Mexico, but generally through sophisticated networks involving commercial vehicles and not desperate migrants crowding the border. Treatment and harm reduction must be central to any effort to stop this epidemic.

House and Senate members on both sides of the aisle can learn from GOP Rep. Dave Bakers support of both a public safety and a public health approach. Rep. Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, and Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, have worked with Baker and GOP members in a refreshing show of bipartisanship.

As chair of the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council, Baker, who lost a son to opioids, is working with an impressive board of doctors and health professionals dedicated to a comprehensive public health approach to opioid addiction.

There are also hopeful signs that congressional action may be on the horizon. President Joe Biden, no doubt spurred to action by reports from high level public safety and national security experts, specifically called for increasing federal penalties for fentanyl trafficking in his recent State of the Union address. U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat from the 2nd District, spoke powerfully of the need to address fentanyl through aggressive drug interdiction efforts at the recent rally at the Minnesota Capitol.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder recently cautioned both the left and the right to avoid a reflexive response to the historic challenges of the fentanyl epidemic. The breadth and scope of this challenge requires both a vigorous criminal justice approach and a public health response.

We need an all-of-the-above approach, including focused deterrence, harm reduction, education and awareness and a comprehensive public health response.

With every passing day that we dont act, more people die.

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Let's applaud the bipartisan approach to fentanyl at the state Capitol ... - Minnesota Reformer

Issues of the Court: Asking Hard Questions + Seeking Common Ground, is a new two-part series at the JCC, hosted by former federal and state prosecutor Tali Farhadian Weinstein. The series welcomes legal experts in conversation on upcoming Supreme Court decisions, exploring major issues facing our country and society.

At the second event in the series on May 17, well hear from special guest Jeannie Suk Gersen, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, who will discuss Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and its impact on affirmative action in college admissions.

This term at the Supreme Court may turn out to be more consequential in terms of its impact on American life than last termAnd we really wanted to empower people to know whats happening and try to do something about it, shared Tali Farhadian Weinstein in first part of the series, where she met with Former United States Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss Moore v. Harper, and its impact on democracy, the courts, and how elections are run.

In the case we will discuss on May 17, petitioner Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard College over its admissions process, alleging that the process violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Asian American applicants in favor of white applicants. Harvard admits that it uses race as one of many factors in its admissions process but argues that its process adheres to the requirements for race-based admissions outlined in the Supreme Courts decision in Grutter v. Bollinger. Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard was argued before the Supreme Court in October 2022, and the decision on this case will be issued within the next two months.

Issues of the Court: Asking Hard Questions + Seeking Common Ground is an exploration of issues facing our country and society, giving voice to a range of perspectives on cases before the Supreme Court. Join us on Wed, May 17, at 7 pm, for this lively conversation about college admissions and the Civil Rights Act. Click here to reserve your tickets.

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Issues of the Court: Legal Experts Discuss Affirmative Action ... - westsiderag.com

AUSTIN (KXAN) The LBJ Foundation honored Willie Nelson with its most prestigious award, the LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award, Friday at a gala dinner at the LBJ Presidential Library.

Lyndon B. Johnsons daughters Luci and Lynda Johnson presented Nelson with the award.

When I think of rural America, I think of Lyndon Johnson. And when I think of rural America and who cares [for them], I think of Willie Nelson, Luci Johnson told KXAN before the ceremony. Wille Nelson has done a premier job of saying not only can we not leave those folks behind but we have to be on the front lines clapping the loudest for them. And were here tonight to clap for Willie.

Willie Nelson, who just celebrated his 90th birthday, wasnt the only country musician in attendance. Eric Church, Sam Hunt, Elle King and Lyle Lovett all performed covers of some of Nelsons most recognizable songs.

Its Willie Nelsons individuality and free thinking that has inspired me the most, Hunt said before singing Willie Nelsons Mammas Dont Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.

This man means a lot to me personally and musically, country music star Eric Church said before playing his Nelson tribute.

Only several other people have received the prestigious award since it was created in 2010. Other award recipients include President George H. W. Bush, President Jimmy Carter, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Sen. John McCain, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein.

A lifelong advocate for farmers, alleviating food insecurity, and support of rural communities, Nelson embodies President Lyndon Baines Johnsons commitment to public service, particularly in the areas of farming and food security, The LBJ Foundation wrote in a release about the event

Net proceeds from the event will benefit the newly established Willie Nelson Endowment for Uplifting Rural Communities at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, a part of UT Austin. The endowment will fund research and student fellowships focused on sustainable agriculture, eliminating hunger, resilient energy, sustainable water, and natural disaster recovery to benefit rural and farm communities.

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Willie Nelson honored with prestigious Texas award: Were here tonight to clap for Willie. - KXAN.com