Idaho governor signs firing squad execution measure into effect
BOISE, Idaho — Republican Gov. Brad Little signed a bill allowing execution by firing squad, making Idaho the latest state to turn to older methods of capital punishment amid a nationwide shortage of lethalinjection drugs.
The Legislature passed the measure Monday with a veto-proof majority. Under it, firing squads will be used only if the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections.
Pharmaceutical companies increasingly have barred executioners from using their drugs, saying they were meant to save lives. One Idaho death row inmate has already had his execution postponed repeatedly because of drug scarcity.
The shortage has prompted other states in recent years to revive older methods of execution. Only Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and South Carolina have laws allowing firing squads if other execution methods are unavailable, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. South Carolina’s law is on hold pending the outcome of a legal challenge.
Some states began refurbishing electric chairs as standbys for when lethal drugs are unavailable. Others have considered — and, at times, used — largely untested execution methods.
Two people found dead in a railroad car in south Texas were Honduran men, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Saturday, indicating it was investigating the case as possible human smuggling.
“We will continue to address the serious public safety threat posed by
Migrants found dead:
human smuggling organizations and their reckless disregard for the health and safety of those smuggled,” department spokesperson Nina Pruneda said in the statement.
Pruneda declined to comment beyond the statement, which said the investigation is ongoing but did not say whether any of the migrants were in custody.
The two dead were among 17 people — 15 men and two women — found Friday in what Union Pacific railroad said were two rail cars near Knippa, Texas, about 70 miles west of San Antonio and less than 100 miles from the U.S. border with Mexico, according to Pruneda’s statement.
Union Pacific said in a statement Saturday that it is working with authorities to determine what happened and how the migrants boarded the train.
Kansas City profiling suit:
Kansas City Police Department leaders encouraged officers to meet illegal ticket quotas by targeting drivers in Black and other minority neighborhoods, a lawsuit filed by an officer contends.
Edward Williams, a white traffic officer who said he’s been with the department for 21 years, filed the discrimination lawsuit Monday, the Kansas City Star reported.
Racial profiling is a violation of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ticket quotas are also illegal under a Missouri state law passed in 2016.
Kansas City police Chief Stacey Graves said in a written statement that the department “is dedicated to policing that is both equitable and fair in all aspects of our duties.” She said officers do not direct enforcement activities based on demographics but instead on
high-crash areas and citizen traffic complaint locations.
Williams was reprimanded after he reported the violations to his superiors, Williams’ attorney, Gerald Gray II, said.
A federal judge has sided with four publishers who sued an online archive over its unauthorized scanning of millions of copyrighted works and offering them for free to the public.
Judge John G. Koeltl of U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that the Internet Archive was producing “derivative” works that required permission of the copyright holder.
The archive was not transforming the books in question into something new, but scanning them and lending them as ebooks from its website.
“An ebook recast from a print book is a paradigmatic example of a derivative work,” Koeltl wrote.
The archive, which announced it would appeal
Copyright suit:
Friday’s decision, has said its actions were protected by fair use laws and has long had a broader mission of making information widely available, a common factor in legal cases involving online copyright.
“Libraries are more than the customer service departments for corporate database products,” Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle wrote in a blog post Friday.
“For democracy to thrive at global scale, libraries must be able to sustain their historic role in society — owning, preserving, and lending books. This ruling is a blow for libraries, readers, and authors and we plan to appeal it.”
Finland lawmaker attacked:
Finland’s leaders strongly condemned an assault on a Jewish lawmaker who was assaulted and punched in the face Saturday while campaigning for the country’s April 2 general election.
President Sauli Niinisto tweeted that Saturday’s
physical attack on veteran conservative politician Ben Zyskowicz, 68, was “a cowardly act” that delivered a blow to Finnish democracy.
Zyskowicz told Finnish media that a large man who appeared to be between the ages of 30 and 40 confronted him at a metro station in Helsinki, the capital city that he represents.
The man started yelling, blaming him for Finland’s decision to join NATO and hurling antisemitic insults, Zyskowicz told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
He added that the perpetrator also threatened to kill him and to push him onto the subway tracks.
The confrontation turned into a scuffle, and Zyskowicz reported he was hit in the face and fell on the ground, suffering bruises, scratches and other minor injuries.
Police later apprehended a suspect.
Zyskowicz has served in Finland’s parliament, the Eduskunta, for over 40 years,
and is one of the most visible representatives of Finland’s Jewish community.
Israeli soldiers wounded:
The Israeli military said two soldiers were wounded, one severely, Saturday evening in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank, the latest in monthslong violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
The attack was the third to take place in the Palestinian town of Hawara in less than a month. One soldier was seriously wounded and the second was in moderate condition, the military said.
A manhunt was launched as forces sealed roads leading to Hawara.
No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the shooting attack, but Hamas, the militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, praised it.
“The resistance in the West Bank can surprise the occupation every time and the occupation cannot enjoy safety,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.