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In a landmark decision, a U.S. appeals court on Thursday rejected the 12-year quest of a Jeffrey Epstein survivor to hold the government accountable for giving the infamous child predator a clandestine deal that essentially allowed him to get out of jail after a minimal sentence, and, according to recent lawsuits, continue to abuse girls and women.
The 7-4 decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was split mostly along gender lines, with four female judges issuing a scathing rebuke of the majority’s interpretation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA). The decision, unless it is overturned on further appeal, could allow wealthy defendants to continue to arrange favorable plea deals from the government without any oversight or accountability, said an attorney who originally filed the challenge.
“The ruling is very disturbing. It sets up two systems of justice, one for wealthy defendants who can negotiate deals before charges are filed — and one for most criminal defendants, who don’t have the wealth and power to arrange those kinds of deals,’’ said the attorney, Paul Cassell.
...
In her dissenting opinion, Senior Circuit Judge Frank Hull skewered the majority’s “sense of sorrow,’’ over not being able to give Epstein’s victims justice. Noting that the decision would have far-reaching impact in other cases involving wealthy defendants, she said the ruling “leaves federal prosecutors free to engage in the secret plea deals and deception’’ before criminal charges are ever made public, resulting in “the travesty” that happened in the Epstein case.
She also noted that “the Department of Justice’s failure to discipline its own prosecutors heightens the importance of the CVRA’s private right of action.’’
DOJ’s investigation found that prosecutors exercised “poor judgment,’’ but stopped short of recommending sanctions against prosecutors, including Alexander Acosta, the U.S. Attorney in Miami who approved the secret deal.
Acosta declined to comment on the ruling.
Featured image is "Pommes pourries - Rotten apples" by rore is licensed under CC BY 2.0)
Comment →Name of officer who shot Daunte Wright will be released "shortly," city manager says
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Comment →Reporters pressed Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott and City Manager Curt Boganey about why the name of the officer who shot Daunte Wright has not been released.
Mayor Elliott said it was "privileged" information at the moment since the shooting is under investigation. He did express willingness to share additional information about the female officer in question.
Earlier in the news conference, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Wright was fatally shot during a traffic stop after a police officer shouted "Taser!" but fired a handgun instead of the non-lethal stun gun.
Saudi authorities said Monday only people immunised against Covid-19 will be allowed to perform the year-round umrah pilgrimage from the start of Ramadan, the holy fasting month for Muslims.
The hajj and umrah ministry said in a statement that three categories of people would be considered "immunised" -- those who have received two doses of the vaccine, those administered a single dose at least 14 days prior, and people who have recovered from the infection.
(Featured image is "Mecca" by Osama ALASSIRY and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Comment →Ordinary Pivot
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Ordinary Twitter

Wow. Thanks.Report
This is amazing. Two of my early favorites, as I peruse, are the Flayed Man of the Dreadfort and the fact that the Freys really do look like weasels.Report
You know, until I saw this map I had trouble picturing what House Bolton’s sigil looked like.Report
Fun game: is it possible to figure out who everyone at the bottom is?
From left to right, I’ve got: Jaime, Arthur Dayne, someone, Gerold Hightower, Aerys II, Varys, Pycelle, someone, Oswell Whent, and someone. One looks Dornish, and I have no idea about the other two.Report
Oh, duh. Lewyn Martell.Report
How are you identifying them? (I get Jaime, from his golden hair.)
The top (obviously) is the Seven: Smith, Warrior, Father, Stranger, Mother, Maiden, Crone.Report
Well, Aerys, Varys, and Pycelle seem obvious. And the rest are the Kingsguard. Dayne has the greatsword, Dawn. Gerold Hightower is called “the Bull”, so that seems like him with the helm. The Whents had a bat sigil, so that’s got to be Oswell From the Kingsguard. And the Dornish member of Aerys’ Kingsguard is Prince Lewyn Martell.Report
I have a question… I read somewhere that Dance is the follow-up to the third novel. I try not to read too much about it all so that I can avoid spoilers, but is this true? If so, where does the fourth novel fit in? Does Dance take place in between the third and fourth or after the fourth? (I know that there are some prequels. I am kind of ignoring them at the moment while I focus on the main four/five.)Report
Dance and Feast were split up (originally one book) and have different POV characters. Both take off after the third, but Dance goes further than Feast in the timeline. So it’s like a sequel to both.Report
Okay, so Dance ends after Feast. Is it supposed to begin at the same time, during, or after Feast?Report
They begin at the same time, but Dance is supposed to go on longer.Report
Great! Thanks!Report
Several of the POV characters from Feast appear in Dance as well, if only briefly.Report
*spoilers but not many*
Are we going to get to see Howland Reed in Dance? Are we ever going to get to see Howland Reed? He’s one of my favorite characters, and he’s never actually appeared in any of the books.Report
Why is he one of your favorite characters? It just seems hard to me to form much of an opinion on someone who the reader really knows almost nothing about.Report
He’s the only one who came back with Ned from the Tower of Joy, which means he’s the only one left who knows what happened, the circumstances of Lyanna’s death, and some other things. He apparently saved Ned’s life and earned his eternal friendship. He also appears to possess some kind of magic powers and lives in a floating city in a swamp. What’s not to love?Report
Hah, fair enough.Report
Cool. Just finished A Game of Thrones last night (technically this morning) and am ready to plunge into the winter waters of Kings. Amazing storytelling thus far. I particularly admire how the fantastic elements are present, but minimal, lurking beyond the Wall and within seemingly cold stone. It makes the their eruption all the more potent.Report
I agree!Report
Two questions for the hivemind: the red and white shield under Castamere —who is that and why is it upside-down? Second, what’s the red, yellow, white, and black shield near Nunn’s Deep? Is that a manticore?Report
First: that would be the sigil of House Reyne of Castamere. It’s upside down as a reference to Tywin’s complete annihilation of the house and its line of succession.
Second: The manticore sigil belongs to House Lorch, of which the only member we’ve seen is Ser Amory. There appears to be some dispute on the interwebs about exactly what the Lorch sigil looks like. I just did a quick Ctrl+F in my Kindle versions of the first two books, and I can see why. It’s never very clearly described, although it’s definitely a manticore.Report
Ah right, I forgot about the Reynes.
And Lorch yes. For some reason I thought Lorch was the first of his line as a knight.
In anycase, many thanks, Ryan B.Report
Also, is it me or is House Bolton kind of cool? In like a favorite antagonist sort of way? I mean Roose Bolton and Ramsay are just such blood-curdling characters. I love it.Report
This is a great site; I had been looking for a discussion site for “A Game of Thrones” and luckily found this one. I am re-reading GoT right now, and would love to participate in the discussions. I just finished chapters 42 and 43 (Tyrion VI and Eddard XI). Am I behind with respect to you guys? Please let me know. Thanks!Report