Lori Vallow Daybell was once a loving mother, a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune,” and a beauty pageant contestant. 
At some point, however, her religious views became more extreme, to the point where she referred to people who didn’t share her views as “zombies,” who needed to be dealt with. As her views veered off into the absurd, the people around her began dying, including her 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Tylee Ryan, and her adopted 7-year-old son Joshua Jaxon “J.J.” Vallow.
While there is no single moment to point to as the moment Lori started to go off the rails, many believe it happened when she met Chad Daybell, a married man who wrote doomsday fiction and religious books.
In 1996, with her second husband Joseph Ryan Jr., Lori had her first child, a son named Colby. Baby Tylee came in 2002. Lori would later divorce Ryan, who allegedly abused her and her children. On February 24, 2006, Lori married Charles Vallow, who raised Colby and Tylee as if they were his own.
In 2012, Charles Vallow’s nephew fathered a son, J.J., who at 2-years-old was adopted by Lori and Charles. The family moved to Kauai, Hawaii, at the end of 2014, and then to the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, in mid-2017. But only a year later Lori would met Chad Daybell, and soon the lives of everyone around them changed.
On February 8, 2018, Vallow filed for divorce from Lori, saying she threatened to kill him if he stood in the way of her preparations for Jesus Christ’s second coming, which she and Daybell said would happen in July 2020. Vallow called the cops on Lori, citing the murder threat and asking her to be placed in a mental institution to receive treatment. Police spoke to Lori and seemed to believe it was Vallow, not Lori, who was the one with mental health issues.
Then, on July 11, 2019, police in Chandler, Arizona, received a phone call from Alex Cox, Lori’s brother, who said he shot and killed Charles Vallow in self-defense. Lori began telling friends and family different versions of how Vallow died, from saying he had a heart attack, to suicide, to self-defense. She texted Vallow’s children from a previous marriage about his death, but stopped answering them when they asked her what happened. Alex Cox was never charged in the death.
Shortly after Charles Vallow’s death, Lori tried to collect on his million-dollar life insurance policy — only to learn that he switched the beneficiary to his sister, who is J.J.’s grandmother. After that, Lori reportedly never let J.J.s grandparents see him again.
By now, Colby had moved out on his own with his own wife, so he was spared from the horrors that were to follow.
In September 2019, Lori, along with Tylee and J.J., moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Daybell, who said a voice told him to move there for the second coming of Christ. On September 8, 2019, Lori and her brother Alex, take Tylee and J.J. to Yellowstone National Park. Tylee was never seen alive again.
Two weeks later, on September 23, J.J., who is autistic, was last seen at his school in Idaho. The next day, Lori informed the school that he will be homeschooled instead.
On October 2, 2019, Lori’s nephew-in-law was the victim of a failed drive-by shooting in Gilbert, Arizona. The vehicle involved was registered to Lori’s ex-husband, Charles Vallow, who had been dead for months.
A few days later, Chad Daybell’s wife Tammy called police to tell them a masked man tried to shoot her in her garage with what she thought was a paintball gun. Ten days later, Tammy was found dead in her home. Her death was initially ruled to be natural, but police have since opened an investigation into the matter.
Less than a month after Tammy died, Lori married Chad Daybell in Hawaii. 
Three weeks later, after Lori and Daybell returned to Idaho, police conducted a welfare check on J.J. at the request of his grandmother. At the time, Lori told police that J.J. was with relatives in Arizona and that Tylee had gone to Brigham Young University-Idaho. People then began to question where J.J. and Tylee had gone, and suddenly, Lori and Daybell packed up and abandoned their home in Idaho on the same day police begin searching for the children.
Not long after, on December 12, Lori’s brother Alex died in Gilbert, Arizona, due to a reported blood clot. His death was not investigated further, as the condition ran in the family.
On December 20, police in Rexburg, Idaho, officially announced an investigation into the disappearance of J.J. and Tylee. A month later, Lori was served a court order to produce the children within five days. She and Daybell head back to Kauai.
When the deadline to produce the children passed, police began laying the groundwork to arrest Lori. They did so on February 20, 2020, arresting Lori in Kauai and charging her with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.
It wasn’t until June 9, 2020, when police were searching Chad Daybell’s property in Idaho, that the bodies of Tylee and J.J. were found. Daybell tried to flee from the scene, but was caught and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.
Lori and Daybell wouldn’t be charged with the murders until May 25, 2021. In addition, they were also charged with murdering Daybell’s ex-wife Tammy. Lori was sent to a mental health facility to have her competency evaluated. Eventually, she was deemed competent to stand trial.
In early March, Lori and Daybell had their trials <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/judge-splits-trials-couple-triple-murder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">separated</a> by a judge, with Lori’s trial set to being on April 3, with Daybell’s to occur later. The separation came after Lori tried to have the charges against her dismissed for lack of a speedy trial since she was arrested nearly three years ago.
If convicted, Lori and Daybell each face the death penalty.
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Lori Vallow Mugshot_Madison County Jail (1)

Here’s What To Know About Lori Vallow Daybell, The ‘Doomsday Mom’ Charged With Killing Her Children

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Hawaii

Idaho

Murder

Parenting

Readers Pass

True Crime

Last week, senators grilled President Biden’s judicial nominee Michael Delaney about the aggressive tactics he used against a child sexual abuse survivor while representing St. Paul&#8217;s boarding school. Mr. Delaney asked a court to publicly reveal the identity of a child sexual abuse survivor that sued St. Paul&#8217;s under the pseudonym &#8220;Jane Doe.&#8221; Mr. Delaney&#8217;s tactics sadden me, but they don&#8217;t surprise me.
Stuart A. Raphael, now a Virginia Court of Appeals judge, did the same thing to me in my lawsuit against Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) when he represented the school.
In 2019, I sued FCPS and some of its employees for their failure to address the severe sexual abuse I suffered at age 12 in middle school. My lawsuit is ongoing. In short, I suffered violent rapes and gang rapes that were entirely preventable had school employees acted appropriately. The school&#8217;s response was so deficient that the U.S. Department of Education found multiple violations of my rights. Like the survivor from St. Paul&#8217;s, I filed my lawsuit as &#8220;Jane Doe&#8221; to protect my safety and privacy. 
But FCPS&#8217;s lawyer, Mr. Raphael, tried to dismiss my case by arguing that pseudonyms are unconstitutional because pseudonyms permit lawsuits from &#8220;phantoms.&#8221;
Mr. Raphael&#8217;s argument could have had sweeping ramifications for child sexual abuse survivors. If he had won, sexual abuse survivors could almost never use pseudonyms. That would have harmed countless people — pseudonyms can provide the safety and privacy survivors need to seek justice. According to the organization Darkness to Light, only 38% of child sexual abuse victims disclose their abuse, often due to fears about privacy. I know this fact from experience.
Coming forward was among the most challenging decisions I have ever made because I feared for my safety. There were previous threats against my life. When I decided to file, I was a 19-year-old college student beginning adulthood. I feared what it would mean for my future to make the gory details of my sexual abuse, including sensitive information and identifying factors, accessible to anyone who Googled my name. Yet I knew I needed to hold FCPS accountable so no child would suffer the same abuse. Using a pseudonym made me feel safe enough to fight the institution.
Thankfully, I defeated Mr. Raphael&#8217;s &#8220;phantom&#8221; argument — the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that pseudonyms are constitutional. Survivors now have precedent that protects their safety and privacy. But it was a pyrrhic victory. Mr. Raphael added to my trauma and delayed my case by almost two years — making a mockery of the Eastern District of Virginia&#8217;s motto, “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
In reality, Mr. Raphael&#8217;s pseudonym argument was a gimmick to silence me. His legal briefs said so. He wrote, if he were right that my case should be dismissed because I used a pseudonym, then I couldn&#8217;t refile my lawsuit because, in his view, the time limit under my statute of limitations had expired. Raphael, however, didn&#8217;t object to the pseudonyms granted to my perpetrators and the school employees. It was only about stopping me. 
These tactics are why victims don’t come forward. They cause pain, trauma, and delay.
My case isn&#8217;t the first time Mr. Raphael tried to silence vulnerable children. In another case against FCPS, he argued that a student who reported her sexual assault wasn&#8217;t really sexually assaulted because, according to him, the girl was only uncomfortable with forceful penetration of her genitals because her assaulter had a girlfriend. In another FCPS case, he argued that handcuffing and caging disabled students did not cause legal injuries. Each time, Mr. Raphael&#8217;s arguments challenged vulnerable children.
Nonetheless, the Virginia General Assembly selected Mr. Raphael to be a Court of Appeals judge. His appointment happened virtually overnight behind closed doors without public questioning, such as the confirmation hearings for federal judges. Had there been a hearing, the public could have examined Mr. Raphael&#8217;s record and severe lack of judgment before the General Assembly voted. I was disturbed to learn he would be a judge after how he treated me, but there was no opportunity for me to share my experience.
I know Chessy Prout, the survivor from St. Paul&#8217;s, feels frustrated knowing that Michael Delaney could become a federal judge. I&#8217;m glad Chessy <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2.13.23%20-%20Chessy%20Prout%20Letter%20to%20Committee%20on%20Delaney%20Nomination.pdf">wrote to the Senate</a> about Mr. Delaney&#8217;s tactics, forcing him to defend his record, which should sink his nomination. And I wish I had a chance to share my experience with the Virginia General Assembly before it appointed Mr. Raphael in haste.
Judges make decisions that affect real people. It&#8217;s a serious job, not a job for people like Delaney and Raphael that can&#8217;t see the broader impact of their actions. The Senate should reject Mr. Delaney&#8217;s nomination, and Mr. Raphael&#8217;s current term on the Virginia Court of Appeals should be his last.
B.R. is a survivor of sexual abuse in Fairfax County Public Schools. She has been fighting for over a decade to hold FCPS accountable, not just for herself, but for all other students and families harmed.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Senate Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing

Michael Delaney Isn’t The First Judicial Nominee To Traumatize Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

Michael Delaney Isn't The First Judicial Nominee To Traumatize Child Sexual Abuse Survivors 

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America is a diverse nation, full of different viewpoints of opinions and beliefs about the best way to live. And that is one of our great strengths: that from the very beginning, the founders of our nation envisioned a society in which different perspectives could exist side by side without undue government interference.
In a crucial ruling this month, a federal court in Eugene, Oregon, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/13/christian-colleges-lgbtq-lawsuit-dismissed/">sided</a> with Americans who still believe in that vision. The judge dismissed a <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/hunter-v-us-department-education?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">lawsuit</a> that was attempting to punish religious colleges and universities for operating in accordance with their deeply held beliefs. This dismissal is a victory for all Americans who believe in freedom of expression and diversity of thought.
The lawsuit began in 2021, where, with the help of an activist attorney, a group of LGBT students at Christian colleges and universities sued the U.S. Department of Education, claiming that their colleges’ explicitly stated religious beliefs were discriminatory and harmful to them. Though LGBT activists sued a federal government agency, they were clearly targeting private religious colleges and universities.
This is where the situation gets a little suspect. Many of these colleges explicitly state on their websites and in promotional materials their Christian convictions and the conduct they expect from students. The students involved in the lawsuit all chose to attend these colleges, knowing that these colleges would ask them to conduct themselves in accordance with biblical standards of sexuality. Then they tried to punish these colleges for doing exactly that.
Because of the way the federal government interprets “sex,” LGBT activists claim that any kind of different treatment on the basis of sex — including sex-specific dorm rooms, bathrooms, and locker rooms — is discriminatory under Title IX. That federal law, however, grants exemptions to religious colleges and universities, meaning that these colleges are allowed to hold their students to a standard of sexual behavior consistent with the colleges’ beliefs. The lawsuit claimed that religious colleges should not be eligible for these exemptions because they receive public funding.
By extension, this lawsuit implied that religious college students — and only religious college students — do not deserve the choice to attend a college that respects their beliefs. That’s wrong. No American should be punished for choosing to honor their beliefs.
The intent of the lawsuit was to push the Department of Education into bullying religious colleges and universities to abandon their convictions. Notably, it did not name the colleges in the lawsuit, meaning that these colleges would not have the opportunity to defend themselves. The only group that would be defending the colleges was the Department of Education — and in the early stages of the lawsuit, the department did not look eager to do that. This lawsuit, if successful, would have punished religious colleges and the young people who choose to attend them for just one reason: their beliefs.
That is unconstitutional, so Alliance Defending Freedom filed a request to be allowed to represent in the lawsuit a few of the Christian colleges targeted by it, because we were concerned that the Department of Education was not prepared to give a robust defense of religious schools’ freedom.
This concern proved to be warranted. The Department of Education planned to make only procedural arguments, asserting that the lawsuit was untenable on a technicality. It did not plan to defend Christian colleges on the merits of the case; in other words, it did not plan to aggressively stand up for religious freedom. And more than that, the Department of Education did not want us to step in. Originally, it opposed the ADF motion to intervene. Only after the court admitted us to the case did the department present a defense of freedom for religious colleges, following many of ADF’s arguments in its briefs.
This case is just one of many in which activists are trying to erase freedom of conscience for people of faith across America. Our nation is founded on the idea that everyone has the right to live in accordance with their beliefs — and that the government should not punish people solely because of what they believe.
But right now, a culture of hostility exists toward religious organizations and individuals in our nation. From legal attacks on individuals like <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/scardina-v-masterpiece-cakeshop">Jack Phillips</a> and <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/arlenes-flowers-v-state-washington">Barronelle Stutzman</a> to faith-based adoption agencies facing the loss of their licenses and religious nonprofits and churches threatened with the loss of their tax-exempt status, there is a nationwide push to treat religious Americans as second-class citizens because of their beliefs. And the Department of Education may have let that happen — until some religious colleges and universities were willing to step up.
Protecting freedom of conscience for one person or group protects freedom for all of us. The outcome of this particular case shows us that the first step toward protecting freedom is showing up — and sometimes, that’s enough to turn the tide.
David Cortman is senior counsel and vice president of U.S. litigation with <a href="http://www.adflegal.org/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/ADFLegal">@ADFLegal</a>).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse in Eugene Oregon

Federal Court Ruling In Favor Of Christian Colleges Demonstrates How Showing Up Can Turn The Tide

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A new year has arrived, and with it, a whole host of upcoming high-profile criminal trials for crimes that have captivated the nation over the past few years. 
Here are the trials to watch in 2023:
<h2>The University of Idaho Killings</h2>
A suspect was arrested shortly before the new year in the grisly slayings of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-police-captured-the-man-suspected-of-killing-four-university-of-idaho-students" target="_blank" rel="noopener">four University of Idaho students</a> and will possibly face a trial before the end of the year.
The suspect, who is not being named per Daily Wire policy, was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, some 2,400 miles away from where the killings occurred.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, were killed in an off-campus residence in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022. For weeks, police remained tight-lipped about the case, until they announced on December 30th that a suspect had been arrested. The suspect, a graduate student at Washington State University studying criminal justice and criminology, is expected to plead not guilty.
<h2>U.S. v. David DePape</h2>
David DePape, 42, was arrested and charged with assaulting Paul Pelosi, the wealthy husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), with a hammer at his home in San Francisco, California. Prosecutors charged DePape with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and elder abuse, Fox News <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/suspected-paul-pelosi-attacker-david-depape-pleads-not-guilty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in December.
DePape pleaded not guilty and allegedly had a planned hit list of other targets, including actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
While no trial date has been scheduled, it is likely to occur sometime in 2023.
<h2>South Carolina v. Alex Murdaugh</h2>
The long, strange downfall of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh will finally come to an end when his trial begins on January 23. He faces murder charges for allegedly killing his wife and son to cover up <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disgraced-former-attorney-alex-murdaugh-pleads-not-guilty-to-killing-wife-son" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a long list</a> of financial crimes, including money laundering and stealing settlement money from clients. Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to the charges in July. 
At that time, he was already in prison for dozens of other charges, including financial crimes and charges related to his alleged attempt to stage a fake “hit” on himself. Those charges, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/alex-murdaugh-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-wife-son/2022/07/14/677dce78-0387-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Washington Post</a>, were made after his wife and son were killed, but he had not been indicted for their deaths until last July.
<h2>Florida v. Charlie Adelson</h2>
On July 18, 2014, Florida State University law professor Dan Markel pulled into his garage and was promptly shot to death. Years later, an apparent conspiracy behind his death came to light: Locked in a custody battle with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, Markel was killed in a murder-for-hire plot allegedly orchestrated by Charlie Adelson (Wendi’s brother) and Donna Adelson (Charlie and Wendi’s mother), who <a href="https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2022/11/16/dan-markel-murder-katherine-magbanua-may-testify-against-charlie-adelson/10713968002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly used a woman</a> named Katherine Magbanua as an intermediary to hire two men, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, to murder Markel.
Rivera pled guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 19 years in prison, Garcia was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, and Magbanua was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison plus two consecutive 30-year sentences. Jury selection for Charlie Adelson’s trial is set to begin on April 24.
<h2>Texas v. Kaitlin Armstrong</h2>
Kaitlin Armstrong is accused of shooting Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson in Austin, Texas, on May 11 as part of a love triangle gone wrong. U.S. Marshals, working with Homeland Security Investigations, learned that Armstrong boarded a flight in New Jersey by using a fraudulent passport and landed in Costa Rica on May 18 – one week after Wilson was murdered and one day after an arrest warrant was issued for Armstrong.
Armstrong is suspected of killing Wilson because they were both romantically connected to the same man, professional cyclist Colin Strickland. Strickland and Armstrong dated for three years before taking a break. During that time, Strickland began to see Wilson. The relationship lasted just a few weeks, and Strickland and Armstrong got back together a month later.
Armstrong’s trial is scheduled for June 26.
<h2>Florida v. Scot Peterson</h2>
Scot Peterson was a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy on duty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February 2018 when a 19-year-old former student entered the building and shot and killed 17 people.
Peterson was armed and at the high school when the shooting began, but remained outside the building as the shooter gunned down students and staff. He was suspended without pay shortly after the shooting and retired, but more than a year later, he was arrested and charged for child neglect and culpable negligence, as well as perjury. He pleaded not guilty and filed to have the charges dropped. His trial was delayed in July and is expected to start on February 27.
<h2>Wisconsin v. Taylor Schabusiness</h2>
Prosecutors allege that Taylor Schabusiness told police to “have fun trying to find all the organs” of the man she allegedly murdered before leaving his severed head in a bucket in his basement.
Police in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said they responded to a call from a mother who said she found her son’s head in a bucket in their basement. When they arrived at the home, police found the head in a bucket with a towel on it, along with dried blood on a nearby mattress. 
The mother told police that her son and Schabusiness had been in the basement earlier that day while the mother was out of the house. After the mother returned home and went to sleep, she was awakened around 2:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning to a storm door slamming. She assumed Schabusiness left. She then went down into the basement, where she found her son’s severed head in a bucket.
Schabusiness’ trial is scheduled for March 6.
<h2>Florida v. Sarah Boone</h2>
Sarah Boone allegedly zipped her boyfriend, 42-year-old Jorge Torres Jr., in a suitcase and left him to die in February 2020. Her defense claims it was a hide-and-seek game gone wrong, but police have said they have videos of Boone taunting Torres as he attempted to get out of the suitcase. Boone allegedly admitted to going to bed and leaving Torres in the suitcase, only to find him dead inside of it the next morning.
Her trial is scheduled to being on January 30.
<h2>Wisconsin v. Mark Jensen</h2>
Mark Jensen, a former stockbroker, was already convicted in 2008 of killing his wife Julie 10 years earlier. The couple had been married 14 years when Jensen allegedly poisoned Julie with antifreeze in 1998.
Police found a letter written by Julie prior to her death that stated she was suspicious of her husband. She delivered the letter to a neighbor after she looked through Jensen’s planner and other notes. The letter noted that she would not commit suicide, so if she died, her husband should be considered a suspect.
&#8220;I pray that I am wrong and nothing happens, but I am suspicious of Mark&#8217;s suspicious behaviors and fear for my early demise,&#8221; the note said.
Since his conviction, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Julie’s letter can’t be used against Jensen, and granted him a new trial, which began on January 9.
<h2>The Ice Cream Truck Killings</h2>
On Thanksgiving morning in 2010, six people were shot outside Ruskin, Florida, with two eventually dying from their injuries. The alleged killer, an ice cream truck driver who is not being named per Daily Wire policy, originally went to trial in February 2020, but received a mistrial when the jury deadlocked 10-2, with 10 voting to find him not guilty.
The COVID pandemic delayed his second trial, which will now begin in late February.
Authorities believe the suspect committed the crime as revenge against the people who allegedly shot him a few months earlier while trying to rob his ice cream truck. The case against him, however, is apparently circumstantial, with defense attorneys challenging a key prosecution witness who originally pointed the finger at the alleged killer but subsequently plead the fifth. Prosecutors responded by saying the witness didn’t plead the fifth but instead refused to participate in the deposition, Fox 13 <a href="https://www.fox13news.com/news/credibility-of-confidential-information-questioned-as-ice-cream-man-murder-trial-gets-ready-for-round-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.

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True Crime: High Profile Court Trials To Watch In 2023

Criminal Justice

A court in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> ruled Friday that the city of Philadelphia must uncover a statue of Christopher Columbus.
The Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia had been enclosed in a plywood box after it was at the center of protests in 2020. But the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled Friday that the box must be taken off, affirming a ruling by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Instead, the court authorized the construction of a clear structure around the statue.
“As a proud Citizen of Philadelphia, I am delighted that both Judge Patrick of the Court of Common Pleas and the Judges of the Commonwealth Court have boldly reaffirmed that the rule of law still matters,&#8221; George Bochetto, lawyer for the group Friends of Marconi Plaza, said in a statement Friday, via <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/marconi-plaza-philadelphia-columbus-statue/2986317/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC 10</a>. &#8220;That we are not a society ruled by cancel culture mobs. That all ethnic groups can proudly protect and honor their diverse heritages.&#8221;
Friends of Marconi Plaza, a neighborhood organization recognized by the city as the official private caretakers of the park, sued in 2021 to stop city officials from removing the statue after the Philadelphia Historical and Art Commissions both voted to have it removed in the wake of the 2020 riots, and the city&#8217;s Licensing and Inspection Review Board sided with the city and moved forward with taking the statue down.
The Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County ruled in favor of Friends of Marconi Plaza in 2021, halting the removal of the statue.
The <a href="https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/938CD21_12-9-22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commonwealth Court</a> upheld the lower court&#8217;s ruling. In a separate order shared by Fox 29 News reporter Steve Keeley, the court affirmed the lower court’s decision in part, directing the city to remove the plywood enclosure; however, it also reversed the decision in part, authorizing the construction of a clear structure around the statue.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“The order is affirmed insofar as it directs the City of Philadelphia to remove the plywood structure covering the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza” <a href="https://twitter.com/FOX29philly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOX29philly</a> <a href="https://t.co/p5XoIfdVUZ">pic.twitter.com/p5XoIfdVUZ</a>
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1601289721036288000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
A spokesperson for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the city was &#8220;very disappointed in the Court’s ruling,&#8221; but would comply with the court&#8217;s ruling, including unboxing the statue. &#8220;While we will respect this decision, we will also continue to explore our options for a way forward that allows Philadelphians to celebrate their heritage and culture while respecting the histories and circumstances of everyone’s different backgrounds,&#8221; the spokesman said.
The statue, first erected in 1876 and moved in 1976, was targeted by protesters in the summer of 2020 in the midst of riots over the death of George Floyd, which included tearing down statues of historical figures around the country. But South Philadelphia residents, mainly Italian-Americans, showed up to the park to guard the statue from protesters.
<a href="https://twitter.com/UncleSamsTribe/status/1272991176174567431?s=20&amp;t=tMhH1VUX0-qs19Mjy59QgA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Viral videos</a> from the time showed the neighbors <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeSolis/status/1271959870984650756?s=20&amp;t=Il6TT58q_J50vgN0n8sScQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guarding</a> the statue, armed with bats and other weapons. Kenney responded to the protests by covering the statue with the plywood box. He also tried to have the statue <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/philadelphia-mayor-wants-columbus-statue-removed-cites-public-safety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taken down</a>.
&#8220;Like many communities across the country, Philadelphia is in the midst of a much-needed reckoning about the legacy of systemic racism and oppression in this country and around the world,&#8221; he said at the time. &#8220;Part of that reckoning requires reexamining what historical figures deserve to be commemorated in our public spaces. In recent weeks, clashes between individuals who support the statue of Christopher Columbus in Marconi Plaza and those who are distressed by its existence have deteriorated—creating a concerning public safety situation that cannot be allowed to continue.&#8221;
In October, City Councilman Mark Squilla, whose district borders the park, requested that the box be painted with the colors of the Italian flag ahead of Columbus Day, <a href="https://www.fox29.com/news/court-rules-box-covering-columbus-statue-in-south-philadelphia-must-be-removed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox 29</a> reported.

Statue of Christopher Columbus in Marconi Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PA Court Rules Philadelphia Must Uncover Christopher Columbus Statue

Pennsylvania Court Rules Christopher Columbus Statue In South Philadelphia Must Be Uncovered

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The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/georgia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Georgia</a> Supreme Court has reinstated the state&#8217;s six week <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/abortion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">abortion</a> ban.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the state Supreme Court issued a stay against a lower court ruling that overturned the state&#8217;s 2019 &#8220;heartbeat&#8221; abortion ban. The order went into effect immediately, pending an appeal from state officials. The superior court of Fulton County previously overturned the law last week; it had previously been blocked by a federal court until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this past summer.
&#8220;The State of Georgia’s Emergency Petition for Supersedeas seeking a stay of the order of the Superior Court of Fulton County in [STATE OF GEORGIA v. SISTERSONG WOMEN OF COLOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE et al.] is hereby granted,&#8221; the court wrote in a <a href="https://www.gasupreme.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/s23m0358.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-page order</a>. The decision of the court was unanimous; presiding justice Nels S.D. Peterson was disqualified, and justice Andrew A. Pinson did not participate. The court also dismissed a separate request for an administrative stay.
According to the <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/state-asks-georgia-supreme-court-to-allow-enforcement-of-abortion-law/TZYXSAXNPZFKJMLQ5AOUOE4BSI/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>, lawyers for the state appealed to the Supreme Court days after the Fulton County court ruling. “The harm to the state is significant and irreparable,” attorneys wrote in their appeal, via the AJC. “Unborn children are at risk every day that the injunction continues.”
The lower court ruling had overturned the law on the basis that it was unconstitutional when it was passed in 2019; in their appeal, state attorneys said that did not matter since the law is constitutional now because of the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#8217;s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and sent abortion back to the states. “The Superior Court fundamentally misunderstood the role of courts, which merely interpret law in the course of issuing judgments in individual cases,” attorneys wrote. “Courts do not amend the constitution, and the constitution does not change simply because a court’s view of it changes.”
In the meantime, abortion clinics in Georgia had <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-supreme-court-orders-states-abortion-law-back-into-effect/D5VPGTJNLVGMPDHOGORBCYIKSI/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resumed providing abortion services</a> for women at up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, which was the standard practice before the law was passed. The Feminist Women’s Health Center, an abortion clinic in Atlanta, told the AJC they had no abortions scheduled for Wednesday, but several were scheduled for Saturday in which a fetal heartbeat could be detected.
Last week, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23307352-ga-abortion-ruling-111522" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fulton County Superior Court</a> judge Robert McBurney overturned the “Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act,” which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. McBurney declared the law void under Georgia law, citing a provision that declares unconstitutional laws void from the time of their passage, and mandates that the judiciary declares them so.
In 2019, &#8220;everywhere in America, including Georgia, it was unequivocally unconstitutional for governments &#8212; federal, state, or local &#8212; to ban abortions before viability,&#8221; McBurney wrote. Therefore, the LIFE Act &#8220;did not become the law of Georgia when it was enacted and it is not the law of Georgia now,&#8221; he concluded.
&#8220;What does this ruling mean? Most fundamentally, it means that courts &#8212; not legislatures &#8212; define the law,&#8221; McBurney concluded. &#8220;If the courts have spoken, clearly and directly, as to what the law is, as to what is and is not constitutional, legislatures and legislators are not at liberty to pass laws contrary to such pronouncements.&#8221;

Close-Up Of Gavel On Table

Georgia Supreme Court Overturns Lower Court, Reinstates 6-Week Abortion Ban

Abortion

Dobbs

Georgia

Politics

Pro-Life Movement

Social Issues

<a href="https://dailywire.com/news/twitter-furious-over-new-casey-anthony-docuseries-about-her-daughters-death/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Casey Anthony</a> is alleging that her father may have been directly responsible for the death of her daughter — and that he orchestrated efforts to make her look guilty — in a new controversial docuseries from Peacock.
Anthony, 36, became a household name when her two-year-old daughter Caylee disappeared in 2008. When the toddler&#8217;s body was found in the woods some six months later, Anthony was charged with her murder. During the trial, after which Anthony was found not guilty, her defense attorneys claimed that Caylee had drowned in the family pool — but she&#8217;s <a href="https://people.com/crime/casey-anthony-blames-father-daughter-caylee-death/?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&amp;utm_content=new&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_term=6373812761b959000170e08d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now saying</a> that may not be the case.
&#8220;I lied,&#8221; <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/casey-anthony-peacock-trailer-1235262039/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she said</a> of her initial claims. &#8220;But no one asked why.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies will be available to stream November 29 on Peacock. <a href="https://t.co/m5ltys0oWm">pic.twitter.com/m5ltys0oWm</a>
&mdash; Peacock (@peacock) <a href="https://twitter.com/peacock/status/1592547982167007232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t feeling that great, and I wanted to lay down. I had her lay in bed with me,&#8221; Anthony said of the day her daughter was last seen in 2008. &#8220;I was awoken by [my father] shaking me and asking me where Caylee was. That didn&#8217;t make sense. She would never even leave my room without telling me. I immediately started looking around the house. I go outside and I&#8217;m looking to see where she could be.&#8221;
The next time she saw her daughter, <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/casey-anthony-speaks-daughters-death-i-sleep-amanda-prestigiacomo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anthony</a> claimed, her father was carrying her, soaking wet, and telling her that it was her fault.
&#8220;He was standing there with her. She was soaking wet. He handed her to me. Said it was my fault. That I caused it. But he didn&#8217;t rush to call 911 and he wasn&#8217;t trying to resuscitate her. I collapsed with her in my arms. She was heavy, and she was cold,&#8221; Anthony continued. &#8220;He takes her from me and he immediately softens his tone and says &#8216;It&#8217;s going to be ok.&#8217; I wanted to believe him. He took her from me and he went away.&#8221;
Following that exchange, Anthony explained that she went to stay with her boyfriend — for 31 days — and said that she believed the whole time that her daughter was still alive. &#8220;My father kept telling me she was ok. I had to keep following his instructions. He told me what to do. I tried to act as normal as I could,&#8221; she said.
In addition to suggesting that her father may have brought about Caylee&#8217;s death, Anthony appeared to allege that he had abused her as a child and may have abused his granddaughter as well.
&#8220;He&#8217;d put a pillow over my face and smother me to knock me out. That happened several times. I&#8217;m sure there were times where I was incapacitated as a child where my body was limp and lifeless,&#8221; Anthony said, adding that she worried he may have done the same to her daughter. &#8220;That&#8217;s what I think about. I wish every day I had said something to someone about something. Maybe then things would be different.&#8221;

Casey Anthony Sentenced For Lying To Law Enforcement Conviction

Casey Anthony Drops Explosive Claims In Controversial New Docuseries, Blames Her Dad For Caylee’s Death And More

Casey Anthony Drops Explosive Claims In New Docuseries, Blames Her Dad For Caylee's Death And More

Casey Anthony

Crime

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a> has agreed to a settlement with 40 states regarding charges related to unwanted location tracking of customers.  
The company will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/technology/google-privacy-settlement.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pay</a> $391.5 million in a settlement regarding claims that it kept tracking customers after they had shut off location tracking. A group of state prosecutors announced the agreement on Monday, and the attorneys general said it was the biggest multistate privacy settlement ever paid.
Officials claimed that since at least 2014, Google has deceived users about what times it was tracking them and violated consumer protection laws in doing so. It secretly tracked them when they thought they weren’t sharing their location, and then used the information for online marketers to sell ads.
The attorneys general said that up until May 2018, the company was even keeping track of consumers’ locations who had logged out of Google applications.
“For years, Google prioritized profit over the privacy of people who use Google products and services,” Ellen Rosenblum, the Oregon attorney general, said. Rosenblum spearheaded the case alongside Nebraska. “Consumers thought they had turned ‘off’ their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.”
The company’s location tracking abilities have been a concern across the nation. Google is being sued by other jurisdictions as well, such as Washington, D.C., Indiana, and Texas for allegedly misleading location tracking. It already settled a location tracking lawsuit with Arizona last month for $85 million.
A Google spokesperson <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/14/1136521305/google-settlement-location-tracking-data-privacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NPR in a statement that the strategies the prosecutors pointed to are antiquated and have since been changed.
&#8220;Consistent with improvements we&#8217;ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago,&#8221; Google Spokesperson José Castañeda said.
After the settlement, Google <a href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/managing-your-location-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a message on its blog, saying, “[a]s well as a financial settlement, we will be making updates in the coming months to provide even greater controls and transparency over location data.”
The changes involve including “additional disclosures” for certain pages and “creating a single, comprehensive information hub that highlights key location settings to help people make informed choices about their data.” The company will also offer a new tool that lets users shut off “their Location History and Web &amp; App Activity settings and delete their past data in one simple flow.” It will also provide more information to users creating new accounts about “what Web &amp; App Activity is, what information it includes, and how it helps their Google experience.”

E6CB702D-B17B-4188-9C5E-7791071000E3_1_201_a

Google Agrees To $391.5 Million Settlement In Location Tracking Case

Google Agrees To $391.5 Million Settlement With 40 States In Location Tracking Case

Big Tech

Business

Google

Lawsuit

Just days after allowing an activist group to monitor ballot drop boxes, a federal judge issued a restraining order restricting the group&#8217;s activities.
In an order handed down Tuesday evening, judge Michael T. Liburdi of the U.S. District Court of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arizona" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arizona</a> severely curtailed the activities that members of the election activist group Clean Elections USA can engage in while monitoring drop boxes in the state. The judge also mandated that the group&#8217;s founder, Melody Jennings, must correct public statements she made about ballot drop boxes, among other orders.
According to the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.azd.1314473/gov.uscourts.azd.1314473.51.0_5.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a>, while the group is monitoring drop boxes, they are not allowed to:
<ul>
<li>intentionally be within 75 feet of a ballot drop box or a building a drop box is located in;</li>
<li>intentionally follow voters dropping off ballots at a drop box, when voters are within the prescribed area of the drop box;</li>
<li>speak to or yell at anyone dropping off ballots and within the prescribed area, unless they are spoken to or yelled at first;</li>
<li>openly carry firearms or wear body armor within 250 feet of a drop box.</li>
</ul>
In addition, the judge ordered Clean Elections USA to post a statement to their social media accounts, and to Jennings&#8217;s personal Truth Social account. “It is not always illegal to deposit multiple ballots in a ballot drop box,&#8221; the statement reads. &#8220;It is legal to deposit the ballot of a family member, household member, or person for whom you are the caregiver. Here are the rules for ballot drop boxes by which I ask you to abide&#8221;: the posts must be accompanied by a copy of Arizona&#8217;s ballot drop box <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/election-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a>, or a web link to the text of the law, along with a copy of or link to the restraining order itself.
The judge then ordered Jennings to post a separate message on her personal Truth Social account. “Any past statement that it is always illegal to deposit multiple ballots in a ballot drop box is incomplete; a family member, household member, or caregiver can legally do so.”
The restraining order will last for 14 days.
The order comes less than a week after Liburdi ruled in favor of Clean Elections USA, allowing them to keep <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-rules-arizona-activist-group-can-monitor-maricopa-county-ballot-drop-boxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">monitoring ballot drop boxes</a> after two liberal activists groups, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino, sued to stop the group from monitoring the drop boxes, claiming that it was violating the Voting Rights Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act.
“Defendants have not made any statements threatening to commit acts of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals,” Liburdi wrote, citing public statements Jennings made urging volunteers to to follow the law and remain outside the mandatory 75-foot radius of the drop box, and not to interact with alleged “ballot mules” at the drop boxes. “Defendants’ conduct does not fall into any traditionally recognized category of voter intimidation,” Liburdi added.
“While there are serious questions implicated, the Court cannot provide preliminary injunctive relief without infringing core constitutional rights,” Liburdi wrote in his conclusion. However, he left the case open for future litigation, writing in his conclusion that Arizona Alliance could sue in future if they could prove that Clean Elections USA was engaging in actual voter intimidation.

Arizona Ballot Drop Box

Arizona Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Voter Org Monitoring Drop Boxes, A Week After Ruling In Their Favor

2022 Midterms

Arizona

ballots

Election Laws

Elections

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> Supreme Court has ruled that the state must not accept undated mail-in ballots.
In a per curiam decision Tuesday, the court ruled that county boards of elections in Pennsylvania must segregate mail-in ballots that are not dated on the outer envelope, or have an incorrect date, and not include them in the final vote tally. The state supreme court ruling followed a decision by the acting secretary of state to include the undated ballots in the final count ahead of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/2022-midterms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 midterms</a>.
&#8220;The Pennsylvania county boards of elections are hereby ORDERED to refrain from counting any absentee and mail-in ballots received for the November 8, 2022 general election that are contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes,&#8221; the court wrote in its <a href="https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-85-2022pco%20-%20105327594202667240.pdf?cb=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-page order</a>. The ruling directed the county election boards to segregate and preserve the ballots. Opinions would follow soon afterward, the order stated.
The court was split, however, on whether rejecting the mail ballots in question violated federal law. Democratic Chief Justice Debra Todd and Democratic Justices Christine Donohue and David Wecht would have found that rejecting the ballots would violate federal law. Democratic Justice Kevin Dougherty and Republican Justices Sallie Updyke Mundy and Kevin Brobson would have found no violation of federal law.
The ruling came after acting Pennsylvania Secretary of State Leigh Chapman said that the state would count undated ballots despite the Supreme Court vacating a lower court ruling that allowed the state to count ballots. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in May of this year that undated mail ballots must be counted. The court found that a date on the outside of the ballot envelope has no bearing on a voter&#8217;s eligibility, and throwing out those ballots would violate the voters&#8217; civil rights, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-count-undated-ballots-election-official-says-despite-us-supreme-court-ruling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> reported. But the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/101122zor_5426.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United States Supreme Court</a> threw that ruling in October, and ordered the lower court to dismiss the case as moot, requiring Pennsylvania to return to established mail-in voting laws.
But Chapman said that the state would continue to count votes, citing a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruling, which stated that undated ballots must be counted. &#8220;Every county is expected to include undated ballots in their official returns for the Nov. 8 election, consistent with the Department of State&#8217;s guidance,&#8221; Chapman wrote in an announcement on October 12, via Fox News. &#8220;That guidance followed the most recent ruling of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court holding that both Pennsylvania and federal law prohibit excluding legal votes because the voter omitted an irrelevant date on the ballot return envelope.&#8221;
&#8220;Today&#8217;s order from the U.S. Supreme Court vacating the Third Circuit&#8217;s decision on mootness grounds was not based on the merits of the issue and does not affect the prior decision of Commonwealth Court in any way,&#8221; she added. &#8220;It provides no justification for counties to exclude ballots based on a minor omission, and we expect that counties will continue to comply with their obligation to count all legal votes.&#8221;
Chapman previously stated that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pa-secretary-of-state-says-election-results-face-possible-delays-in-counting-denounces-nefarious-activity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">election results</a> would not be available on election night for the upcoming governor and Senate races because of state laws controlling when the state can begin counting mail ballots, as The Daily Wire reported.
“It’s really important for us to get accurate information about the election process in Pennsylvania,” Chapman said. “So voters and the public know that when there are delays in counting, it doesn’t mean that there’s anything nefarious happening. It’s just what the law is in Pennsylvania.”

Ballot

PA Supreme Court Rules State Cannot Accept Undated, Incorrectly Dated Mail-In Ballots

Mail-In Voting

Supreme Court

A federal court ruled that an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arizona" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arizona</a> activist group can monitor ballot drop boxes in the state ahead of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/2022-midterms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 elections</a>.
In a decision Friday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.azd.1314473/gov.uscourts.azd.1314473.32.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that a voter activist group called Clean Elections USA could monitor a pair of drop boxes in Maricopa County. Two liberal activist groups, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino, sued to stop the group from monitoring the drop boxes, claiming that it was violating the Voting Rights Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act.
The two plaintiffs first argued section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which states that no person, “whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote.” But the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence that Clean Elections USA actually presented a threat.
&#8220;Defendants have not made any statements threatening to commit acts of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals,&#8221; Judge Michael T. Liburdi wrote. He cited statements made in court and on social media by Clean Elections USA founder Melody Jennings, in which she repeatedly told her volunteers to follow the law and remain outside the mandatory 75-foot radius of the drop box, and not to interact with alleged &#8220;ballot mules&#8221; at the drop boxes. &#8220;Even if these statements are mere window dressing, a reasonable listener could not interpret Ms. Jennings’ social media pronouncements that alleged &#8216;mules&#8217; will &#8216;shrink back into the darkness&#8217; following her drop box initiative as true threats,&#8221; Liburdi concluded, adding later in the ruling that the Court could not &#8220;craft a meaningful form of injunctive relief that does not violate Defendants’ First Amendment rights and those of the drop box observers.&#8221;
Furthermore, &#8220;Defendants’ conduct does not fall into any traditionally recognized category of voter intimidation,&#8221; Liburdi added. &#8220;There is no evidence here that the voters using the outdoor drop boxes are primarily minorities or that they have historically been victims of targeted violence. Taken together, the Court cannot conclude that Defendants’ conduct constitutes a true threat.&#8221;
The court then turned to the Support or Advocacy clause of the Ku Klux Klan Act, which prevents “conspirac[ies] to interfere with federal elections.” The court also dismissed the activist groups&#8217; claim on that count.
&#8220;Plaintiffs have not provided the Court with evidence that Defendants intend to prevent lawful voting,&#8221; Liburdi wrote. &#8220;Rather, Defendants stridently maintain that they seek to prevent what they perceive to be widespread illegal voting and ballot harvesting.&#8221;
&#8220;While there are serious questions implicated, the Court cannot provide preliminary injunctive relief without infringing core constitutional rights,&#8221; Liburdi wrote in his conclusion. &#8220;Further, while the irreparable harm factor tips in favor of Plaintiffs, the balance of the equities and public interest do not.&#8221;
Liburdi ordered Voto Latino to be removed from the suit, saying it did not have standing to sue. He ruled in favor of Clean Elections USA, but left the case open for future litigation, writing in his conclusion that Arizona Alliance could sue in future if they could prove that Clean Elections USA was engaging in actual voter intimidation.

Federal Judge Rules Arizona Activist Group Can Monitor Maricopa County Ballot Drop Boxes

Federal Judge Rules Arizona Activist Group Can Monitor Ballot Drop Boxes Ahead Of Midterms

Ballot Harvesting

Voting

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/legacy-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Legacy media</a> outlets were slammed online for their fawning coverage of the alleged <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/waukesha" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Waukesha</a> parade killer&#8217;s opening statement.
The outlets were blasted online, accused of attempting to garner sympathy for a mass murderer, after several posted headlines highlighting the defendant&#8217;s &#8220;tearful opening statement.&#8221; The suspect, who is defending himself in court, reportedly broke down in tears during his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-sides-to-every-story-alleged-waukesha-christmas-parade-killer-complains-people-dont-see-him-clearly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening statement</a>, another example of erratic and delusional behavior he has exhibited throughout his court proceedings.
A Twitter account called &#8220;End Wokeness&#8221; posted screenshots of headlines from national news outlets, all of which used the same phrase to describe the defendant&#8217;s opening statement: &#8220;Wisconsin Christmas parade defendant gives tearful opening statement: &#8216;2 sides to every story,’” a USA Today headline reads.&#8221;Wisconsin parade suspect gives tearful opening statement,&#8221; headlines from the Associated Press, CBS News, and ABC News all read.
&#8220;Wtf? Is this how you cover a mass murdering psychopath who mowed down 70 innocent people?&#8221; the user commented.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Wtf? Is this how you cover a mass murdering psychopath who mowed down 70 innocent people? <a href="https://t.co/4tvz5ZF1hp">pic.twitter.com/4tvz5ZF1hp</a>
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1583557867197456384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
Twitter users slammed the outlets, accusing them of trying to garner sympathy for the alleged killer.
&#8220;Apparently, &#8216;tearful opening statement&#8217; is today’s Universal Mainstream Media tagline for mass murderer sympathy,&#8221; one user wrote on Twitter.
“‘Tearful opening&#8217; He ran over children with a car,&#8221; wrote another.
&#8220;@AP @MSNBC @abcnews @CBSNews this is how we punish a person who killed unarmed elderly, children, and other citizens?! #shame,&#8221; another user replied.
&#8220;How do you sleep at night?&#8221; a user questioned. &#8220;We’re supposed to feel sorry for this mass murderer?? You all are sick in the head. @AP @abcnews @CBSNews.&#8221;
&#8220;This headline is gross and he’s a cold blooded murder,&#8221; said another user. &#8220;He knew what he was doing and the harm he was inflicting.&#8221;
The popular Twitter account Defiant L&#8217;s posted a photo comparing the Waukesha headline with another USA Today headline attacking Kyle Rittenhouse for crying on the witness stand at his trial.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/ewFM5hanDd">pic.twitter.com/ewFM5hanDd</a>
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) <a href="https://twitter.com/DefiantLs/status/1583599025453817856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
The social media backlash comes even as the legacy media has previously downplayed the Waukesha attack. In the immediate aftermath of the attack in 2021, an Associated Press headline read: “Child is 6th death in Waukesha parade crash; suspect charged&#8221;; a tweet from CBS News labeled the attack “deadly Christmas parade crash.” Other outlets referred to the attack as a &#8220;tragedy&#8221; or a &#8220;crash.&#8221; But, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/media-calls-waukesha-fatal-car-ramming-a-crash-they-called-2017-charlottesville-car-ramming-an-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time, those outlets referred to the 2017 car ramming in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a &#8220;car attack.&#8221;
The suspect&#8217;s outburst is just the latest in a series of erratic behaviors and antics he has engaged in during his trial proceedings.
He has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alleged-waukesha-christmas-parade-killer-mocks-victims-in-court-while-demanding-that-case-be-dismissed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mocked the victims</a> of the attack and demanded that the charges against him be dropped because the victims were not present to accuse him; he has repeatedly yelled at and argued with the trial judge; and he has claimed that he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/waukesha-christmas-parade-crash-suspect-says-he-no-longer-identifies-by-his-name" target="_blank" rel="noopener">does not identify</a> by his given name, nor does he know anybody by that name. On Friday, the judge was forced to call a recess after he <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/10/21/darrell-brooks-parade-trial-judge-says-she-scared-after-outburst/10565977002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stared her down</a> in court. &#8220;This man right now is having a stare-down with me,&#8221; the judge said. &#8220;It&#8217;s very disrespectful. He pounded his fist. Frankly, it makes me scared.&#8221;
The defendant, who is not being named in accordance with longstanding <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-daily-wire-will-no-longer-publish-names-or-ben-shapiro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire policy</a> not to share the names or pictures of perpetrators of mass casualty events, is accused of killing six people, including an eight-year-old girl, and wounding dozens of others by plowing his car through a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/at-least-5-dead-40-injured-after-driver-plows-into-christmas-parade-possible-suspected-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christmas parade</a> in Waukesha in 2021.

Police

‘Tagline For Mass Murderer Sympathy’: Legacy Media Fawns Over Alleged Waukesha Killer’s ‘Tearful Opening Statement’

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