Every state makes it a crime to intentionally injure someone — like shooting or stabbing them without justification.
That’s why it has long been a crime in most states to intentionally infect someone with a disease — including a sexually transmitted disease (STD). After all, the consequences of an STD can be just as long lasting and deadly as if the perpetrator shot or stabbed the victim.
But apparently the Biden administration disagrees. Led by radical Assistant Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/06/28/the-justice-departments-lawsuit-against-georgia-is-completely-partisan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kristen Clarke</a>, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is suing Tennessee for attempting to enforce a statute that is designed to protect the public from HIV-positive prostitutes.
According to Clarke and her cronies, Tennessee’s attempt to protect is citizens is actually thinly veiled <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-tennessee-enforcing-state-law-discriminates-against-people-hiv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discrimination</a> that violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to Clarke, the zealots who filed this lawsuit against Tennessee include Disability Rights Section Chief Rebecca Bond, Deputy Chief Kevin Kijewski, Trial Attorney Stephanie Berger, and Trial Attorney Ali Szemanski. A brief look through their resumes — even those of the lower-ranking trial attorneys — shows that they have worked for various organizations that support the far-Left’s pet projects.
For example, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-berger-914b448" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Berger</a> previously spent several years working for the Empire State Pride Agenda, which disbanded after then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order protecting transgender rights. And <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-szemanski-7b448042" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Szemanski</a> previously worked or interned for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of Boston, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race &amp; Justice, and the MacArthur Justice Center.
These connections to the radical Left shouldn’t come as a surprise. The politicized and Left-leaning hiring practices within the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have been a <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2013/s1303.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long-standing problem</a>. Only a full embrace of the far-Left’s worldview can explain the filing of this otherwise inexplicable lawsuit.
Passed in 1991 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Tennessee’s <a href="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/program-areas/39-13-516.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aggravated prostitution statute</a> provides that a “person commits aggravated prostitution when, knowing that such person is infected with HIV, the person engages in sexual activity as a business or is an inmate in a house of prostitution or loiters in a public place for the purpose of being hired to engage in sexual activity.” In other words, if a person knows he or she has HIV and engages in prostitution (itself a crime), then that person faces harsher penalties.
According to the Biden Justice Department, however, this is discrimination because it unfairly treats individuals differently based solely on their HIV-positive status and “does not require prosecuting entities to make any individualized determinations in order to achieve a conviction.”
But think that through: It’s not discrimination to prosecute an alcoholic for driving while under the influence. And it’s not discrimination to prosecute a drug addict for possessing or selling drugs. Tennessee isn’t prosecuting and punishing people based on their status but instead is prosecuting and punishing them based on their conduct and the risk of harm that conduct poses to the community. It’s why most states prosecute armed robbery more harshly than unarmed robbery — lawmakers view the former as posing a greater risk, and being more harmful, to the community. The same is true here.
Of course, the Justice Department doesn’t have a sound legal argument against this. They simply allege that since “the passage of Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, there has been significant progress in the understanding of and treatment of HIV.” According to them, “beliefs and assumptions that individuals with HIV will spread it, or that having HIV is a death sentence, are now outdated and unfounded.”
That may well be true, but as that same filing readily admits, that largely depends on following proper protocols for medication and treatment. Furthermore, Tennessee isn’t targeting the HIV population at large — only those who know they are infected and are engaging in the crime of prostitution where the transmission risk is likely much higher than in other settings.
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Why shouldn&#8217;t Tennessee be able to punish criminal conduct with aggravating circumstances such as these more severely? After all, no one is seriously contending that engaging in prostitution while being HIV-positive is less dangerous and less harmful than doing so without.
The Justice Department filing identifies “Complainant A” as one of the “victims” of Tennessee’s supposedly discriminatory law. According to the Justice Department, “Complainant A is a Black transgender woman who lives in Memphis, Tennessee.” This individual had HIV, knew it, and engaged in “prostitution near a church or school.” Tennessee charged this individual with aggravated prostitution, which of course comes with the subsequent sex-offender registration requirements and other collateral consequences.
Because Tennessee simply enforced the law, the Justice Department now says the state discriminated against this individual. In fact, they’re asking the court to prohibit any further enforcement of Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, remove individuals from the sex-offender registry who have been convicted of aggravated prostitution, terminate reporting requirements for individuals on the sex-offender registry who have been convicted of aggravated prostitution, expunge their records, and provide compensatory damages (money!) to Complainant A and others the Justice Department has deemed harmed.
With all the problems facing the Biden administration this year, their dedication to extorting everyday Americans to advance a radical social agenda is astounding. Americans deserve, and should expect, more from a department supposedly dedicated to seeking justice. Enough is enough.
* * *
Zack Smith is a legal fellow in the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Attorney General Garland Holds  Press Conference On Civil Rights Matter At DOJ

Biden’s Justice Department Is Suing Tennessee For Protecting Its Citizens From HIV-Positive Prostitutes

Heritage Foundation

Kristen Clarke

Readers Pass

Sex Crimes

Sex Offender

Tennessee

On Wednesday, as the Senate Judiciary Committee held its confirmation hearing for Kristen Clarke to be assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Texas GOP senator Ted Cruz slammed her for her prior calls for defunding the police, and also engaged in a fight with Committee Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat, telling Durbin, “I’m not going to allow her to filibuster.”
Cruz began, “Ms. Clarke, as I look to your record, I see the record of someone who has spent a career as a partisan advocate. Last year, you wrote an <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/i-prosecuted-police-killings-defund-police-strategic-opinion-1510018">op-ed in Newsweek</a> entitled, “I Prosecuted Police Killings. Defund the Police, But Be Strategic.” Do you still believe it is a good idea to defund the police?”
“I do not support defunding the police,” Clarke replied. “The impetus for writing that op-ed was to make clear that I do not support defunding the police, and I spent considerable time talking about the need to challenge resources to places such as mental health treatment, alleviate some of the burdens we place on the doorstep of law enforcement so the issues we ask them to wrestle with that are outside their core competency, but if —&#8221;
“Ms. Clarke, we have limited time,” Cruz interjected. “You say you don’t support defunding the police. You just said it twice. The title of your article was &#8216;Defund the Police,&#8217; but let’s not just look to the title; your article begins by saying that the national protests we saw last year &#8216;opened up space for transformative policy discussions.&#8217; You then continue to write, &#8216;Into that space,&#8217; — and this is a quote — &#8216;Into that space has surged a unifying call from the Black Lives Matter Movement: Defund the police.&#8217; Do you really believe &#8216;defund the police&#8217; is a unifying call?”
“I don’t support defund the police,” Clarke repeated.
“I’m reading from your article,” Cruz pressed. “Do you disagree with your article?”
“Amidst the demonstrations and protests, I wanted to provide a different perspective,” Clarke answered. “I don’t support taking away resources from police and putting communities in harm’s way. There’s a rise in hate crimes and extremism —”
“Ms. Clarke, you know you’re testifying under oath here,” Cruz warned.
“Senator Cruz, please allow her to answer,” Durbin interrupted.
“Well, I’m not going to allow her to filibuster,” Cruz fired back. “When I ask a question, if she wants to answer a question that I asked, she can do so.”
“She should be allowed— I hope you’ll show respect to the witness,” Durbin snapped.
“I will show respect to every witness, but we also have limited time, as you’re aware, and you’ve been on this committee long enough to know that witnesses, in avoiding questions, will try to filibuster on different topics,” Cruz replied. “So I’m going to ask questions, and I’m going to expect answers to the questions I ask, and I understand the Chairman wants to jump in and defend the witnesses but that’s your prerogative to try to do so.”
“I will defend witnesses on either side and members on either side,” Durbin claimed. “We will be respectful in this committee. I hope that all members —”
“I hope and expect the same standard will be applied to senators on both sides,” Cruz stated, turning back to Clarke. “Now, let’s return to, you just said you don’t support cutting funds from police. I find that astonishing, and frankly, Ms. Clarke, not credible, because I’m holding the article you wrote, rote, and I actually pulled out a highlighter and highlighted the beginning of each paragraph going through, and about midway through, you have a paragraph that says, ‘We must invest less in police and more in social workers.’ The next paragraph says, ‘We must invest less in police and more in social support to our schools.’ The next paragraph begins, ‘We must invest less in police and more in mental health aid.’ Three paragraphs in your article you begin with the words, ‘We must invest less in police,’ and you just told this committee under oath you don’t support investing less in police. How do you square those?”
“If I may, Senator, I support the fact that President Biden is committing 300 million new dollars for the COPS program, 300 million new dollars for resources to the police,” Clarke protested. “I wrote that op-ed without having the power of the purse-string behind me and talked about how we can allocate a limited pool of resources in a more effective way.”
“So do you believe you were wrong last year when you called for defunding the police and investing less in the police?” Cruz asked.
“It’s a poor title chosen by the editor,” Clarke deflected.
“Not just a title; it’s your text,” Cruz pointed out. “‘We must invest less in police.’ Three paragraphs you begin with those words. You wrote those words. Would you agree with those words today?”
“Without the power of the purse-string I wrote those words,” Clarke repeated. “But President Biden is committing more resources to police and I think that’s a great thing, Senator.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
She also has repeatedly TWEETED about defunding the police. But she has locked her twitter account. 
Google has some of her now-locked tweets cached though, so you can see out&#39;s out there where she clearly describes ways to DEFUND THE POLICE. <a href="https://t.co/VaE2fr85AN">pic.twitter.com/VaE2fr85AN</a>
&mdash; Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1382356970108293129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here&#39;s an instragram post she HASN&#39;T deleted, calling for defunding the police. 
You can argue that she&#39;s calling for targeted defunding, but this is literally calling for defunding the police as she&#39;s saying she doesn&#39;t support &quot;defunding the police.&quot; 
This is such bad faith. <a href="https://t.co/rFvev8B5On">pic.twitter.com/rFvev8B5On</a>
&mdash; Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1382357399156195330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing On Protecting Speech By Stopping Anarchist Violence

‘You Know You’re Testifying Under Oath Here’: Cruz Corners Biden DOJ Nominee On Defunding The Police

Defund The Police

Ted Cruz

President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has repeatedly posted misinformation online about the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman fatally shot by police in her Kentucky home last March.
Kristen Clarke is <a href="https://twitter.com/rbreich/status/1308842497045561346?lang=en">among</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/1275509725858316289">several</a> blue-check marks on Twitter that amplified the false claim that Ms. Taylor was lying in her bed when she was slain by police during the deadly raid. On at least one occasion, Clarke helped distort the narrative even further, erroneously stating that Taylor had been asleep in her bed when she was killed.
The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-invs/index.html">facts</a> of the case, however, indicate that Taylor was fatally shot in the hallway of her apartment after her boyfriend had shot a police officer who had busted through the door while executing a warrant.
Still, the widely-shared misinformation remains on Clarke’s Twitter feed as she awaits confirmation to become the first black woman to lead the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Clarke currently serves as the executive director for the Lawyers&#8217; Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a tax-exempt charitable organization that focuses on several progressive issues such as voting rights, hate crimes, income inequality, and combating alleged racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It&#39;s been 3 months since Louisville officers killed Breonna Taylor while she was sleeping in her bed. No arrests. No justice.
We must keep giving voice to Black women who are also victims of police violence. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SayHerName?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SayHerName</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreonnaTaylor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BreonnaTaylor</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Protest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Protest</a> <a href="https://t.co/45fGAWpMdB">pic.twitter.com/45fGAWpMdB</a>
&mdash; Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1271784131538583552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“It’s been 3 months since Louisville officers killed Breonna Taylor while she was sleeping in her bed,” Clarke <a href="https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1271784131538583552">tweeted</a> on June 13, 2020. “No arrest. No justice. We must keep giving voice to Black women who are also victims of police violence. #SayHerName #BreonnaTaylor #Protest”
The post has generated more than 7,000 retweets.
Clarke also used the misinformation to encourage her 110,000+ Twitter followers to call Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to demand he prosecute the officers involved in Taylor’s shooting death. She posted a phone number to contact Cameron after falsely claiming Taylor had been “killed in her own bed.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is really helpful! I’ve been looking for ways we can take actual action for her and would love to spread the word. Is there any specific language we should be using when calling this number?
&mdash; Danielle Schmidt (@_DanniJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/_DanniJ/status/1273967742039797760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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In July, Clarke went on to tweet that Taylor had been “murdered in her bed at night.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It&#39;s been 130 days since Breonna Taylor, a first responder, was murdered in her bed at night. There have been no arrests. There has been no justice.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreonnaTaylor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BreonnaTaylor</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForBreonnaTaylor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JusticeForBreonnaTaylor</a> <a href="https://t.co/pRraLuJJpk">pic.twitter.com/pRraLuJJpk</a>
&mdash; Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1285603763286417411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Between June and September, Clarke’s account posted at least seven tweets incorrectly stating that Taylor had been in her bed when police shot her five times.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It&#39;s been 180 days since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own bed. Breonna&#39;s family deserves justice.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForBreonnaTaylor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JusticeForBreonnaTaylor</a> <a href="https://t.co/NWv64FSJZ7">pic.twitter.com/NWv64FSJZ7</a>
&mdash; Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1303688860023623681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“It’s been 180 days since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own bed,” Clarke was still tweeting on September 9, almost six months after the incident. “Breonna’s family deserves justice. #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor”
Clarke had continued to share her inaccurate version of events throughout a season of protests significantly motivated by the perceived circumstances surrounding Taylor’s death. All the while, the misinformation directly conflicted with statements from those who were at the scene when Taylor died.
According to a CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-invs/index.html">investigation</a> into the shooting death, “Taylor had been watching a movie in bed together with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker when she drifted off to sleep beside him. Walker told investigators he heard banging at the door after midnight…”
Walker <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-invs/index.html">said</a> the couple had awoken, but did not know who was at the door. As they scrambled to get dressed, Walker grabbed his gun, which he was reportedly licensed to carry.
“She’s yelling at the top of her lungs – and I am too at this point – who is it?” Walker <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-invs/index.html">recalled</a>. “No answer. No response. No anything.”
Walker said both he and Tayler were walking down the apartment hallway toward the front door when it flew off the hinges. He said he feared for his life and thought the officers who broke down the door were intruders unlawfully entering his girlfriend’s home.
Walker shot one of the police officers in the leg, severing his femoral artery. Three cops returned fire, shooting <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-police-kentucky-racial-injustice-louisville-530bf2a8cad0eded6c7643e">more than</a> 30 rounds. Breonna was hit six times and <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2020/06/16/breonna-taylor-fact-check-7-rumors-wrong/5326938002/">died</a> in the hallway.
Attorneys representing Taylor&#8217;s family <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2020/07/17/breonna-taylor-lay-untouched-20-minutes-after-being-shot-records/5389881002/">acknowledged</a> Breonna “was unarmed in her hallway” when she was struck by gunfire.

President-Elect Biden Announces His Key Justice Department Nominees

Biden’s DOJ Nominee Repeatedly Posted Misinformation About Breonna Taylor’s Death On Social Media

Breonna Taylor

Joe Biden

Fox News host Tucker Carlson broke a story on Monday night about controversial past comments about race science made by the woman that President-elect Joe Biden has nominated to be the head of the civil rights division.
&#8220;Kristen Clarke is Joe Biden&#8217;s pick to run the Justice Department&#8217;s enormously powerful civil rights division. Clarke says her job is simple, it&#8217;s to end hate,&#8221; Carlson said. &#8220;But like so many in her world, Clarke is in fact an enthusiastic purveyor of what she claims to fight.&#8221;
&#8220;Clarke&#8217;s been on this show several times. A new investigation though by our reporters has uncovered shocking — and we don’t use that word lightly — legitimately shocking statements that Clarke made, in public, while at Harvard,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;In 1994, Clarke wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in her capacity as the president of the Black Students Association. Clarke wanted to explain her views on race science.&#8221;
Carlson read off the following quotes from Clarke:
<ul>
<li>&#8220;Please use the following theories and observations to assist you in your search for truth regarding the genetic differences between Blacks and whites.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;One: Dr. Richard King reveals that at the core of the human brain is the &#8216;locus coeruleus,&#8217; which is a structure that is Black, because it contains large amounts of neuro-melanin which is essential for its operation. Two: Black infants sit, stand, crawl and walk sooner than whites. Three: Carol Barnes notes that human mental processes are controlled by melanin&#8211;that same chemical which gives Blacks their superior physical and mental abilities. Four: Some scientists have revealed that most whites are unable to produce melanin because their pineal glands are often calcified or non-functioning. Pineal calcification rates with Africans are five to 15 percent, Asians 15 to 25 percent and Europeans 60 to 80 percent. This is the chemical basis for the cultural differences between Blacks and whites. Five: Melanin endows Blacks with greater mental, physical and spiritual abilities — something which cannot be measured based on Eurocentric standards.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
&#8220;Let that sink in. &#8216;Melanin endows black people with greater mental, physical and spiritual abilities,'&#8221; Carlson continued. &#8220;No, this isn’t an editorial from the Final Call, Louis Farrakhan’s free newspaper. It’s a direct quote from the person Joe Biden is about to put in charge of our country’s civil rights laws. Even at Harvard, crackpot theories like this were considered deranged and dangerous. After an outcry on campus, Kristen Clarke suggested that she didn’t &#8216;necessarily&#8217; believe what she had written. The Harvard Crimson, a left-wing paper, did not buy that explanation. &#8216;Well does she or doesn&#8217;t she?&#8217; wrote the editors. &#8216;So far, she has given us every indication that she does.'&#8221;
Carlson also highlighted support that Clarke showed for a noted anti-Semite and said just last year &#8220;Clarke was fighting for the crudest kind of racial discrimination in college admissions.&#8221;
&#8220;This fall, she said it was quote, &#8216;madness&#8217; for the federal government to take the side of Asian applicants, who had, provably, been denied college admission purely because of their skin color,&#8221; Carlson said. &#8220;But tough luck, as far as Kristen Clarke was concerned, those Asians didn’t have enough melanin and melanin is the key.&#8221;
&#8220;Speaking of madness, in a sane country, someone like Kristen Clarke would be under investigation by the civil rights division, not running it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;How crazy have we become? We’ll see if Clarke’s nomination gets to the U.S. Senate. If it does, we’re in serious trouble.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Exclusive: shocking statements by Biden&#39;s DOJ civil rights pick. <a href="https://t.co/5CzhwPa3WH">pic.twitter.com/5CzhwPa3WH</a>
&mdash; Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) <a href="https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1348817652299530240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Biden Nominee To Lead DOJ Civil Rights Division Wrote In Letter: ‘Melanin Endows Blacks With Greater’ Abilities

Civil Rights

Racism

Tucker Carlson

Menu

Kristen Clarke

Biden’s Justice Department Is Suing Tennessee For Protecting Its Citizens From HIV-Positive Prostitutes

‘You Know You’re Testifying Under Oath Here’: Cruz Corners Biden DOJ Nominee On Defunding The Police

Biden’s DOJ Nominee Repeatedly Posted Misinformation About Breonna Taylor’s Death On Social Media

Biden Nominee To Lead DOJ Civil Rights Division Wrote In Letter: ‘Melanin Endows Blacks With Greater’ Abilities