Legal and Legislative News

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Sacramento country ordered to close illegal shelter for foster children

sacbee.com

by Ellen Garrison and Anita Chabria

August 22, 2017

More than a year after telling Sacramento County Child Protective Services to stop using a clerical office as a makeshift youth shelter, state officials have ordered the agency to end the illegal practice by a September deadline.

The California Department of Social Services wrote in a July letter to Sacramento County Child Protective Services that it must stop letting kids sleep at the county office on Auburn Boulevard near Watt Avenue.

In the heartland, a David and Goliath battle over a pipeline

csmonitor.com

by Doug Struck

August 17, 2017

In rural Nebraska, a determined couple are among the last holdouts to the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which they say could pose a threat to an important underground water source.

The cornfields of Nebraska sweep over gentle hills, disappearing at the horizon. To the modern farmer they are mathematical creations: the calculus of total acres, fertilizer per acre, inches of rainfall, tons of herbicide, radius of the giant pivot irrigator, and square feet of crops lost at the edges. Rows are planted with computer-driven precision; corn is sold when the financial analytics say the price is right.

Refugee boys plead guilty to sexual abuse of 5-year-old Idaho girl

idahostatesman.com

by Alex Riggins

July 15, 2017

Three boys involved in a June assault on a 5-year-old girl at the Fawnbrook Apartments in Twin Falls pleaded guilty Tuesday to felonies.

The incident touched off months of turmoil in Twin Falls after the story was spun into a fake news account that exaggerated or flat-out falsified many of the details, including that a knife was present, the attack was perpetrated by a Syrian gang of adult men, that a rape had occurred and that the attack was celebrated by the perpetrators' families as city officials orchestrated a cover-up. In fact, police and prosecutors said, there was no rape, no knife was present, and the incident involved young boys. Officials characterized the incident as a sexual assault and say each say each agency involved followed proper protocol.

Maine Law Lets Municipalities Regulate Food

npr.org

by Jennifer Mitchell

July 8, 2017

A new law in Maine lets towns regulate local food production. Supporters say it makes it easier for people to buy raw and organic foods locally. Opponents fear it could lead to lax food safety.

The new law makes it possible for farmers to sell products, such as raw milk, without going through a state inspections process. Instead, towns and cities will have the authority to regulate those kinds of sales.

From hardship to hard time: Female prison rate rises in US

therepublic.com

by Mary Hudetz

July 7, 2017

The women in the old two-story house fell silent as a mother in the group recalled the toughest chapters of a life measured in prison terms and heartache.

Susan Hylton counts more than two dozen convictions on her record, most of them drug related. Her first run-ins with police began when she was 13. A runaway, she preferred life and hard drugs on the streets, she said, to sexual abuse she faced at home in El Paso, Texas. But her escape route led to more trauma: nearly a year in a sex trafficking ring as a minor.

Former California AG's wife charged with battery in Twain Harte

uniondemocrat.com

July 7, 2017

The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office Thursday arrested the wife of a former California attorney general at a Twain Harte vacation home on suspicion of battery on a spouse.

Nadia Davis Lockyer, 46, a former Alameda County supervisor and wife of Bill Lockyer, 76, who also served as California treasurer, had a blood alcohol content of 0.22 percent at the time of her arrest, Tuolumne County Sgt. Andrea Benson said. The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office Thursday arrested the wife of a former California attorney general at a Twain Harte vacation home on suspicion of battery on a spouse.

Prison diversion program for pregnant women clears House

statesmanjournal.com

by Diane Dietz

July 5, 2017

Salem Rep. Jodi Hack voted in favor of the program, saying her vote "is not for sale."

House Bill 3078 would also expand addiction treatment, allow 30 days additional end-of-sentence transitional leave for inmates with good behavior and shorten the one-year presumptive sentence for women convicted of first-degree theft or identity theft.

Jelinajane Bedrijo Almario gets 13 years for leading prostitution ring

upi.com

by Ray Downs

July 4, 2017

A court in California sentenced a woman arrested for human trafficking at the age of 16 to 13 years in prison for organizing a prostitution ring of teens.

Police arrested Jelinajane Bedrijo Almario, whose 18th birthday was on July 1, in May 2016. She was tried as an adult on charges of human trafficking of a minor, sending threatening emails to a family member of one of the victims and making terrorist threats in Kings County Superior Court.

Trump to Target Food Stamps with Retail Fee

libertyheadlines.com

June 20, 2017

Trump's proposal to overhaul the U.S. food stamp program, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as it's currently known, has brought with it a widely overlooked fee that could end up costing food retailers billions.

The Office of Management and Budget said the fee would be assessed when stores sign up and would require renewal after five years. The budget office said the amount would depend on the size and type of retailer, but the president's budget estimates that the fee would generate $2.4 billion in revenue over the next decade.

UPDATE: Ex-social worker found guilty of filing false abuse claims

wtvq.com

May 24, 2017

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) - A former Kentucky state social worker has been convicted of filing false child abuse complaints against two people in Grayson County.

The false complaints began in 2014 and were levied against a close friend's husband and a pastor at her church. The friend, Shawna Beauchamp, says allegations included violence, drug abuse and sexual abuse. She said Bond offered to check confidential records to find the complainant's identity.

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