donal brown

Many justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have contended that the court is the most transparent branch of government since their written opinions explain their decisions and dissents are detailed. Yet the court’s sessions aren’t televised and the justices are not held to any ethical codes. They decide what to disclose about travel plans, speaking engagements or health problems. They don’t disclose details of why they sit out cases for conflict of interest or of

The numbers of COVID-19 beds and patients reported by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) don’t jibe with other federal sources, state data and the realities faced by hospitals. The faulty numbers lead to shortages of medicine and protective equipment. The Trump administration transferred the pandemic tracking system in July from the CDC to a private contractors much to the dismay of public health workers who feared the change would hurt the government’s

In upholding the First Amendment, a federal court ruled that California could not ban vanity license plate messages that were “offensive to good taste and decency.” U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar agreed with five plaintiffs and cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a victory by the band The Slants over the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. (Reason, November 25, 2020, By Elizabeth Nolan Brown) Tigar found the ban enables unconstitutional restrictions on private

Fox News settled a lawsuit brought by the parents of Seth Rich, a murdered Democratic National Committee (DNC) employee. The parents accused Fox of exploiting his death, that occurred a botched robbery, with extended coverage that falsely contended that Rich had leaked DNC e-mails to WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Contrary to internet sources, U.S. intelligence found no evidence that Rich was assassinated for leaking the e-mails. (NBC News, November 24, 2020, by The