Latest news with #constitutionalRights
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Families file suit challenging Arkansas law that requires Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Seven Arkansas families filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging an upcoming state requirement that public school classrooms have posted copies of the Ten Commandments, saying the new law will violate their constitutional rights. The federal lawsuit challenges a measure Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law earlier this year, similar to a requirement enacted by Louisiana and one that Texas' governor has said he'll sign.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Lewiston Party House defendant seeks dismissal
The man who previously pleaded guilty to charges of providing booze and pot to teenagers in a Mountain View Drive home that became known as the 'Lewiston Party House' is asking to have his case dismissed. Gary Sullo, 58, has appealed to Niagara County Court Judge John Ottaviano, asking to have the charges he has already admitted to — and been sentenced for — thrown out because he claims his constitutional rights to a speedy trial were denied. Lawyers for Sullo and Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman argued the appeal before Ottaviano on Wednesday. Defense attorney Jessica Kulpit told the judge that after Sullo was first charged in 2018 it took '4 years, 9 months and 8 days' to resolve his case. 'There is no universe I can think of where it takes 5 years to resolve a misdemeanor case,' Kulpit said. While admitting that proceedings in the case were impacted by restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kulpit insisted that 'the Town of Lewiston Court did nothing, without explanation, the court did nothing (to advance the case). This is a deprivation of constitutional rights.' Sullo was sentenced by Lewiston Town Justice Hugh Gee to three years probation for his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges for providing alcohol and marijuana to teenagers in the home he shared with his late wife Tricia Vacanti, who was also originally charged in the case. His sentencing came more than six years after the first reports of booze and drug-fueled teenage parties at the home. Sullo was charged with multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful dealing with a child but ultimately pleaded guilty to just two counts of endangering the welfare of a child in a deal with Niagara County prosecutors. At the time of that deal, Sullo had filed a motion in Lewiston court to have the case dismissed, arguing that his speedy trial rights had been violated. Before prosecutors could respond to that motion, and before Gee could issue a ruling on it, Sullo reportedly emailed the judge and said he wanted to take the DA's plea offer. Kulpit said that despite her client's decision to take the prosecutor's offer, the request to have the case dismissed should have been ruled on in the Lewiston court. She said Sullo always expected to get a ruling. 'He took the plea believing he could still appeal,' Kulpit said. Assistant Niagara County District Attorney Laura Jordon told Ottaviano that Sullo has no right to appeal. 'The case law is clear,' Jordan told the judge. 'A guilty plea precludes a (speedy trial) appeal.' Jordan also said all of the delays in the case, before Sullo's guilty plea, were a result of either Covid restrictions or requests from his defense attorney. 'Not a single delay was attributable to the people,' Jordan said. 'The record (in the case) shows all those delays, outside of Covid, were at the defendant's request.' Sullo's sentencing followed the sentencing of the other remaining adult in the case, Jessica Long. Long, 43, was sentenced by Gee in January 2024 to six months of interim probation for her guilty plea to one count of first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child. Vacanti had faced 41 counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the house parties. But she died suddenly on July 3, 2022, and the charges against her were set aside. Specifically, Vacanti had been accused of providing booze and pot to at least three teenage girls, who later claimed they were sexually assaulted in her home by her then-teenage son, Christopher Belter. Belter was indicted, and pleaded guilty in June 2019, to felony charges of third-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual abuse and two misdemeanor charges of second-degree sexual abuse for encounters with four teenage girls that occurred during the parties at the family's home in 2016 and 2018. In November 2021, Belter was sentenced to eight years of sex offender probation. A month later, he was classified as a Level 3 sex offender. Level 3 is the most serious classification and legally indicates a 'sexual predator.' Belter was also declared a sexually violent offender. Sullo and Vacanti were originally charged with 19 combined counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the parties at their home from 2016 to 2018. In January 2020, Niagara County prosecutors leveled an additional 22 counts of endangering and unlawful dealing against Vacanti and another eight counts of the same allegations against Sullo. Long was charged with single counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. Sullo, who now resides in Florida, was not present in court for the hearing on his appeal.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Margarita Maryland Senator gloats prematurely about return of deported migrant now charged with sick child sex crimes
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, who infamously met with alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, celebrated his return to the United States to face criminal charges. On Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that controversially deported 'Maryland man' Abrego Garcia, 29, had landed 'to face justice' over allegations of people smuggling and conspiracy to commit smuggling. Democrat Senator Van Hollen lobbied to meet with the man who was his constituent as his party raged over his detention in the El Salvadoran prison. That meeting sparked controversy when El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele posted a photo of Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia at a table with what appear to be margaritas, though Van Hollen claimed they were fake. Despite the disturbing criminal charges against Abrego Garcia, Van Hollen took a victory lap Friday suggesting he had done his job while taking shots at Donald Trump. 'For months, the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution,' Van Hollen said in a statement Friday. 'Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States.' Van Hollen refused to give much mention of the charges against his constituent, saying it was not the point. 'As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it's about his constitutional rights – and the rights of all. The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.' The Trump administration initially accepted it had made a mistake in deporting Abrego Garcia, a father-of-three who arrived in the US illegally more than a decade ago. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also championed his return, saying it proved the 'unhinged Democrat Party' was wrong about Abrego Garcia, who liberals had dubbed a ' Maryland father-of-three'. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador after being accused of being an MS-13 gang member. The deportation went ahead despite a court order forbidding his return which claimed he was at risk of persecution by the gang. Prior to this he had several brushes with the law in the US over the years, although none resulted in arrest or conviction. After initially ignoring a court order to facilitate his repatriation to the US, Bondi announced that Abrego Garcia has been hauled back to America to face charges stemming from one of these encounters. A federal grand jury indicted Abrego Garcia over claims he participated in a years- long operation trafficking people through the Texas border. Sources told ABC News that amongst those allegedly transported were members of the infamous Salvadoran gang MS-13. The conspiracy is said to have spanned nearly ten years and involved the transportation of thousands of migrants from Mexico and Central America. He is expected to be prosecuted and, if convicted, will be returned to his home country at the conclusion of the case, officials said. The investigation into the charges started after federal authorities started probing a 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, source said. He was stopped with eight people in his car and told officers he was driving them from Texas to Maryland for a construction job. The exchange led the officer to, 'suspect this was a human trafficking incident', according to a report produced at the time. But Abrego Garcia was let go with out any arrest or charge, despite having an expired license, per the document. Abrego Garcia was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison after the administration claimed he was a member of MS-13. Something he and his family have denied. President Donald Trump had repeatedly maintained in an interview with ABC's Terry Moran that Abrego Garcia has M-S-1-3 tattooed on his hand. Trump had posted multiple times showing knuckle tattoos, but Moran told him the actual M-S-1-3 letters and numbers had simply been photoshopped onto the image above Abrego Garcia's actual tattoos as a code to decipher them. His deportation saga began when he was pulled over by immigration officers on March 12 and was told his immigration status had changed. Within days he was on a plane to El Salvador and his family recognized him in CECOT from media images which showed off distinctive tattoos on his arm. Abrego Garcia was granted 'withholding of removal' status in 2019 after a judge determined his claims that he would be persecuted if he returned to El Salvador were legitimate. President Trump had said that he could retrieve Abrego Garcia with one phone call to El Salvador's president, but refused to do it. Abrego Garcia´s American wife sued over his deportation, and U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered his return on April 4. The Supreme Court ruled on April 10 that the administration must work to bring him back. Late last month the administration asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction because he was no longer in the US. Attorneys for the administration have also argued that information about returning Abrego Garcia is protected under state secrets privilege. U.S. attorneys said releasing such details in open court - or even to the judge in private - would jeopardize national security by revealing sensitive diplomatic negotiations. Many filings in the case have been sealed. The case has raised questions about whether due process was followed and highlighted the extent to which the White House is trying to exert control over the courts to bolster its immigration policy. In a statement about his return, Abrego Garcia's attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said: 'From the beginning, this case has made one thing painfully clear: The government had the power to bring him back at any time. 'Instead, they chose to play games with the court and with a man's life. We're not just fighting for Kilmar - we're fighting to ensure due process rights are protected for everyone. 'Because tomorrow, this could be any one of us -- if we let power go unchecked, if we ignore our Constitution.' Abrego Garcia's wife has stood by him throughout the saga, despite previously filing a report of domestic abuse against her husband. The Salvadoran was never charged over the report which was later retracted.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Democrats celebrate return of suspected human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who has led the party's advocacy for suspected gang member Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, is celebrating his return to the U.S., saying, "This is not about the man, it's about his constitutional rights." "For months, the Trump administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution," Van Hollen asserted in a statement sent to Fox News Digital via email. "Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States." Van Hollen was the first of several Democratic lawmakers to fly to visit Abrego Garcia after he was deported to a high-security prison in his home country, El Salvador, in March. Abrego Garcia, 29, has been returned to the U.S. and is facing charges in a sealed federal indictment in Tennessee for alleged conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens. Though many Democrats claim Abrego Garcia is an innocent man who was wrongly deported, the administration has pointed to considerable evidence he is a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia allegedly moved illegal immigrants from Texas to interior states in what prosecutors say was an organized operation stretching back years. He has also been accused of being a member of the violent Salvadoran gang MS-13. According to court records filed by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, he also allegedly physically abused her on multiple occasions. Since Abrego Garcia's deportation to his home country, Van Hollen has advocated for his return. After Fox News Digital asked Van Hollen in May whether he was aware of the domestic violence allegations against Abrego Garcia before he went to visit him in El Salvador, the senator became defensive, saying, "What I said here was these issues need to be litigated in the courts." In a statement Friday, Van Hollen doubled down on that sentiment, saying, "As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man. It's about his constitutional rights, and the rights of all. "The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along." Despite the gravity of his alleged crimes, returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S. has become a major cause for the Democratic Party. Earlier Friday, another Maryland Democrat, Rep. Glenn Ivey, who also made a trip to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia, used his X account to promote an event to continue the "critical conversation on the fight to return those who are wrongfully imprisoned in El Salvador." Ivey claimed Abrego Garcia's case is "part of a much larger crisis — and we must not look away." In a statement to Fox News Digital, Ivey also asserted that the Trump administration "defied the Supreme Court and misled the American people for months, saying they could not bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States under any circumstances, knowing that they had the power to do so all along. "I went to El Salvador and advocated for Kilmar's return because he was entitled to due process under our Constitution. Kilmar will now get his day in court. I hope he receives the fair trial that he is guaranteed." Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland's lone Republican congressman, responded to the news of Abrego Garcia's return with disgust, posting on X, "What a waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Bringing an already deported illegal alien criminal back to the US to be housed in a US jail at taxpayer expense so he can stand trial and then be deported back to his homeland." Fox News Digital also reached out to representatives Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., all of whom have made trips to visit Abrego Garcia in prison.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Five Proud Boys leaders sue Justice Department over Jan. 6 prosecutions, WaPo reports
June 6 (Reuters) - Five leaders of the violent extremist group the Proud Boys, four of whom were found guilty related to trying to keep President Donald Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021, are seeking $100 million from the government over claims their constitutional rights were violated, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
