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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As California moves through its methodical four-step process for reopening, some counties are pushing the boundaries by bypassing the state's orders or refusing to enforce rules against businesses that reopen without state permission. Tulare County, in the middle of the state's vast Central Valley agricultural region, was the latest. Its Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to move into “Phase 3" of reopening, giving barbershops, movie theaters and churches the go-ahead even before the county had been approved by the state to go deeper into Phase 2. The state called the county’s actions “hasty and careless” and...

"...Gibson City Police Department will not be making any criminal misdemeanor arrests of individuals or business owners for violations of temporary rules or Executive Orders." Image of memo at link.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request from House Democrats for immediate access to redacted grand jury materials from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. The justices instead granted the Trump administration's request to continue shielding the secret grand jury transcripts and exhibits. The Wednesday order also gives the Justice Department until June 1 to file a formal appeal of a lower court ruling requiring the administration to hand over the materials the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee initially requested as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump. DEVELOPING

Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging state and federal lawsuits brought by the Texas Democrat Party attempting to bypass the legislature’s voting integrity laws in court. As Democrats across the nation use fear of the Chinese coronavirus as a pretext to push for more mail-ballot voting, a process ripe for fraud, Texas is fighting back to preserve the state’s voting laws and election integrity. Since March, the Texas Democrat Party has been pursuing two separate lawsuits targeting vote-by-mail limits set by the legislature—one in state court and one federal. They aim to force county election officials to disregard state statutes...

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is facing an increasingly mainstream backlash against her stay-at-home orders, with a growing number of local officials and business leaders arguing the restrictions have outlived their usefulness. Some Democratic lawmakers in Michigan have pointed to armed demonstrators at a series of high-profile protests at the state Capitol in Lansing in recent weeks as evidence that most of those who opposed her measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus were politically motivated right-wing activists. But despite Whitmer’s move this week to loosen rules in the state’s northern regions, criticism now is mounting from...

The police chief of Houston, Texas, is blaming "spiritual warfare" for a shocking murder Saturday as an 80-year woman described as a "perfect grandma" was allegedly murdered by a career criminal who had been arrested 67 times and was free on bail at the time of the killing. "There's spiritual warfare going on, not just here but across the world. This is just crazy," said Police Chief Art Acevedo. "I just want to tell this community we need to pray. We're fortunate that we're led by a mayor and a council that believe in the power of prayer." "We've got...

Serving as a cop in America is harder than ever — and it comes down to respect. A deficit of respect for the men and women in blue who daily put their lives on the line for the rest of us is hurting recruitment and retention and placing communities at risk. This month, Sgt. Christopher Brewster of the Houston Police Department was shot and killed while responding to a domestic-violence call. Several hours later that same day, Officer Stephen Carr of ­Arkansas’ Fayetteville Police ­Department was ambushed and executed while sitting in his patrol vehicle. Last week, Det. ­Joseph Seals...

SANTA FE – The state’s top health official has warned a southeastern New Mexico county manager about possible legal action for suggesting businesses could reopen in violation of state orders. The dispute is the latest dust-up over compliance with state edicts aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, which had killed 270 people in New Mexico through Monday. Lea County Manager Mike Gallagher said last week that businesses in the county will open when business owners decide the timing is right. In a Monday interview, Gallagher said the county has not told businesses to open, but that they should...

https://youtu.be/lapVOqhbugw

Last weekend, in a span of roughly 12 hours, two uniformed NYPD officers were shot and wounded in attempted assassinations in the Bronx—apparently by the same suspect. One officer, while seated in a marked police van on Saturday night, was hit in the face and neck. The other, a lieutenant, was shot in the arm as he stood near the 41st precinct’s reception area the next morning. Both officers survived their wounds. The shootings occurred just days after anti-police protesters paralyzed parts of New York’s subway system while chanting obscenities about the police. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and police union...

The number of people applying to be cops in Montgomery County, Maryland, has dropped by half in recent years, according to a department complaint last week. Officials suggest it's because of growing national skepticism toward policing. "When you do a job that's being highly criticized on a daily basis, we have to ask ourselves, how do we find good candidates that really want to be under that type of scrutiny," said Acting Police Chief Marcus Jones. Montgomery County won't have an easy time importing its officers from other communities, either. Recruitment of law enforcement officers is down in areas around...

In my previous column, posted on April 6, I lamented that the actions of some police officers, ordered to carry out some of the sillier or more onerous restrictions attendant to the pandemic, will further erode the already strained relationships their departments have within their communities. As one might have predicted, things have only gotten worse. Since that column was posted, we have seen police officers issuing $500 citations for the crime of attending a drive-in church service, and others arresting an Idaho woman who dared take her kids to a closed playground. Indeed, social media is awash with similar...

The Aylmer Police Department said that despite having reasonable grounds to lay charges, they will not issue fines.AYLMER, Ontario, May 1, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Police from an Ontario town now say they will not be pressing charges against Christian churchgoers for attending a drive-in Sunday service. This change comes despite police earlier stating that congregants would be held “accountable“ because their service allegedly violated provincial coronavirus social distancing laws. In a statement circulated yesterday, the Aylmer Police Department said that despite having reasonable grounds to lay charges, they will not issue fines to parishioners of the Aylmer Church of God...

As conservatives, we pride ourselves on our unwavering support of the Thin Blue Line, on backing our cops against leftist slander, and yet stupid and evil people in law enforcement are putting that default thumbs-up from normal Americans at risk. It’s bad enough when we watch the ridiculous spectacle of Deputy Karren and Deputy Man-Karen yelling at some mom for committing felony play-dating, but then we see how the FBI has flat-out framed political enemies and it’s too much. If the LEO community does not police its own ranks and stamp out this nonsense, it might as well take all...

A Michigan sheriff compared the governor's stay-at-home order to a mass arrest of the state's residents while speaking at a rally this week opposing the coronavirus restrictions. Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf told the gathering in Grand Rapids, Mich., that by definition the governor's measure was placing people of the state under arrest, according to MLive.com. “What’s the definition of an arrest? It’s basically taking away your free will, your right to move about,” Leaf said, adding that "an unlawful arrest is when you do it unlawfully." "So when you are ordered to your home, are you under arrest? Yeah,...

‘You’re all in violation of the executive order — on that note, have a good day, everybody be safe!’ says officer https://twitter.com/TheAtilisGym/status/1262403490929876993?s=20  

Police: ‘Formally, you are all in violation of the executive order” "On that note, have a good day, everybody be safe," police tell the operators of Atilis Gym and supporters outside the Bellmawr, N.J., business that reopened on Monday morning.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says her officers “are too busy repeatedly rearresting criminals released under the state’s zero-dollar bail policy. We haven’t the time, resources, or inclination to enforce the social-distancing orders issued by Gov. Newsom.” Newsom proclaimed himself “seriously peeved by the failure of Sheriff Mims and others to carry out my orders. These law-enforcement officers are not authorized to select which laws they will or won’t enforce. It isn’t their job to decide which offenses are more serious. That is the responsibility of higher officials. In 2018 the legislature passed and Gov. Brown signed the law that...

MILFORD, PIKE COUNTY (WOLF) — The Pike County Sheriff's Office announcing it will not be enforcing, if asked to do so, any order that violates the U.S. Constitution or the Pennsylvania Constitution. "I'm proud about what the sheriff's office is doing, I think it's a fine line, he's not going to enforce anything that's unconstitutional, which is all we ever want," said Eve Yasthal, Milford resident. Businesses that decide to reopen under the Red Phase will not have to worry about facing any citations from the Pike County Sheriff's Office. In a statement Sheriff Kerry Welsh said "Just to be...

Virginia's Democrat governor, Ralph Northam, is begging for help to execute his draconian lockdown order in the state, but a patriotic sheriff is refusing to enforce the measures.Culpepper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins has rejected Gov. Northam's request for help enforcing his mandatory lockdown on certain businesses in the northern part of the state.