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For years, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in Louisiana issued fake subpoenas to witnesses and crime victims. Unlike subpoenas used in ongoing prosecutions, these were used during the investigation process to compel targets to talk to law enforcement. They weren't signed by judges or issued by court clerks but they did state in bold letters across the top that "A FINE AND IMPRISONMENT MAY BE OPPOSED FOR FAILURE TO OBEY THIS NOTICE."

Recipients of these bogus subpoenas sued the DA's office. In early 2019, a federal court refused to grant absolute immunity to the DA's office for its use of fake subpoenas to compel cooperation from witnesses. The court pointed out that issuing its own subpoenas containing threats of imprisonment bypassed an entire branch of the government to give the DA's office power it was never supposed to have.

Allegations that the Individual Defendants purported to subpoena witnesses without court approval, therefore, describe more than a mere procedural error or expansion of authority. Rather, they describe the usurpation of the power of another branch of government.

The court stated that extending immunity would be a judicial blessing of this practice, rather than a deterrent against continued abuse by the DA's office.

The DA's office appealed. The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court took the case, but it seemed very unimpressed by the office's assertions. Here's how it responded during oral arguments earlier this year:

“Threat of incarceration with no valid premise?” Judge Jennifer Elrod said at one point during arguments. She later drew laughter from some in the audience when she said, “This argument is fascinating.”

“These are pretty serious assertions of authority they did not have,” said Judge Leslie Southwick, who heard arguments with Elrod and Judge Catharina Haynes.

The Appeals Court has released its ruling [PDF] and it will allow the lawsuit to proceed. The DA's office has now been denied immunity twice. Absolute immunity shields almost every action taken by prosecutors during court proceedings. But these fake subpoenas were sent to witnesses whom prosecutors seemingly had no interest in ever having testify in court. This key difference means prosecutors will have to face the state law claims brought by the plaintiffs.

Based upon the pleadings before us at this time, it could be concluded that Defendants’ creation and use of the fake subpoenas was not “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process,” but rather fell into the category of “those investigatory functions that do not relate to an advocate’s preparation for the initiation of a prosecution or for judicial proceedings.” See Hoog-Watson v. Guadalupe Cty., 591 F.3d 431, 438 (5th Cir. 2009)

[...]

Defendants were not attempting to control witness testimony during a break in judicial proceedings. Instead, they allegedly used fake subpoenas in an attempt to pressure crime victims and witnesses to meet with them privately at the Office and share information outside of court. Defendants never used the fake subpoenas to compel victims or witnesses to testify at trial. Such allegations are of investigative behavior that was not “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.”

Falling further outside the judicial process was the DA's office itself, which apparently felt the judicial system didn't need to be included in its subpoena efforts.

In using the fake subpoenas, Individual Defendants also allegedly intentionally avoided the judicial process that Louisiana law requires for obtaining subpoenas.

The case returns to the lower court where the DA's office will continue to face the state law claims it hoped it would be immune from. The Appeals Court doesn't say the office won't ultimately find some way to re-erect its absolute immunity shield, but at this point, it sees nothing on the record that says prosecutors should be excused from being held responsible for bypassing the judicial system to threaten crime victims and witnesses with jail time.

BACKGROUND Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency decreases the ability of red blood cells (RBCs) to withstand oxidative stress. Refrigerated storage of RBCs induces oxidative stress. We hypothesized that G6PD-deficient donor RBCs would have inferior storage quality for transfusion as compared with G6PD-normal RBCs.METHODS Male volunteers were screened for G6PD deficiency; 27 control and 10 G6PD-deficient volunteers each donated 1 RBC unit. After 42 days of refrigerated storage, autologous 51-chromium 24-hour posttransfusion RBC recovery (PTR) studies were performed. Metabolomics analyses of these RBC units were also performed.RESULTS The mean 24-hour PTR for G6PD-deficient subjects was 78.5% ± 8.4% (mean ± SD), which was significantly lower than that for G6PD-normal RBCs (85.3% ± 3.2%; P = 0.0009). None of the G6PD-normal volunteers (0/27) and 3 G6PD-deficient volunteers (3/10) had PTR results below 75%, a key FDA acceptability criterion for stored donor RBCs. As expected, fresh G6PD-deficient RBCs demonstrated defects in the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway. During refrigerated storage, G6PD-deficient RBCs demonstrated increased glycolysis, impaired glutathione homeostasis, and increased purine oxidation, as compared with G6PD-normal RBCs. In addition, there were significant correlations between PTR and specific metabolites in these pathways.CONCLUSION Based on current FDA criteria, RBCs from G6PD-deficient donors would not meet the requirements for storage quality. Metabolomics assessment identified markers of PTR and G6PD deficiency (e.g., pyruvate/lactate ratios), along with potential compensatory pathways that could be leveraged to ameliorate the metabolic needs of G6PD-deficient RBCs.TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04081272.FUNDING The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant 71590, the National Blood Foundation, NIH grant UL1 TR000040, the Webb-Waring Early Career Award 2017 by the Boettcher Foundation, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grants R01HL14644 and R01HL148151.

NASCAR and The Weather Company, an IBM Busines, announced today a multi-year agreement that will optimize the weather-related decision process for NASCAR as it incorporates hyper-local weather data and forecasts into their races to improve race-day operations and fan engagement. As part of the agreement, The Weather Company, via The Weather Channel brand, becomes the Official Weather Partner of NASCAR.

IBM anunció hoy que un 40% de los principales bancos e instituciones financieras en el país cuentan con protección de fraudes en línea que se sustentan en la solución Trusteer de IBM, con la cual la seguridad de los clientes está respaldada al realizar transacciones electrónicas.

IBM es y ha sido un jugador clave en el progreso de México, liderando en el transcurso de 90 años a diferentes generaciones a través de la transformación de industrias y profesiones, e impactando el panorama económico, académico y social del país gracias a la estrecha colaboración con todos los actores de la sociedad.

Con la finalidad de apoyar el desarrollo de proyectos de alto impacto en la Ciudad de México, la Asociación Mexiana de Ayuda a Niños con Cáncer (AMANC), Fondo Unido México, Fundación Carlos Slim, el Patronato del Museo Nacional de Antropología e IBM, ponen en marcha el día de hoy el programa de consultoría Corporate Service Corps (CSC), en su edición Ciudad de México.

IBM, Peace Corps y cuatro instituciones locales dieron inicio el día de hoy al programa de consultoría Corporate Service Corps (CSC), en su edición Cd. de Querétaro; con la finalidad de apoyar el desarrollo de proyectos de alto impacto en esta localidad. IBM y Peace Corps (PC) trabajarán en conjunto con la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social del Estado de Querétaro, el Instituto Queretano de las Mujeres, el Municipio de Querétaro - Delegación Santa Rosa Jáuregui, y la Universidad Politécnica de Santa Rosa Jáuregui (UPSRJ).

Daily Photo – Exploring the Old Rockets at NASA If you’re a rocket enthusiast, then the museums at NASA are a must. I’m a little bit of a rocket nerd so I found it pretty exciting. That, plus being a photo nerd, was a perfect combo. Also, you get a leeway when it comes to […]

Minister De Croo (Open Vld): 'Hoop dat misbruik van coronasteun door zelfstandigen randfenomeen is'  De MorgenHele verhaal bekijken via Google Nieuws

By Leo Babauta My Zen teacher Susan recently told a group of her students at the end of a Zen meditation retreat, “We’re all monastics now.” In this global pandemic, we’re in an era of isolation, retreat. We’re also in an era of heightened uncertainty. This can be a terrible thing, and drive us to […]

With summer in full swing, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) are joining forces to remind people about the potential electrical hazards in swimming pools, hot tubs and spas, on board boats and in the waters surrounding boats, marinas and launch ramps.

Помните такую штуку - Google Stadia? Если нет, то вы делаете всё верно.
Так вот, для неё вышла такая штука, как Final Fantasy XV, и если вы её забыли, то вас тоже легко понять: запоминать-то там совершенно нечего.
Так вот, в стадия-версии пятнашки был эксклюзивный контент. Впервые за четыре месяца после релиза нашёлся несчастный человек, который решил его опробовать, и у него отвалилась жопа.

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NOTE: You may pre-download this game, but it will not be playable until the release date/time: 07/10/2019 (check the product page for release date/time in your region). Get three days early access when you purchase the Gold Edition. Product Info: Developer: Motorsport Games Publisher: 704 Games Company Website: NASCAR Heat 5 Twitter: @704Games / @MSportgames / @NASCARHeat

By Charlie Ruth Castro

Read this post in English

Vamos a hablar de menstruación, el proceso más natural y necesario para la buena salud reproductiva entre las mujeres, pero aquel que culturalmente nos han enseñado a aborrecer, ocultar o incluso a hacerle burla. Y por otro lado voy a hablar de un negocio sucio perpetrado por ciertos funcionarios del INPEC -la institución nacional a cargo de la política penitenciaria- en muchas de las cárceles de Colombia: el desvío de presupuestos para el suministro de toallas higiénicas ... More

The post Negocio Sucio: Falta de Equidad Menstrual en las Cárceles Colombianas appeared first on Our Bodies Ourselves.

NASA confirmed that actor Tom Cruise and private spaceflight company Space X are considering a feature film shot on board the International Space Station.

Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. You don't have to miss out just because you're stuck at home.

The UCLA women's basketball and gymnastics teams will perform in an empty Pauley Pavilion after moves made by the school and the NCAA to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

First-year UCLA gymnastics coach Chris Waller knew the Bruins would face challenges, but he's pleased with what the team accomplished.

Former UCLA gymnast Danusia Francis is looking forward to "another year to get stronger, another year to get more confidence" amid the Olympics postponement.

Allen Garfield was a well-known character actor of the 1970s who starred in films including 'Nashville,' 'Conversation, 'Bananas' and 'The Candidate.'

Los profesionales de la coloración del cabello y los estilistas de L.A. ofrecen consejos y trucos sobre cómo atender el cabello durante la cuarentena.

Rafael Cardenas had a simple project for 2020: Take a daily photograph of Los Angeles. What he captured is a city under coronavirus lockdown.

The LeBron James Family Foundation announced Wednesday that it will pay tribute to the class of 2020 with a star-studded, multimedia event May 16.

ALIEN hunters believe they have spotted a fleet of UFOs zooming past the Moon in images from the 1969 Apollo 9 mission.

NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis. Their analysis shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience warmer temperatures than several decades ago.

Global temperatures have warmed significantly since 1880, the beginning of what scientists call the “modern record.” At this time, the coverage provided by weather stations allowed for essentially global temperature data. As greenhouse gas emissions from energy production, industry and vehicles have increased, temperatures have climbed, most notably since the late 1970s. In this animation of temperature data from 1880-2011, reds indicate temperatures higher than the average during a baseline period of 1951-1980, while blues indicate lower temperatures than the baseline average.

Click on the image to see the video:

Read full article: Global Temperature Anomaly, 1880 - 2011

NASA'S Perseverance rover is taking shape at the Kennedy Space Center as its summer launch date creeps closer.

A MYSTERIOUS NASA experiment has finally been resolved following a decade of conspiracy theories and wild speculation, after the US Space Force revealed the top-secret mission of its unmanned X-37B spacecraft.

Kyle Larson's derogatory comments, which appeared meant for a private channel, went public Sunday night, and he's been suspended by his team and the series.

The president of Texas Motor Speedway is still hoping to run the Genesys 600 with fans in June. But if they're turned away, he'll need NASCAR's help.

Racing is scheduled for Greenland, Brazil, Nepal and Senegal, among other places.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church has long worked with communities in Haiti and Africa. The church responded to the president's recent comments.

Ao longo da pandemia e com rápida propagação do vírus, que já atingiu mais de 3 milhões de pessoas, tem surgido diversos outros sinais associados à enfermidade, como tremores e calafrios persistentes.

No mesmo dia, entretanto, uma publicação no periódico Lancet colocou dúvida sobre eficácia do remdesivir.

Segundo estudos, insetos liberam toxina tão potente que pode causar a morte de uma pessoa que tiver levado várias picadas.

Há meio século, Thomas Brock descobriu uma bactéria capaz de sobreviver a altas temperaturas; saiba como essa descoberta cruza com o combate à pandemia do novo coronavírus.

Emmis hopes to reduce expenses, focus on growth.

Landmark restaurant has been in business since 1927.

Racing is scheduled for Greenland, Brazil, Nepal and Senegal, among other places.

Nasa says major decreases in nitrogen dioxide levels are "at least partly" linked to the outbreak.

As F1 waits for the 2020 season to begin, drivers have been keeping themselves busy in lockdown with banana costumes, mummy planks and singing dogs.