PEW POLL

Americans view Walz more positively than Vance, but many aren’t familiar with either VP nominee

BYJOSEPH COPELAND

Vice presidential nominees Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Americans are relatively divided in their views of Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of 9,720 adults.

How we did this

And the public’s views of the vice presidential candidates are largely split along lines of support for the two people at the top of each ticket: former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Views of JD Vance’s qualifications

Overall, 30% of Americans say Vance is qualified to serve as president if it becomes necessary to do so, while a slightly larger share (34%) say he is not qualified. Another 36% are not sure.

Among registered voters specifically:

• 62% who back Trump say Vance is qualified; 7% say he is not.
• 66% who back Harris say Vance is not qualified; 7% say he is.

Views of Tim Walz’s qualifications

Americans’ evaluations of Walz are somewhat more positive than for Vance: 35% of Americans say Walz is qualified, while 27% say he is not and 37% are not sure.

Among registered voters specifically:

• 69% who support Harris say Walz is qualified; 4% say he is not.
• 59% who back Trump say Walz is not qualified; 8% say he is.

Overall favorability of Vance and Walz

The public’s broader opinions of Vance and Walz largely parallel views of the two candidates’ qualifications:

• 34% of Americans view Vance favorably, while 42% view him unfavorably and 23% say they have never heard of him.
• 39% of Americans see Walz favorably, while 33% view him unfavorably and 28% have never heard of him.

How demographic groups view Vance and Walz

Demographic differences in views of Vance and Walz largely track with the partisan leanings and vote preferences of various groups.

Age

Views of Walz are more positive than negative among adults under 50, while they are more divided among older Americans. The reverse is true for views of Vance, who is viewed much more positively among older adults than younger adults.

Younger Americans are also more likely than older Americans to say they have never heard of each candidate.

Race and ethnicity

Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans view Walz more positively than negatively, while White Americans’ views are split (39% favorable, 41% unfavorable).

When it comes to Vance, 43% of White adults have a positive view of the Ohio senator, while 41% view him negatively. Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans’ views of Vance are more negative than positive. This is especially the case among Black Americans: Half have an unfavorable opinion of Vance, while only one-in-ten see him favorably.

Gender

About four-in-ten women (38%) view Walz favorably, while a smaller share (27%) view him unfavorably. Women’s views of Vance are nearly the reverse: 29% have a favorable view of Vance while 40% have an unfavorable view.

Men are about equally likely to hold favorable views of Vance (40%) and Walz (39%).

How Trump and Harris supporters view the vice presidential candidates

Vance and Walz are generally viewed positively by registered voters who back their respective running mates – and negatively by those who back the other major party candidate for president.

• 79% of registered voters who support Harris have a favorable view of Walz and 69% say he’s qualified to step in as president if it becomes necessary. Just 3% have an unfavorable view of Walz and a similar share (4%) view him as not qualified to be president if need be.
• 75% of voters who support Trump have a favorable view of Vance, and 62% say he’s qualified to serve as president. About one-in-ten Trump supporters (11%) have a negative view of him, and 7% say he is not qualified.
• While majorities of both candidates’ supporters say the other candidate’s running mate is not qualified to serve as president, Harris supporters are somewhat more likely to say this about Vance (66%) than Trump supporters are to say this about Walz (59%).

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

Microsoft says Russia’s election interference efforts have pivoted to Harris and Walz

September 17, 2024
NPR/PBS
Shannon Bond



Military musicians perform in Moscow's Red Square on Sept. 1, 2024. Researchers at Microsoft say Russia is pivoting its online influence operations to focus on Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, in the final stretch of the election.Stringer/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

Russia is using fake videos and phony social media accounts to target Vice President Kamala Harris as the U.S. presidential election draws closer, according to a new report from Microsoft.

The Kremlin’s influence operations "initially struggled to pivot operations aimed at the Democratic campaign following President Biden’s departure from the US 2024 presidential race" in July, researchers at Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center wrote. But starting in August, influence campaigns the company has been tracking began to churn out content about Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
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Untangling Disinformation
U.S. accuses Russia of sophisticated influence campaigns against U.S. voters

"The shift to focusing on the Harris-Walz campaign reflects a strategic move by Russian actors aimed at exploiting any perceived vulnerabilities in the new candidates," Clint Watts, the general manager of the Threat Analysis Center, wrote in a blog post accompanying the report.

Untangling Disinformation
This is what Russian propaganda looks like in 2024

In recent weeks, the U.S. government has stepped up its efforts to call out and disrupt Russian influence operations targeting American voters that intelligence officials say are aimed at helping former President Donald Trump regain the White House.

Untangling Disinformation
How Russian operatives covertly hired U.S. influencers to create viral videos

The Microsoft report identified a number of recent Russia-linked campaigns that have shifted focus to Harris. That included a baseless claim accusing Harris of being involved in a hit-and-run in 2011 that was spread via a website claiming to be a local San Francisco TV station. The article was accompanied by a video in which a woman, whom Microsoft identified as an actor, claimed to be the victim of the crash. There is no evidence any such incident occurred, and the purported TV station does not exist.

Microsoft said the video and its laundering through a sham news site was consistent with the tactics of an influence operation it has tracked in previous reports. Researchers at the misinformation-tracking company NewsGuard have linked that operation to a former deputy sheriff from Florida who now lives in Moscow.
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Another inauthentic video Microsoft attributed to the same operation appeared to depict "an attack by alleged Harris supporters on what the video’s amplifiers claim is a Trump rally attendee." It racked up millions of views.

Microsoft attributed other videos pushing conspiracy theories and falsehoods about Harris’s policies to a separate Russian influence operation that previously aimed to spread fear around the Paris Olympics.

One video, purporting to show a fake billboard in Times Square with false claims about Harris, was posted on a Telegram channel that claimed the phone message was commissioned by Trump supporters "to troll the Democrats." It was viewed more than 100,000 times on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, within four hours of being posted on Telegram, Microsoft said.


Untangling Disinformation
Meta takes down more accounts tied to Iranian hackers targeting the U.S. election

A third influence campaign noted in the report "continues to operate covert social media channels that target US audiences." It amplifies materials obtained by Russian-linked hackers and posts fake investigations, alongside attacks on Harris and posts about the U.S. southern border.

Untangling Disinformation
China is pushing divisive political messages online using fake U.S. voters

The operations will likely ramp up their attacks on the Harris-Walz campaign in the run-up to Election Day, Microsoft said.

Iran and China are also seeking to sway U.S. voters, Microsoft said, echoing assessments by federal intelligence officials and researchers at other companies.

Denver's experiment in providing a soft landing for newly arrived migrants is expensive but necessary, says researcher

by Anita Alves Pena, The Conversation  SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The burden of supporting asylum-seekers with food and housing often falls to cities, creating severe budget crunches. But Denver is piloting a new approach designed to integrate immigrants into the workforce faster.

The Denver Asylum Seekers Program offers six months of rent-free housing along with legal assistance, food aid and workforce training. The program started on April 10, 2024, with spots for up to 1,000 participants.

Only asylum-seekers who were already living in Denver when the program launched are eligible—a provision designed to control costs and discourage hopeful participants from coming to Denver. This is an important detail in a city that—like others—has groaned under the financial strain of an influx of migrants since December 2022.

Upfront financial costs of the new program include expenditures on housing, food and training, which is predicted to cost around US$1,700 per migrant.

So is this expenditure worth it? One way to assess that is to look at an economist's tool set called a cost-benefit analysis. I teach this tool set as a professor of economics at Colorado State University. Such an analysis considers the broad benefits and costs of a program like Denver's compared with maintaining the status quo or "doing nothing."

A system under strain

Migrant flows in Denver reached a peak in early 2024, when 5,213 people arrived in just one day, leading the city to cut hours at recreation centers and the Division of Motor Vehicles to help free up funds to provide food and housing.

Many of the migrants arrived from the Mexico border, put on buses paid for by the Texas governor because of Denver's status as a sanctuary city. Denver has seen 42,817 migrants arrive since the end of 2022, more than any other U.S. city its size, but the numbers have fallen significantly in recent weeks.

The new Denver Asylum Seekers Program was designed to control costs by serving a limited number of asylum-seekers while assisting others with "securing onward travel," as the city describes it, after staying just 72 hours in temporary housing. Previously, the city had offered 14 days of shelter for adults and 42 days for families.

The program allowed Denver to trim $15 million per quarter from its previously projected budget, but the city will still spend $90 million on migrant services in 2024, including the costs of the Denver Asylum Seekers Program.

Costs of 'doing nothing'

Denver currently has more than 10,000 people experiencing homelessness, so one motivation for the new program is to keep these migrants off the streets.

Denver's homeless population grew 32% in 2023 to about 10,000 people, even when migrants are not included in the totals. More people on the streets leads to higher care costs in emergency rooms and for policing.

If the program means that some of the costs associated with "doing nothing" are avoided, then those avoided costs could go to other income support and preventive programs. This idea was illustrated in 2023 when Denver faced extra expenditures on migrant services and around $2 million was paid from Department of Human Services accounts, shortchanging other programs.

How Denver's program addresses issues

The Denver program is a direct response to work authorization processing times for newly arrived asylum-seekers, which—in recent months—have taken as long as a year. Under federal law, asylum-seekers must wait 150 days before even applying to legally work in this country.

The Denver program is designed to put that waiting period to good use via workforce training, which increases the odds that migrants will quickly secure employment as soon as they're allowed to work.

Workforce training will benefit not only the migrants themselves, but also their dependent family members and local economies. Recently published statistics show that, so getting migrant parents to work will minimize costs to programs that support children like public welfare services.

Other benefits of migrant services

Research suggests that supporting migrants will also promote local economic development.

An economics professor at Montana State University found that a 100-dollar increase in monthly assistance received by refugees through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was associated with 5% to 8% higher wages for these migrants once they started working. The research concluded that refugee assistance was cost-effective to bridge refugees into well-matched jobs. Those jobs, in turn, contribute to the long-run economy that benefits everyone.

Refugee integration has also been shown to be valuable for Colorado specifically. Professors from the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado Anschutz documented links between economic sufficiency and community integration of 467 Colorado refugees over three years. They measured integration based on understanding American culture, knowing legal rights, and other aspects of social and economic stability.

Investment returns of migrant employment

A common counterargument to investments in new migrants is the possibility of labor-market displacement of native-born workers. However, in a paper circulated by the U.S. Department of State, refugee admissions were shown to have not affected wages or employment for natives over a 30-year study period.

In 2018, the Colorado Department of Human Services generated $611 million in new economic activity in the state. The rate of return was $1.23 in new state and local tax revenue for each $1 invested in refugee services.

If this first-of-its-kind program achieves this same return on investment, it can be expanded or replicated in other cities to decrease migrant expenditure and promote local economic sustainability.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Who are the immigrants coming to the US on humanitarian grounds, and how can they be supported?

US and UN condemn slaying of environmentalist in Honduras

The U.S. State Department and other global leaders have denounced the slaying of another environmental leader in rural Honduras

ByMEGAN JANETSKY

 Associated Press
September 17, 2024


MEXICO CITY -- The U.S. State Department and other global leaders on Tuesday denounced the slaying of another environmental leader in rural Honduras, adding to mounting concern of ongoing violence against environmentalists in Latin America.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro confirmed the killing of Juan López on Saturday in the rural Caribbean region of Colón, where a number of environmentalists battling mining projects have been slain in recent years. Castro called his death a “vile murder” and promised to investigate the slaying.

“I express my solidarity with his family, comrades and friends. Justice for Juan López,” she posted on X.

López was gunned down in the municipality of Tocoa after spending years combating mining companies to preserve the region's rivers and forests, according to Human Rights Watch. Few other details were immediately released by authorities.

Three activists from his same organization, Network Against Anti-Union Violence (RedContraVA), were killed last year.

Before his death, López had been provided protection by Honduran authorities and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights because he had received multiple death threats.

On Tuesday, Brian A. Nichols, assistant U.S. secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, echoed Castro and other Honduran leaders in demanding justice for López.

“I strongly condemn the murder of Juan López, a courageous environmental defender and municipal councilor in Honduras, and call for a thorough and transparent investigation,” he wrote on X.

His comments were followed by similar condemnations by the United Nations, which on Tuesday called on “competent authorities to carry out an immediate, exhaustive and impartial investigation to identify and punish the people responsible, both material and intellectual, for this murder.”

Latin America is the deadliest region in the world to be an environmental defender, according to the nongovernmental organization Global Witness, which tracks killings of environmentalists. Last year, Colombia, Brazil, Honduras and Mexico were ranked the most deadly regions to defend the environment.


At least 140 environmentalists were killed across just the four nations, accounting for 71% of the overall slayings of environmental defenders across the world, according to the organization's report released last week. Honduras, significantly smaller than the other countries on the list, made up 18 of those killings.

The Central American nation has for years raised the alarm over the number of environmental activists killed there.

Honduras received global attention when environmental and Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres was slain in 2016. The killing continues to haunt Honduras as many details of her death remain unsolved.

Environmental leaders often act as watchdogs in rural regions, becoming an unwanted pair of eyes in places where organized crime thrives.

They also tend to challenge powerful companies and individuals seeking to profit from extractive industries like mining and logging, doing so in remote swaths of Latin America far from the reach of the law.

That opposition can prove fatal for individuals like López, who the U.N. said “dedicated his life to the protection of natural resources”.

Three-quarters of UK Jews disapprove of Netanyahu

Survey conducted among 4,500 adult British Jews shows 80% hold an unfavorable opinion of PM, with 65% saying they 'strongly disapprove' and 15% 'somewhat' disapprove of him

Jenni Frazer/Jewish News|

An astonishing four in five British Jews hold an unfavorable opinion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a new report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR).

Among the key findings in What do Jews in the UK think about Israel and its leaders, and how has this changed since October 7?, are that 74% of Jews in the UK describe Israel’s situation as “bad” (37%) or “very bad” (also 37%), increasing from 57% measured in Apr/May 2023. Additionally, the report finds, that British Jews think things are worse in Israel than Israelis themselves.

 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: GPO)

The survey, written by JPR’s senior research fellow, Dr. Carli Lessof, with JPR intern Roy Shinar Cohen, was conducted among 4,500 adult British Jews. Those surveyed were members of the JPR Research Panel and those who responded to the June and July 2024 JPR Current Affairs Survey.

Overall, the report reveals that levels of pessimism about Israel’s current situation have increased significantly among British Jews when compared to data gathered before the October 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.

The report provides an early look at one area explored in the survey; full results are scheduled for release at the beginning of October to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
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Ninety-five percent of adult British Jews have an opinion on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews — (80%) — hold an unfavorable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him.

Respondents were asked their opinion of six Israeli politicians: Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and former Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz. The report notes a lack of familiarity by British Jews with both Gallant and Gantz, despite their key positions in Israeli politics.


Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
(Photo: Amit Shabi)

However, the report indicates a high disapproval rating for Smotrich at minus 78%, followed by minus 77v for Ben-Gvir and minus 68% for Netanyahu.

Yair Lapid (+12%) and former Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz (+10%) are the only two leaders showing positive net ratings among those examined, and Lapid is the only leader examined showing an increase in net approval rate compared to data from before October 7.

Unsurprisingly, politically right-leaning Jews were much more likely to approve of Netanyahu than those who were left-leaning. The report says: “Jews who lean to the political right (based on voting intentions and voting in the recent UK election) are more than six times as likely than those who lean to the political left to have a favorable view of the situation in Israel, and men are three times as likely as women to have a positive view.


Yair Lapid
(Photo: AFP)

“People who identify as Zionist and Strictly Orthodox people are also more likely than other groups to do so. Conversely, certain groups are more likely to identify Israel’s situation as bad than others, including those who have a political leaning to the left, women, those belonging to Progressive synagogues, and older people”.

Additionally, “Jews in the UK who intended to vote in the 2024 election for either the Conservative Party or Reform UK, were over 22 times more likely to approve of Netanyahu than those who voted for all other political parties”. And for that matter, “members of the Strictly Orthodox community were over three times more likely than other denominations, or those with no religious affiliation, to approve of Netanyahu, and over twice as likely to approve of Smotrich, while also being over twice as likely to disapprove of Lapid”.

JPR’s executive director, Dr Jonathan Boyd, said: “The Jewish community in the UK holds strong ties and attachments to Israel, and the events of the past year have affected British Jews very deeply. In many respects, we can see that they feel closer to Israel now than they did before October 7.

“Still, as this report demonstrates, we are also seeing high levels of disapproval for Prime Minister Netanyahu and even higher levels for the hard-right members of his coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. As much as Israel matters to British Jews, many are expressing clear concern about its current political leadership.

“This dissonance is fundamental to understand from a policy perspective – it hints at the evolving nature of British Jewry’s relationship with Israel, which we will be reporting on and discussing in considerably greater detail over the coming weeks.”

More findings from the JPR Jewish Current Affairs Survey will be published in early October 2024. The report will look at the changing nature of British Jews’ political views about Israel, how secure British Jews feel living in post-October 7 Britain, and how the current war is affecting British Jews’ feelings of attachment to Israel and Jewish life in the UK.

The findings will also form the basis of a new series of the JPR/JW3 Jews Do Count podcast, which will be available on all leading podcast platforms in early October.

Story reprinted with permission from Jewish News.

 BC ELECTION

British Columbia Premier pledges involuntary care to tackle opioid addiction crisis

Christine Yang | U. Ottawa Faculty of Law, CA

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 

British Columbia (BC) Premier David Eby on Sunday announced those who are severely addicted and mentally ill will be admitted into involuntary care. This announcement came in the lead-up to the provincial election campaign. The premier stated that if reelected, the New Democratic Party would open highly secure facilities to provide involuntary care for people certified under the BC Mental Health Act as requiring that care.

The opioid epidemic has been a public health emergency in BC since 2016. As a response to the growing mental health and addiction crisis, the Province appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo as BC’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs, and concurrent disorders to find ways to support people with overlapping mental health and addiction challenges and brain injuries from toxic-drug poisonings. The government proposes involuntary care measures to support those unable to seek help or medical care independently due to their condition.

Section 22 of the BC Mental Health Act allows a person to be involuntarily detained for up to 48 hours if a doctor deems it necessary for their health and safety, as well as the safety of others. The directors of a psychiatric treatment facility have the power to involuntarily admit a person to that facility if the person meets the criteria for admission under the Act. The new proposal put forward by the premier on Sunday would expand the definition of s.22 to include people struggling with drug addiction.

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, everyone has the right to liberty (s.7), the right to protection against arbitrary detention (s.9), and the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual treatment or punishment (s.12). While involuntary detention can impinge upon these rights, the rights may be limited when broader societal interests justify it. The government acknowledged that the decision was made after attacks in the province alleged to have been committed by those who are mentally ill. To strike a balance between individual rights and public safety, the Mental Health Act also contains legal procedures that the facilities must follow to ensure the involuntary admission is fair and appropriate.

The provincial election in BC will be held on October 19, 2024.

 

Canada MP’s hold emergency debate on First Nations deaths in police encounters

Harjaap Ahluwalia | Osgoode Hall Law School, CA

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 

Members of Parliament convened in Canada’s House of Commons for an emergency debate on Monday evening to address six recent deaths of First Nations individuals in interactions with police forces across the country. NDP MP Lori Idlout requested the debate on the first day of the fall sitting of the House of Commons after the summer break, saying the issue requires immediate parliamentary attention after the incidents occurred in a very short time frame spanning five different provinces.

In her letter to House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus, MP Idlout had described the deaths to be a ‘disturbing pattern’ and had criticized the lack of media coverage as well as the government’s failure to pass legislation on First Nations policing. The six deaths that prompted this debate occurred within two weeks between August 29 and September 8.

MP’s discussed various aspects of the issue, including the need for accountability through independent investigations into each of the deaths, potential legislative measures to improve First Nations policing, as well as strategies to address systemic issues in policing that affect Indigenous communities. Some MPs also discussed the need to explore alternative approaches that prioritize relationship-building and trust between police and Indigenous communities in the meeting.

David Milward, an associate professor of law at the University of Victoria and a member of Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation, described the recent deaths as “more of the same” in terms of policing issues in Canada and emphasized the need for fundamental changes in policing approaches. National Chief for the Assembly of First Nations, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, said the deaths demonstrate systemic issues across the country and demanded accountability from police through independent investigations into each of the deaths. The RCMP said in a written statement that since the investigation is ongoing, they are restricted in their ability to comment.

The emergency debate comes against a backdrop of longstanding concerns about the disproportionate impact of policing on Indigenous communities in Canada, with statistics revealing that Indigenous people are significantly overrepresented in police-involved deaths and within the criminal justice system more broadly. This also comes in the wake of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which found the issue to be a significant human rights crisis in Canada. There has also been a broader movement towards reconciliation in Canada in recent years, which has been gaining momentum since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action in 2015, which urged the Canadian government to support aboriginal peoples. Further, the Canadian government announced in January a settlement to the class-action lawsuit for the residential school system. This also comes in the wake of significant investments by the government to establish the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and implement policies that support Indigenous self-determination and economic development.

Court appeal, clemency petition seek to halt execution of Missouri man who claims innocence

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court a judge’s ruling upholding the conviction and death sentence for Marcellus Williams, whose execution is one week away

Jim Salter
THE INDEPENDENT UK



The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office will appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court a judge's ruling upholding the conviction and death sentence for Marcellus Williams, whose execution is one week away.

A notice of appeal filed Monday night did not include any details about the basis for the appeal.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Williams have submitted a clemency petition to Gov. Mike Parson that emphasizes how relatives of the murder victim oppose the execution.

Williams, 55, is set to die by injection Sept. 24 for the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle inside her home in University City, Missouri. It would be the third execution in Missouri this year and the 14th nationwide.

Democratic St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell cited questions about DNA evidence on the murder weapon in requesting a hearing challenging Williams' guilt. Bell said the evidence indicated that someone else’s DNA was on the butcher knife used to kill Gayle, but not that of Williams.

But days before an Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that the DNA evidence was spoiled because members of the prosecutor's office touched the knife without gloves before the original trial in 2001.

With the DNA evidence unavailable, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys working on behalf of Williams reached a compromise with the prosecutor’s office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole.

Judge Bruce Hilton signed off on the agreement, as did Gayle’s family. But at Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s urging, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing.

Hilton ruled on Sept. 12 that the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence would stand.

“Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouri’s courts,” Hilton wrote. “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding."


The Midwest Innocence Project provided The Associated Press with a copy of the clemency petition that asks Parson to spare Williams' life. Parson, a Republican and a former county sheriff, has been in office for 11 executions, and he has never granted clemency.

The petition focuses heavily on how Gayle's relatives want the sentence commuted to life without parole.

“The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,” the petition states. “Marcellus’ execution is not necessary.”

A spokesman for Parson said in an email Tuesday that attorneys for the governor's office have met with Williams' legal team, and Parson will announce a decision later, typically at least a day before the scheduled execution.

At the August hearing, Assistant Attorney General Michael Spillane said that DNA evidence aside, other evidence pointed to his guilt.

“They refer to the evidence in this case as being weak. It was overwhelming,” Spillane said.

Hayley Bedard, a spokesperson for the Death Penalty Information Center, said there have been no verified instance of an innocent person being executed in the U.S. since capital punishment was reintroduced in 1972, but there have been nearly two dozen people executed “despite strong and credible claims of innocence.”

Prosecutors at Williams’ original trial said he broke into Gayle’s home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard water running in the shower, and found a large butcher knife. When Gayle came downstairs, she was stabbed 43 times. Her purse and her husband’s laptop were stolen.

Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. Williams’ girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. The girlfriend said she later saw the laptop in the car and that Williams sold it a day or two later.

Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors Williams confessed to the killing and offered details about it.

Williams’ attorneys responded that the girlfriend and Cole were both convicted of felonies and wanted a $10,000 reward.

Williams has been close to execution before. In August 2017, just hours before his scheduled death, then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay after reviewing the same DNA evidence that spurred Bell’s effort to vacate the conviction.

A change.org petition signed by 525,000 people calls for a halt to the execution.

After decades of election boycotts, many in Kashmir appear ready to vote to deny Modi power in region

KASHMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA



By —Aijaz Hussain, Associated Press

Sep 17, 2024 

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — For decades, boycotting elections in Indian-controlled Kashmir was a sign of protest against Indian rule.

That may change on Wednesday, when many residents of the Muslim-majority region say they’re willing to use their vote in a local election to deny Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party the power to form an administration in the disputed region.

The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the region’s special status and downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory. The move — which largely resonated in India and among Modi supporters — was mostly opposed in Kashmir as an assault on its identity and autonomy.

“Boycotts will not work in this election,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident in southern Kashmir’s Shangus village. “There is a desperate need to end the onslaught of changes coming from there (India).”

India wants to keep Kashmir under direct rule

The election will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a local assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhi’s direct rule. The region’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party.

But the government collapsed in 2018, after BJP withdrew from the coalition. Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.

This time, New Delhi says the polls are ushering in democracy after more than three decades of strife. However, many locals see the vote as an opportunity not only to elect their own representatives but also to register their protest against the 2019 changes.

Polling will be held in three phases. The second and third phases are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Oct. 1. Votes will be counted on Oct. 8, with results expected that day.

Kashmir is divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Since 1947, the neighbors have fought two wars over its control, after British rule of the subcontinent ended with the creation of the two countries. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

In 2019, the Indian-controlled part of the region was divided into two territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi. The region has been on edge since it lost its flag, criminal code, constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs.
Limited power for local assembly

Multiple pro-India Kashmiri parties, many of whose leaders were among thousands jailed in 2019, are contesting the election, promising to reverse those changes. Some lower-rung separatist leaders, who in the past dismissed polls as illegitimate exercises under military occupation, are also running for office as independent candidates.

India’s main opposition Congress party, which favors restoration of the region’s statehood, has formed an alliance with the National Conference, the region’s largest party. Modi’s BJP has a strong political base in Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu that largely favor the 2019 changes but is weak in the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion.

“Our main concern is governance through local representatives. It will be good for us if the BJP forms the government here as it’s already in power at the center,” said Chuni Lal, a shopkeeper in Jammu city.

The vote will see a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, with a chief minister at the top heading a council of ministers. But Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — a region directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator.

The elected government will have partial control over areas like education, culture and taxation but not over the police. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states in India. However, it will not have the special powers it enjoyed before the 2019 changes.

Last year, India’s Supreme Court endorsed the government’s 2019 changes but ordered New Delhi to conduct local polls by the end of September and restore Kashmir’s statehood. Modi’s government has promised to restore statehood after the polls but has not specified a timeline.

Concerns about rigged vote

Elections in Indian-held Kashmir are a sensitive issue. Many believe they have been rigged multiple times in favor of local politicians who subsequently became India’s regional enforcers, used to incrementally dilute laws that offered Kashmir a special status and legitimize New Delhi’s militaristic policies.

In the mid-1980s, the region’s dissident political groups emerged as a formidable force against Kashmir’s pro-India political elite but lost the 1987 election widely believed to have been rigged. A public backlash followed, with some young activists taking up arms and demanding a united Kashmir, either under Pakistani rule or independent of both.

India insists the insurgency is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a charge Islamabad denies. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, which most Kashmiri Muslims consider a legitimate freedom struggle.

Noor Ahmed Baba, a political scientist, said the outcome of the polls “is not going to change the dynamics of the Kashmir dispute” since it will end with a largely powerless legislature, but will be crucial for optics.

“If local parties win, it is going to put some pressure on the central government and perhaps delegitimize from a democratic perspective what has been done to Kashmir. But a BJP win can allow the party to consolidate and validate 2019 changes in the local legislature,” Baba said.

India’s ruling BJP is not officially aligned with any local party, but many politicians believe it is tacitly supporting some parties and independent candidates who privately agree with it.

The National Conference party says Modi’s BJP is trying to manipulate the election through independents. “Their (BJP’s) concerted effort is to divide the vote in Kashmir,” said Tanvir Sadiq, a candidate from the National Conference.

The BJP’s national secretary, meanwhile, says his party’s former ally, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the National Conference are being supported by former militants. Ram Madhav said at a recent rally that they want to return the region to its “trouble-filled days.”

For residents whose civil liberties have been curbed, the election is also a chance to choose representatives they hope will address their main issues.

Many say that while the election won’t solve the dispute over Kashmir, it will give them a rare window to express their frustration with Indian control.

“We need some relief and end of bureaucratic rule here,” said Rafiq Ahmed, a taxi driver in the region’s main city of Srinagar.

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