Wiki Law School

The Special Redistricting Panel appointed By Chief Justice Lorie Gildea has set up a web site for the public to see filings related to the redistricting efforts following the 2010 Census.

The web site can be found here.

In a release earlier this week, the panel announced that it will hold public hearings “where city, county, and other local officials, representatives of local community groups, and all interested members of the public residing anywhere in the State of Minnesota, are invited to comment on how they prefer their communities to be viewed during redistricting.”

The panel was appointed by Gildea after the legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton were unable to agree on a redistricting plan. It will hear challenges and eventually draw the district lines. The panel’s work will be then reviewed by the state supreme court.

And then there were two

Former Philadelphia police officer Richard Willis has died, leaving two living suspects in the Klans killings of three civil rights workers in 1964.

Family members held a funeral service last week for Willis, 88, of Noxapater.

In 1967, 18 men were indicted on federal conspiracy charges in connection with the 1964 killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

FBI agents continue to investigate the case.

The FBI and others need to move quickly, or they will die, Goodmans brother, David, said Monday. They have the money. They have the authorization.

Willis was among law enforcement officers in Philadelphia who reportedly carried out violence. He took part in the beatings of at least seven black men in 1963 and 1964, according to FBI records.

Cleo McDonald, who ran from Willis and another officer after they threatened him with castration, said Monday of Willis, He raised enough hell in his younger days. He was a pistol. He really was. And theres a few more still around here.

The two living suspects are Olen Burrage, who owned the property where the bodies of the three civil rights workers were buried, and Pete Harris, an investigator for the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Neither could be reached for comment.

Burrage told the FBI he knew nothing about the three mens bodies being buried by a bulldozer on his property after midnight.

David Goodman said he knows about small communities because he has lived in them.

If you went out after hours, neighbors would ask where you went, he said. Nothing happens of that nature without someone knowing about it.

An informant told the FBI that Burrage had bragged beforehand about having a dam that would hold civil rights workers.

As for Harris, he made calls on June 21, 1964, to gather Klansmen to abduct the three civil rights workers, FBI records show.

Under Mississippi law, a person who assists killers can be prosecuted. Known as accessories before the fact, they can be punished for the same crime as principals, legal experts say.

When FBI agents arrested Harris, a Meridian-area truck driver, on Dec. 4, 1964, they asked him if he approved of cold-blooded murder. I dont know, as I have never tried it, documents show he replied.

Asked if he thought these killings were wrong, he responded, I dont know.

That day, agents also found a list of dozens of Klansmen in his pocket, records show.

In the 1967 federal trial, Klansman James Jordan, who has since died, testified Harris was with him when they visited Sam Bowers, imperial wizard of the White Knights. Jordan said Bowers remarked that Schwerner was a thorn in the side of everyone living, especially the white people, and that he should be taken care of.

The night of the killings, Harris made telephone calls, gathering more Klansmen for the job, Jordan testified. When the Klansmen gathered to leave, Jordan said Harris told them he had to stay behind because he was a leader in the Klan.

About a month after the killings, Jordan testified, he and Harris met with Bowers, who praised their work in eliminating the three civil rights workers.

Time is running out, too, on other cases being examined by the FBI.

Stanley Nelson, editor of the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La., said Monday that about a half dozen possible witnesses have died since agents reopened the Frank Morris murder case in 2007.

Since February, a grand jury in Ferriday has been investigating Morris murder. That panel continues to meet.

In 2005, a Neshoba County jury convicted Edgar Ray Killen of three counts of manslaughter for helping orchestrate the killings of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner. No one else has ever been tried for murder.

The Government must support the UK motor industry to help it become a significant driver of growth, a cross-party group of MPs and peers have said.

A successful automotive industry was essential to the UK, said the report from the All-Party Parliamentary Motor Group, led by Birmingham Northfield MP Richard Burden.

The report comes at a time when new car sales are struggling to reach levels achieved last year when the car scrappage scheme boosted new registrations.

The report said the Government should:

Ensure the UK is an attractive place to do business and invest by showcasing the automotive industry as a forward-looking, growing and progressive sector. Look at both the economic and environmental opportunities in supporting the sector’s development of low-carbon technologies. Outline how it plans to work with schools and colleges to make jobs in the sector more appealing and publish an action plan to demonstrate how it intends to work with automotive companies in delivering 75,000 additional apprenticeship places. Strengthen its partnership with the motor industry to help re-balance the economy and ensure the industry achieves its potential as a significant driver of growth.

Labour MP Richard Burden, chairman of the group, said: “Across the UK the automotive industry is an essential part of the glue that binds our economy together.

“The industry produces over one million cars every year and supports over 700,000 jobs.

“The last year has been a critical time for the motor industry. As the economy emerges from recession, the industry has been put at the heart of the debate on re-balancing the economy and sustainable low-carbon growth.

“The UK automotive industry faces many challenges in the coming years – but also has many growth opportunities.

“We must support it to ensure it achieves its potential as a significant driver of growth.”

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday waved off any interest in the nation’s No. 2 post as he sharpened his focus on a potential run for the presidency in 2012.

Senior Republican fundraisers gathered in Austin on Tuesday to advise Perry on fundraising strategy needed to fuel a winning campaign.

Perry, who would be considered a late starter if he runs, said he wants to be sure that enough resources are available so “you don’t run out there and embarrass yourself” or those supporting his candidacy.

Sounding more and more like a presidential contender, Perry, the state’s longest-serving governor, recalled remarks by the first Texan to serve as vice president when asked whether he would consider the No. 2 spot on the ballot.

“John Nance Garner had a pretty good handle on that,” Perry told reporters.

Garner, who served as vice president under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941, has been repeatedly quoted as describing the vice presidency as “not worth a bucket of warm spit.” Political lore has it that the rough-hewn Texan, nicknamed “Cactus Jack,” actually used an earthier expression to describe his contempt for the office.

Perry suggested that he would prefer to remain governor of the nation’s second-largest state than serve as vice president.

“You kind of go, vice president, governor of Texas,” he said, using his hands to demonstrate weighing the options.

Spousal advice

Perry also offered new details on the role that Texas first lady Anita Perry is playing in his presidential decision-making, describing her as one of the leaders among those urging him to consider the race.

He said the first lady told him that it “may be time to get out of your comfort zone” as Texas governor to tackle the nation’s problems.

Rick Perry and Anita Thigpen met at a piano recital during their elementary school years in West Texas, according to the governor’s online biography. They were married in 1982 and have two grown children.

The governor said Anita Perry, a former nurse and the daughter of a physician the governor described as “an old country doctor,” is particularly concerned about the nation’s healthcare problems.

Perry has been an outspoken critic of the federal healthcare law, calling it “Obama-care” and saying it would cost Texas nearly $27 billion over the next decade.

Major polling organizations have begun including Perry in their presidential handicaps, with findings that analysts believe may encourage Perry to enter the Republican field.

A just-released NBC/ Wall Street Journal poll has Perry drawing 11 percent of national primary voters. That puts him in third place behind Mitt Romney, leading with 30 percent support, and Michele Bachmann, with 16 percent support. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, placed fourth, with 9 percent support.

A new Gallup Poll concluded that Perry and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have “strongly positive images” among Republicans nationwide and would enter the GOP nomination race as “credible players” if they decide to run.

Perry, who would be making his first national bid, is recognized by 55 percent of Republicans while Giuliani, who sought the presidency in 2008, is recognized by 86 percent, the survey said.

After months of dismissing any interest in the race, Perry has been seriously evaluating a potential candidacy since the Legislature adjourned several weeks ago. Perry has also called political leaders in key states and said he has received an “overwhelming response” from those urging him to enter the race.

“Sixty days ago, this was not on my radar screen,” he said.

California-bound

Perry is scheduled to be in California today and part of Thursday to meet with businessmen to promote Texas’ business-friendly economy, spokesman Mark Miner said. He will then travel to Aspen, Colo., for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, which he leads.

Miner said the closed fundraising discussions included donors from Texas and other states and were part of the “decision-making process” that will determine whether Perry enters the race. The spokesman said he expects Perry to decide “in the next several weeks.”

Staff writer Aman Batheja contributed to this article.

Dave Montgomery is the Star-Telegram’s Austin bureau chief. 512-476-4294

AP

Perry

WASHINGTON, D.C. Indiana Congressman Marlin Stutzman described a White House meeting between President Obama and House Republicans Wednesday as “very cordial” but said it was relatively light on substance.

Republicans and the White House are at odds over raising the nation’s debtlimit. The U.S. has hit that limit and could default on its debt if the borrowing limit is not raised by August 2.

Republicans are refusing to approve the debtlimit increase without the White House agreeing to spending cuts topping a trillion dollars at the same time. The White House is insisting that in addition to spending restraint, the deficit trimming must include tax increases that Republicans say are off the table.

In an interview with ABC News after the meeting, Stutzman agreed with other Republicans and the White House in calling it “a good step.” He did, however, characterize it as a gettoknowyou session as opposed to negotiations.

Stutzman added that Republicans want to resolve the debtlimit debate before the August 2 deadline and that he believed House Republicans “moved the ball down the field” Tuesday in rejecting the Obama Administration’s request for an outright raising of the debtlimit. Click here to see Congressman Stutzman’s full interview with ABC .  

The Associated Press also reported that GOP leaders complained to the president during Wednesday’s meeting that he had not produced a detailed plan of spending cuts and accused him of playing politics over Medicare as the nation careens toward a debt crisis.

The White House said Obama had in fact led on the issue and made clear that he had no intention of dropping what Democrats believe is a winning political issue: accusing the GOP of trying to destroy the popular health care program for seniors. Republicans said their plan would save Medicare, not end it, and they in turn accused Obama of failing to present any proposals to preserve Medicare or drive down deficits at all.