Category Archives: Freedom

United States Seeks Mexicos Review of Alleged Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Violations at Panasonic Facility

Request is the third under the USMCAs Rapid Response Labor Mechanism.

WASHINGTON United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today announced that the United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Panasonic Automotive Systems de Mexico facility in Reynosa, State of Tamaulipas, are being denied the rights of free association and collective bargaining. The request marks the third time that the United States has requested Mexicos review of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights issues under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), all of which have been in the automotive sector.

This announcement demonstrates once again that, when concerns arise, we will work swiftly to stand up for workers on both sides of the border,said Ambassador Katherine Tai. Along with Secretary Marty Walsh and his team at the Department of Labor, we have worked closely with the Mexican government to address Rapid Response Labor Mechanism matters quickly, and I look forward to doing the same on this issue as well.

In connection with the U.S. request, Ambassador Tai has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to suspend the liquidation for all unliquidated entries of goods from the Panasonic facility.

Background

The United States Trade Representative and the Secretary of Labor co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On April 18, the ILC received a RRM petition from SNITIS, a Mexican union, and Rethink Trade, a U.S.-based advocacy organization. The petition alleged that workers at the Panasonic automotive parts facility in Reynosa are being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining. The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days.

The ILC determined, in response to the petition filed on April 18, that there is sufficient credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico that Mexico review whether workers at the Panasonic facility are being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining. Mexico has ten days to agree to conduct a review and, if it agrees, 45 days from today to complete the review.

Last year, the United States submitted two requests for review to Mexico. Those requests were the first two times any country used the novel RRM, and each resulted in substantial concrete benefits for workers. Information about those matters can be foundhere.

A copy of the request for review can be foundhere.

A copy of the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury can be foundhere.

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United States Seeks Mexico's Review of Alleged Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Violations at Panasonic Facility - US Embassy &...

press release

PRESS RELEASE. Binance is a curious company. the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, it also has no official headquarters and operates outside regulatory control. But that may not stop its step. Binance.US raised funding at a $4.5bn valuation this month, providing a new case for Binance enthusiasts. Today, they can share the exciting news that Freedom Protocol has set a new record on IDO volume.

Freedom Protocol is a new financial protocol that makes pledging easier and more efficient. It makes the largest amount of IDO with over $4M, and it is another big DeFi project issued on the Binance Smart Chain.

Freedom Protocol is wise to raise funds while it can. Revenue depends on trading volumes in its crypto, which are notoriously volatile. It is sensible to put aside capital when it can while building relations with external investors. It is worth mentioning that Freedom Protocol raises $4 from normal users instead of professional agencies.

Freedom Protocol fans like to claim their purpose is always challenging the traditional financial world. No matter how difficult his actions appear, they believe the Freedom Protocol boss has secret plans. Parsing its $4M IDO size to take DeFi platform come true requires a similar level of faith.

Freedom Protocol announced that they aim to make simplicity and directness of financial investment for all crypto enthusiasts. They were warmly welcomed on Binance Smart Chain(BSC) which is the public chain launched by Binance, it helps them achieve a record on IDO volume within a few days.

The first to welcome them are the opinion leaders. A few KOLs on Twitter post passionate tweets for this project, followed by publishing outdoor advertising in Australia and starting a lot of campaigns of various types.

Freedom Protocol is a typical case who is concentrating on private investment, stakes in private companies and individuals, all areas where institutional clients have been increasing allocations in recent years. Now Freedom Protocol launches its business around the world, including the ads for airport taxis in Germany, which indicate the determination of Freedom Protocol to intend to help more customers in other countries.

With nothing to prove, Freedom Protoco is also confident enough to voice the view that a model dominated by traditional finance is due an overhaul. And this time it is companies and management that need to adapt to DeFis needs, rather than vice versa.

Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao described DeFi as infrastructure for the new digital world, and encourage many investors and entrepreneurs to get involved in DeFi story.

But mainstream acceptance will be slow as they know. Regulators continue to worry that crypto is being used for money laundering and other crimes. US SEC chair Gary Gensler has called crypto markets a Wild West. The noise is off-putting for both prospective investors and employees. So Freedom Protocol this week tweeted that they were trying to apply for cryptoasset licenses from both Dubai and Japan, it moves away from portraying itself as a decentralized organization with no fixed headquarters.

The Dubai permissions will allow it to extend limited services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers. The firm will also locate a blockchain technology hub in the Dubai World Trade Centre. Oscar, Founder of Freedom Protocol said.

The success of Freedom Protocol is a tiny reflection of a startling larger truth: the huge audience crypto has so far left on the financial system and innovation of the internet. And as the size of financial work directly affects the daily life of every employed human on the planet, that matters.

The global crypto market is estimated to have a market worth more than $2tn. Binances own digital token is up more than 1,000 percent since the start of 2021. Freedom Protocol becomes a unique perspective on why Binance is so successful in recent years.

Perhaps Freedom Protocol has a plan to transform the financial model entirely. Maybe it will one day be a crypto payments company. Or an NFT trading platform. Or perhaps all the platforms users just want to own it.

Website: http://www.freedomprot.com

Contact: Oscar

Email: marketing@freedomprot.com

This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

Bitcoin.com is the premier source for everything crypto-related.Contact ads@bitcoin.com to talk about press releases, sponsored posts, podcasts and other options.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Freedom Protocol Has Become the Project With the Largest Amount of IDO in the Ecology of Binance Smart Chain Press release Bitcoin News - Bitcoin...

By Rep. Mary Jane Wallner

I was first elected to the state legislature 42 years ago. At that time, Roe V. Wade had been in place for almost a decade.

As a young woman at the start of my professional career, the security of knowing that I had the autonomy over my own body to plan a family in my own time was not something I took for granted. After all, my own mother and grandmother were not afforded the same rights to their own bodies.

Over the decades since, I became the Executive Director of a non-profit childcare agency, became a mother to two wonderful children, served as House Majority Leader and the Chair of the House Finance Committee, and most recently as Deputy House Democratic Leader.

Throughout the years, I knew that the government could not restrict my right to make my own reproductive health care decisions. Back then, I would have never imagined a world in which these protections did not exist for my own children and grandchildren. Now, it is likely the 50-year federal backstop will soon be gone, and the rights of Granite Staters will lay exclusively in the hands of our state legislature and Governor Sununu, who signed the first abortion ban in modern New Hampshire history.

Confronting the probability that reproductive freedom could be a thing of the past is a harrowing task for legislatures across the country, and especially for us in the Live Free or Die state. This year, even before the draft U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked, Granite Staters had become victims of the most restrictive abortion ban in New Hampshire history. As part of last years state budget, Republicans included language requiring invasive ultrasounds and outright banning abortion after 24 weeks even in cases of rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomalies.

Two weeks ago, Democrats in the House made several attempts to make private reproductive health care decisions free from government intrusion by trying to revive tabled legislation and a constitutional amendment that would codify access to abortion care. Not only were we blocked, but members of Republican leadership described our efforts as the outrage du jour and dessert once we are done with everything else, belittling both our critical efforts and Granite Staters reproductive freedom.

The reality is, the majority of people in New Hampshire support access to safe, legal abortion. Four years ago, 81% of Granite Staters voted to amend our constitution to affirm a natural right to privacy. It is very disappointing to see Republicans, the supposed party of small government and personal freedom, deny discussion to safeguard reproductive freedom for all Granite Staters.

If this months right-wing shenanigans in New Hampshire are any indication, what is undoubtedly coming from Republicans in future legislative sessions will be even more severe.

As I look back on my decades in the legislature, I reflect on what a privilege it was to know that the government did not have control over Granite Staters reproductive decisions and the freedom such a privilege gave my peers to serve their communities, further their careers, and form their own families.

We cannot go back; our work now must be to pay it forward for the next generation of Granite Staters. House Democrats are committed to supporting the reproductive freedom of our constituents, so that they may have the self-determination to be community leaders, business owners, legislators, and parents if and when they so choose.

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Op-Ed: Confronting probability that reproductive freedom could be a thing of the past - InDepthNH.org

(JTA) As Orthodox rabbis, we are devastated by the news that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. If this happens, states will be free to pass laws to prohibit or strictly limit abortion, and approximately 25 of them are prepared to do so or already have. Such legislation would impact the lives of tens of millions of women.

It would also be an unconscionable infringement on the religious freedom of Orthodox Jews.

A strategy of the anti-choice camp is to claim that women make the decisions to terminate a pregnancy for trivial reasons. That is the opposite of our experience. A few years ago, one of us was approached by a pregnant woman whose husband had a history of erratic and violent behavior. She herself had just learned that the fetus she was carrying had a severe congenital birth defect and she did not believe that she had the capacity to care for such a child. Carrying out the pregnancy would wreak havoc on her delicate and compromised family situation. She was deeply conflicted about which decision was the right one. Had Jewish law offered her no choice as she had initially believed it would have robbed her of any moral or religious agency. No wonder, then, that she felt trapped and helpless.

This changed when she was presented with the fact that, according to some Jewish decisors, abortion was an option in her case, for reasons well explain. She was able to own her agency, to grapple with the competing ethical and religious mandates, to consult with a halachic (Jewish legal) authority and to give weight to her own and familys well-being.

The final choice she made isnt what is relevant here. It is that she was empowered to make it.

We believe that halacha is binding and that protecting human life is one of its highest values. Our commitment to halacha is not contradicted by our pro-choice beliefs but expressed by them. We have seen how many false assumptions exist when it comes to Orthodoxys approach to questions of when life begins or what a womans autonomy entails. So we are writing together as two leaders of Orthodox seminaries to clarify misconceptions and to challenge those who claim that there is one authentic Jewish way at this personal decision.

The Orthodox position on abortion is not the same as that of the Catholic Church. In fact, there is no one Orthodox position on abortion. Jewish law is rarely, if ever, univocal on issues. Its beauty and power lie in its decentralization and in the multiplicity of opinions articulated by those who interpret it.

When it comes to abortion, the opinions run the gamut, from those who see the fetus as merely a part of the mothers body to those who rule that abortion is tantamount to murder. The status of the fetus might also be quite different depending on the stage of development, whether first, second or third trimester, with an increasingly shrinking range of justifying circumstances as the fetus becomes more fully developed.

It would be wrong to characterize any of these positions as either pro-life or pro-choice. Jewish law is not so simple.

As distinct from much of the contemporary either/or discourse around abortion, Jewish law embraces a both/and approach. There is both a mandate to protect life, even a future life, and, at the same time, a religious obligation to protect the health and psychic well-being of every human being. Because a fetus is not seen as a full life, these two mandates exist in an ongoing tension.

Halacha embraces the complexity and messiness of our lives and rejects simplistic, prepackaged answers. Orthodox women grappling with the question of whether to have an abortion will be guided by their consciences and their faith and consult with a religious advisor to guide them regarding Torah values and ethical and religious-legal obligations.

To deny women the right to choose is to assume that they cannot be responsible to give this consequential decision the full weight that it deserves. It is to infantilize women, to exhibit a lack of trust in them to be responsible moral agents. And in the case of women committed to Jewish law, it is to rob them of the ability to be true not only to the dictates of their conscience, but to their faith as well.

If the Supreme Court removes the protections of Roe v. Wade and states adopt legislation that limits or eliminates a womans right to choose, we and our co-religionists will be effectively barred from acting in accordance with our religious beliefs and from being guided by our moral compass. Taking away choices about ones pregnancy undermines central values of Jewish law: engaging a range of options, bringing to bear competing Torah values, and owning the complexity of ones reality.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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Overturning Roe would be an unconscionable infringement on the religious freedom of Orthodox Jews - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Star Parker: Black conservatives gather for 'New Birth of Freedom' - Rocky Mount Telegram

Tamara Lich admitted in court Thursday thatacceptinganaward for organizing the Freedom Convoy "is related" to the convoy, but testified she doesn't believeshe violated a bail condition not to support anything related to the protest that occupied somedowntown Ottawa streets for weeks.

She made the comments on the first day ofher second bail review in Ottawa's Superior Court, a proceeding pepperedwith tense, dramaticexchanges between Crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjeeand Justice Kevin Phillips.

Lich, who ischarged jointly with fellow convoy organizer Chris Barber, is accused ofmischief, counselling mischief, obstructing police, counselling to obstruct police, counselling intimidation, and intimidation by blocking and obstructing one or more highways in relation to the protest.

She has been out on bail since March 7, bound by anotherSuperior Court justice's order not to "verbally,in writing, financially, or by any other means, support anything related to the Freedom Convoy," and to stay out of Ontario, among other conditions.

During examinationby defence lawyer Lawrence Greensponon Thursday, Lich testifiedvia a Zoom video link from Alberta that she wants her bail conditions changed to allow her tovisit Ottawa. The reasons are subject to a court-ordered publication banand cannot be disclosed.

She also testified she would "love to attend" an event in Toronto in June to accept a freedom award, "however Iwon't be breaching my bail conditions in order to do so."

On March 28, a charity called theJustice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms emailed Lich to notify her she'd been selected forits 2022 George Jonas Freedom Award, she told court.

The email, which she read aloud, said the honour was being given "in recognition of your leadership role in the Freedom Convoy."

The award announcement on the centre's website states Lich "took the initiative to help organize a peaceful protest and serve as one of its leaders. The resulting peaceful protest in Ottawa awakened many Canadians to the injustice of Charter-violating lockdowns and mandatory vaccination policies."

It also states she "suffered for the cause of freedom by spending 18 days unjustly jailed, and exemplifies courage, determination and perseverance."

The day after receiving the email, Lichemailed back to say she was"honoured" to accept. She didn't inquire about whether it would be OK, she testified under cross examination by Karimjee.

Asked whetherby accepting the award she was supporting something related to the convoy, Lich said, "I guess, yeah. I guess so.

"Idon't feel that this is a breach. Idon't feel that that's what the recognition is for. ... Ifeel that the recognition is for inspiring Canadians to hold the government to account to the rule of law and to upholdtheir Charter rights," shecontinued.

"I guess it is related, because of what happened," she added.

Just before a 15-minute late afternoon break, Phillips told court Karimjee's decorum surprised him, and asked Karimjee to "contemplate that."

When court reconvenedKarimjee said he was just "doing my job" and began to list some of his problems with the justice's remarks and rulings, including that Phillips had earlier refused to allow the email notifying Lich about her awardto be submitted to court.

Phillips interrupted. "I'm not interested in an argument," the justice told the Crown."Proceed with your cross examination."

"No, I'm not arguing with you" Karimjee began.

"I don't want to engage in this," Phillipsinterrupted again."Proceed with your cross examination. I don't want to hear from you. I want you to cross examine the witness. Proceed, please."

"Your honour, I frankly need to consider whether I need to bring a mistrial application given your honour's comments," Karimjee replied.

"I'm asking you to cross examine the witness, Mr. Karimjee," Phillips said.

"No your honour, it's more than that," Karimjee replied."... This is a significant case. ... When confronted with things that Ibelieve to be improper, I'm not going to remain silent."

"Have you got a question for the witness?" Phillips asked after a long pause.

"Iam asking your honour to recuse yourself," Karimjeereplied.

"That request is denied. Go ahead with your cross examination," Phillips said, andKarimjeepromptlycontinued questioning Lich.

Proceedings had gotten off to a rocky start hours earlier.

The Crown had beenexpected to argue that Lich shouldbe put back in jail for allegedly continuing to support the Freedom Convoy, andLich's defence team was expected to fight abail condition that she stay offsocial media entirely.

But instead the Crown asked the judge to rule on whethera Superior Court justice has the authority to respond to alleged errorsof law by otherSuperior Court justices.

Karimjee argued that Phillips coulddeal onlywith arguments about material changes in circumstances. Ruling on a fellow justice's errors of law could result in counsel seeking bail review after bail review until a justice gave them a favourable ruling, Karimjee told court.

After a 20-minute recess Phillips rejected the Crown's argument, opening up submissions to alleged errors of law as well as material changes in circumstance. By then it was "regrettably" 12:30 p.m.and hearing evidence had still not yet begun, Phillips told court.

The Crown's first and only witness was Ottawa police Sgt. Mahad Hassan, the file co-ordinatorin the case. (Det. Chris Benson is the lead investigator, but was busytestifying in a homicide case, court heard.)

Hassan testified hebelieved the more expensive VIP tickets to the Toronto freedom award event would give those ticketholders"a chance to meet the VIPs that are featured on the pamphlets" in this case Lich and columnist Rex Murphy.

During cross examination by Greenspon, Hassan admitted there was no mentionthatLich would be in attendance.

While Karimjee was leading Hassan's evidence in chief, Phillips bristled at the idea that he might be asked to decide whether Lich violated her bail condition, instead of police.

"That's a task I'm unfamiliar with. I'm not usually a police officer of release conditions. ... Are you trying to put me in a position to find a breach here, to declare that she's broken the law?" Phillips asked.

Karimjee responded that he's entitled to lead evidence provingLich violated the terms of her release, citingthe Criminal Code.

Lich was arrested Feb. 17 and originally charged with counselling to commit mischief, shortly beforebefore a major police operationcleared protesters and vehicles from Ottawastreets.

She was initially denied bail by Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois, who told court she found Lich to be guarded and "almost obstructive" at times, and whowasn't convinced Lich would go home, stay homeand stop her alleged counselling.

Lich and her then lawyer Diane Magas appealed Bourgeois' decision, leading to her first bail review in the higher court inearly March.

Superior Court Justice John Johnston ruled in Lich's favour after the one-day proceeding, saying she had beena "valued employee" in Alberta and had lived a "crime free" life, and that the risk in Ottawa had been minimized after police cleared streets.

Lich was released after spending about 18days in custody at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. Otherbail conditionsincluded that sheleaveOttawa within 24 hours, refrainfrom using social media, and have no contact with certain co-organizers.

A surety for Lich who cannot be identified due to a court-ordered publication banput up a $20,000 cash bond, whileLich herself put upan additional $5,000 cash bond.

Lich's bail review continues Friday morning.

More here:

Tamara Lich admits accepting award is related to Freedom Convoy in fiery day in court - CBC.ca

A brewery in Finland has released a NATO-themed beer in celebration of the Scandinavian country's move to join the alliance, the Associated Press reported.

The beer, brewed by Olaf Brewing Company, is called the OTAN lager. The name plays off of a Finnish expression for "I'll have a beer" and the French abbreviation for NATO ("OTAN"), the AP said.

CEO Petteri Vanttinen told the AP that the beer has "a taste of security, with a hint of freedom," and that he was inspired to brew it by "worries over the war in Ukraine."

The beer's can depicts a medieval night holding a beer and wearing armor that features the NATO symbol.

Finland and its next-door neighbor Sweden formally applied for NATO membership on Wednesday, marking a historic break from decades of neutrality. The leaders of both Nordic countries have said that Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine prompted their rapid, dramatic shift toward joining the 73-year-old alliance.

President Joe Biden endorsed Finland and Sweden's NATO bids at the White House on Thursday as he hosted Finnish President Sauli Niinist and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

"In the face of aggression, NATO has not grown weaker or more divided. It has grown stronger, more united," Biden said from the Rose Garden alongside the two leaders, adding, "With Finland and Sweden's decision to request membership in NATO, it'll be enhanced for all time."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has railed against NATO expansion for years, and in the lead-up to the war, he demanded that the West agree to ban Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. But NATO remained adamant that its open-door policy was non-negotiable. Instead of weakening NATO and preventing further expansion, Putin's war in Ukraine is poised to see the alliance bolster its ranks. The impending additions of Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, and neighboring Sweden to NATO is one of the many ways in which the conflict has backfired on the Kremlin.

NATO enlargement requires unanimous agreement from all current members. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed opposition to Finland and Sweden joining, but he has also hinted that he wants concessions on certain issues in order to offer his support.

Finland's president addressed Turkey's concerns in remarks at the White House on Thursday. "Finland has always had proud and good bilateral relations to Turkey," Niinist said. "As NATO allies, we will commit to Turkey's security, just as Turkey will commit to our security."

"We are open to discussing all the concerns Turkey may have concerning our membership in an open and constructive manner," the Finnish leader went on to say.

National security advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday told reporters that the White House is "confident that at the end of the day, Finland and Sweden will have an effective and efficient accession process." Sullivan said that Turkey's "concerns can be addressed."

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday also expressed confidence Finland and Sweden would be welcomed into the alliance, despite Turkey's objections. "We are in close contact with Finland, Sweden and Turkey. We are addressing the concerns that Turkey has expressed," Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to Copenhagen, per Reuters.

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NATO beer with 'taste of security' and 'hint of freedom' released in Finland to mark move to join alliance - Business Insider India

Brandon Woodruff had appeared to live the normal life of a 19-year-old, small-town Texas kid - but that changed in 2005, when both of his parents were brutally murdered. After an investigation, Woodruff was charged with capital murder, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Now, Woodruff has served 13 years of his life sentence and said hes finally ready to share his story in the first interview after his conviction.

Brandon Woodruff spoke from prison.

Im innocent. I did not kill my parents at all, Woodruff told 20/20 in an interview. I think that you should look at the totality of the evidence.

Woodruff grew up in a community outside of Dallas with his mother Norma Woodruff, father Dennis Woodruff and older sister Charla Woodruff.

Watch the full story on "20/20" FRIDAY at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Growing up, former high school classmates said they remember Woodruff as a popular, outgoing, animal lover who was the president of the Future Farmers of America. The teen was voted most school spirit and had a steady girlfriend.

But during the investigation of his parents' murders, authorities discovered that while Woodruff attended Abilene Christian University, he would go dancing at gay clubs, was dating men and had even traveled out of state to participate in adult movies.

On Sunday October 16, 2005, Woodruff visited his parents at their new home in Royse City, Texas. The couple was downsizing to help pay college tuition for their two children. He told police he left after the family enjoyed a pizza dinner together. Woodruff was the last known person to see both of them alive.

Two days later, Dennis and Norma Woodruff were found murdered in their new home. According to authorities, Dennis Woodruff was found shot once and stabbed nine times. Norma Woodruff sustained multiple gunshot wounds and had her neck slashed, investigators said.

Bonnie Woodruff spoke to "20/20."

Police concluded that Norma and Dennis Woodruff must have likely been killed sometime between 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday night. However, the medical examiner was not able to confirm the time of death. Norma Woodruff's last phone conversation was with her mother around 9 p.m. and the next person to try and contact the couple was Charla Woodruff, who was at college in Arkansas, just after 11 p.m. Charla Woodruff was unable to reach them. When Woodruff was questioned by police about his whereabouts that night, there were inconsistencies in his timeline.

Michelle Lee, the mother of Woodruff's girlfriend, also contacted law enforcement to report that a gun and bullets were missing from her home. Woodruff had been in her home the weekend before his parents were found dead. Investigators compared a bullet found at the crime scene with a bullet from the Lee home and said they believed they were consistent. The Lee's gun was never found, but investigators believe it was the same caliber as the weapon used in the crime. A murder weapon was never recovered and Woodruff denies stealing the gun.

Woodruff was arrested and charged with capital murder.

In June 2008, a family member found a dagger in the barn of the Woodruffs old house in Heath, Texas. Dennis Woodruffs blood was on this weapon. Brandon Woodruffs former college roommate testified that dagger was the same one Woodruff had in his dorm room. Authorities could not conclude if the dagger found was the murder weapon and Woodruff denies that the weapon is his.

Woodruffs grandmother Bonnie Woodruff has supported Woodruff from the beginning and still maintains her grandson is innocent.

I know Brandon was wrongfully judged. And murder? Now I know Brandon didn't do that. Someone else is letting him take the blame for it, said Bonnie Woodruff.

Over the past decade, advocates for Woodruff say there are red flags surrounding the investigation and his subsequent trial. Woodruff claims his sexuality played a role in his arrest and conviction.

I do believe that thats a major factor. I felt like the investigators were able to use that. They would say, well, Did you know that he was dancing in gay bars? Did you know he had a boyfriend, did you know?' said Woodruff.

During the investigation, police told friends and family of Woodruff that they "don't care" if he is gay.

Allison Clayton is the Deputy Director of the Innocence Project based in Texas.

During jury selection, eight out of twelve jurors told the court that they believed homosexuality was morally wrong, but they were still allowed to serve on the jury after promising the court they could be fair toward Woodruff.

Guess what? In 2005 people still felt that homosexuality was immoral because eight of the 12 jurors on Brandon's case specifically said it was immoral, said Philip Crawford, the author of a book called "Railroaded" about Woodruff's case.

ABC News spoke with several jurors who said Woodruffs sexuality wasnt a factor in the jury's decision.

While in prison, supporters have started a movement to free Brandon and now the Innocence Project of Texas has taken his case.

Allison Clayton, the deputy director with the Innocence Project of Texas claims that the prosecutions case against Woodruff relied heavily on a timeline because they say Woodruff's whereabouts were not accounted for at the time that authorities estimate the couple was killed. Clayton points to cell phone records that would further compress the window of opportunity to commit the murders.

Brandon Woodruff spoke to "20/20."

Brandon kills his parents in, what? the most, 19 minutes? He has to act fast or he is taking calls during the course of committing these murders, said Clayton. That's the only way the timeline makes sense, that he does something to one of his parents, and then takes a call and chats with [a friend] like nothing's wrong.

In addition to the timeline, Clayton said one of the other biggest potential breakthroughs for this case would be taking DNA evidence from hair found in Norma Woodruffs hand.

In Norma's hand, police found a clump of longer blonde hairs. Now, that would normally be an indicator that she had somehow grabbed her attacker and that she pulled his or her hair, said Clayton. Law enforcement never tested that hair. And one of the things that we've been fighting for in the case is trying to figure out who has that hair because we want it tested.

In 2000, Woodruffs direct appeal to the state was denied. In order for Woodruff to be released, he needs to prove to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that he is innocent.

As it stands right now, if we don't have a break in the case, then there's nothing we can do for Brandon, said Clayton. He is going to be in prison for the rest of his life, but maybe there will be evidence that can help him, maybe someone is out there, who knows something, who's willing to step forward.

Bonnie Woodruff said that she still hopes that one day she can hug her grandson again and tell him hes home now.

We are all still a family unit and we all love one another. People can live with what they think, I can live with what I think because I know the truth and the truth's gonna come out, said Bonnie Woodruff.

Woodruff said he wont stop fighting to prove his innocence.

I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna keep fighting and I'm gonna keep fighting to prove my innocence, he said. I do believe in my heart that it will happen."

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Brandon Woodruff, convicted of killing parents in 2009, fighting for his freedom - ABC News

Where are the freedom fighters when you need them?

I find it interesting that those who protested a simple thing like wearing a mask, which literally saved lives, dont see the hypocrisy in demanding that a woman follow through on an unwanted pregnancy against her will. We are just trying to save the lives of unborn children, they say. Well, people asking you to wear a mask during a pandemic, a far less significant act then caring for an unwanted child for 18 years, were just trying to save the lives of unvaccinated children.

Do I need to further explain the difference between temporarily wearing a mask and a nine-month pregnancy followed by at least 18 years of child care?

Could it be that our demand for freedom is limited to our own selfish desires while we turn our heads to more significant threats against others?

I just read an article about the erosion of beach property in North Carolina. One man, Ralph Patricelli, who just watched his house float away beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, stated: I think I have been naive that its not going to affect me on the level that it just did. Having experienced this, I have a whole new level, in my head, of how severe climate change is.

Blessed are those who dont have to experience things personally to understand.

Several Republican states are trying to outdo each other in how harshly they will punish women who have an abortion or even try to have one. No limits apply, it seems. Even limiting the freedom of women to travel to other states where abortion is legal seems to be fair play for Republican lawmakers. Meanwhile, they are not interested in regulating any part of the mans role in the pregnancy or the decision to abort.

Republicans in multiple states are trampling on the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit. Protecting parental rights was a big campaign issue for Republicans until they ran into the parents of transgender children. It seems that for Republican lawmakers, parental rights end when parents have different beliefs than conservative Republicans. In other words, they dont really believe in parental rights unless the parents think like them.

In several states, Republicans have passed laws to investigate parents of transgender children for child abuse. Any family in Texas, for example, who has a transgender child is now subject to investigation by the state. Also, any doctor who works with parents of transgender children is also subjected to child abuse charges. Instead of working with children under their care, doctors and teachers are now required by the state to report the parents of children who are transgender for suspected child abuse.

Multiple states, all run by Republicans, are joining the attack on parents and their transgender children. Sounds like big government overreach to me. So, where are all the freedom fighters?

Freedom is also under attack by our closest ally. . In Jerusalem, Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known Palestinian American journalist and television reporter for Al-Jazeera, was shot in the head and killed while she was doing her job and covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank last week. Another journalist traveling with her was shot in the back. Abu Akleh was wearing a Press label on her helmet and vest at the time. She was a thorn in the side of the Israeli government, which didnt appreciate her coverage of Israeli soldiers behavior in the West Bank.

I wonder why?

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It seems that the Israeli government couldnt even let Abu Akleh have a peaceful funeral. Last Friday as her coffin was being carried from the hospital to the local Catholic church for her funeral, Israeli police physically attacked the pallbearers and other mourners carrying the coffin, causing them to drop her coffin.

The Israel government provided three reasons for the attack. First, they wanted her coffin to travel to the nearby church in a hearse, not by foot. Second, some of the people marching with her coffin to the church were carrying Palestinian flags. Third, some of the people marching were chanting, according to the Israeli government, Palestinian nationalist slogans.

The fact that the Israeli government believes it has the right to control any of these three things says a lot about its disrespect for the Palestinian people. Dont they enjoy freedom of speech and the right to protest peacefully? Why are mourners marching to a Catholic church for a funeral a threat to Israeli security?

Does the silence from the American right about these violations of basic human rights have anything to do with the fact that the victims in this case are Palestinians?

The Biden administration called the actions of the Israeli police deeply disturbing and said: We regret the intrusion into what should have been a peaceful procession. Yet, the U.S. continues to send the Israelis billions of dollars in foreign aid each year. If the Israeli government no longer stands for basic human rights and simple democratic values, should we be funding their move toward autocratic rule? Perhaps that money would be better spent in Ukraine where freedom is still being defended.

Where are those freedom fighters? Perhaps they are still driving their trucks around the Washington Beltway.

Tom Zirpoli is program coordinator for the Human Services Management graduate program at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. His column appears Wednesdays. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.

Original post:

Tom Zirpoli: The GOP's for freedom the right kind of freedom | COMMENTARY - Baltimore Sun

In 2008, after serving eight years in a Colorado prison for methamphetamine possession and forgery, Debb Fache was given a $100 debit card and bus ticket back to Grand Junction, where her case originated.

Parolees are released to where they were first arrested unless they have friends or family elsewhere to take them in. Fache relapsed while on parole and was sentenced to an additional nine years in prison this time for possession with intent to distribute.

The only people I knew here were from my past, Fache, 62, said. Its natural to reach out to the people you know.

Ex-convicts face multiple challenges trying to transition from prison back into communities.

They face barriers to finding jobs, housing, ID cards, emotional support, and, in many cases, mental health care or substance abuse treatment. Some people also have financial obligations like legal fees and child support.

Fache said she found it challenging to make multiple mandated meetings each week including self-help classes, submitting urinary analysis samples, visits to the parole office while also applying for jobs and trying to survive. She said the stress of trying to find transportation to all of her appointments led to her using drugs, again. Shes not excusing her behavior, shes quick to add, only explaining what led to her relapse.

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A lack of transportation is a huge issue for former inmates reentering society, said Kimberly Lindsey, who works for Freedom Institute, an organization in Grand Junction that offers case management, advocacy, and help with finding housing and jobs. Participants, who learn about the program while in prison, also gain job and leadership skills and receive crucial peer and emotional support.

Founded as a nonprofit in 2020 by Grand Junction resident Micah Espinoza, the Freedom Institute is funded by Work and Gain Education and Employment Skills, a reentry community grant program within the Colorado Department of Corrections.

WAGEES was created in 2014 when the state Legislature passed House Bill 14-1355 to provide funding to community-based organizations that support people returning from incarceration. Participants have a 10% recidivism rate significantly lower than the 50% recidivism rate reported by Colorado as a whole. The United States has some of the highest recidivism rates in the world.

The Freedom Institute currently serves those returning from prison. However, Mesa County will soon offer the WAGEES program to the Mesa County Jail population after it signs a contract with Freedom Institute within the next few weeks, said Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland. Freedom Institute is the only organization on the Western Slope offering the WAGEES program, she said.

Freedom Institute WAGEES participant Ricky Christenson said transportation is what he finds most difficult about being on parole. Hes currently trying to save money to buy a car.

Its frustrating. Buses go once an hour, he said. To get across town will take two-and-a-half hours that may take 10 minutes in a car. You get called in the morning to submit a (urinary analysis) and you have to take the bus. You have to leave work so the boss has to know. Or, you have to meet a parole officer during work hours so you cant hide that from your employer. Some places the bus doesnt go to. If you miss a UA that counts as a positive. Thats just how it is.

Transportation is worse for small towns such as around Garfield County where buses run only twice a day, said Lindsey.

With a house in Grand Junction and offices in Montrose and Rifle, the Freedom Institute serves 12 Colorado counties. It is part of a collective group of community and faith-based organizations that make up WAGEES community partners. Part of Freedom Institutes goal is to change peoples perception of the formerly incarcerated, Espinoza said.

These are people youd love to have for neighbors, as an employee, even a family member, Espinoza said. They just made mistakes. Were not about your past here. Were about your future.

Fache, who is currently on parole after completing her second prison term, works as a certified peer recovery coach for the Freedom Institute. She learned cosmetology in prison and gives free haircuts to staff members and WAGEES participants at the Freedom Institute house in downtown Grand Junction.

Going to work is like coming home, she said. The humanity here is beyond anything Ive experienced in my life. Im in my 60s, and valuable. Im starting over, have a career, helping people, making a difference in the world in my 60s, because of the Freedom Institute.

While he was finishing his sentence for drug possession at Mesa County Community Corrections in Grand Junction, Erik Borrell noticed that fellow inmates that he expected to see succeed outside of prison would fall apart after their release due to their inability to find housing. Borrell realized how fortunate he was to have supportive parents to stay with after he was released from prison.

Community Corrections inmates spend their nights at the halfway house, also referred to as COMCOR, while working outside jobs during the day. A third of workers earnings go toward room and board; a third goes to paying any outstanding bills such as child support; and a third is deposited into savings.

Some people leave COMCOR with thousands of dollars in savings, said Steve Erichsen, a 37-year-old former inmate who now works as the transitional housing director at Freedom Institute. However, landlords will often not rent to people with criminal records, Erichsen said.

Felons also have a hard time finding an employer who will hire them, said Borrell, who teaches recovery coaching and directs the Western Slope Recovery Network, an organization that offers resources for people trying to kick addictions. Borrell and Erichsen both work to try and remove the stigma of past incarceration with education and by demonstrating success in recovery.

We try and change peoples opinions thats why we go ahead and use our names, said Erichsen.

We call it recover out loud, said Borrell, 50.

Typically, before securing a job, housing or social security card, a person needs to first get an identification card, which can be difficult for various reasons, like not having a birth certificate, or transportation to the Department of Motor Vehicles office. Julie Mamo, transitional coordinator for the Mesa Countys Sheriffs Office, helps people both in and out of jail obtain their IDs.

Its a huge problem if you cant get an ID, Mamo said. How can you have a chance at success without an ID?

The DMV operates a program to help Coloradans who normally do not have easy access to in-office drivers license services by providing mobile DMV sites. Mamo said the Mesa County Jail will have a mobile DMV site by June or July.

That will be a fantastic day so many people are waiting, Mamo said.

In March, the number of people booked into the Mesa County Jail averaged 431, with 457 people released to the community that month. The average daily jail population is 456, although its been as high as 700 inmates, said Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland. Mental health disorders and addiction to drugs or alcohol are common in the jail population, she said. During the height of the COVID pandemic, one individual was arrested on 19 occasions, while another person was booked into jail 10 or 11 times, she noted.

It shows the revolving door of jail for some people, Rowland said. Forty-nine percent of people in jail are on some type of anti-psychotic medication. Jail is not where they belong.

She said its not uncommon for a substance abuse offender to spend 45 days in jail for a probation violation. After detoxing in jail, once released, addicts often want to get into one of two inpatient treatment programs in Mesa County but find theres a 30-day wait list, Rowland said. Some end up back in jail before they can begin treatment.

A Mesa County Behavioral Health Task Force is working to change that policy by allowing individuals to sign up for the wait list while theyre still in jail to increase their chances of starting treatment immediately, upon release.

Mesa County also intends to end, or at least reduce, the revolving door of jail, after the Freedom Institute starts providing services for the countys jail population.

The state spends $35,000-$37,000 per year per inmate, whereas the WAGEES program spends $3,500 per person per year for its program, Rowland said. To me that makes more sense its more humane, and its cheaper. Were excited about doing that from jail.

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Transitioning out of prison is hard. Freedom Institute is there to help. - Colorado Newsline