New York
Lawyer for Hanukkah stabbing suspect seeks to exhume victim
RAMAPO, N.Y. (AP) - An attorney for the man accused of committing an anti-Semitic attack with a machete wants the body of the victim who later died to be exhumed.
Attorney Michael Sussman wants the body of Josef Neumann exhumed for an autopsy, The Journal News reported.
Neumann was one of five people injured in the attack on a rabbi's home in Monsey, New York, on Dec. 28.
"We need to know medically if it's a murder or if it's the consequence of some disease pattern or something else," Sussman said in an interview Tuesday.
Grafton Thomas has been indicted on federal hate crime charges and state charges including attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Sussman has argued that his client was not motivated by anti-Semitism and is mentally ill.
Prosecutors said they would seek a murder charge in Neumann's death but it has not yet been filed, according to Journal News.
Washington
Justice Dept. watchdog to inspect prisons amid virus spread
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department's inspector general will conduct remote inspections of Bureau of Prisons facilities to ensure they are following best practices to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus after hundreds of federal inmates tested positive for the virus.
The review, announced Wednesday, comes as the federal prison system struggles with a growing number of coronavirus cases and complaints from inmates, advocacy groups and correction officers about how officials are handling the pandemic among their 122 facilities.
Attorney General William Barr recently sent some of his closest advisers to federal prisons identified as coronavirus hot spots, including FCC Oakdale in Louisiana, where six inmates have died, a Justice Department official said.
The attorney general's counselors were sent to observe the conditions on the ground firsthand and report back to Barr. They also visited FCI Elkton in Ohio, where five inmates have died, and FCC Butner, a prison complex in North Carolina that has seen four inmate deaths, and are expected to visit other hot spot prisons in the near future, the official said. The official could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Health officials have been warning for more than a decade about the dangers of epidemics in jails and prisons, which are ideal environments for virus outbreaks.
As of Wednesday evening, 451 federal inmates and 280 Bureau of Prisons staff members had tested positive for the virus. Seventeen infected inmates have died at federal prisons across the U.S. since late March.
Weeks ago, Barr reached out to Inspector General Michael Horowitz and asked him to take a look at the federal prisons that were emerging as hot spots and identify any concerns and ways the Justice Department could improve the work being done, a person familiar with the matter said. Barr has continued to consult with Horowitz since then, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The inspector general's office is conducting what it described as a "series of remote inspections" at Bureau of Prisons facilities, as well as residential reentry centers, commonly known as halfway houses, and prisons that are contracted to hold federal inmates. The review is meant to ensure the agency is complying with the government's guidance and best practices to prevent, manage and contain a coronavirus outbreak behind bars, according to a posting on the watchdog's website. The inspector general's office did not immediately provide additional details about how the inspections would work.
A spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons said the agency welcomed the remote inspections.
Delaware
Judge orders environmental regulators to turn over documents
DOVER, Del. (AP) - A judge has rejected an effort by state environmental regulators to dodge subpoenas in a lawsuit involving wastewater violations by a southern Delaware poultry processor.
The judge on Tuesday rejected arguments by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control that information being sought could be withheld under Delaware's Freedom of Information Act as "investigatory files." DNREC also had argued that the information was subject to attorney-client privilege and was protected because it was part of settlement discussions, and that having to provide it would unduly burden the agency.
"A statutory obligation cannot be an undue burden," said Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz.
The subpoenas were issued against DNREC and five DNREC employee by lawyers representing Millsboro-area residents in a lawsuit against Mountaire Farms.
The information being sought includes documents gathered by DNREC in its investigation of Mountaire's environmental violations and information from settlement discussions between DNREC and Mountaire in a federal lawsuit filed by DNREC.
In rejecting DNREC's FOIA argument, Karsnitz noted both a 2013 court ruling involving Delaware's transportation department, and DNREC'S obligation under Delaware law to provide the public with information that indicates when a facility has been inspected, what violations were detected, and any enforcement action that results from violations.
"The legislature has mandated that DNREC provide comprehensive information to the public about its work, allegations of violation of environmental law, and enforcement actions," Karsnitz wrote. "Plaintiffs here claim they were injured by violations of environmental law.
He said it was the department's specific statutory responsibility to provide the requested information to the plaintiffs.
Karsnitz also was unpersuaded by arguments from DNREC and Mountaire that there would be an "apocalyptic effect" on settlement discussions in environmental cases if he allowed the plaintiffs access to information regarding their settlement negotiations.
"While I agree it may have some negative effect, the disaster predicted is not imminent in my view," Karsnitz wrote. He added that there was nothing in Delaware's environmental code to suggest that settlement discussions are protected from disclosure.
Karsnitz said he did not have enough information to analyzed DNREC's attorney-client privilege claims. He ordered DNREC to confer with other parties to discuss any specific privilege issues.
Mountaire has been the subject of several lawsuits involving its handling of wastewater and sludge from poultry processing operations.
The federal case remains on hold while attorneys try to resolve objections to the proposed consent decree by the Millsboro-area plaintiffs, who were allowed to intervene in the federal case while pursuing their own claims in state court.
Published: Fri, Apr 17, 2020
