New York
Happy the elephant isn’t a person, top state court rules
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s top court on Tuesday rejected an effort to free Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo, ruling that she does not meet the definition of “person” who is being illegally confined.
The 5-2 decision by the state Court of Appeals affirms an earlier court decision and means Happy will not be released through a habeas corpus proceeding, which is a way for people to challenge illegal confinement.
The majority decision written by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said that “while no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion,” a writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty of human beings and does not apply to a nonhuman animal like Happy.
The case had been closely watched by animal rights activists and industries that depend on animals. The zoo and its supporters warned that a win for advocates at the Nonhuman Rights Project could open the door to more legal actions on behalf of animals, including pets and other species in zoos.
The advocates at the Nonhuman Rights Project argued that Happy is an autonomous, cognitively complex elephant worthy of the right reserved in law for “a person.”
The Bronx Zoo argued Happy is neither illegally imprisoned nor a person, but a well-cared-for elephant “respected as the magnificent creature she is.”
Alabama
State Supreme Court sets execution date for inmate
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court has set an execution date of July 28 for a man convicted of killing his one-time girlfriend after breaking into her home in Jefferson County almost three decades ago, according to a court order made public Monday.
Joe Nathan James Jr. would become the second Alabama inmate put to death this year unless a court intervenes.
James, 49, was sentenced to die after being convicted of capital murder during a burglary in the killing of his one-time girlfriend, Faith Hall, in Birmingham.
James, who had a history of stalking and harassing the woman, showed up at her apartment on Aug. 15, 1994, forced his way inside and accused her of unfaithfulness, court documents show.
James pulled a gun out of his waistband and shot the woman, who died of multiple gunshot wounds, and James was later arrested in California.
A Jefferson County jury convicted James of capital murder in 1996 and voted to recommend the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The conviction was overturned when the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that a judge wrongly admitted some police reports into evidence.
James was retried and again sentenced to death in 1999, when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional duress at the time of the shooting. Courts have since rejected appeals by James including claims that his lawyers were ineffective, and the state asked the court in March to set an execution date.
James has never claimed to be innocent, the state argued, and he’s exhausted his appeals.
In a hand-written appeal filed in federal court on his own behalf in April, James again claimed his lawyers were ineffective and said a judge wrongly admitted evidence and allowed prosecutors to ask improper questions. A judge hasn’t ruled on his petition, records show.
While inmates can choose lethal injection or the electric chair, none has opted for electrocution. James’ execution would presumably be carried out by lethal injection since the state hasn’t said it is ready to conduct executions by an untried method called nitrogen hypoxia.
Matthew Reeves was put to death in January by lethal injection in the state’s only execution so far this year.
Washington
Congress examines fraud in pandemic aid for small businesses
A congressional panel Tuesday will examine payouts under a federal coronavirus pandemic aid program intended to help small businesses weather the COVID-19 outbreak amid revelations that as much as 20% of the money may have been awarded to fraudsters.
The problems in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, overseen by the U.S. Small Business Administration, included a finding by congressional investigators that some 1.6 million applications for the loans may have been approved without being evaluated.
Separately, the SBA’s Office of the Inspector General estimated that at least $80 billion distributed from the $400 billion program could have been potentially fraudulent, much of it in scams using stolen identities.
The program is expected to be at the center of a congressional subcommittee hearing that also will tackle broader fraud concerns with the flood of pandemic aid from multiple federal government programs for states, local governments, businesses and the unemployed.
The $5 trillion in total aid, delivered in a series of bills signed by Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have come with numerous complications.
Fraud overwhelmed enhanced unemployment insurance programs funded by the federal government and administered by the states. There was so much aid to governments that many struggled to find a way to spend it all under the original regulations. And there have been questions about whether the Paycheck Protection Program to keep employees working was worth it.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis says more than $10 billion allocated under two massive business loan programs has been returned because of investigations and bank actions. Federal prosecutors have charged nearly 1,500 people with crimes related to fraud against the government over the business loans and enhanced unemployment insurance programs.
The government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee says inspectors general for various federal agencies have at least 1,150 ongoing investigations into fraud from the different aid funds. Officials say it could take years to untangle all the problems.
One focus for the subcommittee is a report released Tuesday by its own staff that found up to 1.6 million applications for loans intended to keep small businesses open and making payroll were approved by a batch method. That could mean they were not even opened by officials before being greenlighted for funding.
The report blames the SBA for creating the batch approval function early in the pandemic, during the Trump administration.
The SBA’s Office of the Inspector General said Tuesday before the hearing that many of the assertions in the report are based on OIG reports over the past two years but that it cannot validate statements or independent research performed by the subcommittee included within the report. The office said it’s “aggressively rooting out the fraud and bringing wrongdoers to justice.”
