Martinsville Seven

The Martinsville Seven were a group of seven African-American men from Martinsville, Virginia, who were convicted and executed in 1951 for raping a white woman in 1949. At the time of their arrest, all but one was between the ages of 18 and 20. They were quickly tried in six separate trials (two agreed to be tried together), and each was convicted and sentenced to death. It was the largest mass execution for rape that had been reported in the United States. Under Virginia law, only black men were executed for rape convictions. According to historian Eric W. Rise, this case "demonstrated the power of the southern legal system to enforce codes of racial behavior." The Civil Rights Congress defended the men originally, and later conducted two marches and other attempts to raise awareness and conduct a public campaign on behalf of their agenda. This was objected to by the NAACP, who feared further backlash because of the CRC's Communist affiliations. Martin A. Martin and other NAACP attorneys defended the men on appeals, attempting to ensure fair trials, set due process precedents, and gain clemency or sentence reductions. The case attracted national newspaper coverage. The NAACP appeals also noted that since Virginia started use of the electric chair, only black men had been executed for rape in the state for what was a non-lethal crime. Though Governor William Tuck initially agreed to a stay during appellate litigation, by late July 1950, newly elected Governor John S. Battle refused to commute the men's sentences, saying he was horrified by the rapes. The appellate courts upheld the convictions and sentences, and the US Supreme Court twice refused to hear the cases. In 1977 the Supreme Court referred to those arguments with respect to rulings in other cases. Events: The rapes occurred on Saturday, January 8, 1949, after Ruby Stroud Floyd, a 32-year-old white woman, entered a black neighborhood in Martinsville, Virginia, to collect money for clothing she had sold. She had previously distributed Jehovah's Witnesses materials in the neighborhood. Residents warned her not to stay too long, noting the time as late afternoon. She passed four men at the railroad tracks and continued into the neighborhood, where she was later assaulted by some of those four and other men. At 7:30 p.m., after dark, she went to Mary Wade's house for shelter, showing signs of an assault. The Wades called an ambulance for her. Based on her account, in which she claimed to have been raped by several black men, the police quickly arrested Frank Hairston, Jr. and Booker Millner. Four more suspects were arrested that night, based in part on the first two men's confessions. By the next morning, all the men in custody had signed confessions. The last to be arrested, Joe Hampton, was taken into custody on January 10. All but one man was in his early 20s. After being held by police overnight, the first six all signed confessions, implicating themselves and each other. All admitted to being present at the crime, including Joe Hampton, although not all took part in rape. Only one of the accused had a prior criminal record, and most of the men were employed. When the NAACP appealed their convictions, its defense team noted that when the police had questioned the men, they had been drinking for some time, and they were not allowed to consult with lawyers or their families. The officials separated the men. To protect them from mob violence, they took them to other jails outside Henry County. The preliminary hearing occurred about a month later, and the grand jury two months after that. A grand jury (which included both black and white members) indicted all the men. Their quick arrest assured the community that stability was being preserved. Authorities showed increased professional conduct and procedures since the controversial arrest and execution of Odell Waller during World War II (he was initially represented at trial by the Trotskyite Revolutionary Workers League and ultimately executed). The Seven- (listed in order of arrest): -Frank Hairston Jr., age 20, confessed to rape -Booker T. Millner, age 22, said he was present, but did not take part -Based on their confessions, the police arrested: -Howard Lee Hairston, age 20, denied having sex with Floyd. He and his older brother (below) were not related to Frank Hairston, Jr. -James Luther Hairston, age 22 -John Claybon Taylor, age 23 -Francis DeSales Grayson, age 38 and of Richmond, Virginia, denied having sex with Floyd; only defendant without local ties. The last was arrested January 10: -Joe Henry Hampton, age 21 Trial: The judge appointed seven attorneys for the seven defendants. Since they ranged widely in experience, he asked the more experienced ones to aid the newer attorneys. Efforts by the defense team to change the trial's venue from the Martinsville Circuit Court—on the grounds that sensationalist press about the events made a fair trial impossible—were unsuccessful. There was considerable community sentiment against the men. Racism was less explicit in the trial than in cases known as "legal lynchings" in the South, in which innocent men were convicted (e.g., the Scottsboro Boys, Willie McGee), and the Groveland Boys. Previous actions by civil rights attorneys had resulted in changes in the Virginia process, improving their procedures. For example, although most African Americans in Virginia had been disenfranchised since the early 20th century and were thus disqualified from serving on juries, the grand jury had included black members. In addition, each of the jury pools for the six separate trials contained some African Americans. But, none was selected for any of the seven juries, as the prosecutors rejected all of them on various grounds. The juries were all white and all male. Judge Kennon Whittle told the attorneys: "this case must and will be tried in such a way as not to disturb the kindly feeling now, locally, existing between the races. It must be tried as though both parties were members of the same race." The prosecution did not explicitly discuss race; it argued the case based on the "preservation of community stability, not the protection of southern womanly virtues," as had formerly been common. The trials were held back to back, each with a separate jury of twelve white men. The prosecution, led by Irvin W. Cubine, introduced evidence showing that non-consensual sex took place. Some of the defendants acknowledged having sexual intercourse with Floyd, but said that it was consensual, or that she did not resist or say no, either considered necessary as a condition to prove rape. Virginia law authorized capital punishment for accessories, parties to the act of rape who did not take part in the act. On the stand, each of the defendants at least partially rejected his confession. In some cases, they said that the police had written the confessions, that the formal account varied from a handwritten version, and that they had not fully read the police version when signing and did not recognize that their own accounts had been changed. Rise says that the white community disdained Ruby Floyd for her missionary work with the Jehovah's Witnesses and for her willingness to enter the black part of Martinsville. The prosecution pointed out that Floyd had had gone to an area considered unsafe for white women, ignored warnings of black residents of staying too long there, and not been attentive to her surroundings or the men she passed. A relative of the Hairstons has said that their family tradition always said that Floyd had been having an affair with one of the defendants, but this was not explored at trial. No trial lasted more than a day, and the longest jury deliberation lasted less than two hours. The shortest was little more than half an hour. Although the defense attorneys pointed out mitigating circumstances, the juries quickly convicted each defendant and sentenced them to execution in the electric chair. The judge presiding was Kennon C. Whittle. Protests and appeals: Virginia had historically convicted and executed numerous black men accused of raping white women; for most of its history, only blacks were sentenced to death for rape. Since Virginia started using an electric chair in 1908, all 45 of the men sentenced to death for rape had been black men convicted of raping white women. From 1908 to 1951, only Texas, North Carolina and Georgia executed more black men for rape than did Virginia. An editorial in New York's Amsterdam News read, When we consider the fact that in the entire history of the Old Dominion state, no white man has ever received capital punishment for rape, then of necessity we must conclude that the death penalty for seven men for a singular crime was neither righteous, nor compassionate, nor wise. The case of the Martinsville Seven was taken up by outside groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Civil Rights Congress (CRC). Martin A. Martin of the Richmond law firm Hill, Martin and Robinson, was the lead attorney for the appellate defense team for the NAACP in Virginia, as his firm had considerable experience with civil rights cases. The NAACP did not want the CRC to participate in the litigation directly. Martin and the NAACP also agreed to represent the men in an appeal for the Seven with the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. They applied the bulk of the funds raised to the defense of clients. The NAACP's interest was in establishing legal precedent "for the benefit of due process and equal protection in general and the Negroes' rights in particular." Their concern was ensuring a fair trial. One of the convicted men's parents contacted the CRC directly and asked one of its lawyers to defend their son DeSales Grayson. The CRC focused on producing pamphlets and publicity for outside campaigns to raise awareness about the case, including internationally, and hoped to put pressure on government officials. The CRC began to organize mass actions in Richmond. In their appeals, Martin and the NAACP discussed the unfairness of the venue, the pressure on later juries to arrive at the same sentence as the earlier ones, and the historical racial disparities in application of death penalty sentences in the state. They noted the assaults of Floyd had no evidence of homicidal intent. The Court of Appeals upheld the rulings on March 13, 1950, with Chief Justice Edward W. Hudgins writing: "one can hardly conceive of a more atrocious, a more beastly crime". Together representatives, both black and white, of the CRC and NAACP, as well as other citizens, met with Battle in June 1950 to appeal for a pardon or clemency for the defendants in the case. They argued for lesser sentences, but Battle resisted their pleas. The NAACP thought that involvement by the CRC in appeals could endanger the defendants both because of their inflammatory tactics and its communist affiliation. In this period of the second Red Scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee had raised alarms about purported communist influence in government and society. Both African American Newspapers, the Richmond Afro-American and Norfolk Journal and Guide concluded the national and international crusades by the CRC hurt the defendants' chances for clemency. After exhausting the appeals process, with the US Supreme Court twice declining to hear the case, the NAACP and CRC began to appeal to executive offices. Newly elected Virginia Governor John S. Battle refused their request for clemency. In advance of a large planned CRC demonstration in the state capital, Governor Battle doubled the capital guard and alerted the state militia. On January 30, 1951, 400 protesters arrived in Richmond, appealing to Battle on the issue of racial disparity in sentencing. Governor Battle listened to their claims but was unwilling to bend on the issue of the Seven, saying: "The prisoners have not been convicted because they are Negroes and should not be released because they are Negroes." He was appalled at the nature of the crime. The CRC also had organized an international campaign, and Governor Battle was swamped by letters from overseas asking him to commute the sentences of the men. He resented being under so much pressure. One telegram from Moscow was signed by "workers in science, literature, the arts," including composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. Another, from China, called the sentence a "barbaric" example of American "fascist hooliganism". The men were executed in early February. In 1977, in its ruling in Coker v. Georgia, the US Supreme Court ruled that "it is repugnant to an enlightened society for the state to kill a person for a crime that does not result in death," declining to extend the death penalty to a person guilty of raping an adult woman. Execution: All of the appeals by the NAACP failed. The Seven were executed at the Virginia State Penitentiary in early February 1951. The first four were executed at 15-minute intervals on February 2. The remaining three were executed on February 5, 1951. The day before the youngest of the seven was executed, he said, "God knows I didn't touch that woman and I'll see ya'll on the other side."

gigantic haul

in our haul today we had about 2.25 shopping carts full of stuff. granted the 2nd and 3rd carts weren't bursting at the seams like the 1st 1 was but we had a HUGE load. many things are on sale at Aldi's and as my brothers and i are more at home. plus we needed things that could feed tons of us and would be used in emergency supplies.

emergency supplies

my mom did a huge haul and is planning on having emergency supplies for "emergency rations." we have 6 boxes of mac and cheese, 4 pounds of spaghetti, a thing of egg noodles, 4 medium things of pasta sauce, a bag pf potatoes, a ton of rice (about 3 pounds give or take) and more dry goods than imaginably possible.

Murder of Robert Schwartz

The murder of Robert Schwartz occurred on December 8, 2001, in Leesburg, Virginia. The crime was orchestrated by his 20-year-old daughter, Clara Jane Schwartz, as part of a fantasy role-playing game. Clara was convicted of first-degree murder in her father's death. The case made national headlines due to Schwartz's prominence in the scientific community and for claims that his murder was related to role-playing games and the occult. Background: Robert Schwartz was a nationally renowned scientist in the field of biometrics and DNA research. In 1978, he was co-author with Margaret Dayhoff of a key paper in Science providing the first experimental evidence of Lynn Margulis' theory of the symbiogenetic origin of cellular mitochondria and chloroplasts. In 1992, Schwartz was a founding member of the Virginia Biotechnology Association. He was the father of three children: Catherine Michele, Jesse, and Clara Jane. Murder: On December 8, 2001, Schwartz was stabbed to death with a sword by Kyle Hulbert at his Leesburg, Virginia, farmhouse. His body was discovered two days later. The following day, 19-year-old Katherine Inglis made statements to the police implicating Schwartz's daughter Clara in his murder, claiming that Clara discussed the murder with her boyfriend, 21-year-old Michael Pfohl, and 18-year-old Kyle Hulbert. Inglis stated that the motive for the murder was that Schwartz had hit Clara and she believed that he tried to poison her. Clara, who was a sophomore at James Madison University at the time of the murder, was charged on February 2, 2002. Clara was formally indicted for the murder, as well as conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder charges, on March 31, 2002. Inglis, Pfohl, and Hulbert had all previously been indicted for Schwartz's murder. Trial: Clara was the first of the four co-defendants to go on trial in October 2002. The prosecutors portrayed her as a manipulative young woman who used her role-playing game, Underworld, to convince her friends to kill her father. Prosecutor Jennifer Wexton argued that "Clara Schwartz wanted her father dead; she had hated her father for a long time", and that after failing to enlist a friend named Patrick to kill her father, Clara became desperate. The defense argued that the man who had committed the murder, Kyle Hulbert, had taken Clara's directives to kill her father out of the context of their role-playing game. Clara's attorney persisted that Clara "never intended for any person to kill her father." However, Patrick, testifying for the prosecution, stated that Clara spoke increasingly about killing Schwartz and had researched herbal poisons in order to make his death appear natural. Patrick also testified that Clara spoke of how much money she stood to inherit if Schwartz died, and her concerns that he would cut her out of his will. He stated that Clara became increasingly frustrated because he was not carrying out her wishes, and later found a willing participant in Hulbert. Aftermath: On October 16, 2002, the jury convicted Clara of first-degree murder. On February 10, 2003, she was sentenced to serve 48 years in prison. She is currently being housed at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women near Troy, Virginia, and has a tentative release date of November 2, 2043. Clara has made many unsuccessful attempts to appeal her conviction, which was most recently affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on March 9, 2010. For their roles in the murder, Hulbert was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, serving his sentence at River North Correctional Center; and Pfohl was sentenced to eighteen years. Inglis served a one-year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder. In the media: The case was featured on a 2012 episode of the Oxygen Network program Snapped; an episode of the Investigation Discovery (ID) program Fatal Encounters; the 2013 episode "Souls of Stone" of the ID series Deadly Women; and an episode of Occult Crimes.

2015 Harris County shooting

On August 8, 2015, a mass shooting occurred inside a home in northern Harris County, Texas, near Houston. David Ray Conley, 48, allegedly broke into his former home and held hostage Valerie and Dewayne Jackson, along with six children, including his own 13-year-old son. Over the course of nine hours, he reportedly shot and killed the entire family. He then engaged in a shootout with responding police before surrendering. Shooting: At around 10:30 a.m., Conley arrived at a house in the 2200 block of Falling Oaks Road, in unincorporated northern Harris County, Texas, near Houston. This was the home of his former girlfriend, Valerie Jackson, where he had previously lived with her. As Jackson had changed the locks on the house, he entered through an unlocked window. He then confronted Jackson, her husband, and their six children with a 9mm handgun, forcing them to the master bedroom. There, he tied up some and handcuffed others to the bed. While Conley was distracted, Jackson was able to text her mother, saying she was being held at gunpoint by him. Afterwards, over the course of nine hours, he allegedly shot Jackson's husband and children in the back of the head, with Jackson being forced to witness everything. She was the last victim to be shot. During the course of the shooting, police officers were sent to the home several times to perform welfare checks. The first occurred at 10:42 a.m., when dispatchers were notified by Jackson's mother. They knocked on the door and checked the house, but reported no response from the home an hour later. They returned to the home twice in the afternoon after being alerted by Jackson's siblings, but they never received any responses during both visits. It was not made clear if officers attempted to obtain a search warrant that would have allowed them to make a forced entry into the home. At about 6:00 p.m., while performing a fourth welfare check, the officers obtained information that a man inside was wanted on a warrant. They then began circling the perimeter and spotted a dead body from a window. Four police officers forced their way into the home at around 8:00 p.m., which prompted the suspect to begin firing on them. The officers retreated and waited for backup to arrive; Conley surrendered an hour later. Suspect: David Ray Conley III, age 48, was identified as the main suspect. He was reportedly a former boyfriend of Jackson, with whom he fathered Nathaniel Jackson, one of the slain children. Prior to the shooting, Conley had an extensive criminal record dating as far back as 1988, including arrests for domestic violence, DUI, and drug possession. His latest charge was assault, relating to a July 28 incident where he allegedly bashed Valerie Jackson's head repeatedly against a refrigerator. The case was pending at the time of the shooting. He had previously been arrested and charged in 2000 and 2013 for being violent towards Jackson. Conley was said to have been physically abusive towards her and jealous of Dewayne Jackson. According to Valerie Jackson's brother, Earl Yanske, he suffered from bipolar disorder. At the time of the shooting, Conley had an estranged wife, Vernessa Conley, who he was also abusive towards. According to his criminal history, Conley had a history of faking mental illnesses to get himself out of legal troubles. Hours after the shooting, Conley was contacted by Jackson's brother, to whom he confessed to the familicide after being asked if he killed Jackson. However, during a jailhouse interview, he recanted his confession and then claimed he was "fed up" with how Valerie and Dewayne Jackson, Sr. were raising his son and their children, who he helped raise. He also claimed the entire family was being disrespectful towards him. Conley allegedly began preparations for the familicide sometime after noticing the children's behavior problems. He purchased online the gun used in the shooting, three magazines of ammunition, and six handcuffs. On September 28, Conley requested for a visit by New Black Panther Party leader Quanell X, which was granted. During the meeting, he reportedly confessed to Quanell X and shared details of the familicide to him. Quanell X allegedly became disgusted and cut the meeting short in anger. Victims: Six children and two adults were killed in the shooting, all of them dying at the scene from gunshot wounds to the head. Some of them were shot multiple times. Initial reports indicated five children and three adults were killed. They were identified as: -Valerie Jackson (40) -Dewayne Jackson Sr. (50) -Nathaniel Jackson (13) -Honesty Jackson (11) -Dewayne Jackson Jr. (10) -Caleb Jackson (9) -Trinity Jackson (7) -Jonah Jackson (6) On August 17, a service for the victims was held at Fallbrook Church in northwest Houston and was attended by about 200 people. Legal proceedings: Though he did not appear in court, Conley was charged with three counts of capital murder and had his bond denied. He was held in Harris County Jail. Prosecutors announced that they are likely seeking the death penalty. In February 2016, Conley's lawyer indicated they would seek a mental disability defense.

Murder of Madyson Middleton

On July 26, 2015 Madyson Middleton was reported missing by her mother from their Santa Cruz, California apartment after Middleton was lured into another apartment where she was strangled to death and dumped in a dumpster. The suspect was charged two days later and identified as 15 year old, Adrian Gonzalez, after Middleton's body was found. Suspect: The suspect was identified as Adrian Gonzalez who was 15 years old at a time was charged with Middleton's murder and confessed to duck taping her mouth shut and sexually assaulted her before stabbing and strangled her to death. Gonzalez than dumped her body and watch the case closely, even asking random police officers questions about the crime. He also had a unique obsession with Yo-yo's and writing "suicidal" post on Instagram. Trial: Adrian Gonzalez pleaded not guilty as trial began in November 2017 as there was some controversies to prosecute Gonzalez as an adult because he was only 15 when he committed the murder. 2016 California Proposition 57 law was passed in 2016 where the judge can decide if the accused can be prosecuted as an adult and it is to be believed it will go down that route.

March for Science

The March for Science (formerly known as the Scientists' March on Washington) is an international series of rallies and marches held on Earth Day. The inaugural march was held on April 22, 2017 in Washington, D.C., and more than 600 other cities across the world. According to organizers, the march is a non-partisan movement to celebrate science and the role it plays in everyday lives. The goals of the marches and rallies were to emphasize that science upholds the common good and to call for evidence-based policy in the public's best interest. The March for Science organizers, using crowd science techniques, estimated global attendance at 1.07 million, with 100,000 participants estimated for the main March in Washington, D.C., 70,000 in Boston, 60,000 in Chicago, 50,000 in Los Angeles, 50,000 in San Francisco, 20,000 in Seattle, 14,000 in Phoenix, and 11,000 in Berlin. A second March for Science was held April 14, 2018. 230 satellite events around the world participated in the 2nd annual event, including New York City, Abuja, Nigeria, Baraut, India A third March for Science took place on May 22, 2019, this time with 150 locations around the world participating. The March for Science organizers and supporters say that support for science should be nonpartisan. The march is being organized by scientists skeptical of the agenda of the Trump administration, and critical of Trump administration policies widely viewed as hostile to science. The march's website states that an "American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the world." Particular issues of science policy raised by the marchers include support for evidence-based policymaking, as well as support for government funding for scientific research, government transparency, and government acceptance of the scientific consensus on climate change and evolution. The march is part of growing political activity by American scientists in the wake of the November 2016 elections and the 2017 Women's March. Robert N. Proctor, a historian of science at Stanford University, stated that the March for Science was "pretty unprecedented in terms of the scale and breadth of the scientific community that's involved" and was rooted in "a broader perception of a massive attack on sacred notions of truth that are sacred to the scientific community." Background- Donald Trump: In 2012, Donald Trump referred to climate change as a hoax. As a presidential candidate, he promised to resume construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and roll back U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations adopted by the Obama administration. After Trump's election, his transition team sought out specific U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) employees who had worked on climate change during the Obama administration. Prior to Trump's inauguration, many climate scientists began downloading climate data from government websites that they feared might be deleted by the Trump administration. Other actions taken or promised by the Trump administration inspired the march, including pulling out of the Paris Agreement, the stances of his Cabinet nominees, the freezing of research grants,[33] and a gag order placed on scientists in the EPA regarding dissemination of their research findings. In February 2017, William Happer, a possible Trump science advisor with skeptical views on human caused global warming, described an area of climate science as "really more like a cult" and its practitioners "glassy-eyed". ScienceInsider reported Trump's first budget request as "A grim budget day for U.S. science" because it contained major funding cuts to NOAA's research and satellite programs, the EPA's Office of Research and Development, the DOE's Office of Science and energy programs, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Institutes of Health, and other science agencies. International solidarity: International sister marches were planned for countries around the world. These both supported American scientists and climate scientists more generally, and protested against other impingements on academic freedom internationally, such as government action against the Central European University in Hungary and the closure of educational institutes and dismissal of academics in the 2016–17 Turkish purges, as well as local issues. Planning and participants: A major source of inspiration behind the planning of the march was the 2017 Women's March of January 21, 2017. The specific idea to create a march originated from a Reddit discussion thread about the removal of references to climate change from the White House website. In the discussion, an anonymous poster named "Beaverteeth92" made a comment regarding the need for a "Scientist's March on Washington". Dozens of Reddit users responded positively to the proposal. Jonathan Berman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a participant in the original conversation, created a Facebook page, Twitter feed and website to organize a march. The Facebook group grew from 200 members to 300,000 in less than a week, growing to 800,000 members. Individual scientists have both applauded and criticized this development. It was announced on March 30 that Bill Nye, Mona Hanna-Attisha, and Lydia Villa-Komaroff would headline the march, and serve as honorary co-chairs. The protest was set to occur on Earth Day, with satellite rallies planned in hundreds of cities across the world. During the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific organization in the US, scientists held the "Rally to Stand Up for Science" at Copley Square, Boston, on February 19. The same month, the AAAS announced its support for the march. By mid-March, some 100 science organizations endorsed the March for Science, including many scientific societies. Endorsers of the march included the American Geophysical Union, American Association of Geographers, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Society for Neuroscience, Society for Freshwater Science, American Statistical Association, Association for Psychological Science, American Sociological Association, Electrochemical Society, Entomological Society of America, California Academy of Sciences, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The University of Delaware Center for Political Communication conducted a survey of 1,040 members of March for Science Facebook groups or pages from March 31 to April 18 to study their motivations for joining the march. Before April, enthusiasts found existing knitting patterns for a hat shaped like a brain and proposed it as a symbol of solidarity for the march in analogy with the pussyhat project. There needs to be a Scientists' March on Washington.-Beaverteeth92's original proposal on Reddit Participation: The primary march, organized by Earth Day Network and March for Science, in Washington, D.C. began at 10 AM with a rally and teach-in on the grounds of the Washington Monument, featuring speeches by concerned citizens alternating with scientists and engineers; including Denis Hayes, co-founder of the first Earth Day in 1970 and Bill Nye. No politicians spoke at the rally. At 2 PM the crowd of thousands, in spite of the steady rain throughout the day, proceeded down Constitution Avenue to 3rd Street, NW between the National Mall and the west front of the United States Capitol. Protesters gathered in over a hundred cities across the globe, with an estimated 70,000 participants in Boston, Massachusetts, and over 150,000 in several cities in California. Reception: Professor Robert Proctor of Stanford University said that the March for Science was similar to other efforts by scientists such as Physicians for Social Responsibility; however, the scale was larger because "there's a broader perception of a massive attack on sacred notions of truth that are sacred to the scientific community." Support: On January 26, 2017, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont expressed his support for the march, congratulating "those scientists and researchers who are fighting back". U.S. Representative Bill Foster of Illinois, a physicist and the only current member of Congress with a Ph.D. in a natural sciences field, will join the march, "not as a Democratic member of Congress, but as a scientist." Foster said that he viewed the march as political, but not partisan, saying, "if you see a specific policy that is inconsistent with the known principles of science, every citizen who is also a scientist should speak out." In February the AAAS and other science groups announced their support for the march. Rush Holt Jr., the chief executive officer of the AAAS, expressed support for scientist involvement in politics. Holt also emphasizes the importance of "appreciation for and understanding of science in the general population". What's so interesting is it's the first time, I think, anybody can point to in decades where there has been a spontaneous effort to defend the idea of science. It's not a march pro or con GMOs or pro or con nuclear power. It's about the value of science and the power of evidence. People are understandably and correctly outraged that in so many areas of public policy ideology is crowding out evidence, that evidence seems to be optional in the fashioning of public policy, and that you have officials using phrases like alternative fact. — – Rush Holt Criticism: The march received a torrent of criticism from conservative publications for the perceived left-wing bias and orientation of the event. Donald Trump's science adviser, climate change denier William Happer stated that "there's no reason to assume the president is against science" and dismissed the march as a cult. A number of scientists voiced concerns over the march. Sylvester James Gates warned that "such a politically charged event might send a message to the public that scientists are driven by ideology more than by evidence". Writing in the New York Times, Robert S. Young argued that the march will "reinforce the narrative from skeptical conservatives that scientists are an interest group and politicize their data, research and findings for their own ends" and that it would be better for scientists to "march into local civic groups, churches, county fairs and, privately, into the offices of elected officials." Matthew Nisbet writing for Skeptical Inquirer magazine right after the first march in 2017, states that it isn't the least educated but the "best educated and most scientifically literate who are prone to biased reasoning and false beliefs about contentious science issues". In his opinion this will mean that the March will only deepen "partisan differences, while jeopardizing trust and impartiality and credibility of scientists". Nisbet feels that confidence in scientists is strong, and they should "use this capital wisely and effectively". Responding to criticism surrounding the political nature of the march, meteorologist and columnist Eric Holthaus wrote that the scientific field "has always been political" and referred to the example of Galileo Galilei's confrontation with the political order. Holthaus wrote that the scientists must also protest when "truth itself is being called into question". Discussing science's role in policy and government, Rush Holt points out a fallacy in viewing science and politics as philosophically incompatible: "The ethic in the profession is that you stick to your science, and if you're interested in how science affects public policy or public questions, just let the facts speak for themselves. Of course, there's a fallacy there, too. Facts are, by themselves, voiceless." San Francisco Lead Organizer Kristen Ratan debated Jerry Coyne on KQED's Forum regarding his criticism of the March and remarked that the millennial generation is just finding its feet with regard to activism and should be encouraged. Ratan also distinguished between being political and being partisan and suggested that while the March for Science is a political act, it is by no means partisan, which implies blind allegiance to one party over another. Ratan reiterated that the March For Science supports evidence-based policy-making regardless of party or affiliation. Follow-up: Following the march, the organizers of the March for Science encouraged people to a "Week of Action" with an outline of daily actions. The following spring, Science not Silence: Voices from the March for Science Movement, was published by MIT Press. The book, edited by Stephanie Fine Sasse and Lucky Tran, featured stories and images from marches held around the globe. It was selected as one of the "World's Best Human Rights Books" of Spring 2018 by Hong Kong Free Press. In July 2018, March for Science created and hosted the SIGNS (Science in Government, Institutions & Society) Summit in Chicago, IL. The summit was co-hosted by Field Museum and brought together organizers from satellite marches to connect, strategize, and develop skills to bring back to their communities. The program featured notable figures, including talks by Fabio Rojas, Brian Nord, Adia Benton, and Dana R. Fisher, as well as a poetry reading by Ed Roberson. Many sessions were recorded and are available to view online.

2017–18 United States political sexual scandals

The 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals include multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, and subsequent firings and resignations of American politicians in 2017 and 2018. Some of these allegations are linked to the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations starting in October 2017. Executive branch: Donald Trump- Stormy Daniels: On January 12, 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in October 2016, shortly before the presidential election, as hush money to deny having had an affair with Trump in 2006. The Wall Street Journal elaborated that the payment was done that month to a representative of Daniels via a private company established in Delaware by Cohen. At the time, Clifford was reportedly in talks to share her account with Good Morning America and Slate. Cohen has denied the existence of an affair on behalf of Trump; he also produced a letter allegedly signed by Daniels denying both the affair and the payment of hush money. On January 17, 2018, In Touch Weekly published excerpts of a 2011 interview of Daniels alleging a 2006 extramarital affair with Trump. The magazine describes her account as being supported by a polygraph and corroborated by both her friend and her ex-husband. The political watchdog group Common Cause filed a complaint on January 22, 2018, calling on the Federal Election Commission and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate if the reported payout violated campaign finance rules.[10] In response to this complaint, Cohen said that he had given $130,000 to Daniels from his own pocket, that it was for matters unrelated to the Trump campaign or Trump Organization, and that he was not reimbursed for the payment. On August 21, 2018, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight counts of tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. Two of them were related to hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Cohen entered his plea months after his office and hotel room were raided by the FBI. On December 12, 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison. Karen McDougal: In February 2018, The New Yorker's Ronan Farrow wrote about an alleged affair between Trump and Playboy model Karen McDougal, as well as the "catch and kill" procedure of the purchase and withholding of the story by American Media, Inc. (AMI), largely corroborating a 2016 Wall Street Journal report, except that the affair had gone on for nine months. The story was based on McDougal's handwritten memoirs of the affair, which McDougal's friend passed to Farrow. McDougal confirmed to Farrow that she had written the memoirs. Farrow quotes the memoirs as stating that McDougal first met Trump in June 2006 at a party hosted by Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion. Trump kept in contact with McDougal, and they had sex on the first date. During the affair, she met members of his family and he promised to buy her an apartment in New York. To avoid "paper trails", Trump had McDougal pay for flight and hotel expenses when she flew to meet him, then he reimbursed her. McDougal ended the affair in April 2007 due to guilt and being offended by some of Trump's comments. McDougal declined to discuss details of the alleged affair due to her agreement with AMI, but she told Farrow that she regretted signing that agreement, saying, "It took my rights away... I don't know what I'm allowed to talk about. I'm afraid to even mention his name." Farrow also wrote that AMI CEO/Chairman David Pecker has a "favorite tactic" of buying "a story in order to bury it". AMI said it did not publish McDougal's story as it was not credible, and a spokesperson for the White House denied the affair. On March 22, 2018, McDougal was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on AC360 in which she detailed her alleged affair with Trump. In the interview McDougal said that Trump tried to give her money after they first had sex. She also stated that their relationship lasted ten months and that she visited Trump "many dozens of times". In March 2018, McDougal filed a lawsuit against American Media, Inc. in Los Angeles Superior Court, aiming to invalidate the non-disclosure agreement. On April 19, 2018, American Media, Inc. settled with McDougal; the settlement allows her to speak about the alleged affair. In July 2018, The New York Times reported that two months before the 2016 presidential election, Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, had secretly recorded a conversation between him and Trump regarding paying McDougal. Another personal lawyer to Trump, Rudy Giuliani, said that Trump did not know of the recording, and gave two versions of the topic of conversation, saying firstly that the discussion was planning to pay McDougal directly, and secondly that it was about planning to pay American Media Inc. (AMI) for the rights to McDougal's story. This appeared to contradict a previous claim by Trump's campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks days before the election when she responded to the report by The Wall Street Journal about AMI's payment to McDougal that "we have no knowledge of any of this." Rob Porter: Porter resigned from the position of White House Staff Secretary on February 7, 2018, following public allegations of spousal abuse from his two ex-wives. The allegations were supported by photographs of a black eye (which Porter claimed he took) and a restraining order. Porter has said the allegations are false and are part of a "coordinated smear campaign". David Sorensen: The Republican White House Speechwriter, resigned as a result of allegations by his ex-wife, that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ year marriage. Sorensen denied the charges, but left his position. United States Senate- Al Franken: United States Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, on November 16, 2017, was accused by media personality Leeann Tweeden, who wrote in a blog post that during a USO tour in 2006, Franken forcibly kissed her without her consent as part of a rehearsal for a USO skit. She wrote that he "put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth. I felt disgusted and violated." Franken was also photographed appearing to grope her breasts while she was seated and sleeping on an aircraft wearing Interceptor Body Armor and a helmet. In response Franken said, "I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it." A few hours later, Franken issued a longer apology, which Tweeden accepted. Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer sent the information to the Senate Ethics committee for review, a decision supported by members of both parties including Franken himself. The next day, Abby Honold, who had worked with Franken to introduce legislation that would provide training to law enforcement interviewing victims of trauma, requested that Franken withdraw his name as the sponsor of that bill. Honold was raped by a former Franken intern. Franken complied and Senator Amy Klobuchar took over the bill's sponsorship. On November 20, 2017, Lindsay Menz accused Franken of touching her clothed buttocks while the two posed for a photo at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. In a statement responding to the allegation, Franken said, "I take thousands of photos at the state fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don't remember taking this picture. I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected." Later, two more women accused Franken of similar misconduct during political events in 2007 and 2008, incidents Franken said he also did not remember. Some liberal groups and commentators, including the Indivisible movement and Sally Kohn, called on Franken to resign because of these allegations. Franken issued another apology on November 23, 2017, stating, "I've met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations. I'm a warm person; I hug people. I've learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many." A fifth woman, Stephanie Kemplin, alleged Franken touched her breast while posing for a photo with her during a 2003 USO tour. She is the second person to allege that such behavior took place while Franken was on a USO tour. On December 7, he announced his plan to resign from the Senate. United States House of Representatives- Joe Barton: Republican Party (R) United States Representative Joe Barton from the Texas' 6th District and member of the conservative Freedom Caucus was found to have sent videos of himself masturbating to several women on the internet two years before divorcing from his second wife. Barton apologized and vowed to remain in congress and even fight the charges. A week later, Tea Party organizer Kelly Canon corroborated the stories by revealing that Barton had once asked if she was wearing panties and made other sexual references while he was still married. Barton finally announced he would not seek re-election (2017). John Conyers: Dean of the United States House of Representatives Congressman John Conyers of Michigan was found to have allegedly paid a settlement of $27,000 to a former member of his staff, who had accused him of sexual assault. BuzzFeed reported on this settlement on November 20, 2017, based on documents from Mike Cernovich including accounts of other ethical concerns associated with Conyers's office such as sexual harassment of other female staffers. Conyers responded to these reports, saying, "In our country, we strive to honor this fundamental principle that all are entitled to due process. In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so. My office resolved the allegations — with an express denial of liability — in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation." On November 21, 2017, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations against Conyers. Reports of a second woman accusing Conyers of sexual harassment appeared later in November 2017. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had initially stated that Conyers was an "icon" and had done a great deal to protect women, called upon Conyers to resign, and called the allegations against him "very credible", as did House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn. On December 5, he resigned from Congress. Keith Ellison: Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who was retiring from his seat to run for Minnesota Attorney General, was accused by an ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, of domestic abuse against her. Her son later revealed he had seen text messages claiming Ellison threatened her, along with video footage of him dragging her off a bed by her feet while she was screaming profanities. Ellison denied the allegations against him, and went on to win the Attorney General election. A Democratic Party internal investigation declared itself unable to substantiate the allegations, which were referred to police. Blake Farenthold: Congressman Blake Farenthold of Texas was discovered to have paid $84,000 to a former member of his staff after she accused him of sexually assaulting her. He announced his retirement on December 15. On April 6, 2018, however, Farenthold abruptly resigned from Congress. Trent Franks: It was reported on December 7, 2017, that Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations of improper conduct. On December 7, 2017, Franks announced that he would resign on December 8, 2017. According to a report in the Washington Post, Franks and his wife were struggling with infertility and Franks had asked two female staffers if they would consider serving as surrogate mothers for Franks and his wife Franks maintained that he never "physically intimidated, coerced, or had, or attempted to have, any sexual contact with any member of my congressional staff." Alcee Hastings: On December 8, it was discovered that $200,000, of taxpayers' money, had been given to a former staff member of Congressman Alcee Hastings of Florida, after she accused him of sexually harassing her. Ruben Kihuen: Congressman Ruben Kihuen of Nevada was accused by a former staffer on the Kihuen campaign of repeatedly propositioning her for dates and sex. When asked about the accusations, Kihuen said, "I sincerely apologize for anything that I may have said or done that made her feel uncomfortable.” The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Ben Ray Luján, and Nancy Pelosi, said that he should resign. On December 16, he announced he would not seek re-election. Eric Massa: It was revealed that secret payments, totaling $100,000, had been made to two men who had accused Congressman Eric Massa of New York of sexually harassing them. Massa resigned from Congress in 2010 after being accused of sexually harassing male members of his staff. Pat Meehan: On January 20, 2018, it was revealed that Congressman Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania used taxpayers money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by a former member of staff. Meehan also allegedly grew hostile after the alleged victim rejected his advances. Meehan was soon removed from the U.S. House Ethics Committee and announced he would retire at the end of his term. Timothy F. Murphy: US Representative Timothy F. Murphy was married and an outspoken opponent of abortion; however, he was revealed to have strongly encourage his mistress to get an abortion when she became pregnant. Before an investigation could begin, Murphy resigned.(2017) Federal judges- Alex Kozinski: Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Alex Kozinski (R), facing multiple accounts of sexual harassment against women announced his immediate resignation. The U.S. judicial council opened a probe in Kozinski's alleged misconduct, but closed it on February 5, 2018, reporting that Kozinski's retirement put the case outside its investigatory scope. Kozinski was a mentor to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but during the hearings preceding the nomination vote, Kavanaugh denied awareness of Kozinksi's history of sexual harassment. Brett Kavanaugh: During the hearings preceding the confirmation vote to add Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States, several women alleged sexual misconduct by the judge during his time in high school and college. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault during a high school party, and Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate, accused him of indecent exposure during their freshman year. Justice Kavanaugh went on to secure the nomination, and no additional or supporting documentation has since been provided. State politicians- Alabama: -Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama Roy Moore (R) was accused of sexually harassing nine women, including one who had been 14 years old at the time. Moore subsequently lost his bid to be elected as the U.S. Senator for Alabama in the 2017 Senate special election. Alaska: -Democratic Party (D) State Representative Dean Westlake, in December 2017, female capitol staffers aired complaints of inappropriate sexual behavior by Westlake. He apologized. But when the story of his 1988 impregnation of a 16-year-old girl was about to be publicized, he tendered his resignation. -Zach Fansler (D) State Representative, resigned effective Feb. 12, 2018, after being accused of slapping a woman hard enough to rupture her eardrum during a sexual encounter after a night of drinking. He pleaded guilty June 21 to a charge of misdemeanor harassment. Arizona: -State Representative Don Shooter (R) was accused of sexually harassing nine women, including several fellow state representatives, and was suspended as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee. He was later expelled from the State Legislature. -State Senator Steve Montenegro (R) who is married, began sexting with a legislative staffer. Montenegro was forced to step down and end his candidacy for the US House seat vacated by Trent Franks (R). California: -State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D) was accused of sexually harassing various women. He resigned later that week. -State Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D) has been accused of sexual harassment. -State Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D) was accused of sexually harassing two female lobbyists. He later announced his resignation effective the end of the year. -State Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R) was being investigated for an alleged sexual assault against a female member of his staff. -State Senator Tony Mendoza (D) was accused of inviting young female staffers to his residence in Sacramento for sexual activity. He later resigned. -State Senator Robert Hertzberg (D) was put under investigation after being accused of unwanted hugging by two female lawmakers and former State Assemblywoman Linda Halderman (R). -State Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D) was accused of sexually harassing a staffer in 2014 and lobbyist in 2017. On February 9, 2018, Garcia denied the allegations, and said she would take a voluntary, unpaid leave of absence while she was being investigated. Colorado: -State Senator Randy Baumgardner (R) has been accused of sexual harassment by a legislative aide who said he repeatedly grabbed or slapped her buttocks. The vote to expel him was 17 to 17 along party lines, with only 1 Republican voting for expulsion. Senate President Kevin Grantham (R) cited inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the investigative report. (2018) -State Senator Larry Crowder (R) State Senator was accused by Susan Lontine (D) State Representative from Denver, of pinching her buttocks and making sexually inappropriate comments. Crowder apologized though did not take steps to acknowledge or change his behavior. (2017) -State Representative Steve Lebsock (D/R) was accused of sexual harassment by fellow State Representative Faith Winter and four others. He was later expelled by the State Legislature. -State Representative Paul Rosenthal (D) has been accused of sexual assault by several young men. No charges were brought, though he failed to be re-elected. -State Senator Jack Tate (R) has been accused of sexual harassment by a former intern. On March 29, Senate President Kevin Grantham (R) wrote in a letter to Tate that he did not believe Tate violated any sexual harassment policies and decided to close the investigation. Florida: -State Representative Ritch Workman (R) resigned as the nominee for the Florida Public Service Commission after being accused of sexual harassment. -State Senator Jack Latvala (R) was accused in November 2017, by six women who accused Latvala of sexually harassing them. These accusations came from female staffers from both parties, as well as lobbyists. Photos also surfaced from a private investigator of Latvala kissing a lobbyist on the lips. The women's complaints describe repeated encroachment by Latvala onto their bodies. He has subsequently been removed from his position as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in response to the allegations and later resigned from the State Senate. -Florida Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Bittel (D) resigned after accusations of sexual impropriety from numerous women. -Clint Reed, chief of staff for US Senator Marco Rubio (R) was fired for allegations of "improper conduct" with an unnamed subordinate(2018) -Jeff Clemens (D) State Senator less than a day after discovery that he was having an affair. He admitted to the affair and resigned. (2017) -Frank Artiles (R) State Senator, was being investigated for using sexist and racist profanities, and hiring female models as ‘consultants’ to his PAC. He resigned the next day (2017). The next morning, before the Senate investigation had begun, Artiles resigned, calling his continued presence in government a distraction and apologizing again. Hawaii: -State Representative Joseph M. Souki (D) resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. Idaho: -State Representative Brandon Hixon (R) resigned after being accused of sexual abuse. He killed himself on January 9, 2018. Illinois: -State Senator Ira Silverstein (D) was accused of sexual harassment, and resigned from his position as Majority Caucus Chair. -State Representative Nick Sauer (R) resigned on August 1, 2018 after an ex-girlfriend accused him of posting revenge porn pictures on a fake Instagram account. Indiana: -Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) was accused by multiple women of inappropriate sexual behavior in March 2018. Four women have accused Hill of groping them during a party at a bar on the last night of the Indiana General Assembly session, prompting an investigation by the Indiana Inspector General. At the request of General Assembly leadership, a law firm prepared a confidential memorandum dated June 2018 that summarized interviews with the woman; the memo was obtained by The Indianapolis Star and made public the following month. Of the four women, three have publicly come forward—State Representative Mara Candelaria Reardon and two legislative staffers. Iowa: -Bill Dix (R) State Senator and Majority Leader from Shell Rock, fired Kirsten Anderson (R) Communications Director for the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus, after she reported sexual harassment. A trial eventually led to an award from the state for wrongful termination of $1.75 million. (2017) -State Senator Bill Dix (R) resigned hours after a video of him kissing a female lobbyist in a bar was released online (2018). -Nate Boulton (D) suspended his campaign for the Iowa gubernatorial election, 2018 after three women accused him of sexual assault. Oklahoma: -State Senator Bryce Marlatt (R) resigned after being charged with sexual battery of an Uber driver. (2017) Kentucky: -Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives Jeff Hoover (R) resigned from his position as Speaker after it had been revealed he had settled a case involving alleged sexual harassment. -State Representative Dan Johnson (R) was accused of molesting a 17-year-old girl during a New Year's Eve party. Johnson denied this accusation, refused to resign, and killed himself on December 13, 2017. -Four Republican State Representatives and a CoS, signed a secret sexual harassment settlement brokered by the KY House Legislative Ethics Commission involving sexting a woman who once worked for the KY House Republican Caucus. (2018) Louisiana: -Secretary of State of Louisiana Tom Schedler (R) resigned from office after his executive secretary accused him of sexual harassment which included visits, propositions, gifts and sex tapes. Several officials, including Governor of Louisiana John Bel Edwards (D) and Senator John Neely Kennedy (R) had called for Schedler's resignation before his announcement. (2018) Massachusetts: -President of the Massachusetts Senate Stan Rosenberg (D) stood down as President after four men accused Bryon Hefner, Rosenberg's husband, of sexual misconduct. Minnesota: -State Senator Dan Schoen (D) was accused of sexually harassing various women. He announced his resignation the next day. -State Representative Tony Cornish (R) was accused by fellow State Representative Erin Maye Quade (D) and another woman of sexually harassing them. He resigned the next day. (2017) Mississippi: -State Representative John Moore (R) resigned from office after accusations of sexual misconduct from multiple women. Missouri: -Governor of Missouri Eric Greitens (R) disclosed in January 2018 that he had had an extramarital affair with his hair stylist in 2015, just prior to his campaign for governor. On February 22, 2018, Greitens was indicted for invasion of privacy, and released on bail. State attorneys dropped this charge on May 14, 2018. Greitens resigned in early June 2018. New York: -Attorney General of New York Eric Schneiderman (D) resigned on May 7, 2018 after being accused by four women of physical assault. He announced his resignation the next day. -State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein (D), was accused by a female former staffer of having forcibly kissed her in 2015. -State Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin (R) was sanctioned by the Speaker of the Assembly for allegedly asking an Assembly staffer for nude photos and lying to investigators after the staffer came forward. -New York City Councilman Andy King (D) has been accused by a staffer in a complaint to the city council's Standards and Ethics Committee of making sexually suggestive comments. -State Assemblywoman Angela Wozniak (C/R) was banned by the Assembly from hiring interns in 2016 after retaliating against a top staffer with whom she had had an affair. She chose not to seek reelection. -State Assemblyman Dennis H. Gabryszak (D) was accused by up to seven former staffers of sexual harassment in 2013. He was later fined $70,000. Angela Wozniak was elected to his place in the Assembly. -State Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D) was publicly reprimanded by the Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in 2013 for sexually harassing an interns in 2009 and 2011. He was banned from hiring interns. -State Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez (D) was publicly censured by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and resigned in 2013 after being accused of groping, intimidating and manipulating young female staffers in a 2012 scandal. The state paid $580,000 to settle claims against him. -State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt (D) was publicly reprimanded in 2008 by the Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for an inappropriate relationship with an intern in 2003 was barred from access to an internship program. In 2018 it was revealed he had spent $50,000 to attempt to silence a women with whom he had an affair and assisted in obtaining a state job. Ohio: -State Senator Cliff Hite (R) was accused of repeatedly propositioning a state employee for sex. He resigned a week later. State Representative Wes Goodman (R) State Representative from Cardington, provided no details about the alleged “inappropriate conduct with another man” that prompted his sudden resignation from office (2017) Oregon: -State Senator Jeff Kruse (R) was removed from all of his Senate committee assignments by Senate President Peter Courtney. An article in The Oregonian indicated that Kruse had been accused of inappropriate touching and had failed to resolve ongoing workplace issues. The removal came days after Senator Sara Gelser indicated she had been inappropriately touched by Kruse. Senator Ginny Burdick supported Gelser's allegations, calling Kruse's behavior a "chronic problem", recalling an incident where she had to tell Kruse to get his hands off of Gelser and another incident where Kruse had inappropriately touched a female staffer on the Senate floor. He later resigned. Pennsylvania: -State Senator Daylin Leach (D) has been accused of sexual misconduct. Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf (D) has called for his resignation. Rhode Island: State Senator Nicholas Kettle (R) was arrested on February 16, 2018, with charges of video voyeurism and extortion. He resigned on February 22, 2018. South Carolina: -Chris Corley (R) State Representative, pled guilty to first-degree domestic violence for beating his wife and threatening to kill her with a gun in front of their children after she confronted him about his infidelity. He was sentenced to five years probation. (2017) South Dakota: -Mathew Wollmann (R) State Representative from Madison, resigned from the South Dakota State Legislature admitting that he had sexual relations with two interns during his first term of office. (2017) Texas: -State Senator Borris Miles (D) has been accused of sexually harassing various women over a period of years. -State Senator Carlos Uresti (D) has been accused of sexually harassing various women over a period of years. He was later jailed. Utah: -State Representative Jon Stanard (R) resigned on February 7, 2018, citing "personal and family reasons." The next day, the British tabloid The Daily Mail published a report alleging Stanard paid $250 for two sexual encounters with a Salt Lake City call girl. The Utah House of Representatives opened an investigation into these allegations. Wisconsin: -State Assemblyman Josh Zepnick (D) was accused of sexually harassing two women. He apologised for his behaviour, but refused to resign. Wyoming: -Secretary of State Ed Murray (R) resigned from office after being accused by two women of sexually assaulting them.

Boston Strangler

The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in the Boston, Massachusetts area during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the last victim. Since then, parties investigating the crimes have suggested that the murders (sometimes referred to as "the silk stocking murders") were committed by more than one person. Names: Initially, the crimes were assumed to be the work of one unknown person dubbed "The Mad Strangler of Boston." The July 8, 1962 edition of the Sunday Herald, declared "A mad strangler is loose in Boston," in an article titled "Mad Strangler Kills Four Women in Boston." The killer was also known as the "Phantom Fiend" or "Phantom Strangler" due to his ability to get women to allow him into their apartments. In 1963, two investigative reporters for the Record American, Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin, wrote a four-part series about the killer, dubbing him "The Boston Strangler." By the time that DeSalvo's confession was aired in open court, the name "Boston Strangler" had become part of crime lore. Events: Between June 14, 1962 and January 4, 1964, 13 single women between the ages of 19 and 85 were murdered in the Boston area. Most were sexually assaulted and strangled in their apartments; police believe that one man was the perpetrator. With no sign of forced entry into their homes, the women were assumed to have let their assailant in, either because they knew him or because they believed him to be an apartment maintenance man, delivery man, or other service man. The attacks continued despite extensive media publicity after the first few murders, which presumably should have discouraged women from admitting strangers into their homes. Many residents purchased tear gas and new locks and deadbolts for their doors. Some women moved out of the area. The murders occurred in several cities, including Boston, complicating jurisdictional oversight for prosecution of the crimes. Massachusetts Attorney General Edward W. Brooke helped to coordinate the various police forces. He permitted parapsychologist Peter Hurkos to use his alleged extrasensory perception to analyze the cases, for which Hurkos claimed that a single person was responsible. This decision was controversial. Hurkos provided a "minutely detailed description of the wrong person," and the press ridiculed Brooke. The police were not convinced that all the murders were the actions of one person, although much of the public believed so. The apparent connections were widely discussed between a majority of the victims and hospitals. Victims: -Anna Elsa (Legins) Šlesers, 56, sexually assaulted with unknown object and strangled with the belt on her bathrobe; found on June 14, 1962 in her third-floor apartment at 77 Gainsborough Street, Fenway, Boston -Mary Mullen, 85, died from a heart attack; found on June 28, 1962 in her apartment at 1435 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. In his confession, DeSalvo said she collapsed as he grabbed her. -Nina Frances Nichols, 68, sexually assaulted and strangled with her nylon stockings; found on June 30, 1962 in her home at 1940 Commonwealth Ave., Boston -Helen Elizabeth Blake, 65, sexually assaulted and strangled with her nylon stockings; found on June 30, 1962 in her home at 73 Newhall St., Lynn, Massachusetts -Ida Odes Irga, 75, sexually assaulted and strangled; found on August 19, 1962 in her apartment at 7 Grove Street, Beacon Hill, Boston -Jane Buckley Sullivan, 67, sexually assaulted and strangled with her nylon stockings; found on August 21, 1962 in her home at 435 Columbia Road, Dorchester, Boston -Sophie Clark, 20, sexually assaulted and strangled with her nylon stockings; found on December 5, 1962 in her apartment at 315 Huntington Ave., Fenway, Boston -Patricia Jane Bullock Bissette, 23, strangled with her nylon stockings; found on December 31, 1962 in her home at 515 Park Drive, Fenway, Boston -Mary Ann Brown, 69, raped, strangled, beaten, and stabbed; found on March 6, 1963 in her apartment at 319 Park St., Lawrence, Massachusetts -Beverly Samans, 25, stabbed to death; found on May 6, 1963, nine days before her 26th birthday, in her home at 4 University Road in Cambridge, Massachusetts -Marie Evelina (Evelyn) Corbin, 58, raped and strangled with her nylon stockings; found on September 8, 1963 in her home at 224 Lafayette St., Salem, Massachusetts -Joann Marie Graff, 22, strangled with her nylon stockings; found on November 23, 1963 in her apartment at 54 Essex St., Lawrence, Massachusetts -Mary Anne Sullivan, 19, sexually assaulted and strangled with nylon stockings; found on January 4, 1964 in her apartment at 44-A Charles St., Boston -The murders of Margaret Davis, 60, of Roxbury and Cheryl Laird, 14, of Lawrence were originally attributed to the Boston Strangler, but were later found to be unrelated cases. DeSalvo's confession: On October 27, 1964, a stranger entered a young woman's home posing as a detective. He tied the victim to her bed, sexually assaulted her, and suddenly left, saying "I'm sorry" as he went. The woman's description of her attacker led police to identify the assailant as DeSalvo. When his photo was published, many women identified him as the man who had assaulted them. Earlier on October 27, DeSalvo had posed as a motorist with car trouble and attempted to enter a home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The homeowner, future Brockton police chief Richard Sproules, became suspicious and eventually fired a shotgun at DeSalvo. DeSalvo was not initially suspected of being involved with the strangling murders. After he was charged with rape, he gave a detailed confession of his activities as the Boston Strangler. He initially confessed to fellow inmate George Nassar. Nassar reported the confession to his attorney F. Lee Bailey, who also took on defense of DeSalvo. The police were impressed at the accuracy of DeSalvo's descriptions of the crime scenes. There were some inconsistencies, but DeSalvo was able to cite details that had been withheld from the public. No physical evidence substantiated his confession. Because of that, he was tried on charges for earlier, unrelated crimes of robbery and sexual offenses, in which he was known as "The Green Man" and "The Measuring Man", respectively. Bailey brought up DeSalvo's confession to the murders as part of his client's history at the trial in order to assist in gaining a "not guilty by reason of insanity" verdict to the sexual offenses, but it was ruled as inadmissible by the judge. DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison in 1967. In February of that year, he escaped with two fellow inmates from Bridgewater State Hospital, triggering a full-scale manhunt. A note was found on his bunk addressed to the superintendent. In it, DeSalvo stated that he had escaped to focus attention on the conditions in the hospital and his own situation. Immediately after his escape, DeSalvo disguised himself as a U.S. Navy Petty Officer Third Class, but the next day he gave himself up. Following the escape, he was transferred to the maximum security Walpole State Prison. Six years after the transfer, he was found stabbed to death in the prison infirmary. His killer or killers were never identified. Multiple-killer theories: Prior to DNA confirmation in 2013, doubts existed as to whether DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler. At the time when he confessed, people who knew him personally did not believe him capable of such vicious crimes. Creating doubt of a serial killer, who characteristically has a certain type of victim and method of murder, the women killed by "The Strangler" were from a variety of age and ethnic groups, and there were different modi operandi. In 1968, Dr. Ames Robey, medical director of Bridgewater State Hospital, insisted that DeSalvo was not the Boston Strangler. He said the prisoner was "a very clever, very smooth compulsive confessor who desperately needs to be recognized." Robey's opinion was shared by Middlesex District Attorney John J. Droney, Bridgewater Superintendent Charles Gaughan, and George W. Harrison, a former fellow inmate of DeSalvo's. Harrison claimed to have overheard another convict coaching DeSalvo about details of the strangling murders. DeSalvo's attorney Bailey believed that his client was the killer, and described the case in The Defense Never Rests (1995). Susan Kelly, author of the book The Boston Stranglers (1996), drew from the files of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts "Strangler Bureau". She argues that the murders were the work of several killers rather than a single individual. Former FBI profiler Robert Ressler said, "You're putting together so many different patterns regarding the Boston Strangler murders that it's inconceivable behaviorally that all these could fit one individual." John E. Douglas, the former FBI special agent who was one of the first criminal profilers, doubted that DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler. In his book The Cases That Haunt Us, he identified DeSalvo as a "power-assurance" motivated rapist.[clarification needed] He said that such a rapist is unlikely to kill in the manner of crimes attributed to the Boston Strangler; a power-assurance motivated rapist would, however, be prone to taking credit for the crimes. In 2000, attorney and former print journalist Elaine Sharp took up the cause of the DeSalvo family and that of the family of Mary Sullivan. Sullivan was publicized as being the final victim in 1964, although other strangling murders occurred after that date. Sharp assisted the families in their media campaign to clear DeSalvo's name. She helped organize and arrange the exhumations of Mary Sullivan and Albert H. DeSalvo, filed various lawsuits in attempts to obtain information and trace evidence (e.g., DNA) from the government, and worked with various producers to create documentaries to explain the facts to the public. Sharp noted various inconsistencies between DeSalvo's confessions and the crime scene information (which she obtained). For example, she observed that, contrary to DeSalvo's confession to Sullivan's murder, the woman was found to have no semen in her vagina and she was not strangled manually, but by ligature. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden noted that DeSalvo got the time of death wrong. This was a common inconsistency also pointed out by Susan Kelly in several of the murders. She continues to work on the case for the DeSalvo family. DNA evidence: On July 11, 2013, the Boston Police Department released information stating that they had found DNA evidence which linked DeSalvo to the murder of Mary Sullivan. DNA found at the scene was a "near certain match" to Y-DNA taken from a nephew of DeSalvo. Y-DNA is passed through the direct male lines with little change and can be used to link males with a common paternal-line ancestor. To determine conclusively that it was DeSalvo's DNA, a court ordered the exhumation of his body in order to test his DNA directly. On July 19, 2013, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, and Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis announced the DNA test results proving that DeSalvo was the source of seminal fluid recovered at the scene of Sullivan's 1964 murder. In popular culture: -The 1964 film The Strangler was inspired by the unsolved killings. -The 1968 film The Boston Strangler starred Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo. Henry Fonda co-starred. -The 2007 novel The Strangler by William Landay depicts the family of an attorney on the Strangler task force. -A 2008 film The Boston Strangler – The Untold Story stars David Faustino as De Salvo. -The 2010 television film The Front, starring Andie MacDowell and Daniel Sunjata, depicts a detective who reopens an unsolved 1960s murder of a woman who may have been the first victim of the Boston Strangler. The plot suggests that DeSalvo was not the only perpetrator of these Boston murders. -The Boston Strangler made an appearance in the episode "Strangler" of CBS's American Gothic, where he was summoned by the antagonist sheriff Lucas Buck to get rid of Merlyn Temple. However, Lucas leaves town to attend a convention, and Albert De Salvo -aka The Boston Strangler- decides to do more than just try to kill Merlyn. -The Boston Strangler was featured as a central figure in the second episode of TNT's Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. The episode was called "Boston Strangler Redux", featuring a new serial killer who killed women with the same names as the original Strangler's victims. He is eventually revealed to have been one of the original detectives investigating the case who tried to frame the man whom he believed to be the real Boston Strangler. -He and the Zodiac Killer are featured in Image comics' The Roberts. -A waxwork of Albert DeSalvo was featured in an episode of the British comedy series Psychoville. The waxwork comes to life in a fantasy sequence (along with those of John George Haigh, John Christie, and Jack the Ripper), trying to persuade character David Sowerbutts to kill a man by strangling. The others accused him of having several personalities, referencing the 1968 movie. -In the 13th episode of the second season of Crossing Jordan titled "Strangled", the characters have a Cold Case party where they role play the investigation into two murders that fit the MO of the Boston Strangler. -A Boston hardcore band is named The Boston Strangler. The Rolling Stones released "Midnight Rambler" on the album Let It Bleed in 1969. The song is a loose biography of Albert DeSalvo; "the Boston Strangler" is mentioned in the lyrics once. -A 2016 podcast entitled "Stranglers" delves into the Boston Strangler investigation and features clips of the DeSalvo confession tapes and interviews with relatives of the key players in the investigation, including chief investigator Phil DiNatale's sons.

Vegetarian book

I have a few vegetarian books. Most are physical books. Some are on scoliosis with vegetarian diet

Marcus Fiesel

Marcus Fiesel was an American 3-year-old child who was murdered in Clermont County, Ohio, in August 2006. Fiesel had recently been removed from his mother's care by child protective services, and placed into foster care with David and Liz Carroll in Union Township, where he died from hyperthermia after being restrained and neglected in a closet for a two-day period. On February 21, 2007, Liz Carroll was convicted of murdering him. On February 26, 2007, it was announced attorneys for David Carroll had reached a plea agreement. Background: Marcus Fiesel was born on June 24, 2003, and spent the first three years of his life in Middletown, Ohio, with his mother Donna Trevino (née Fiesel) and his two siblings, Michael and Peaches. He was described by a neighbor as "an awesome little guy" who loved flowers, Bob the Builder, and bubbles. According to friends, Fiesel was autistic and attended a school for special needs children. Fiesel was a very active child, and his mother found it difficult to cope with him, and a neighbor said she occasionally saw Trevino weeping with exhaustion. Frequent calls to the police were made to the home as Trevino was a regular victim of domestic violence at the hands of her boyfriend, and during these visits police officers noticed that the home was infested with fleas and reeked of feces. On September 29, 2005, police observed severe bruising on Fiesel's left buttock, and the family was also being investigated by child welfare workers who had received complaints of abuse. In January 2006, Fiesel crawled out of his second-story window and fell off the roof, resulting in a cut to his chin that required stitches. In April 2006, Fiesel was found wandering the streets and was almost hit by a car. Trevino told police that "she didn't know if she could care for her children any more and that it was getting to be too much for her." She handed them over to Butler County. Foster care: Lifeway for Youth, a private agency contracted by the state foster care system, placed Fiesel in the care of foster parents Liz and David Carroll, a couple from Union Township in nearby Clermont County. At the time, Lifeway for Youth were unaware that David Carroll had a mental health issue that would have disqualified him from foster parenting if known, and that a third adult, Amy Baker, said to be the Carrolls' girlfriend, was living in the home. In June 2006, David Carroll was arrested on a domestic violence charge that was later dismissed, and did not report the arrest to Lifeway for Youth as required. Family and friends said that David Carroll did not like Fiesel and was jealous of his "constant" need for attention from Liz Carroll and Baker. At one point Carroll left his wife because he was not sure he wanted a life with her raising foster children. When he moved back in with his wife, he brought Baker with him. Disappearance: Liz Carroll reported that Fiesel had gone missing on August 15, 2006. She said that she had she blacked out due to low blood pressure at Juilf's Park in neighboring Anderson Township, where she was with four children: a child she had with David Carroll, another foster child, a toddler she was babysitting, and Fiesel. Carroll said when she regained consciousness, Fiesel was missing. Hundreds of people, and search dogs, searched the area as part of the official search for Fiesel. Thousands more searched surrounding neighborhoods independent of the official search. On August 22, 2006, Liz Carroll held a press conference asking that whoever may have taken Fiesel return him. She said, "I need help from the public to help my son, Marcus is my son. I know people think foster care is temporary, but please return him to a hospital. Waking up every morning and not having him run to me is very difficult. I am closer than his birth mother to him." Because no witnesses reported seeing Fiesel in the park with Liz Carroll on August 15, and no trace of him was found, police and the public grew suspicious of Liz and David Carroll's claims. Discovery of Fiesel's death: Fiesel's incinerated remains were discovered on an 88-acre (360,000 m2) estate owned by Mike Cales in Brown County, Ohio. Police said that Liz and David Carroll had left Fiesel locked in a closet, bound with a blanket and packing tape, while they attended a family reunion in Williamstown, Kentucky on August 4–6, 2006. This was confirmed by Liz Carroll in testimony before a grand jury on August 28, 2006; she claimed, "I didn't have any intentions of hurting him." Fiesel was left without food or water, but authorities believed he was killed by heat rather than dehydration or starvation, as temperatures in the closet may have reached 105–110 °F (41–43 °C). They found him dead when they returned home. Authorities believed it was David Carroll and Amy Baker who incinerated Fiesel's body. Amy Baker was granted immunity in Ohio in return for testimony, but is currently facing extradition from Ohio to Kentucky for a tampering with evidence charge brought against her by Mason County. Amy Baker confessed to helping to dispose of the body in the Ohio River, but charges against her have now been dropped. Charges against Liz and David Carroll: Both Liz and David Carroll were indicted in Clermont County and Hamilton County for playing a part in Fiesel's death and hindering the police investigation into Fiesel's disappearance. On August 28, 2006 Liz and David Carroll were indicted by a Hamlton County Grand Jury on two counts of child endangerment, and one count of involuntary manslaughter. David Carroll was charged with an additional count of gross abuse of a corpse. A day later on August 29, 2006 additional Hamilton County indictments were made against the Carrolls. Both David and Liz were charged on one count of making false alarms, and one count of inducing panic. Furthermore, David was charged with one count of gross abuse of a corpse. Liz was charged with two additional charges of perjury. On September 1, 2006 Clermont County Prosecutor Don White and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters held a joint press conference, where they discussed plans for prosecuting the defendants. All murder and/or homicide charges were to be prosecuted by Clermont County, since Fiesel's death occurred inside the Carroll's Union Township home. However, since State of Ohio contends the Carrolls attempted to cover up Fiesel's death in Anderson Township in Hamilton County, all charges related to inducing panic and covering up the death of the child would be prosecuted in Hamilton County. Several days later on September 6, 2006, a Clermont County grand jury indicted David Carroll on eight criminal counts. The charges against the Carrolls included: murder (1 count each), involuntary manslaughter (1 count each), kidnapping (1 count each), felonious assault (1 count each), endangering children (3 counts each). David Carroll was also charged with one count of gross abuse of a corpse. Trials: Liz Carroll was found guilty of all charges on February 21, 2007. The jury, made up of nine women and four men, deliberated for 4-6 hours. The trial lasted for 10 days beginning on February 12, 2007 and ending on February 21, 2007. Her lawyer Gregory A. Cohen promised to appeal. The appeal was also over a report that a juror reportedly said in an interview that she "knew in her heart Liz Carroll was guilty". During closing comments the assistant prosecutor Daniel Breyer said "They say you wouldn't treat a dog like that, and you know what? She (Liz) wouldn't! She took the dog with her. She took the dog with her." He referred to the Carrolls taking their dog with them to their family reunion, but leaving Fiesel at home. After the assistant prosecutor's closing remarks Liz Carroll said: "The dog was alive!" She was sentenced to 54 years to life on February 22, 2007. After accepting a plea deal, David Carroll pleaded guilty to murder and gross abuse of a corpse. The judge accepted his plea, and sentenced Carroll to 15 years to life in prison. Carroll said that Amy Baker bound Fiesel, but he admitted he was present. On Friday, April 20, 2007, the Commonwealth of Kentucky charged Amy Baker with tampering evidence. Prosecutors in Kentucky claim that the immunity she was given was only with the state of Ohio and Kentucky has jurisdiction over the Ohio river. She waived extradition and defended charges brought against her in Kentucky, which carry a maximum five-year sentence. Her attorneys are moved both to dismiss all charges against her and to suppress all testimony given by her in the prosecutions of Liz and David Carroll and alleged that the Kentucky prosecutor promised Ohio prosecutors to give Amy Baker immunity in Kentucky as well. Her trial was set for November 7, 2007, in Maysville, Kentucky. Her charges were then dropped in early 2008. Memorials: On Saturday, April 21, 2007, the chimney which was used to burn Fiesel's remains was demolished and turned into a memorial to him in a peaceful setting. Hanlon Park-Georgetown, OH, a Bench was dedicated to his memory on what would have been his 4th birthday, June 24, 2007. Effects on foster care in Ohio: The case of Fiesel's death has led to many questions over the placement of foster children within the state of Ohio and elsewhere. Lifeway, the agency that placed Fiesel with the Carrolls, had its license revoked. Several bills have been put before the United States Congress and investigations continue into why Fiesel was placed with the Carrolls. Many placement organizations have since modified their procedures and intensified their background screening for potential foster parents. In all, state legislators, foster care workers, and child advocates have recommended 55 changes to Ohio's foster care system.

Audrey Marie Hilley

Audrey Marie Hilley was an American murderer. Her life and killing spree are the subjects of the 1991 telefilm Wife, Mother, Murderer. Early life and first crimes: Audrey Marie Frazier was born on June 4, 1933 in the Blue Mountain area of Anniston, Alabama to Lucille (née Meads) and Huey Frazier. She married Frank Hilley on May 8, 1951, which produced two children, Mike and Carol. Despite Frank’s well-paying job and Marie’s secretarial employment, the couple had little money set aside in savings due to Audrey's excessive spending habits, leading to friction in the marriage. Unbeknownst to Frank, his wife was spending more than they earned combined and frequently engaged in sex with her bosses in exchange for money. Frank began suffering from a mysterious illness, as did his son Mike, although Mike's symptoms – which his doctors attributed to stomach flu – abruptly stopped when he moved away to attend seminary. In 1975, after returning home early due to his illness, Frank walked in to find Audrey in bed with her boss. Despite being hurt and disgusted with his wife's infidelity, Frank did not feel he could do anything about his situation and turned to Mike, then an ordained minister living in Atlanta, for advice. In May 1975, a short time after a visit from Mike, Frank visited his doctor complaining of nausea and tenderness in his abdomen, being diagnosed with a viral stomach ache. The condition persisted and he was admitted to a hospital, where tests indicated a malfunction of the liver and doctors diagnosed infectious hepatitis. He died early in the morning of May 25. Frank's autopsy, performed with Audrey Hilley's permission, revealed swelling of the kidneys and lungs, bilateral pneumonia, and inflammation of the stomach. Because the symptoms closely resembled those of hepatitis, that was listed as Frank's cause of death and no further tests were conducted. Frank had maintained a moderate life insurance policy, secretly taken out by Audrey at the time of his initial illness, that she redeemed for $31,140. Three years later, Audrey took out a $25,000 life insurance policy on her daughter, Carol; a $25,000 accidental death rider took effect in August 1978. Within a few months, Carol began experiencing trouble with nausea and was admitted to the emergency room several times. A year after filing the insurance policy on her daughter, Audrey gave Carol an injection that she claimed would alleviate the nausea. However, the symptoms only worsened, with Carol enduring numbness in her extremities. After medical tests found no disease, Carol's physician, fearing the symptoms were psychosomatic, had her undergo psychiatric testing at Birmingham's Carraway Methodist Hospital. There, Carol secretly received two more injections from her mother, who warned her not to tell others about the shots. A month after Carol was admitted to the hospital, her physician said she was suffering from malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, adding that he suspected heavy metal poisoning was to blame for the symptoms. Panicking, Audrey had Carol discharged from the hospital that afternoon. The following day, Carol was admitted to the University of Alabama Hospital. Coincidentally, Audrey was arrested for passing bad checks — they were written to the insurance company that insured Carol’s life, causing that policy to lapse. University physicians concentrated their investigation on the possibility of heavy metal poisoning, noting that Carol’s hands and feet were numb, she had nerve palsy causing foot drop, and she had lost most of her deep tendon reflexes. Caught: Physicians noticed Aldrich-Mees' lines on Carol's nails. Forensic tests on samples of her hair were conducted by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences on October 3, 1979, revealing arsenic levels ranging from over 100 times the normal level close to the scalp to zero times the normal level at the end of the hair shaft. This indicated that Carol had been given increasingly larger doses of arsenic over a period of four to eight months. That same day, Frank’s body was exhumed and, upon examination, showed between 10 times and 100 times the normal level of arsenic. It was concluded that both Frank and Carol had suffered from chronic arsenic poisoning, with Frank's poisoning being fatal. Audrey was still incarcerated on her bad check charges when she was arrested on October 9 for the attempted murder of her daughter. The Anniston police found a vial in her purse, tests of which revealed the presence of arsenic. Two weeks later, Frank’s sister found a jar of rat poison which contained 1.4%-1.5% arsenic. On November 9, Audrey was released on bail, after which she registered at a local motel under an assumed name and disappeared. While a note was left behind indicating that she “might have been kidnapped," Audrey was listed as a fugitive. Escape: On November 19, there was a break-in at the home of her aunt. A car, some women’s clothing and an overnight bag were missing from the home. Investigators found a note in the house reading, “Do not call police. We will burn you out if you do. We found what we wanted and will not bother you again.” On January 11, 1980, she was indicted in absentia for her husband's murder. Subsequently, investigators found that both her mother and her mother-in-law, Carrie Hilley, had significant, but not fatal, traces of arsenic in their systems when they died. The remains of Sonya Marcelle Gibson, an eleven-year old friend of Carol Hilley's who had died of indeterminate causes in 1974, were also exhumed and examined, but were found to contain only a "normal" amount of arsenic. Gibson was one of the many neighborhood children who had fallen ill after drinking beverages that they had been given during visits to the Hilley household. Two police officers who had been dispatched to look into a disturbance that Hilley had called 911 about also reported coming down with nausea and stomach cramps after drinking coffee that Hilley had offered them. Although police and the FBI launched a massive manhunt, Hilley remained a fugitive for a little more than three years. New names, new lives: She first travelled to Florida, where she met a man named John Greenleaf Homan III. She was using the name Robbi Hannon. They lived together for more than a year before she married Homan on May 29, 1981 and took his last name. The couple moved to New Hampshire. She frequently talked about her imaginary twin sister, "Teri", who supposedly lived in Texas. Late in the summer of 1982, she left New Hampshire, telling her husband that she needed to attend to family business and to see some doctors about an illness. During this time she travelled to Texas and Florida, using the alias Teri Martin. During the trip, using the alias Teri Martin, she called John Homan and informed him that Robbi Homan had died in Texas but there was no need for him to come to Texas because the body had been donated to medical science. On November 12 or 13, after changing her hair color and losing weight, she returned to New Hampshire and met John Homan, posing as Teri Martin, his “deceased” wife’s sister. An obituary for Robbi Homan appeared in a New Hampshire newspaper, but aroused suspicion when police were unable to verify any of the information it contained. A New Hampshire state police detective surmised that the woman living as Teri Martin was, in fact, Robbi Homan and had staged her death. That hunch paid off and shortly after police brought “Teri Martin” in for questioning, she confessed to being Audrey Marie Hilley. She was returned to Alabama to face trial. She was quickly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for her husband’s murder and 20 years for attempting to kill her daughter. Incarceration and death: Audrey Marie Hilley Homan began serving her sentence in 1983 and was a quiet, model prisoner. This good behavior earned her several one-day passes from the prison, and she always returned on time. In February 1987, however, Hilley escaped after she was given a three-day pass to visit her husband, John Homan, who had moved to Anniston to be near his wife. They spent a day at an Anniston motel and when Homan left for a few hours, she disappeared, leaving behind a note for Homan asking his forgiveness. Her escape prompted an inquiry into the prison system’s furlough policy. This time, she wasn't missing for long. Four days after Marie vanished from the motel, Anniston police, responding to a call about a suspicious person, went to a home and found her. She apparently had been crawling around in the woods, drenched by four days of frequent rain and numb from temperatures dropping to the low 30s. She was taken to a local hospital and underwent emergency treatment for hypothermia. While at the hospital, she suffered a heart attack and died.

Joseph Christopher

Joseph Gerard Christopher was an American serial killer who gained infamy for a series of murders in the early 1980s. He is believed to have killed at least twelve individuals and wounded numerous others. Early life: Joseph Gerard Christopher was born in Buffalo, New York on July 26, 1955, as the only son born to Therese (née Hurley) and Nicholas Christopher. His mother was a registered nurse, and his father was a maintenance worker with the city's Sanitation Department. Joseph had two older sisters and one younger sister. Nicholas was an outdoorsman and hunter who taught Joseph how to shoot and handle weapons at a young age; according to friends, Joseph had a passion for the outdoors which exceeded all of his other interests. He enrolled in the automotive mechanics program at Burgard Vocational High School in 1971. He was remembered as a quiet student who did well in his shop courses before dropping out in early 1974, and was said to be "very intelligent, though he wasn't book-smart." He then worked a series of odd jobs before securing employment as a maintenance man at Canisius College, where he shared a midnight shift with a co-worker. He was fired in March 1979 for sleeping on the job and returned to live with his parents. Christopher, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, reached out for assistance after noticing his mental health slipping in 1978. He tried to admit himself to the Buffalo Psychiatric Center in September 1980. The Psychiatric Center staff told him he was not a danger to himself or others and so could not be admitted. This was a common practice at a time when such centers were being downsized. Instead, the center officials recommended counseling therapy. Fourteen days after he left the center, the killings began. Murders: Christopher's murder spree began on September 22, 1980, when he killed three black men and one boy in the space of 36 hours with a .22 caliber sawed-off rifle. These murders led to the media epithet of the .22-Caliber Killer. 14 year old Glenn Dunn was the first victim. He was shot outside a supermarket in Buffalo on September 22. 32 year old Harold Green was shot the next day while dining at a fast food restaurant in Cheektowaga. That same evening, 30 year old Emmanuel Thomas was shot while crossing the street to his home, only 7 blocks away from Glenn Dunn's murder. On September 24, Joseph McCoy was shot to death in Niagara Falls. He committed two more murders on October 8 and October 9, both times bludgeoning his victims to death and then cutting their hearts out. The bloodied, beaten, & heartless body of 71 year old Parler Edwards was found in the trunk of his taxi cab parked in Amherst on October 8. 40 year old Ernest Jones was found in similar condition beside the Niagara River in Tonawanda on October 9. Jones' blood-spattered taxi was found 3 miles away in Buffalo. 37 year old Collin Cole was attacked in a Buffalo, NY hospital on October 10. A white man matching the description of the .22 Caliber Killer tried to strangle him to death, & Cole said the man snarled, "I hate n*****s" at him before trying to kill him. He was saved by the arrival of a nurse, & though severe damage had been done to his throat, he did survive the attack. These initial murders went unsolved at first, and Christopher enlisted in the United States Army in November, being stationed at Fort Benning. He soon received Christmas furlough and arrived in Manhattan on December 20, where, on December 22, he committed four more murders & two more attacks; this time stabbing his victims to death, thus earning the moniker of the Midtown Slasher. 25 year old John Adams was stabbed at around 11:30 a.m., but survived. 32 year old Ivan Frazier was attacked next about two hours later. He managed to deflect the blade with his hand, suffering only minor injuries. Luis Rodriguez, 19 years old, was the first murder of the day; at around 3:30 p.m., he was stabbed to death. At 6:50 p.m., 30 year old Antone Davis was stabbed to death. Around 4 hours later, 20 year old Richard Renner was stabbed & killed. Finally, a black John Doe was stabbed to death near Madison Square Garden just before midnight. He then returned to Buffalo and stabbed another black man to death on December 29 (31 year old Roger Adams), as well as another in Rochester, New York on December 30 (26 year old Wendell Barnes), and then committed another three attacks on New Years Eve and New Years Day (Albert Menefee, Larry Little, & Calvin Crippen, all in Buffalo, all survived), before returning to Fort Benning in January. When back at Fort Benning, Christopher attacked a black soldier with a paring knife in what was described as an unprovoked attack on January 18. The soldier survived the attack and Christopher was placed in the fort's stockade, where he attempted suicide by cutting himself with a razor. In a subsequent psychiatric session, he told a psychiatrist that he "had to" kill blacks. This admission caused Christopher's home to be searched by the police. There the police found evidence linking Christopher to three murders, which led to his indictment in April 1981 and his transfer back to Buffalo for his trial on May 8. Trial, imprisonment and death: He pleaded not guilty to the three murders and refused counsel by lawyers hired by his mother, opting instead to represent himself. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison, but this ruling was overturned as the trial judge had barred the defense from presenting expert psychiatric testimony about Christopher's ability to stand trial. He was later found competent to stand trial, and appeared in court again in 1985 under various charges which led to him being sentenced to life imprisonment. While imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility, Christopher claimed that he committed 13 killings. He died in prison due to a rare form of male breast cancer on March 1, 1993, at the age of 37. Media coverage: The Discovery Channel cable network television show The FBI Files first aired its Joseph Christopher investigation, on May 9, 2000, titled the ".22 Caliber Killer".

Disappearance of Margaret Ellen Fox

Margaret Ellen Fox was a 14-year-old girl who vanished in suspicious circumstances in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1974. Disappearance: On June 24, 1974, Fox had plans to meet with a man who called himself "John Marshall" in regards to a babysitting job. She had advertised her services and on June 19; Marshall responded to the advertisement and stated he needed a babysitter the following weekend but he postponed the first several meetings with her. He finally said that he would meet her in a red Volkswagen. Fox took a bus to get to Mount Holly, New Jersey. Her younger sister accompanied her to the bus stop and saw her get onto the bus. Witnesses reported seeing the girl near Mill and High streets after she got off the bus in Mount Holly. She was never seen again. Investigation: After Fox failed to return home, her family notified authorities of her disappearance. They immediately began investigation into her disappearance. "John Marshall" gave Fox a phone number to contact him at prior to her disappearance. The number was later traced to a supermarket in Lumberton, New Jersey. Marshall has never been identified. Authorities immediately knew that the circumstances surrounding Fox's disappearance were suspicious in nature. They believed that the girl became the victim of an abduction. Several other parents complained of men trying to lure their daughters with fake job offers. In 1976, a suspect in her case confessed to involvement in her disappearance but it turned out to be false. The Ransom Call: In the hours after Fox was reported missing, authorities started to record all phone calls that went to and from the Fox residence. One of these phone calls was from a man who demanded $10,000 for her safe return. The man stated "10,000 might be a lot of bread, but your daughter's life is the buttered topping." The caller has never been identified. Efforts have been made in recent years to identify this man who police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation believe to be Fox's abductor. 2019 Updates: The Burlington City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have reevaluated their efforts to find Fox and her abductor. The audio recording of the ransom call has been uploaded to the FBI website in an effort to see if someone might recognize the voice of the man who claimed he had Fox and wanted $10,000 for her safe return. In 2017, a retired police officer entered into a partnership with the Burlington PD to review and hopefully solve the case. A $25,000 award is being offered for information leading to the arrests of Fox's abductor(s). There have been no arrests made since.

Day Without Immigrants 2017

Day Without Immigrants (or A Day Without Immigrants) was a protest and boycott that took place on February 16, 2017, to demonstrate the importance of immigration, and to protest President Donald Trump's plans to build a border wall and to potentially deport millions of illegal immigrants. The strike called for immigrants not to go to work, to avoid spending money, and keep children home from school. People took part to show the importance of immigrants to the economy and also to protest possible racial profiling of U.S. citizens by immigration enforcement. The strike was planned on social media. People first started talking about the strike after the Women's March, and as the idea gained momentum, important people in the restaurant industry helped boost exposure. Locations: Shop and restaurant owners in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, Nashville, Albuquerque, Denton, Dallas, Fort Worth, Washington, New York, and other major U.S. cities closed their doors in a show of solidarity with their workers. Over 50 restaurants were closed in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Around six food outlets closed at the Pentagon. Three dining options at the Architect of the Capitol were closed. In Chicago, five of the Pete's Fresh Market locations closed and the owner, Vanessa Dremonas, vowed not to penalize workers who participated in the protest. Rick Bayless closed many of his restaurants at the urging of staff. Many restaurants in Boston closed, or served menus with fewer choices. Many McDonald's chains were closed across the country. Nearly all of the stores in Midwood, Brooklyn were closed. Over 1,000 businesses were closed in Dallas. In Austin, only 60 percent of students attended school in the KIPP Austin Comunidad charter school network. The Fort Worth Independent School District saw their elementary school attendance rate go down by 35 percent. Thousands of children in Fresno County did not attend school. In Milwaukee, a similar event took place on February 13, 2017, called "A Day Without Latinos." Activities: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College removed from display or cloaked in black cloth about 20 percent of the museum’s display; the 120 works of art had either been created or donated by an immigrant. The non-profit organization Many Languages One Voice organized a protest march from Washington, D.C.'s Mount Pleasant neighborhood to the White House. In Chicago, a rally took place at Union Park with hundreds of workers marching towards the Mexican consulate on Ashland Avenue at noon on Thursday. Hundreds of demonstrators marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capitol. Protesters gathered outside city hall in Homestead, Florida. A demonstration was held in Frankfort at the Kentucky State Capitol. Some restaurants that stayed open have said they will donate part of their proceeds from Thursday to immigrant advocacy organizations. Controversy: The Los Angeles Unified School District urged students not to take part in the protest. In the Bay Area, Redwood City School District also asked families to ensure their kids came to school. District of Columbia Public Schools Chief John Davis emailed principals stating: "all students and staff are expected to be in school throughout the day". Teachers from Rubidoux High School in Jurupa Valley, California commented disparagingly on Latino students missing classes on social media. Because of the controversy and their comments, they were placed on paid leave while an investigation takes place. Some restaurants fired their workers who chose to take an unexcused day off on the 16th. Twelve Hispanic workers in Catoosa, Oklahoma were fired for not showing up to work. In Nashville, 18 people lost their jobs for skipping work to take part in the boycott. JVS Masonry in Denver fired around 30 workers for not coming into work on that Thursday. Twenty-one people were fired from Encore Boat Builders for failing to show for their scheduled work day.