The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 11, 2011 Page: 7 of 28
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Friday, March 11,2011
the Rice Thresher
NEWS 7
BEYOND THE HEDGES
National
Illinois governor
bans capital pun-
ishment
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
signed a bill to abolish capital
punishment on Wednesday, mak-
ing Illinois the 16th state to do
so. Quinn, a Democrat, said he
signed it because there is no way
to design a perfect death penalty
system that is free from wrong-
ful convictions or discriminatory
treatment. Quinn added that sign-
ing the bill was his most difficult
decision as governor. The bill
originated from debates about a
dozen death row prisoners who
had been wrongfully convicted. It
was passed by the state legisla-
ture in January and sent to Quinn
for his signature. As a result of
the approved bill, those on death
row will now face life sentences
without the possibility of parole.
In addition, the new law allocates
funds to law enforcement and ser-
vices for the families of victims.
Multiple Illinois Democrats dis-
agreed with the ban, including
Lisa Madigan, the state's attorney
general, who said she believed
that the death penalty should be a
punishment reserved for the most
severe crimes. However, many
victims' families signed a letter
to the legislature in support of
the bill because they said the cur-
rent trial-and-appeal process was
too lengthy and painful and often
didn't result in the intended pun-
ishment.
Source: The New York Times
Obama adminis-
tration no longer
supports chal-
lenges to DOMA
The Obama administration
announced that it will no longer
oppose court challenges to the
Defense of Marriage Act. Signed
into law by President Bill Clinton
in 1996, this act prohibits the fed-
eral government from recognizing
same-sex marriages for purposes
of taxes, Social Security and other
programs. U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder explained the adminis-
tration's new stance on the issue
in a letter to House Speaker John
Boehner. According to Holder, the
Justice Department will instruct
most courts that are still tackling
challenges to the act that the ad-
ministration no longer supports
such challenges. However, Holder
said recent lawsuits against the
act have caused President Obama
and the Justice Department to
conduct a reevaluation of the law.
Obama sees the taw as unfair but
has yet to declare his opinion of
same-sex marriage. Thus, no defi-
nite conclusion has been reached
about the act. So far, Holder said
the law will remain in effect until
repeal by Congress or a final court
ruling striking it down.
Source: Bloomberg
Hearings on Is-
lamic fundamen-
talism held
Peter King, a republican mem-
ber of the House of Representa-
tives from New York, warned the
House Homeland Security Com-
mittee about the danger of home-
grown Islamic radicalization. King
claims that Muslim community
leaders are not doing enough to
help police and federal officers
prevent terrorist attacks. Some
have expressed concerns that fo-
cusing on Muslims risks further
endangering the relationship be-
tween Muslim Americans and the
rest of the nation, and the White
House has said that all extremists
should be considered threats to
U.S. security, not just Islamic Fun-
damentalists. Congressman John
Dingell, a Michigan democrat,
warned King against feeding anti-
Muslim sentiments among the
general American populace. Sev-
eral hundred people have gath-
ered in Times Square in New York
City to protest the hearings.
Source: BBC
International
Suicide bombings
continue in Af-
ghanistan
A suicide bomber killed him-
self and at least three other peo-
ple on a playing field in the Faryab
Province of Afghanistan on Feb.
26, marking the seventh suicide
attack on that country in under
a month. The attack happened
while a crowd was gathered on the
field for buzkashi - an equestrian
game. Sources said the bomber
was a 17-year-old boy, and his sui-
cide happened just as the spokes-
man of the National Directorate of
Intelligence Lutfullah Mashal held
a news conference in Kabul during
which he condemned the bomb-
ers' recent strategy of attacking
civilians. Mashal said most at-
tackers were young men who were
persuaded, tricked and threat-
ened into killing themselves. He
added that men who killed inno-
cent people in that manner lost
honor in the eyes of their fellow
citizens.
Source: The New York Times
Stashed cash al-
lows Qaddafi to
keep fighting
According to officials, Libyan
leader Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi
has tens of billions of Libyan di-
nars, U.S. dollars and other for-
eign currencies hidden in his
Tripoli compound, Bab Al Azizia,
and banks around the Libyan capi-
tal. These extra funds are help-
ing him continue to fight against
rebel forces despite a freeze on
many Libyan government assets.
Qaddafi has used the money to
pay his troops, African mercenar-
ies and political supporters to
battle the determined uprising.
The large amount of cash has also
weakened the effect of economic
sanctions on Qaddafi and his
government. Sources say this ex-
tended capacity to fight could put
greater pressure on the U.S. and
European leaders to act against
Qaddafi. In fact, President Obama
held a meeting with his national
security team met on Wednesday
to determine how to remove Qad-
dafi. Various solutions, such as
the possible creation of a no-flight
zone, were raised but no concrete
decisions were made.
Source: The New York Times
Retired head of
Bolivia's anti-
drug unit accused
of smuggling
cocaine
Rene Sanabria, the former
head of Bolivia's main anti-narcot-
ics unit and a top Bolivian security
official, pled not guilty on March
2, in a Miami federal court, to
charges of conspiring to smuggle
cocaine into the U.S. This scandal
has forced the administration of
Bolivian President Evo Morales to
enact a large police crackdown.
Sanabria was arrested by U.S. and
Panamanian agents and police on
Feb. 25, for allegedly smuggling
up to 315 pounds of cocaine into
the U.S. He was then deported to
Miami. Sanabria was serving as
a top intelligence adviser to the
country's Interior Minister, Sacha
Llorenti, at the time of his arrest.
Bolivia's Social Defence Deputy
Minister Felipe Caceres stated
that Bolivia will work with the
United States in Sanabria's case.
According to his lawyer, Christy
O'Connor, Sanabria could face a
life sentence if found guilty. Ca-
ceres, Bolivia's top anti-drug of-
ficial, added that 15 other police
officials were also being detained
for involvement in the drug-smug-
gling operation. According to of-
ficials, quite a few of Sanabria's
subordinates were corrupt.
Source: The Wall Street journal
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Join the O-Week 2011
Diversity Facilitating team.
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Applications available in the
Office of Multicultural Affairs
and the colleges.
Due date: Friday, March 18th.
Contact clack@rice.edu
for more information.
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Rutenberg, Josh. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 11, 2011, newspaper, March 11, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398421/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.