I remember how it was -- JR
FBI Investigation Needed of Loudoun County School Board and Prosecutor, Not Parents
On May 10, WJLA TV broke news that in Loudoun County staff and associates of school board members and of Democrat officials and candidates (among them the county’s Soros-backed anti-incarceration prosecutor Buta Biberaj and the Democrat candidate for Sheriff Craig Buckley) were part of a group calling itself “Loudoun Love Warriors.”
Group members plotted acts of violence, intimidation, and character assassination against Loudoun County parents in retaliation for their exercise of First Amendments to protest school board policies supporting critical race theory, withholding information from the public concerning a rape and sexual assault by a trans boy in girls’ restrooms, supporting obscene and indecent content in school libraries and classes, and supporting the transitioning of youth.
Among the parents targeted by the group were Mark Winn, Elicia Brand, and Scott Mineo. Execution of threatened attacks against Mineo led his employer to terminate his employment. The parents received threats of violence by phone. A member of the group appalled by the plotting of violence and character assassination gave copies of the online discussions to WJLA TV. A complaint has been filed with Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman whose office is investigating.
Attorney General Merrick Garland is familiar with Loudoun County. Indeed, in 2021 he authorized the FBI to target parents for investigation and prosecution in Loudoun County in response to education association and Biden Administration false accusations that parents were threatening school board members and demands that the AG act.
Without any evidence of violent threats by parents against school board members, Garland nevertheless authorized the FBI to investigate and work with local authorities to arrest and prosecute. Now the actual evidence of violent threats is before us, and it comes not from the parents against the board but from staff and associates of the board, Democrat candidates, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Buta Biberaj.
Those staff and associates through an online group they formed called “Loudoun Love Warriors” have actually made threats and taken steps to effectuate them. If Garland fails to call for an FBI investigation given the direct proof from the Loudoun Love Warriors’ whistleblower, he will reconfirm public perception of his biased, two-tiered system of justice. If he does call for an investigation, he will ignite howls from the far left of his party. What will he do? Will he yet again allow political bias to determine his enforcement of the law?
The Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares should also investigate. The Soros-baked Commonwealth’s Attorney, Biberaj, who would ordinarily be charged with prosecuting a case of law violation by Loudoun County residents is in this instance conflicted, and a necessary witness. It is her own campaign staffer who is implicated in the conspiracy to violate the rights of parents. She must therefore recuse herself or, if not, the presiding Loudoun Circuit judge in the matter should compel her removal in favor of another Commonwealth’s Attorney.
What the members of the Loudoun Love Warriors have done is no small crime. It is a serious felony on the federal and state levels. Fines and incarceration for up to ten years are the assigned penalties. 18 U.S.C. Section 241 (conspiracy against rights) reads in pertinent part: “If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person . . . in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same, . . . they shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than ten years, or both . . .”
Virginia Code Section 24.2-1015 also provides in pertinent part: “If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, intimidate, prevent, or hinder any citizen of this Commonwealth in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the provisions of this title, or because of his having so exercised such right, they shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony.” Under the Virginia Code, the term of imprisonment for a Class 5 felony is not less than one year nor more than 10 years and carries a fine of not more than $2,500.
On the federal level, if Merrick Garland will do his job (perhaps a pipe dream), an FBI investigation will occur and will provide evidence for the bringing of facts before a grand jury for indictment of those whom the evidence suggests violated federal law. As the investigations proceed, there may be additional evidence of federal and state law violations. In addition, each of those parents victimized by the acts of violence and intimidation has causes of action for civil wrongs, torts, committed against them.
Moreover, the fact that staff and associates of Loudoun County School Board members, Democrat candidates for office in Loudoun County, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Biberaj participated in a conspiracy to violate the rights of parents reveals potential widespread government corruption, possibly involving Loudoun County School Board members and the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has jurisdiction over each institution that makes use of state funds and has an obligation to investigate to determine if there are instances of law violation, public corruption and abuse of power. He should therefore commence an investigation and pursue whatever charges are warranted to ensure that if law violations have taken place those responsible are recommended for removal from office and are prosecuted
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‘We’re Preparing to Restart Repayment’: Education Secretary on Federal Student Loans
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona revealed during a recent hearing that the Biden administration is preparing to restart the payment of federal student loan debt that was paused amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a May 11 hearing of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) cited remarks by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who said, regarding the debt ceiling, that “if you buy a car, you are expected to pay the monthly payments. If you buy a home, you are expected to pay the mortgage every month. That is the expectation.”
Britt said she believes “that same logic must apply to student loans,” to which Cardona responded, “We agree and we’re preparing to restart repayment because the emergency period is over, and we’re preparing our borrowers to restart.”
At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, student loan payments were suspended by the government. Since then, two presidential administrations have pushed back the end of the suspension period eight times.
In August after rolling out the debt forgiveness plan, the White House announced that repayments would begin Jan. 1, 2023. But this was pushed back after legal challenges to the forgiveness plan reached the Supreme Court.
At present, the Supreme Court is reviewing the orders of a lower court that blocked the Biden administration’s student debt forgiveness plan. Payments are scheduled to resume either 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the court ruling if the ruling comes before June 30. The court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter this summer.
Back in November, the Department of Education revealed that it had received applications from 26 million individuals for the loan forgiveness program—out of which 16 million were approved. The lower court order prevented the department from considering more applicants as well as forgiving student debt.
Cardona added that the HEROES Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in January 2002, allows him to “create a waiver for those who are impacted significantly by the pandemic.”
“We recognize after three years of paused payments through two administrations, that the repayment restart is going to be a very important step, and we want to make sure it’s done right,” Cardona said.
“We’re confident that the targeted debt relief will address some of the concerns of some of our borrowers who are struggling right now. But as they re-enter repayment, it’s really important that we provide support for them.”
Issues With Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
According to Biden’s forgiveness scheme, individuals with an annual income of less than $125,000 who have received a Pell Grant while studying could get up to $20,000 of their student loan debt canceled.
Speaking at a March 23 House Committee on Education & the Workforce hearing, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) warned that Biden’s plan will “mortgage our children’s future.”
“The Biden administration’s proposal is a patchwork attempt that takes a structural problem that will only make worse issues of rising prices and low-quality education,” he said. “This has left millions of Americans with student debt that far exceeds the financial value of their degree.”
In a March 6 commentary in The Epoch Times, Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at hedge fund Tressis, criticized the idea of student loan forgiveness, pointing out that it does nothing to solve the cost of tuition.
Instead, the program may even raise tuition as universities see that the government will subsidize those who take on difficult-to-pay loans, he warned.
“Furthermore, by providing a subsidy to the already indebted, banks may have an incentive to give loans to students with less probability to repay them. It’s likely to create a wave of nonperforming loans predicated on the view that this scheme will be prolonged and even increased,” Lacalle said.
According to a budget model of the proposed student loan forgiveness plan made by the Penn Wharton University of Pennsylvania, the cost of the program could come to anywhere between $333 billion and $361 billion over a 10-year period.
On May 10, the Republican-controlled House Education and the Workforce Committee advanced a resolution aimed at invoking its authority under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to put an end to Biden’s loan forgiveness program.
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New Jersey educator passed over for 45 promotions because he’s white, he claims in lawsuit
A New Jersey educator was passed over for nearly four dozen promotions because he is white, he claims in an explosive new lawsuit.
Thomas F. Franco alleges the Paterson, NJ school district won’t promote him to an administrative position solely because of his skin color, according to the discrimination lawsuit filed last month.
The 58-year-old Ringwood resident contends he’s applied for “more than 45 positions” since he was hired in 2016, and has only been interviewed once.
“Nearly all administrative level positions within the PPS [Paterson Public Schools], greater than 95%, are held by Black and Hispanic individuals,” according to the suit filed in Passaic Superior Court.
“Many of the people” hired instead of him were “less experienced” and didn’t have his academic credentials, Franco argued in papers.
Franco has the necessary state certificates to fill the principal and vice principal posts he sought, his lawyer told The Post.
And he served as an interim administrator in 2016.
“While I applaud the fact that the district employs many minorities to serve its mostly minority student population, at the same time the district should not prevent highly qualified individuals who may be a non-minority, from being promoted,” said attorney Evan Goldman.
“Mr. Franco’s potential promotion will only serve to enhance all of the students experiences in the district.”
Franco has two master’s degrees from St. Peter’s University and Rutgers University, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from Rutgers, according to his LinkedIn page.
The district “does not provide the same opportunities for advancement to White applicants as it does to minority candidates,” according to the court papers.
Franco is currently working as a guidance counselor at Paterson’s International High School, according to the school’s website.
His salary is $82,555, according to district payroll records.
“Throughout the course of Mr. Franco’s employment with PPS, he has always received performance evaluations rating him either “highly effective” or “effective,” the suit says.
https://nypost.com/2023/05/13/nj-educator-passed-over-for-45-promotions-lawsuit/
******************************************************My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
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http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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