In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Transphobia; carcerality; abuse; racism; misogyny] Jane Doe is a 16-year-old transgender Latina teenager who has been held in solitary confinement in Connecticut's York Correctional, an adult women's prison, for two months, even though she has yet to be charged with any crime. There is a petition seeking Jane Doe's release here. More opportunities to take action in support of Jane Doe can be found via Justice for Jane: On Twitter and on Facebook.

[CN: Transphobia] Jos Truitt on the media's hostility toward trans* people. I'm not even going to excerpt it. Just go read the whole thing.

Tornado and severe storm warnings have been issued across much of the US Midwest: "More than 35 million Americans could face destructive winds Wednesday as a dense pattern of severe storms pelted Nebraska with baseball-sized hail before spreading across the Midwest. Tornadoes are possible across a broad swath of the Midwest and parts of the Mississippi River Valley."

[CN: Violence] Two 12-year-old girls who "plotted to kill their friend for months and then stabbed her 19 times to prove the internet monster 'Slender Man' was real" have been "charged as adults with attempted first-degree homicide and are being held on $500,000 bail, after police say they confessed to stabbing their friend in the woods. Each could face up to 65 years in prison if convicted." The thing is, the girls were questioned without their parents present: "Police say the two girls waived their Miranda rights and gave statements after they were arrested. Asked by the Guardian why the 12-year-olds had been interrogated without a lawyer present, Captain Ron Oremus of the Waukesha police department said: 'If they didn't request we're not providing it.'" That could be a problem, as 12-year-olds should not be able to waive their rights and submit to questioning without a legal guardian and/or counsel. The girls' victim is in stable condition.

On his new HBO show, John Oliver encouraged viewers to weigh in at the FCC during their open commenting period on Net Neutrality. And the traffic crashed the comment system. Awesome. (The segment is fucking brilliant, although I will warn you there is one joke referencing sexual coercion.)

[CN: Homophobia] The Republican LGBT group GOProud claims they are not shutting down, as has been reported, but are merely "rebranding." Well, good luck with all that.

All the blubs foreverrrrrrrrr: "The fourth-grade students at Ebb Valley Elementary School in Manchester, Maryland, were given a writing assignment that not only helped them learn about persuasive writing techniques, but provided voices for homeless pets in their area. The students wrote letters to potential forever families telling them exactly why this dog or cat should be adopted, right now! The letters were then shipped over to the Baltimore Humane Society (BHS), where they were put on display on the animals' cages, according to teacher Tiffani Murphy. 'They have been ecstatic about the whole project,' said Murphy, whom had taken the students on a field trip to the BHS. 'Before they went on the visit they would want to check the [Baltimore Humane Society] website every day to see if it had been updated and see if their dog or cat had been adopted.' Murphy has found out that not only was one of the dogs adopted to a loving home because of the letter written by the student, but the family took the letter home with them, and have had it framed." ♥