Harmeet Dhillon’s college naughty and nice list
The U.S. Marshals Service is eyeing a makeover of its Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Gadyaces S. Serralta, the service’s director, said the traditional list of 15 has become stagnant and will be expanded.
“We have the same 15 Most Wanted and you can go a whole career and not have a 15 Most Wanted in your state — so we are actually reviewing how we do things,” he told Seen, Heard & Whispered. “Those 15 are not going to be off the hook, but we are going to open up our nets and we are going to make a broader list of individuals who are wanted by the U.S. Marshal Service.”
He said his agency’s longest-running fugitive case dates back to 1988.
Larry Porter Chism escaped in 1978 from a county jail in Arkansas, where he was serving a 40-year prison sentence for narcotics and armed robbery, plus an additional 30 years for kidnapping and hijacking an airplane.
During his escape, he shot and injured a correctional officer.
Chisolm, who would be nearly age 77, may be using aliases Kenneth Brookins and Jack Coffman.
The feds are offering a $25,000 reward for his arrest.
The biggest reward on the board, $50,000, is for Lester Eubanks, who would be 82, and who disappeared while on a furlough from a conviction for murdering a 14-year-old in Ohio.
Justice Dept. fumbles voter roll lawsuit against Washington state
The Justice Department’s quest to force states to turn over voter rolls has faltered in Washington state, where federal government lawyers seem to have forgotten to actually serve their lawsuit on state officials.
A magistrate judge finally told the government to explain its failure or else the case would be closed.
The department then said it had belatedly served notice on the state — but didn’t explain the delay.
And the state said the feds still bungled things, apparently serving the official notice of the lawsuit on someone who wasn’t even authorized to accept service on behalf of Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, the named defendant.
Magistrate Judge S. Kate Vaughan was not pleased with the developments, and demanded to know just what was going on. She said the Justice Department “failed to comply” with her order to explain the missed deadline, and wondered if government lawyers “made an inaccurate representation to this court.”
“It is now clear that plaintiff did not timely serve defendant. It remains unclear whether service of process on defendant has actually been effected and how,” she said.
Seen, Heard & Whispered has asked the Justice Department for a response.
Washington is one of nearly 30 lawsuits that the Justice Department has filed trying to pry loose voter registration records from states. It’s not been going well so far, with the three judges who have ruled on the matter siding with the states and against the administration.
The faith of the founding
As the country celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence, House Speaker Mike Johnson said it should be a reminder of the central role religious faith played for the founders.
The Louisiana Republican delivered the reminder to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Thursday, pointing to the protections of religious freedom that are found at the very top of the Bill of Rights.
He said the fight for America is a “spiritual battle.”
“America has always been sustained by prayer,” said Mr. Johnson, a Baptist. “Remember those foundations.”
Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Catholic, told the audience he’s seen God’s work up close after a left-wing gunman opened fire on congressional Republicans practicing for a baseball game in 2017. Mr. Scalise was severely wounded and, a doctor later said, had been “hovering on the border between life and death.”
“God performed miracles and I got to see them,” Mr. Scalise said.
