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Young Thespians is a regular column that focuses on youth in theater. Do you have a production you wish to see featured? E-mail stevecouch@windstream.net, follow me @StevenRCouch on Twitter or join our “Young Thespians” Facebook group and post your show information. |
Nearly a decade after the Supreme Court struck down the District’s long-standing ban on handguns, the city is again at the forefront of a legal battle over the Second Amendment. |
Gun rights advocates have scored a series of victories in the District since the high court’s landmark 2008 ruling and are pressing this month to make it easier to carry firearms on the streets of the nation’s capital. |
The pending cases have drawn the attention of gun rights groups and Republican attorneys general from more than a dozen states who are among those asking federal judges to find Washington’s restrictions on concealed-carry unconstitutional. |
Local officials have been forced time and again to rewrite the District’s gun laws since the Supreme Court used a D.C. case to declare that individuals have the right to gun ownership unrelated to military service. The decision cleared the way for D.C. residents to keep handguns in their homes and is driving the attemp... |
At issue for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is the city’s system that requires residents to demonstrate a “good reason to fear injury” or show a “proper reason,” such as transporting valuables, to get a permit. |
Two judges sitting in the same federal court for the District have reached different conclusions about the key component of the city’s gun-control law. The D.C. Circuit has consolidated those challenges that a three-judge panel will consider on Sept. 20. |
The District’s law is among the strictest in the nation: Eighty-eight people have been approved for concealed-carry permits. According to the police department, 309 applicants were denied. |
D.C. officials say the restrictions are reasonable and necessary in a city that struggles with gun violence and faces heightened security challenges because of a concentration of federal government buildings and diplomats. |
The District’s concealed-carry rules are similar to those in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and some jurisdictions in California. Those systems have survived legal challenges in three other federal appeals courts. |
Since the high court’s ruling in the case known as District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court has turned down numerous opportunities to decide whether regulations that cover carrying firearms in public are constitutional. |
That has left the issues for the lower courts to resolve. |
“The question of whether and to what extent the Second Amendment extends into a right to carry guns into public spaces is probably the most important constitutional question that could affect American gun policy since Heller,” said Jonathan E. Lowy of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. |
The three judges who will hear the appeals this month were nominated to the federal bench by Republican presidents. Judge Thomas B. Griffith, a George W. Bush nominee, was in the majority in the court’s 2007 opinion that overturned the District’s decades-old ban on handguns. |
Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, nominated by George H.W. Bush, dissented in the 2007 ruling and sided last year with the city when it argued — unsuccessfully — to keep a one-gun-per-month limit on firearms registration. |
The third judge, Stephen F. Williams, was nominated by Ronald Reagan. |
In court filings leading to the Sept. 20 oral arguments, gun rights advocates say the District’s requirement that permit seekers show an extraordinary threat denies a constitutional right to most law-abiding citizens. |
Opponents of the law note that the ruling in Heller specifies that firearms can be banned from “sensitive places,” such as schools and government buildings. But they say a citywide permitting system has the effect of extending that ban to many violence-prone areas that do not have those buildings but where citizens may... |
“Telling a citizen walking the streets of a dangerous neighborhood that she can obtain a permit for self-defense after she is suddenly attacked by a violent criminal is a bit like telling a passenger on a cruise ship that she is free to come back to the dock to pick up a life jacket if she falls overboard,” according t... |
Gun-control advocates and city officials respond in court filings that more guns on the streets lead to more violence and make it more difficult and dangerous for law enforcement officials to do their jobs. The District saw a 54 percent increase in the number of murders from 2014 to 2015. In the current year, homicides... |
Limiting the number of concealed weapons on the streets of a densely populated, urban area advances public safety, they say. |
I don't know what kind of routers they sell over in the UK, but one thing's for sure, I don't want 'em. (Or maybe I do?) British author Kate Figes claims that the electromagnetic waves emitted by her wireless network made her nauseous, sick, and exhausted. To the point where walking through her front door would leave h... |
(L-R) Amazon's chief Jeff Bezos, Larry Page of Alphabet, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Vice President elect Mike Pence, President-elect Donald Trump, Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, Tim Cook of Apple and Safra Catz of Oracle attend a meeting at Trump Tower December 14, 2016 in New York. |
On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting the US refugee program for 120 days. The order has indefinitely suspended the intake of refugees from Syria and has blocked all people from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. Reuters reports that ... |
In the run-up to the election and now-President Trump's win, Silicon Valley's leaders frequently positioned themselves with their rhetoric as 2016's new statesmen and were occasionally outspoken against Trump as a candidate. During his transition, many of Big Tech's most prominent leaders met with Trump to discuss his ... |
A source at Google told BuzzFeed News that "just under 200 people at Google affected" by Trump's executive order "but people across the company are freaking out." The source said that employees have emailed managers, suggesting that "if their colleagues affected by the order cannot travel for conferences or work events... |
Meanwhile, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote a memo to staff about the ban, which was obtained by Bloomberg. |
"It’s painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues," Pichai wrote. "We’ve always made our view on immigration issues known publicly and will continue to do so." |
"We’re concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create barriers to bringing great talent to the US. We'll continue to make our views on these issues known to leaders in Washington and elsewhere." |
"As an immigrant and as a CEO, I’ve both experienced and seen the positive impact that immigration has on our company, for the country, and for the world. We will continue to advocate on this important topic." |
Friday night Mark Zuckerberg gently criticized Trump's policies on his Facebook page. The Facebook CEO noted that he's “concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump,” especially the ones related to immigration restriction. |
Saturday afternoon a Facebook spokesperson added a short addendum to Zuckerberg's comment, noting: "We are assessing the impact on our workforce and determining how best to protect our people and their families from any adverse effects." |
Zuckerberg's post, while one of the first from tech executives has been criticized for not being more direct. According to a Facebook employee of Middle Eastern descent, some FB employees are worried and some have called for the company to clarify its relationship to board member Peter Thiel. |
"There are questions here that we want answered. Does Thiel support this ban? Does he think the Facebook employees who come from Iran and those other countries shouldn't be allowed to keep working here? We deserve to know his position on this." |
Palantir — of which Thiel is a co-founder and the largest shareholder — did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the ban. |
Four years of statements designed to appease a liberal workforce while not upsetting the Trump admin is not a good look for Silicon Valley. |
FWD.us, the organization that Zuckerberg said he would be working with to address potential fallout Trump's immigration ban, spoke to BuzzFeed News about the executive order. |
Executive Director, Todd Schulte told BuzzFeed News that FWD.us is focused on helping refugees and H1b visa holders, but the organization’s priority is the impact that Trump’s executive order will have on beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Child Arrival policy. |
“We are very focused on insuring that those 750,000 Dreamers who are benefitting from DACA don’t have their protections removed. They have passed a background check, they are the most integrated parts of the undocumented community into society.” Schulte said that it’s important not to view groups of immigrants in diffe... |
Late Saturday afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, an advisor to President Trump, tweeted that "the blanket entry ban on citizens from certain primarily Muslim countries is not the best way to address the country’s challenges." |
Musk was recently tapped to join the administration’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. He has already been spotted in the White House. |
Many people negatively affected by this policy are strong supporters of the US. They've done right,not wrong & don't deserve to be rejected. |
Saturday afternoon, Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, sent a memo to employees and posted the text to Facebook. |
He writes that, "this ban will impact many innocent people — an issue that I will raise this coming Friday when I go to Washington for President Trump’s first business advisory group meeting." |
Kalanick notes that Uber is reaching out to its drivers who are immigrants that might be affected. "We are working out a process to identify these drivers and compensate them pro bono during the next three months to help mitigate some of the financial stress and complications with supporting their families and putting ... |
An Uber spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Saturday afternoon that the company has reached out to about a dozen employees with green cards and visas who would be affected by the executive order with offers of support, including legal help. |
This week, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider, Uber's CTO denounced Trump, calling him "a deplorable person." Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was recently named as one of 19 executives who will be advising President Trump on economic policies. |
In a Saturday email to employees Logan Green and John Zimmer, co-founders of Silicon Valley ride-hail company Lyft, said they "stand firmly against" Trump's order. |
Yesterday, Trump closed the country’s borders to refugees, immigrants, and even documented residents from around the world based on their country of origin. Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft’s and our nation’s cor... |
It is also not lost on us that many of our community members, their families, and friends may be impacted. We are here for you. Our HR and legal teams are working directly with those affected. We ask that each of you continue to support each other and remember how other community members have been affected. |
"I would not be here writing this if America did not welcome immigrants - especially those fleeing persecution. My grandfather, Richard Stoppelman, fled Nazi Germany and came here as a refugee. He pulled himself up by the bootstraps and eventually was able to live the American Dream. |
It's hard for me to comprehend the underlying motivation and lack of empathy that drove the President's executive order this weekend, but know this... we will do everything in our power to help and protect our affected employees. We will continue to speak out against policies (like the immigration ban) and other action... |
Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings addressed Trump's executive order with a forceful statement on Facebook. "Trump's actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all," he wrote. |
"We are concerned about the impact the recent executive action could have on our employees and our sellers. The contributions of our immigrant-owned small businesses play an important part in our economy and demonstrate the best of this country's values. We stand with them and anyone affected." |
Dorsey, who is also the CEO of Twitter tweeted personally that the executive order will have a real economic and humanitarian impact. |
The executive order signed yesterday has troubling consequences. Internet Association member companies – along with companies in many other industries – include legal immigrant employees who are covered by these recent executive orders and will not be able to return back to their jobs and families in the U.S. |
Twitter also tweeted in support of "immigrants of all religions." |
Airbnb co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky also tweeted his disapproval of the refugee ban. "Let's all find ways to connect people, not separate them," he tweeted. |
In a Facebook post, Chesky elaborated — and announced that his company would be "providing free housing to refugees and anyone else who needs it." |
Amazon, which applied for 2,483 high skilled immigration visas in 2015, and 627 in 2016, declined to comment on the refugee ban to BuzzFeed News. |
But in an email sent to all Amazon employees, VP of human resources Beth Galetti said: "We are committed to supporting all of our employees and anyone in their immediate family who may be impacted by this order, including assistance with legal counsel and support, and will continue to monitor any developments." |
From an email sent today to all Amazon employees by Beth Galetti, Amazon VP of HR. |
President Trump’s recent executive order is not only potentially unconstitutional, but deeply un-American. We are a nation of immigrants, after all. In the tech world, we often talk about a startup’s “unfair advantage” that allows it to beat competitors. Welcoming immigrants and refugees has been our country's unfair a... |
On Monday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent an all-hands note to employees telling them the company is exploring "legal options" to make clear its opposition to the order. |
This executive order is one we do not support. Our public policy team in D.C. has reached out to senior administration officials to make our opposition clear. We’ve also reached out to congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle to explore legislative options. Our legal team has prepared a declaration of support f... |
It continues to be a difficult social and political climate. |
Personally, Scott and I strongly disagree with many of the decisions made in the first week by President Trump, especially those that violate Atlassian’s values and commitment to openness, inclusion, diversity, and acceptance.I believe President Trump’s recent executive order to ban all refugees, visa and green card ho... |
Also issued Sunday, a statement from Intel, which initially declined comment on Trump's refugee ban. |
"We are providing support to potentially impacted employees, all of whom are in this country lawfully. As a company co-founded by an immigrant, we continue to support lawful immigration. We will continue to provide any impacted employees with Intel’s full support." |
SXSW is alarmed by the Trump administration’s decision to ban citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. |
We stand against discriminatory laws and unequivocally support civil rights for all persons everywhere. Participation by speakers, artists, and filmmakers from around the world is crucial to the creative mix of ideas that makes our event meaningful. |
We are working to understand how the ban will impact our participants and how we can use our voice to support those directly affected by this executive order. |
And DoorDash CEO and co-founder Tony Xu posted a public statement. The, company has offered to deliver food for free to any lawyers, advocates, etc working over the weekend to support immigrants and refugees. "We've put the call out via Twitter and will place orders for anyone that takes us up on the offer," the compan... |
25 years ago, my family and I immigrated to America with less than $300 to our names. Today, more than ever, DoorDash stands with all people working to come to America in search of a better life. |
At best President Trump’s #muslimban is a misguided, blunt solution to a complicated, nuanced problem; at worst, it is a racial attack that only further divides the country. It’s already clear that this decision will not do what it intends; rather it will make life harder for millions of people, including our customers... |
We strongly urge the U.S. administration to withdraw the recent executive order restricting travel and immigration from certain nations, and closing the doors to many refugees. |
@karaswisher I'm not a tech leader, but count me in. |
On every level -moral, humanitarian, economic, logical, etc.- this ban is wrong and is completely antithetical to the principles of America. |
Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox rival Box, criticized Trump's order as well. |
I believe this decision fundamentally contradicts our company's values and America's values. |
We have employees from the named countries. Fortunately, to our knowledge, none of them are currently traveling outside of the U.S. However, we don't yet have information about the potential impact on direct family members of those employees. |
This situation is still evolving, and as of this evening a Federal judge in New York granted an immediate stay on certain aspects of the Executive Order. |
If you are from one of the above listed countries, regardless of your work status (green card or visa), we believe you should not travel outside the U.S. until further notice. |
If you or your direct family members are currently traveling outside the U.S. and have concerns about returning, please reach out immediately to MyHR. In addition, because it is possible that other countries could be added to the ban, we suggest that you contact MyHR if you have questions about whether you should trave... |
While we support President Trump’s efforts to grow our economy and allow ‘people of great talent’ to come into the U.S., the executive order signed yesterday has troubling consequences...We maintain our support for immigration reform and will work with Congress and the Trump Administration on this important issue for f... |
The music streaming company has also compiled a playlist of refugee musicians dubbed "The Refugee Playlist." A link within the playlist leads to the International Rescue Committee. |
Spotify did not respond to questions about what it is advising its employees to do in light of the order. |
My family & I, & 1000s of Soviet Jews like us came to US as refugees in '91 running from regime that persecuted us because of who we were. |
As a nation of immigrants, we must not close our doors to refugees, and all those willing to contribute to America's success. |
Laszlo Bock, another well-known Silicon Valley veteran and former head of people ops at Google, also tweeted about his personal experience as a refugee. |
The CEO and co-founder of Twilio wrote a long post on Medium on Saturday afternoon, calling the ban "UnAmerican" and offering concrete steps to take action. |
Yesterday, that beacon of hope and freedom was extinguished, exactly when humanity needs it the most. Globally there are over 60,000,000 displaced people, more than any time since World War II. And today we turned our backs on them. |
GoFundMe's CEO Rob Solomon wrote in a statement to BuzzFeed News that the company "believe[s] this new policy is counter to American values." |
America is a nation of immigrants, made up of folks from all walks of life, from places all around the world, who are woven into the very fabric of our communities and cities from coast to coast. Immigrants have enriched our nation and strengthened American values for generations. Immigrants are not only part of our co... |
On Sunday morning, Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta said that, in addition to donating $100,000 to the ACLU, the company is offering immigration counseling to employees and their families and working to expedite green card and visa applications for employees who are permanent residents of Mexico and Canada. |
Green cards take years, sometimes decades to get. Intense process. Invalidating them and stranding residents outside is truly terrible. |
On Twitter, some have called for major websites and platforms to blackout their sites in protest. In January 2012, in response to the Stop Online Privacy Act, sites like Wikipedia, Tumblr and Reddit blacked out their sites in protest. |
When net neutrality was the issue, Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, Reddit, Tumblr, etc. had a blackout, and it worked. This is far more grave. |
...At a minimum, companies should take a public stance. But talking is only somewhat effective, and employees should push their companies to figure out what actions they can take. I wish I had better ideas here, but we’re going to have a meeting on Friday at Y Combinator to discuss. I’d love to see other tech companies... |
In an email on Saturday afternoon, Altman also told BuzzFeed News, "We are doing some research/brainstorming this week and then meeting internally on Friday as a team about what to do." |
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