Fiery House hearing ends in guilty ruling for Cherfilus-McCormick; Axios, March 27, 2026

 Andrew Solender , Axios; Fiery House hearing ends in guilty ruling for Cherfilus-McCormick

"A bipartisan panel of House Ethics Committee members found Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick(D-Fla.) guilty of financial misconduct and other charges on summary judgment following a testy, hourslong hearing.

Why it matters: The Ethics Committee will meet in mid-April to decide on appropriate punitive action, which could include fines, censure or even expulsion.

• Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has said he plans to force a vote on expelling Cherfilus-McCormickas so on as the Ethics Committee process wraps up.
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• House Democratic leadership has argued such a step should not be taken until Cherfilus-McCormick's criminal trial is resolved — though their members are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation.
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• Cherfilus-McCormick, for her part, has maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty to the charges against her in her criminal campaign finance case."

Wake County Library Makes It Harder to Ban Books; IndyWeek, March 16, 2022

 Jasmine Gallup, IndyWeek; Wake County Library Makes It Harder to Ban Books

"Wake County’s Community Services program manager Frank Cope replied that if a book was challenged on the grounds of “obscenity” or another First Amendment concern, the library would consult the county attorney’s office. Leaders plan to add a provision to the policy clarifying how and when a lawyer will be involved in book challenges.

The American Library Association advises that libraries have a lawyer on retainer to consult on legal issues, Caldwell-Stone says. But there are some potential snags in using the county attorney to fill that role.

“There’s a conflict of interest, especially when there are elected officials arguing a book should be pulled and you have the county attorney make a decision,” Caldwell-Stone says. “It should be independent legal counsel that doesn’t also represent the police department and the county government.”"

A Copyright Coup in Washington; Wall Street Journal, 11/2/16

Wall Street Journal; A Copyright Coup in Washington:

"Ms. Hayden is now looking for a copyright office successor, and don’t be surprised if she chooses someone whose experience includes time at Google. This is reason enough for Congress to take a look: If the position is open to political influence, then the register should be politically accountable—and report to elected officials, not the nation’s librarian.

Perhaps these are all coincidences and Ms. Hayden merely botched a personnel dispute. But she now has an opening to install a register friendly to Google, and anyone tempted to write off the Pallante dispute as bureaucratic squabbling should remember: The company’s goal is to defenestrate laws that protect property. The guarantee to own what you create is the reason entrepreneurs take the risks that power the economy—a reason guys like Larry Page and Sergey Brin start Google."