ACTs

SACRAMENTO — U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III announced today that he will resign at the end of July or in early August.

He told a news conference that an independent prosecutor investigating his personal financial affairs had found no grounds for legal action against him and therefore he could leave the Reagan Administration with a clear name.

“I have stated that I would not resign under a cloud or until I was completely vindicated,” Meese said, adding that the filing of a report by independent counsel James McKay–rather than an indictment–”fully vindicates me.”

Meese’s tenure at the Justice Department has been marked by repeated controversy surrounding his conduct and marred by resignations by senior personnel.

Won’t Be ‘Hounded’

Explaining why he had now decided to resign, Meese, who has always maintained his innocence, declared, “to allow myself to be hounded out of office by false accusations or allegations, unjust political attacks and media clamor would undermine the integrity of our system of justice which I have championed. . . . “

He said: “I have informed the President that I will be leaving the Administration towards the end of July or early in August.”

Earlier today, McKay ended his investigation of Meese without bringing criminal charges, but filed a report that raised questions about Meese’s ethics.

Sources close to the nearly 14-month-old probe said the secret report, totaling more than 800 pages, referred certain matters on Meese’s ethical behavior to the Justice Department for further review.

The department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the agency’s internal ethics unit, is expected to review whether Meese violated federal ethics rules that prohibit actions that create the appearance of impropriety.

Allegations Detailed

McKay, who previously said he had insufficient evidence to indict Meese on most key matters under scrutiny, detailed in the report his probe into various conflict-of-interest charges against the attorney general.

It was filed under seal with a special panel of three federal appeals court judges. After Meese’s defense attorneys comment on the report, the judges will decide when to release it.

Meese, the nation’s top law enforcement officer who had President Reagan’s continued support throughout the inquiry, has denied any wrongdoing.

Most of McKay’s investigation centered on action Meese took as a government official that benefited his longtime friend and former lawyer, E. Robert Wallach, and on assistance that Wallach extended to Meese.

Wallach has been indicted on charges of attempting to illegally influence Meese and other government officials in helping win lucrative government contracts for the scandal-plagued Wedtech Corp., a defense contractor.

The most serious charge against Meese involved his role in a failed Iraqi oil pipeline deal that allegedly called for payoffs of as much as $700 million over 10 years to Israel and the Israeli Labor Party.

Meese received a secret 1985 memo from Wallach, who represented one of the project’s promoters, outlining the alleged payoff plan in return for an Israeli commitment not to attack the pipeline.

Meese then helped set up a meeting between a top White House national security adviser and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to discuss the project.

Telephone Contacts Probed

McKay also investigated Meese’s meetings with regional Bell Telephone company executives while holding $14,000 in phone stock.

Most of us associate Thurgood Marshall with the long struggle for rights for African-Americans–with his two decades of leadership of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, his victories against restrictive covenants in housing and school segregation, especially his great victory of advocacy in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. But it is a mistake to think of him, on or off the Supreme Court, in such a narrow framework.

Marshall’s focus has always been far more inclusive than African-Americans. His concern is with all people who do not enjoy the full benefits of a free society. His commitment has consistently been to the common man or woman; to the belief that government and society must permit each individual to achieve to the limits of his or her intellectual and creative ability; to the elimination of artificial barriers of bias, prejudice, arbitrary authority or paternalism; to the proposition that the ordinary person, whatever his or her color or sex, needs the protection of law.

History will remember Marshall more for his years of advocacy than his years as a Supreme Court justice. His is a career built more on passion than intellect, though intellect and eloquence he possesses in abundance. He will be thought of as a “liberal” by those who assign labels. Yet, fundamentally, he is in his passion for the individual a conservative, a democrat who cannot tolerate the arbitrary acts of governmental bureaucracy in its unconcern for individual rights. Most of all, he is and always has been, on and off the bench, the advocate of ordinary people.

Consider these words from a dissent and ask who else could have written them: “It may be easy for some people to think that weekly savings of less than $2 are no burden. But no one who has had close contact with poor people can fail to understand how close to the margin of survival many of them are. A sudden illness, for example, may destroy whatever savings they may have accumulated, and by eliminating a sense of security may destroy the incentive to save in the future. A pack or two of cigarettes may be, for them, not a routine purchase but a luxury indulged in only rarely. The desperately poor almost never go to see a movie, which the majority seems to believe is an almost weekly activity. They have more important things to do with what little money they have. . . .

“It is perfectly proper for judges to disagree about what the Constitution requires. But it is disgraceful for an interpretation of the Constitution to be premised upon unfounded assumptions about how people live.”

And consider, too, this view of the Constitution written in its bicentennial year: “The true miracle was not the birth of the Constitution, but its life, a life nurtured through two turbulent centuries of our own making, and a life embodying much good fortune that was not.”

Marshall’s era was marked by the removal of barriers unconstitutionally built on racial bias, of the expansion of fights for all individuals irrespective of race or sex. Now the pendulum swings away from individual rights toward more deference to governmental authority.

Whether writing for the court majority or in dissent, his is a voice that all of us, liberal or conservative, should miss.

A Madrid judge demanded that the Airbnbs, all located in the same city-centre building in the Spanish capital, must close down due to “the illicit and unsanitary activities”

Ten holiday flats have been shut down after a family was tormented by the guests, it has been reported.

A Madrid judge demanded that the Airbnbs, all located in the same city-centre building, must close down due to “the illicit and unsanitary activities” that had taken place there, The Guardian reported.

Vomiting and sex in the communal areas, as well as drunken, destructive, and lewd guest behaviour, had caused one family stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights. This was judged to have inflicted psychological damage on the family, which includes two children, and violated their fundamental right to privacy.

Two years ago, the family hired lawyer Miguel Angel Rubio after their efforts to stop the chaos via the council and the flat owners failed, it was reported.

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The lawyer documented the misery they had to endure, including guests having sex in the communal areas and vomiting in the courtyard of the 60-flat block close to Plaza Mayor. A security guard had to be hired after lift fittings and mailboxes were broken, and multiple police visits were made.

“The family came to me and told me that they’d been to the police who’d come with a decibel meter and had fined the owners €16,000. But the problem is that [the companies that own these flats and others] can make more than €150,000 in rents in a single weekend, so a €16,000 fine is nothing for them. So I had to bring a case on the grounds that the family’s fundamental rights were being violated – and it succeeded,” Mr Rubio said, The Guardian reported.

Around 75% of the flats in the block were holiday lets. “The family have one tourist flat above them, another below them, and more tourist flats near their bedrooms,” the lawyer added.

Madrid’s 44th Court of First Instance ruling—that the flats must stop being used as holiday lets—is a significant one, as the properties were registered legally but their presence was judged to infringe on the family’s rights.

In the ruling, the judge noted “the constant noise, the breaking of shared fixtures, the filling of the lobby with suitcases at all hours, and the presence of shopping trolleys filled with towels,” before the family were awarded €37,000 in damages.

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Mr Rubio claimed they had been the victims of “real estate bullying,” as they’d been offered “ridiculous” amounts by property firms involved in the holiday let business to sell their apartment, 20Minutos reported.

The judge rejected the rental owners’ claims that the family was only experiencing the same kind of day-to-day disruption any neighbour could expect. “The actions were not merely irritating but also unsanitary, indecent, and even illegal,” the judge added.

Last week, Spain introduced a new register for holiday lets, which saw a huge number of properties deemed illegal. Around 20% of the total holiday lets in the country have been removed.

The iconic New York jazz club Blue Note announced Tuesday the opening slate of shows for its long-awaited Los Angeles location, which includes Robert Glasper, Charlie Puth and Killer Mike. After delays caused by construction and permitting in the wake of L.A.’s January fires, the venue will open its doors in mid-August with local favorite Robert Glasper christening the new venue Aug. 14 and 15.

Located in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard and Ivar Avenue, the celebrated jazz institution is rolling out a roster of A-list artists in jazz and other genres. Following Glasper’s two opening shows, Grammy nominee Alex Isley will headline Aug. 16 and 17.

The first month is particularly stacked, as the team behind the Blue Note is taking the responsibility of introducing the ethos and the way they do shows to an L.A. audience very seriously.

Like the New York Blue Note location (the brand has clubs around the world, including in Napa, Tokyo and Honolulu), artists will be doing two shows a night. Both Blue Note Entertainment President Steven Bensusan and Director of Programming/Talent Buyer Alex Kurland have emphasized that the L.A. location will reflect a local vibe, including in the acts they book.

Among the first run of shows will be a heavy slate of local artists, including Terrace Martin with guest Kenyon Dixon Aug. 19 and 20, Braxton Cook Sept. 9 and 10, Kamasi Washington Sept. 30 to Oct. 5 and Oct. 7 to 12, Keyon Harrold Nov. 18 and 19 and many more.

The rest of the released schedule, which runs into 2026, features a stellar array of jazz luminaries such as Branford Marsalis Oct. 21 and 22, Esperanza Spalding Sept. 2 to 7, Ravi Coltrane Aug. 28 to 31, Kenny Garrett Sept. 11 to 14, Cimafunk Nov. 20 and 21, and a Lady Blackbird residency multiple dates.

Also sticking to the Blue Note ethos, there is a healthy dose of musicians from a variety of genres, such as Charlie Puth Oct. 16 to 19, Andra Day Nov. 28 to 30, Killer Mike Sept. 19 to 21, Slum Village Oct. 20, Ben Folds Dec. 11, Mayer Hawthorne Aug. 25 and more.