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Sinn Féin report on government issues hoped to be delivered before Christmas, Mary Lou says
BY MELISSA GOLDIN Social media users are misrepresenting a Vermont Supreme Court ruling , claiming that it gives schools permission to vaccinate children even if their parents do not consent. The ruling addressed a lawsuit filed by Dario and Shujen Politella against Windham Southeast School District and state officials over the mistaken vaccination of their child against COVID-19 in 2021, when he was 6 years old. A lower court had dismissed the original complaint, as well as an amended version. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was filed on Nov. 19. But the ruling by Vermont’s high court is not as far-reaching as some online have claimed. In reality, it concluded that anyone protected under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, or PREP, Act is immune to state lawsuits. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that schools can vaccinate children against their parents’ wishes. THE FACTS: The claim stems from a July 26 ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court, which found that anyone protected by the PREP Act is immune to state lawsuits, including the officials named in the Politella’s suit. The ruling does not authorize schools to vaccinate children at their discretion. According to the lawsuit, the Politella’s son — referred to as L.P. — was given one dose of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic held at Academy School in Brattleboro even though his father, Dario, told the school’s assistant principal a few days before that his son was not to receive a vaccination. In what officials described as a mistake, L.P. was removed from class and had a “handwritten label” put on his shirt with the name and date of birth of another student, L.K., who had already been vaccinated that day. L.P. was then vaccinated. Ultimately, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that officials involved in the case could not be sued. “We conclude that the PREP Act immunizes every defendant in this case and this fact alone is enough to dismiss the case,” the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling reads. “We conclude that when the federal PREP Act immunizes a defendant, the PREP Act bars all state-law claims against that defendant as a matter of law.” The PREP Act , enacted by Congress in 2005, authorizes the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a declaration in the event of a public health emergency providing immunity from liability for activities related to medical countermeasures, such as the administration of a vaccine, except in cases of “willful misconduct” that result in “death or serious physical injury.” A declaration against COVID-19 was issued on March 17, 2020. It is set to expire on Dec. 31. Federals suits claiming willful misconduct are filed in Washington. Social media users described the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling as having consequences beyond what it actually says. “The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that schools can force-vaccinate children for Covid against the wishes of their parents,” reads one X post that had been liked and shared approximately 16,600 times as of Tuesday. “The high court ruled on a case involving a 6-year-old boy who was forced to take a Covid mRNA injection by his school. However, his family had explicitly stated that they didn’t want their child to receive the ‘vaccines.’” Other users alleged that the ruling gives schools permission to give students any vaccine without parental consent, not just ones for COVID-19. Rod Smolla, president of the Vermont Law and Graduate School and an expert on constitutional law, told The Associated Press that the ruling “merely holds that the federal statute at issue, the PREP Act, preempts state lawsuits in cases in which officials mistakenly administer a vaccination without consent.” “Nothing in the Vermont Supreme Court opinion states that school officials can vaccinate a child against the instructions of the parent,” he wrote in an email. Related Articles National News | Eminem’s mother Debbie Nelson, whose rocky relationship fueled the rapper’s lyrics, dies at age 69 National News | Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers’ subpoenas over Trump case National News | Are you a former SmileDirectClub customer? You might be eligible for a refund National News | Justice Department announces sweeping reforms to curb suicides in federal prisons and jails National News | Defense makes closing argument in murder trial of Cash App founder Bob Lee Asked whether the claims spreading online have any merit, Ronald Ferrara, an attorney representing the Politellas, told the AP that although the ruling doesn’t say schools can vaccinate students regardless of parental consent, officials could interpret it to mean that they could get away with doing so under the PREP Act, at least when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. He explained that the U.S. Supreme Court appeal seeks to clarify whether the Vermont Supreme Court interpreted the PREP Act beyond what Congress intended. “The Politella’s fundamental liberty interest to decide whether their son should receive elective medical treatment was denied by agents of the State and School,” he wrote in an email to the AP. “The Vermont Court misconstrues the scope of PREP Act immunity (which is conditioned upon informed consent for medical treatments unapproved by FDA), to cover this denial of rights and its underlying battery.” Ferrara added that he was not aware of the claims spreading online, but that he “can understand how lay people may conflate the court’s mistaken grant of immunity for misconduct as tantamount to blessing such misconduct.”
Letters to The Editor — November 26, 2024
Social media users are misrepresenting a report by the Justice Department inspector general’s office, falsely claiming that it’s proof the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The examined a number of areas, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. Claims spreading online focus on the report’s finding that 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who had been tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the events. Although 17 of those informants either entered the Capitol or a restricted area around the building during the riot, none of the 26 total informants were authorized to do so by the bureau, according to the report. Nor were they authorized to otherwise break the law or encourage others to do so. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: A December 2024 report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General is proof that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a setup by the FBI. THE FACTS: That’s false. The report found that no undercover FBI employees were at the riot on Jan. 6 and that none of the bureau’s informants were authorized to participate. Informants, also known as confidential human sources, work with the FBI to provide information, but are not on the bureau’s payroll. Undercover agents are employed by the FBI. According to the report, 26 informants were in Washington on Jan. 6 in connection with the day’s events. FBI field offices only informed the Washington Field Office or FBI headquarters of five informants that were to be in the field on Jan. 6. Of the total 26 informants, four entered the Capitol during the riot and an additional 13 entered a restricted area around the Capitol. But none were authorized to do so by the FBI, nor were they given permission to break other laws or encourage others to do the same. The remaining nine informants did not engage in any illegal activities. None of the 17 informants who entered the Capitol or surrounding restricted area have been prosecuted, the report says. A footnote states that after reviewing a draft of the report, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington said that it “generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on January 6, 2021 was to enter restricted grounds surrounding the Capitol, which has resulted in the Office declining to charge hundreds of individuals; and we have treated the CHSs consistent with this approach.” The assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office’s counterterrorism division told the inspector general’s office that he “denied a request from an FBI office to have an undercover employee engage in investigative activity on January 6.” He, along with then-Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono, said that FBI policy prohibits undercover employees at First Amendment-protected events without investigative authority. Many social media users drew false conclusions from the report’s findings. “JANUARY 6th WAS A SETUP!” reads one X post that had received more than 11,400 likes and shares as of Friday. “New inspector general report shows that 26 FBI/DOJ confidential sources were in the crowd on January 6th, and some of them went into the Capitol and restricted areas. Is it a coincidence that Wray put in his resignation notice yesterday? TREASON!” The mention of Wray’s resignation refers to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s announcement Wednesday that he at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January. Other users highlighted the fact that there were 26 FBI informants in Washington on Jan. 6, but omitted key information about the findings of the report. These claims echo a advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters determined to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the Capitol in a violent clash with police. The report knocks that theory down. such theories “ludicrous” at a congressional hearing last year. Asked for comment on the false claims spreading online, Stephanie Logan, a spokesperson for the inspector general’s office, pointed The Associated Press to a about the report. In addition to its findings about the the FBI’s involvement on Jan. 6, the report said that the FBI, in an action its now-deputy director described as a “basic step that was missed,” failed to canvass informants across all 56 of its field offices for any relevant intelligence ahead of time. That was a step, the report concluded, “that could have helped the FBI and its law enforcement partners with their preparations in advance of January 6.” However, it did credit the bureau for preparing for the possibility of violence and for trying to identify known “domestic terrorism subjects” who planned to come to Washington that day. The FBI said in a letter responding to the report that it accepts the inspection general’s recommendation “regarding potential process improvements for future events.”Olivia Olson scored 18 points, including eight straight to open the fourth quarter, as the No. 23 Michigan Wolverines survived a 60-54 scare from the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten opener for each team in Ann Arbor, Mich. Northwestern (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten) led throughout the third quarter and took a four-point lead into the fourth, but Olson capped her 8-0 burst with a 3-pointer, and Syla Swords also nailed a trey to put the Wolverines (8-1, 1-0) ahead 50-44. Michigan has won eight straight games since opening the season with a six-point loss to then-No. 1 South Carolina. Caileigh Walsh's 3-pointer put the Wildcats back in front 53-52 with 3:36 to go. Michigan responded by scoring eight of the game's last nine points, six by Jordan Hobbs. Hobbs finished with 16 points and teammate Mila Holloway had 10. Kyla Jones led Northwestern with 14 points and Walsh notched 10 before fouling out. No. 4 Texas 93, James Madison 62 Madison Booker, Jordan Lee and Rori Harmon dominated the first half as the Longhorns clobbered the host Dukes in Harrisonburg, Va. Booker scored 21 points, Lee added 20 and Harmon 19 by combining on 25-of-33 shooting. They had 49 of their points in the first half as Texas (7-1) piled up a 58-29 halftime lead. The Longhorns, who entered seventh in the nation in scoring at 90 points per game, shot 54 percent for the game to 40 percent for the Dukes. Roshala Scott led James Madison (7-3) with 22 points and Peyton McDaniel and Ashanti Barnes had 12 apiece. McDaniel added eight rebounds for the Dukes, who had 24 turnovers. No. 10 Notre Dame 93, Syracuse 62 The Fighting Irish pulled away from a seven-point halftime lead to demolish the host Orange in the ACC opener for both schools. The trio of Sonia Citron, Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles led Notre Dame's win with double-doubles. Citron had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Hidalgo racked up 24 and 10, respectively, and Miles shone with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Hidalgo, third in Division I in scoring (24.6 ppg), netted nine points and Citron had eight in the third quarter, as Notre Dame (7-2, 1-0 ACC) outscored Syracuse (4-6, 0-1) 29-13 to pull away. Keira Scott posted 16 points and Sophie Burrows tacked on 13 for the Orange, who shot only 32.5 percent. The Irish shot 50 percent and thrived despite 20 turnovers. No. 16 North Carolina 72, Coppin State 46 The Tar Heels built a comfortable halftime lead and used its bench players freely in devouring the Eagles in Chapel Hill, N.C. North Carolina (9-1) entered second-best in the nation in scoring defense at 49.1 points per game and excelled again, holding Coppin State to 27.3 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels shot 44.4 percent while having 12 players enter the scoring column, led by Maria Gakdeng's 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Reniya Kelly scored six of her eight points in the first quarter as North Carolina took a 23-13 lead. The Tar Heels grew the lead to 46-27 by intermission. Tiffany Hammond and Angel Jones scored 12 points apiece for Coppin State (6-5), and Laila Lawrence added 10 points with 10 rebounds. No. 18 Ole Miss 85, Tennessee State 38 The Rebels had more points by halftime than the Lady Tigers scored in the game after jumping out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter and 44-19 by intermission. Kennedy Todd-Williams led Ole Miss (6-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds, and Sira Thienou added 12 and six, respectively. The Rebels shot 46 percent for the game. Ole Miss began the day seventh in the nation in scoring defense at 49.8 points allowed per game, and it punished Tennessee State to the tune of 23.6 percent shooting and 22 forced turnovers. XaiOnna Whitfield led the Lady Tigers (4-6) with 10 points. No. 20 Iowa State 82, Central Michigan 56 Audi Crooks scored 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds as the Cyclones slammed the Chippewas in Ames, Iowa. Emily Ryan netted 10 of her 12 points in the first quarter and Crooks scored nine in the period as Iowa State (8-2) jumped out to a 31-13 lead and enjoyed a cushion of at least 18 points the rest of the way. Addy Brown added 18 points for the Cyclones, who shot 52.5 percent and rolled despite having 20 turnovers. Jayda Mosley led Central Michigan (3-6) with 11 points and Madi Morson and Ayanna-Sarai Darrington added 10 apiece. The Chippewas shot only 33.3 percent from the floor and had 26 turnovers. No. 24 Michigan State 89, DePaul 61 The unbeaten Spartans put four scorers in double figures as they systematically disposed of the Blue Demons in East Lansing, Mich. Jaddan Simmons finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Julia Ayrault stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals for Michigan State (9-0). Emma Shumate and Jocelyn Tate had 12 and 10 points, respectively. Jorie Allen put up 15 points, 11 boards, seven assists and three steals and Grace Carstensen also notched 15 points for DePaul (3-7), which shot just 28.8 percent despite hitting 9 of 18 of its 3-point attempts. The Spartans led by seven after one quarter and 17 at halftime before coasting through the second half. No. 25 Nebraska 84, Minnesota 65 Strong first quarters by Callin Hake and Amiah Hargrove sent the Cornhuskers on their way to pinning the first loss on the Golden Gophers in the Big Ten Conference opener for each team. Hake scored eight of her 11 points in the first period and Hargrove eight of her 10 as Nebraska (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) seized a 27-11 lead and never looked back. Hargrove scored eight of the Cornhuskers' 10 straight points to end the quarter. Alberte Rimdal led the winners with 12 points and Alexis Markowski added 11 with nine rebounds. Mallory Heyer collected 12 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota (10-1, 0-1). Tori McKinney scored 11 points and Grace Crocholski and Alexsia Rose 10 apiece, but the Golden Gophers hit just 35.2 percent of their shots. --Field Level Media
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