Spectrum WOUB Public Media

Both Diddy and former President Donald Trump have had their properties searched by law enforcement authorities pursuant to search warrants.

Diddy just recently had his properties searched by Homeland Security and in August 2022, Trump had his Mar-a-Lago home searched by the FBI.

Both searches took place after judges reviewed sworn affidavits from law enforcement officers alleging that evidence of criminal activity was present at the locations.

Judges then issued the warrants for gathering evidence of potential crimes. In Trump’s case, the warrant called for the seizure of the allegedly classified documents from Trump’s Florida residence.

Trump’s search warrant was issued after numerous requests and a subpoena for the return of the documents were unsuccessful.

Subpoenas and search warrants are often confusing to the average citizen. It is sometimes difficult to understand the difference. They also should not be construed, alone, as indicators of crimes.

On this edition of Spectrum, host and retired judge Tom Hodson joins with legal analyst and retired judge Gayle Williams-Byers to explain subpoenas and search warrants in understandable terms.

They talk about how they are issued, executed, and enforced if there is noncompliance.

They explain the complexities of these legal processes by using simple examples to which all people can relate.

Retired judges Gayle Williams-Byers and Tom Hodson dissect Donald Trump’s legal issues into understandable terms for the public.

In this episode, they examine two recent rulings by Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Georgia concerning the dismissal of six counts from the multicount, multiparty Trump indictment.

They also explain Judge McAfee’s ruling allowing Prosecutor Fani Willis to remain on the case against the former President and his co-defendants.

Judges Byers and Hodson use understandable language and examples to break down complex legal motions and rulings.

Both think it is important for the public to understand what is going on in the courts and both think the mainstream media is not doing an adequate job of deciphering crucial terms and legal proceedings.

“People don’t trust what they don’t understand,” said Judge Byers. So, these retired judges have committed themselves to raising the public’s level of understanding.

Besides both being former jurists, Judge Byers was a former Assistant Prosecutor and Judge Hodson was a former defense attorney. Therefore, they also can give insights into various attorney strategies taking place in the cases.

In addition to talking about Georgia in this episode, the judicial duo also discusses pretrial judicial rulings in the Mar-a-Lago document case against former President Trump.

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Stephen A. Goldman tackles postwar life of Union Civil War soldiers and their commitment to social change.

In his book, One More War to Fight: Union Veteran’ Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Lost Cause, Dr. Goldman delves into how Union veterans’ obligation to their country did not end when they returned home. It had only just begun.

Using primary sources and firsthand accounts, the book explores the role of military soldiers after returning to civilian life and the fight against racism.

Dr. Goldman examines the contentious post-Civil War period and the role of former soldiers in effectuating social change.

He examines the commitment of both white and African American veterans to completing the “unfinished” business” of the War as President Abraham Lincoln termed it.

He looks at the contentious post-Civil War period from the perspective of former Union soldiers who survived the war to carry on the fight for equality in decades to come.

Dr. Goldman, as a psychiatrist, has spent decades treating and working with combat veterans. This gives him a unique perspective that he shares with us in his book.

You can read more about One More War to Fight at https://www.stephenagoldmanmd.com/.

Ohio, like most states, has vast regions that have too few lawyers based upon population needs.

In Ohio, 82 of the 88 counties do not have adequate representation. Only the top six urban counties meet the standard of one lawyer per 700 people, says Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy of the Supreme Court of Ohio

That leaves 6.5 million people or 56 percent of Ohio’s population without access to attorneys to meet their basic legal needs such as issues related to health care, housing, food assistance, criminal defense and cases involving children, including custody, neglect, and abuse.

For example, Vinton County, Ohio only has two lawyers for a county population of 12,000 people, according to Chief Justice Kennedy.

To help solve this problem, Ohio is launching a pilot program to bring young lawyers to these underserved areas. There is a partnership between the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation and the Supreme Court of Ohio to ease the crisis.

Third year law students and lawyers who have been licensed less than eight years who want to practice in one of the underserved counties can work for a prosecutor’s office, a public defender, or take court appointed cases totaling 520 hours per year.

If they apply to the program and qualify, the attorneys can earn between $30,000 and $50,000 toward repaying student loans. There is a three-year commitment with $10,000 being paid each year with the possibility of extending the term for two additional years.

If this program is successful, then the partners will work to expand the program and possibly try other incentives to fill the lawyer gap. Other states also will be monitoring Ohio’s efforts.

If interested, you may apply by March 15, 2024.

For more information go to: https://highered.ohio.gov/initiatives/workforce-development/rural-practice-incentive-program#HowtoApply

At the end of each year, the editors and staff of the MIT Technology Review select the top 10 new technologies that will breakthrough in the coming year.

The list is prepared and published to give the average person a glimpse of what is on the horizon and what might be incorporated into our daily lives, according to Amy Nordrum, executive editor.

Besides being executive editor, Nordrum also is a frequent guest on WNYC and NPR’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow.

The Review staff spends months discussing and analyzing what might be hot for the next 12 months. In addition, the Review allows readers to vote on an 11th addition to the list. That selection will be revealed in April.

To further educate the public, Nordrum added in December five things that were not put on the 2024 Breakthrough list but items that should be watched.

In this podcast episode, Nordrum breaks down each of the selections and explains its importance in understandable terms.

Some items she describes are:

· A-I for everything

· Apple Vision Pro

· 1st Gene Editing Treatment

· Weight Loss Drugs

· Twitter Killers

On the list of five items left out, she discusses:

· New drugs for Alzheimer’s disease

· Sustainable aviation fuel

· Male to male reproduction.

Listen to the podcast to hear her description of each breakthrough, and visit their website to see more:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/01/08/1085094/10-breakthrough-technologies-2024/

There are mutual obsessions between the news media who cover former President Donald Trump and Donald Trump and the news media.

Both rely on the other and both benefit from the other. The news media makes money off covering Trump and Trump gets unending publicity from the news media, regardless of his activities or misstatements of facts.

This unholy alliance is unhealthy for the true dissemination of news and for our democracy, according to Dr. Michael Bugeja, Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University.

While networks like Fox, MSNBC and CNN are singularly focused on Trump’s every move, other news events no longer get covered, says Bugeja.

Instead of news on national and international levels, we get a constant diet of analysis from all political viewpoints, he adds. Analysis and speculations on what might happen next have replaced hard news coverage of truly breaking events.

We also are bereft of local news coverage in many parts of the country, leading to a true news void.

As a result, people have migrated to their own media silos for opinions that match our own and the general public becomes more ignorant about true news and news events.

Bugeja also notes that the news media are ill equipped to cover a possible autocracy if Trump gets elected in November 2024.

In a recent article for Poynter, a think-tank for journalists, Bugeja said:

“Tenets about impartiality and balance do not apply when covering autocracy. Journalists cannot hold a tyrant accountable by framing his viewpoint as one side of a partisan story.”

Many experts, quoted by Bugeja, fear retribution towards journalist if Trump is re-elected and overt attacks being made on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

He strongly suggests that Americans need to prepare themselves to fight an autocracy by reading and understanding the powers within our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

For more articles by Dr. Bugeja: https://www.poynter.org/author/michael-bugeja/