All posts by Myca Hinton

Myca is a Communications Media Studies and Theater Performance graduate from Fordham University. When she's not on stage or typing away at her laptop, you can find her on all social media platforms, serving GenZ as their Media Maven by providing them news and political commentary.
BIPOC, Breaking News, National

President Joe Biden wipes $10K of student loan debt away for almost 43 million

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – (MTN) Fulfilling his campaign trail promise, President Joe Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plan early Wednesday afternoon.

President Biden forgave or canceled the expected $10,000 in federal student loans for those who make less than $125,000 a year or $250,000 for married couples and heads of households. According to the Education Department, the relief is capped at the amount of a borrower’s outstanding eligible debt. In his Tweet, the president also extended the payment pause on federal student loans for “one last and final time” through December 31, 2022. But in one surprising move, President Biden also canceled an additional $10,000 for recipients of Pell Grants.

According to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz, at least 9 million Americans could have their balances entirely cleared by Biden’s plan. More than 40 million Americans are in debt after perusing higher education, accumulating about $1.7 trillion. Biden’s plan for student loan forgiveness will cost the federal government an estimated $300 billion but could prove to be less than that, as most debt is rarely paid in full. In 2019, about half of borrowers were in repayment. Roughly 10 million Americans, 1 in 5 student debt holders, were in delinquency or default. The rest had applied for temporary relief, including deferments and forbearances, and this was before the pandemic relief payment pause was put in place.

Loan forgiveness is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2023. The White House fact sheet, mentioned those who meet the income requirements could fill out a simple application. There currently isn’t a date for when the application will open, but you can subscribe for notification at the Department of Education subscription page.

This initative has been a long time in the making and will help millions of Americans tackle their debt.

BIPOC, National

Federal civil rights charges leveled against four Louisville cops in Breonna Taylor case

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – MTN After almost two years of radio silence on the Breonna Taylor case, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced four Louisville Metro police officers involved in the fatal 2020 no-knock warrant raid on Taylor’s apartment had been charged with violating her civil rights. The four officers charged were Detective Joshua Jaynes, Detective Kelly Goodlett, Sargent Kyle Meany, and Brett Hankinson.

Attorney General Garland said the Department of Justice alleges that the civil rights violations “resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.” Late on Friday, detective Goodlett announced through their attorney they would be entering a guilty plea on one count of falsifying an affidavit.

The federal charges allege that members of the Place-Based Investigations unit falsified an affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home,” Garland also mentioned that the search warrant was sought after, despite officers knowing they lacked probable cause for the search. The investigation into the conduct of the officers found Jaynes and Goodlett falsely claimed officers verified the target of the warrant had received packages with drugs at Taylor’s address.

Detective Goodlett, who was is a member of the Louisville police unit that investigated drug trafficking, and Meany, who supervised the unit, were charged with falsifying an affidavit. Detective Jaynes procured the warrant used in the search of 26-year-old Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020. Jaynes and Goodlett are accused of misleading FBI investigators who were looking into the deadly shooting. Former officer Hankison was charged with using excessive force while executing the search warrant in question in a separate indictment.

According to a statement given by Louisville police, Hankison was terminated from the department in June of 2020, and Jaynes was terminated in January 2021. The department also commented that they were looking to terminate Goodlett and Meany. A Louisville Police spokesperson announced on Thursday, “Today Chief Erika Shields began termination of Sgt. Kyle Meany and Officer Kelly Goodlett. While we must refer all questions about this federal investigation to the FBI, it is critical that any illegal or inappropriate actions by law enforcement be addressed comprehensively in order to continue our efforts to build police-community trust.”

Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump gave a statement after the press conference, saying it has been a difficult two years since Taylor’s death. “Today was a huge step toward justice. We are grateful for the diligence and dedication of the FBI and the DOJ as they investigated what led to Breonna’s murder and what transpired afterward,” said Crump.

During the fatal early morning raid, officers opened fire, killing Taylor after her boyfriend, who believed an intruder was trying to break in, fired a gun at the door. Attorney General Garland reaffirmed that Taylor’s boyfriend had legally obtained the gun. After he fired and struck an officer, two officers proceeded to fire 22 shots into the apartment, one of which was the fatal blow that struck Taylor in the chest.”

The raid was meant to target Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a convicted drug dealer who was not at the apartment. According to Glover, Taylor had no involvement in the drug trade. Garland clarified that the officers directly involved in the raid were unaware of the falsified statements in the search warrant affidavit.

Garland further clarified that Hankison was the sole officer charged with excessive use of force because after Taylor was shot, he moved from a doorway and fired 10 additional shots into a window and a sliding glass door that was covered with curtains. Hankinson was previously charged with endangering a couple and their 5-year-old son in a neighboring apartment on the night of the raid when. He was found not guilty on all accounts in March.

While Breonna Taylor’s death was a horrible tragedy and a prime example of the gaps in the U.S. law enforcement and justice systems, the officers involved will have to answer for their actions in federal court. “There are still so many families who are fighting and praying for justice and accountability in situations where their loved ones were wrongfully killed by the police.” Crump stated, “We need to stand with them, pray with them, and do whatever is possible for them.”

BIPOC, LGBTQIA, National

Congress moves to protect gay and interracial marriage post-Roe v. Wade decision

[Washington, D.C.] – MTN Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation that would codify both same-sex and interracial marriage in a surprising bipartisan effort. If passed in the Senate, the bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The 1996 Clinton-age law defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson and overturning Roe v Wade, critics have admonished the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party for their failure to codify Roe in the past 50 years. And many are wondering if the overturning of Roe will be the wake-up call the party needs.

How Did We Get Here?

After Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas released an independent concurring opinion where he suggested the court “reconsider” and “correct the errors” in Obergefell, Griswold, and Lawrence, House Democrats reintroduced the Respect for Marriage Act. Despite most viewing interracial and same-sex marriage as settled laws, some Republicans expressed an interest in not codifying the recognition of same-sex and interracial marriage.

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) went on the record to say that while he feels the bill is unnecessary, but “…should it come to the Senate, I see no reason to oppose it.” The Supreme Court’s majority draft opinion on Dobbs leaked shortly before it overturned Roe v. Wade. In that month’s time, many were expecting the Biden Administration to step in with a solution. The White House elected to take no action. President Biden issued an executive order for abortion access and expansion under the protection of the 1987 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) two weeks after the Supreme Court’s ruling. Vice President Kamala Harris’s comments after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade didn’t help the situation.

In a recent interview, Vice President Harris was asked if Democrats failed by not codifying Roe in the past 50 years.

“We should have rightly believed, but we certainly believed that certain issues are just settled,” she responded. While some legal issues are “settled,” as Ms. Harris puts it, strengthening those institutions by making them laws could have prevented the Supreme Court from even considering Roe v. Wade.

Overturning Roe and limiting abortion access has been a leading cause for the Republican Party for the past 50 years. The threat of a post-Roe world was a reality that lawmakers should have considered.

Will They Wake Up in Time?

The Democratic Party is a house divided against itself that struggles in deciding how to tackle its core issues: abortion, police reform, gun reform, minimum wage, and other core planks of the current platform. For example, the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would codify the protections granted in Roe v Wade and Cassey, passed in the House in 2021, The bill failed to pass in the Senate when it was put to a vote after the Politico leak. The final vote, 49 -51, drew lines in the sand, especially with Senator Joe Manchin (D.W.V.), who joined Republicans in voted against passing the bill, despite previous claims that he would support a woman’s right to choose.

Senators Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (R-AZ) have made a name for themselves in opposing much of Biden’s legislative agenda. Both senators are opposed to ending the filibuster, the one thing many people on both sides of the debate see as preventing the codification of Roe. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) endorsement of pro-abortion Democratic candidate Henry Cullelar, added to the mixed messages from Washington.

There is a considerable rift between the younger and older members of the Democratic Party. Studies show the younger generation tends to be more progressive while the older generation is more moderate. Progressives such as Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have proposed expanding the Supreme Court and for Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment. Biden is against expanding the Court but formed a bipartisan commission to study potential changes to the Court when he was elected. Even if Democrats could do away with the filibuster, the Biden Administration is concerned that the Supreme Court would overturn any legislation passed in Congress.