Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

U.S. Government Restricts Flying With Electronics from Eight Muslim-Majority Countries

The U.S. government has issued a restriction banning electronic devices such as laptops and iPads on flights from eight Muslim-majority countries. The countries affected by this restriction are not the same ones included in the now-infamous travel ban. The affected countries are Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Passengers from these eight countries will not be allowed to travel with electronics bigger than a cellphone in their carry on luggage, but they can place them in their checked luggage.

This is sure to pose an inconvenience for passengers traveling from the Middle East to the U.S. who will not be able to use their devices for work or entertainment on long flights. And most people are confused by the rules, as the new list includes countries that traditionally have been U.S. allies and are not included on the travel ban. Experts are also criticizing the logic behind the rule. If someone placed a bomb inside a laptop, it would be just as dangerous in the cargo hold as it would be in the cabin of a plane.

It is strange that this electronics ban is about security, but includes no countries on the #MuslimBan, which was also about security.

— Adrienne Mahsa (@AdrienneMahsa) March 21, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: March 21, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

The LAPD will not assist President-elect Donald Trump in any way if he decides to follow through with his deportation plans, said police chief Charlie Beck on Monday. Trump has pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants, a promise that has caused anxiety for many of the undocumented, as well as fully legal, immigrants in the country. Los Angeles County is home to roughly one million out of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. But Beck said his police force will not do anything differently just because there is a new president:

We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody’s immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job.

LAPD will not help deport immigrants under Trump, chief says https://t.co/zVnPuPLgXX pic.twitter.com/TWhejyi0j9

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 14, 2016

The LAPD has a long tradition of not complying with  federal guidelines on the issue of undocumented immigrants. Officers are not allowed to stop someone simply because of their immigration status, or to ask about it. Officers have additionally stopped handing over people arrested for small crimes to federal agents for deportation and also no longer hold inmates who might be deportable after they served their time.

California is a liberal state and is so unhappy about Trump’s election that many people there have recently been campaigning for Calexit—to make California independent from the rest of the U.S. Now that many worry about what will happen under Trump, officials in the Golden State have tried to comfort people. The LA Archbishop Jose H. Gomez held a special prayer service last Thursday, saying, “In the past couple days since the election… we have children in our schools who are scared. They think the government is going to come and deport their parents.” He said that the church will keep supporting immigrants that are here illegally.

pic.twitter.com/wAPa6ied6y
100,000 people rally against US Fascism and for #CalExit
We are an undeniable force

(yes, it is LA ~1500 Wilshire)

— #CalExit NaphiSoc (@NaphiSoc) November 15, 2016

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti called for a meeting at Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and promised that he would stand up for his people. “If the first day, as president, we see something that is hostile to our people, hostile to our city, bad for our economy, bad for our security, we will speak up, speak out, act up and act out,” he said.

On Friday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill–Senate Bill 10–that would let undocumented immigrants buy health insurance through the state exchange. It passed the state senate on Monday but requires approval by the federal government. If that happens, it would make California the first state to let illegal immigrants who make too much money to qualify for low-income plans buy insurance from the state exchanges.

In times like these, it is reassuring that some people are determined to stay empathetic and show solidarity with others.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The LAPD Says it Will Not Assist Trump with Any Deportation Plans appeared first on Law Street.

One of the detectives investigating the Derrick Rose rape trial in Los Angeles died from an apparent self-inflicted single gunshot wound to the chest, authorities said on Wednesday.

LAPD Det. Nadine Hernandez was a 19-year veteran with the force who worked in the Robbery-Homicide Division Special Assault Section. She was found dead in her home in Whittier at 3:27 p.m. on Tuesday. She was 44 years old.

In a statement, the LAPD said Hernandez was one of several detectives on the case, and that “the Rose investigation will continue unimpeded.”

“At this point there is no indication that her case work had any connection to her death,” the statement said.

Breaking: After the judge denied Derrick Rose’s mistrial motion, the LAPD detective on the case is found, dead pic.twitter.com/qpCUA5Yjpt

— Spark Sports (@Spark_Sports_) October 12, 2016

Rose, a former Chicago Bulls star and current New York Knicks player, and two friends are being sued for $21.5 million for allegedly raping an incapacitated woman three years ago.

The plaintiff, whose name has remained undisclosed throughout the trial, accused Rose and his friends of drugging her at a party in L.A. and later gang raping her in her apartment.

She and Rose met in 2011 and maintained a two-year relationship. Rose claims the sex that night was consensual.

The latest developments in the trial came Wednesday when the defense called for a mistrial after the plaintiff’s lawyers failed to produce three text messages exchanged between their client and Rose on the night the alleged rape took place.

Lawyers of the plaintiff said there was no new information contained in the texts. Rose’s lawyers, however, said the texts show the accuser as having plotted sex in the hours leading up to the incident. They also claim the messages show her the next morning asking for a taxi reimbursement, seemingly undisturbed by the events of the previous evening.

The judge ruled that withholding the texts was not enough the derail the trial.

This Derrick Rose case is turning into an SVU episode

— Iesha ✨ (@ieshaax3) October 12, 2016

“I’m not going to dismiss it now,” U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said. “I’m not going to declare a mistrial when we have a jury in the box.”

Rose’s defense attorney Mark Baute mentioned Hernandez’s death when asking for a mistrial Wednesday, apparently shocking the plaintiff.

Police in Whittier, the LA suburb where Hernandez was found dead in her home, echoed the LAPD’s statement saying, “There are no signs of foul play, and the incident is being investigated as a suicide.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Detective in Derrick Rose Case Found Shot Dead appeared first on Law Street.

In light of recent high profile police killings such as those of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last August, Eric Garner in Staten Island, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio, a national discussion has developed about the force used by police officers against American citizens. In the most recent development in that discussion, President Obama called for all police shootings to be reported to the federal government so that kind of information is readily available and transparent.

This call comes after Obama’s December 2014 recommendation to establish the “Task Force on 21st Century Policing.” According to the White House,

The task force will examine how to strengthen public trust and foster strong relationships between local law enforcement and the communities that they protect, while also promoting effective crime reduction.

The task force will engage with federal, state, tribal, and local officials; technical advisors; young leaders; and nongovernmental organizations to provide a transparent process to engage with the public.

The task force is chaired by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey and Laurie Robinson, a criminology professor at George Mason University who was formerly an Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ office of Justice Programs.

That task force has now come back to the President with its recommendations–the suggestion that police forces be required to report their shootings is just one of them. This comes after multiple high profile officials had made similar statements about the necessity of recording the incidences of police shootings. Attorney General Eric Holder expressed a similar sentiment in mid January when he stated in a speech,

I’ve heard from a number of people who have called on policymakers to ensure better record-keeping on injuries and deaths that occur at the hands of police. I’ve also spoken with law enforcement leaders — including the leadership of the Fraternal Order of Police — who have urged elected officials to consider strategies for collecting better data on officer fatalities. Today, my response to these legitimate concerns is simple: We need to do both.

FBI head James Comey made similar statements in a speech at Georgetown University a few weeks ago when he stated, “It’s ridiculous that I can’t tell you how many people were shot by the police in this country last week, last year, the last decade – it’s ridiculous.”

There isn’t any information yet about how the reporting of police shootings and force will be handled–whether it will go through the FBI or some other agency is yet to be seen.

This recommendation from the task force comes as that conversation about police shootings continues in the U.S. Last night, a video of a Los Angeles Police Department officer fatally shooting a homeless man went viral.

Here’s the video, although fair warning–it’s pretty brutal and graphic:

Officers claim that it was a struggle over one of the cop’s guns, and it very well may have been, but either way it’s a disturbing video in which deadly force is used very quickly. The conversation about police shootings in the United States is very far from over–a database may be able to be used to help make that conversation even more productive.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Task Force Calls for Police Shootings to be Reported to Federal Government appeared first on Law Street.