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Idaho view: Are these the ‘better lawyers’ Labrador promised?

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Idaho view: Are these the ‘better lawyers’ Labrador promised?


If you happen to’re stunned by Idaho Lawyer Normal-elect Raul Labrador’s decisions to go up his workplace, you’ve not been paying consideration.

The previous four-term congressman who excelled at putting politics forward of fixing issues is now placing partisanship forward of authorized acumen. No less than, that’s the case in his two most distinguished hires:

Theo Wold — Labrador’s decide as solicitor normal — served within the Trump Division of Justice, together with performing assistant legal professional normal within the Workplace of Authorized Coverage and deputy assistant to the president for home coverage. He additionally served as deputy chief counsel to U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

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The Idaho Statesman’s Bryan Clark identified lately the person Labrador has assigned as his chief litigator has made extra of an impression sounding Trumpian marketing campaign themes throughout a 2020 look on a conservative speak radio program. Clark discovered cases of Wold telling the 2022 Nationwide Conservatism Convention at Miami he would assist utilizing the heavy hand of presidency to compel personal enterprise to observe ideological positions “whether or not on immigration or fetal analysis or any variety of points. …”

Individuals are additionally studying…

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And Clark dug up Wold sharing a put up from right-wing commentator Matt Walsh discussing the Nice Alternative Concept, a darkish imaginative and prescient of whites being demographically and culturally changed by non-whites.

Regardless of the case, it can take a while to seek out out. As Betsy Russell of the Idaho Press famous, Wold isn’t licensed to observe legislation within the state of Idaho. He’s scheduled to take the state bar examination in late February — greater than halfway via the upcoming legislative session.

Perhaps he’ll move, get his license and transfer on.

After which once more, as anybody who has taken the bar examination will inform you, there are not any ensures.

David Dewhirst — Labrador’s decide for chief deputy — like Wold, served within the Trump administration as principal deputy normal counsel on the U.S. Division of Commerce. Till earlier this month, he served as solicitor normal for Montana Lawyer Normal Austin Knudsen. His background additionally consists of working the pro-business Freedom Basis in Washington state.

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Like Wold, he isn’t licensed to observe legislation within the state of Idaho. Nevertheless, the Gem State and Montana have a reciprocity settlement so after a 60-to-90-day background examine, Dewhirst would have the mandatory credential — once more effectively after the legislative session has convened.

Understand that together with Lawyer Normal Lawrence Wasden — who Labrador defeated within the GOP major — not less than eight of his key staffers have already left the workplace. A number of the folks working for Wasden spent extra time engaged on things like reapportionment or initiative legislation than the judges who heard their arguments in court docket.

A lot of the time, the work these folks did was detail-oriented and routine — however nonetheless very important. You wouldn’t find out about it except issues went haywire, disrupting one thing just like the state’s meals stamp program.

So that you’re left to surprise: With all of the attorneys on this state, why has Labrador chosen two individuals who for the second can’t observe legislation right here and are strangers to the authorized tradition of the Gem State? What’s Labrador’s relationship with the judiciary and the authorized neighborhood that he felt compelled to achieve exterior the realm of experience in Idaho legislation?

Again in October, Labrador advised the Lewiston Tribune’s William L. Spence: “The Lawyer Normal’s Workplace must have higher attorneys. That’s actually my No. 1 precedence. We appear to lose quite a lot of instances within the state.”

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In fact, it is determined by how one defines what makes for “higher attorneys.”

Within the case of Idaho’s subsequent chief authorized officer, that means Labrador is extra fascinated by performative politics than authorized accomplishment. He’s pursuing a nationwide agenda as a substitute of an Idaho agenda. And expertise and data about Idaho legislation are usually not amongst his priorities.

However you knew that already.

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Idaho high school students looking to decrease teen nicotine use speak with state lawmakers

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Idaho high school students looking to decrease teen nicotine use speak with state lawmakers


BOISE, Idaho — The American Heart Association and local teens teamed up and encouraged state legislators to support smoke-free air laws and licensed retailer enforcement to help establish a tobacco-free Idaho.

“So we’re looking to increase funding for education of tobacco and nicotine prevention,” said a Meridian High School student.

About a dozen high school students took on the challenge Thursday morning of connecting with busy lawmakers to make a change for their futures. “As a high school student I can definitely say that I see nicotine being used in my school very often,” said Abigail Wallace, a local high school student.

The decrease in the traditional cigarettes has made way for nicotine intake via vape and new chewing tobacco style products like ‘Zyn.’

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Bebeto Matthews/AP

Containers of Zyn, a smokeless nicotine pouch, are displayed for sale among other nicotine and tobacco products at a newsstand on Feb. 23, 2024, in New York.

Nearly 18% of Idaho high schoolers report regularly using nicotine in some way.

“It’s common to go into the bathrooms and you would smell it. It’s just always like a constant thing that you’re surrounded by, especially with the new nicotine pouches, it’s like people put them in like gum,” said Lydia Kamann, a local high school student.

The American Heart Association is helping coordinate and educate these passionate teens to encourage their representatives and senators to keep nicotine and tobacco laws and regulations top of mind.

“And they want to hear from us. No better way to do it than be here and share with them real-life instances and stories,” said Angela Creason, a cardiac arrest survivor and advocate, who volunteers with the American Heart Association.

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The association aims to have e-cigarette smoke included in the Idaho Clean Indoor Air Act and increase taxes and costs on new popular flavored and smokeless tobacco products, potentially using that money to fund impactful prevention education

“[We’re] just trying to up the education level on that and getting teens more focused on why they should not do it,” said another local high school student while speaking with Democratic Senator Melissa Wintrow.





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Idaho schools send out clarification on new immigration enforcement rules

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Idaho schools send out clarification on new immigration enforcement rules


The Trump White House last week laid out rules saying federal agents could not make immigration arrests in sensitive places like schools, churches or hospitals. The new directive has left some parents in Idaho concerned about what this means for their children in schools.

The Jerome School District with the Jerome Police Department posted a letter to the school community, addressing potential misconceptions that might make parents scared to send their kids to school.

“We understand that there’s concerns; there’s fears. We just want to make sure that they knew that education was important; safety is number one priority,” said Kim Lickley, Federal Programs Director for the district.

Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, student information is confidential and cannot be released without consent.

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“We never ask about documentation status. Students show up at our door, we enroll them, we educate them, we help them meet their goals, and we hopefully graduate them,” Lickley said.

The school district and police department said they can’t release students to someone not listed on an emergency contact list. The only exception would be if a warrant were produced.

Other districts have sent out similar statements, including the Boise School District.

Its letter went out this week saying their students’ information would be protected and that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that every child is entitled to free public education regardless of immigration status.

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Red cards and constitutional rights, Idaho Hispanic Foundation answers immigration questions

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Red cards and constitutional rights, Idaho Hispanic Foundation answers immigration questions


NAMPA, Idaho — “You know, there is a lot of fear, nervousness, [and] anxiety just because there’s a lot of information out there, and it’s not always the most accurate information,” says Mari Ramos, Executive Director of the Idaho Hispanic Foundation. The non-profit foundation has been helping families and the Hispanic community in Idaho since 2018.

Reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweeps in large U.S. cities are growing, spurred by President Donald Trump’s executive order to deport immigrants who are in the country without legal authorization.

En ingles: Idaho Senate advances immigration enforcement bill

Ramos, who fields questions daily at the Idaho Hispanic Foundation in Nampa, says concern about such raids taking place in Southern Idaho is coming to the forefront of her day-to-day.

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“It seems to be people don’t know what to believe [and] don’t know what is true, what is accurate, [and] what is not,” she explains. “There’s footage that may not even be from here, but it is portrayed like it’s from here. So there’s a lot of nervousness and fear of what could be happening.”

Ramos says that lack of clarity is causing nervousness throughout Treasure Valley. “And this isn’t just our undocumented community. We have people who have residences who are asking people who are citizens [because] they were born here but maybe their parents weren’t.”

These concerns come after President Trump passed another executive order to end birthright citizenship, a move that’s already being met with legal challenges from multiple states attorneys general.

To help clarify the situation, the Idaho Hispanic Foundation provides interested individuals with a list of Spanish-speaking lawyers. In addition to that, they are constantly seeking input from immigration consultants to ensure the latest information is accurate.

“We have these red cards. They are the ‘Know Your Rights” cards and they are available [to] anybody.”

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Idaho News 6

The cards in question include info in both Spanish and English that provides people with their constitutional rights if someone is questioned by ICE.

The Center will also be hosting events to help people in need if their family members are detained. In the meantime, the foundation is collecting contributions to help anyone with immigration issues.

“What we are doing is raising funds to be able to help anybody who needs [it]. When we get to those kinds of things [like when a] husband is deported— now the wife is having to figure [everything] out, that’s where we are gonna come in wrap our services around whoever it is that needs it,” concluded Ramos.

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