EMAIL DETAILS

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Monzack Nina N (DOJ)" <Nina.Monzack@state.de.us>
> Date: January 24, 2012 2:03:15 PM EST
> To: "Monzack Nina N (DOJ)" <Nina.Monzack@state.de.us>
> Subject: DOJ News Summary 1/24/12
>
> News Summary: January 24, 2012
>
>
> Delaware to reject nationwide mortgage settlement
> Delaware plans to reject a wide-ranging settlement between state and federal agencies and top U.S. banks to resolve allegations of mortgage abuses, a top official in the state said on Tuesday. Attorney General Beau Biden "is opposed to the settlement as currently drafted," Deputy Attorney General Ian McConnel said in a phone interview. "This should come as no surprise given his prior public comments about the settlement process," McConnel added. As talks between the banks and state attorneys general and several federal agencies have stretched into their second year, states including Delaware, New York and California have said the proposed deal released the banks from too many claims and did not provide enough relief to homeowners… In an interview, McConnel said he could not comment on any specific objections, but would do so once the settlement is made public.
>
> http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/01_-_January/Delaware_to_reject_nationwide_mortgage_settlement/
>
> Also at:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/business/a-deal-on-foreclosures-inches-closer.html?_r=1 (also attached as PDF)
> http://online.wsj.com/article/AP21c3104a82714dc08bce92b459bd154c.html (also attached as PDF)
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577179351254859184.html (also attached as PDF)
> http://thedailyrecord.com/2012/01/23/5-firms-agree-to-mortgage-industry-overhaul/
> http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_19801895?source=rss
> http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-24/bank-foreclosure-deal-reviewed-by-states-as-delaware-drops-out.html
> http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-24/foreclosure-deal-won-t-be-reached-this-week-miller-says.html
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/23/BU8F1MSCMT.DTL
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-foreclosure-settlement-appeals-20120123,0,4980919.story?page=1&track=rss
> http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbNIXAfTh6u1xrcRKO7i-7BX_FVQ?docId=21c3104a82714dc08bce92b459bd154c
> http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MORTGAGE_SETTLEMENT?SITE=NDBIS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-01-23-17-03-11
> Delaware State News (see attached)
> http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012201240366
>
>
> Sheriffs unite in defense of authority
> Over the last few months, Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher has assailed his fellow county officials for overstepping their authority, proclaimed that God has brought him to his post to "fight for what is right" and declared that his job is a bulwark against tyranny. His rhetoric places him in the company of a small but growing number of conservative county sheriffs who see themselves as the ultimate enforcers of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, The News Journal has found… Yet the high court's ruling, penned by Justice Antonin Scalia, was not fundamentally focused on the constitutional authority of the sheriff, but rather on the issues of federalism raised by the Brady Bill, recalled Mack's former attorney, David Hardy. The fact that Mack and Printz were elected sheriffs didn't have a bearing on the court's decision, Hardy told The News Journal. "I think the court just assumed he was the chief law-enforcement officer of the county," Hardy said. "It's just a matter of common law and statute. ... I think it's almost universal in the United States that outside an incorporated city or town in the county areas, the sheriff is the official. In practice, the question would be is he elected or appointed." Dimino, the Widener law professor, said the court's ruling did not provide "the slightest support for the idea that elected sheriffs are constitutionally the chief law-enforcement authorities in their counties." He explained: "The question in Printz was about the national government's power. The Supreme Court held that the national government could not commandeer a state executive official to carry out a program established by Congress. The state executive official in that case happened to be a sheriff, but there would be no difference if the official were a state police officer, an agency administrator or the governor."
>
> http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120124/NEWS/201240343/Sheriffs-unite-defense-authority?odyssey=mod|mostview
>
>
> Criminal justice database access to be reviewed in controversy's wake
> The state panel that oversees Delaware's criminal justice databases will review access levels at the Sussex County Sheriff's Office amid controversy over the sheriff's authority. The board of managers of DELJIS, the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, will discuss the topic at its meeting Thursday. Sheriff's deputies, who serve subpoenas, protection-from-abuse orders and other court documents, have access to certain databases. The agency's systems include sex-offender registration, wanted persons, protection-from-abuse orders, prison offender tracking and red-light violations… DELJIS is overseen by a board that includes representatives of the Attorney General's Office, the Delaware State Police, the Department of Correction, the state courts, the Office of the Public Defender, the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families and the New Castle County Police Department. [DELJIS Executive Director Peggy] Bell said the sheriff's access review was not placed on the agenda by any particular agency, but was the result of discussion after recent news coverage of the ongoing controversy.
>
> http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012201240337
>
>
> Trial under way in baby's death
> Jason Gallaway was either a loving, caring father or a man who beat his 3-month-old daughter to death because her crying interrupted his video game. Those were the dual and opposing portraits of the 32-year-old Seaford-area man that emerged Monday as he went on trial in the death of his daughter, Marissa, on a charge of murder by abuse. She died Dec. 5, 2010, from injuries suffered three days earlier. Gallaway could get 15 years to life in prison if convicted. Gallaway, 32, who took care of his daughter while his wife worked as a high school teacher, repeatedly physically abused Marissa, prosecutor Casey Ewart said during opening statements Monday. She said the little girl had suffered a fractured rib, fractured shoulder, fractured arm bone and had bruising on her face. "It may be difficult to comprehend why a parent would abuse his child," she said. "But only the defendant knows what he did and why. ... This was not an accident."
>
> http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120124/NEWS01/201240345/Trial-under-way-baby-s-death?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
>
> Also at:
> http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012201240363
> http://www.wgmd.com/?p=45940
>
>
> Police ID boy killed in Wilmington
> Wilmington police have released the name of the 17-year-old Bear boy who found fatally wounded on a city street Saturday. Larry Parks was lying in the the 300 block of New Castle Ave. (Del. 9) just before 4 p.m. with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said. He was taken to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police say they have no suspects or witnesses in the shooting.
>
> http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120124/NEWS/120124009/Police-ID-boy-killed-Wilmington?odyssey=mod|mostview
>
> Also at:
> http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=8516511
>
>
>
>
> Nina Monzack
> Public Information Assistant
> Delaware Department of Justice
> (302) 577-5034
> (302) 824-5941 cell
> (302) 577-6626 fax
> Nina.Monzack@state.de.us
>
>
>
>=2