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U.S. NEWS Friday 29 april 2022
16 states that want to electrify USPS fleet file lawsuits

By DAVID SHARP spokesperson Kim Frum
California and 15 states that said Thursday in an email.
want the U.S. Postal Service The Postal Service contract
to electrify its mail delivery calls for 10% of the new
vehicles are suing to halt vehicles to be electric but
purchases of thousands of the Postal Service contends
gas-powered trucks as the more electric vehicles can
agency modernizes its de- be purchased based on fi-
livery fleet. nancial outlook and strate-
Three separate lawsuits, gic considerations.
filed by the states and envi- The percentage of bat-
ronmental groups Thursday tery-electric vehicles was
in New York and California, doubled — to 20% — in the
ask judges to order a more initial $2.98 billion order for
thorough environmental 50,000 vehicles.
review before the Postal Environmental advocates
Service moves forward with contend the Postal Ser-
the next-generation deliv- vice's environmental re-
ery vehicle program. view was inadequate and
Plaintiffs contend that pur- flawed, and that the con-
chases of fossil fuel-pow- tract represented a missed
ered delivery vehicles will opportunity to electrify the
cause environmental harm A United States Postal Service employee works outside a post office in Wheeling, Ill., Dec. 3, 2021. fleet and reduce emissions.
for decades to come. Associated Press The review process "was
"Louis DeJoy's gas-guzzling so rickety and riddled with
fleet guarantees decades CleanAirNow KC and Sierra California Attorney Gener- defended the process it error that it failed to meet
of pollution with every post- Club was filed in the same al Rob Bonta said it's key to followed under DeJoy, a the basic standards of the
card and package," said venue. Another was filed stop the process before it's wealthy former logistics National Environmental
Scott Hochberg, an attor- by the Natural Resources too late. executive and Republican Policy Act," said Adrian
ney with the Center for Bio- Defense Council and Unit- "Once this purchase goes donor who was appointed Martinez, senior attorney
logical Diversity, referring to ed Auto Workers in New through, we'll be stuck with by a board of governors on Earthjustice's Right to
the postmaster general. York. more than 100,000 new controlled by then-Presi- Zero campaign. New York
Attorneys general from All of three of them target gas-guzzling vehicles on dent Donald Trump. Attorney General Letitia
16 states — 14 of which the environmental review neighborhood streets, serv- "The Postal Service con- James said the Postal Ser-
have Democratic gover- underpinning the Postal ing homes across our state ducted a robust and thor- vice used "fatally flawed
nors — sued in San Fran- Service's planned purchase and across the country, for ough review and fully com- decision-making" that led
cisco. A separate lawsuit of up to 165,000 next-gen- the next 30 years. There plied with all of our obliga- to an outcome that was
by the Center for Biologi- eration delivery vehicles won't be a reset button," tions under (the National "fiscally and environmen-
cal Diversity, Earthjustice, over the next decade. he said. The Postal Service Environmental Policy Act)," tally irresponsible."q

Chauvin appeals murder conviction for killing George Floyd

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For- for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. neapolis and around the
mer Minneapolis police Floyd had been accused country to protest police
officer Derek Chauvin is of passing a counterfeit $20 brutality and racism. Some
appealing his conviction bill at a convenience store. of that unrest was violent.
for murder in the killing of Three other fired officers Mohrman said several po-
George Floyd, arguing that face state trial this sum- tential jurors expressed
jurors were intimidated by mer after being convicted concerns during jury selec-
the protests that followed in federal court earlier this tion that if Chauvin was
and prejudiced by heavy year of violating Floyd's civil acquitted they would fear
pretrial publicity. rights. for their personal safety
Chauvin asked the Min- Chauvin's attorney, William and worried about more
nesota Court of Appeals Mohrman, laid out a num- violence. He said several of
in a court filing Monday ber of challenges to his them said they were intimi-
to reverse his conviction, conviction, including that dated by the security mea-
reverse and remand for a the trial should not have sures implemented at the
new trial in a new venue, or been held in Hennepin courthouse to protect trial Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses the
court as Hennepin County Judge PeterCahill presides over his
order a resentencing. County, where Floyd was participants from protest- sentencing in Minneapolis on June, 25, 2021.
Last June, Hennepin Coun- killed. ers. The filing also cited the Associated Press
ty Judge Peter Cahill sen- "The overwhelming me- fatal shooting of Daunte
tenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 dia coverage exposed Wright by a police officer tween the city and Floyd's and document dumping
years in prison after jurors the jurors — literally every in nearby Brooklyn Center family that was announced by the government.
found him guilty of second- day — to news demoniz- that sparked mor protests during jury selection, say- The filing also says the judge
degree murder, third-de- ing Chauvin and glorifying during Chauvin's trial. It says ing the timing of that preju- did not apply the sentenc-
gree murder and second- Floyd which was more than jurors should have been se- diced jurors in the case. ing guidelines correctly and
degree manslaughter. sufficient to presume preju- questered after selection Mohrman cited several in- should not have included
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, dice," the brief said. to avoid being prejudiced stances of alleged prose- "abuse of a position of au-
after Chauvin pinned the In the months that followed by reports of that slaying. cutorial misconduct, claim- thority" as an aggravating
Black man to the ground Floyd's killing, protesters It also cited a $27 million ing untimely sharing of evi- sentencing factor for the
with his knee on his neck took to the streets in Min- settlement reached be- dence, failure to disclose former police officer.q