At 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Starbucks will close all company-owned stores around the United States, about 8,000 locations, so 175,000 employees can spend several hours undergoing an anti-bias training the coffee chain decided to implement following an incident in a Philadelphia Starbucks in April. Stores operated by other companies, like those inside hotels, will stay open.
In Philadelphia, a Starbucks manager called the police on two black men who had waited two minutes to order until a third member of their business meeting arrived. Video surfaced of the men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, being arrested for "defiant trespassing," and the footage went viral. The manager was fired, and Nelson and Robinson reached settlements with both Starbucks and the city for their ordeal.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said the incident was "reprehensible," and that it "has led to a long–term commitment to reform systemwide policies." Tuesday's training should "be an open and honest conversation starting with our partners," he said. "We will also make the curriculum available to the public." Bonnie Kristian
A juror in the Roger Stone trial is setting the record straight.
In an op-ed for The Washington Post published Tuesday night, Seth Cousins wrote about the allegations being leveled against the jury. Last year, they found Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to President Trump, guilty of obstruction, witness tampering, and lying to Congress. Since then, Trump has accused the foreperson, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2012, of being "totally biased," and Stone's lawyers have claimed he did not have a fair trial.
There is a "striking irony" to this, Cousins wrote, because the foreperson "was actually one of the strongest advocates for the rights of the defendant and for a rigorous process. She expressed skepticism at some of the government's claims and was one of the last people to vote to convict on the charge that took most of our deliberation time." The jury followed all instructions, examined evidence, and made sure each voice was heard. "Roger Stone received a fair trial," Cousins said. "He was found guilty based on the evidence by a jury that respected his rights and viewed the government's claims skeptically. Our jury valued truth, plain and simple."
An estimated 1.5 million Americans serve on juries every year, and "elected officials have no business attacking citizens for performing their civic duty," Cousins said. "When the president attacks our jury's foreperson, he is effectively attacking every American who takes time off work, arranges child care, and otherwise disrupts their life temporarily to participate in this civic duty. His attacks denigrate both our service and the concept of equal justice under U.S. law." Read the entire op-ed at The Washington Post. Catherine Garcia
Michelle Janavs, the heiress to the Hot Pockets fortune, was sentenced to five months in prison on Tuesday after admitting to paying bribes to a fixer who promised to get her two daughters into the University of Southern California.
She is the 15th parent sentenced as part of the college admissions scandal, which rocked Hollywood and wealthy enclaves across the United States. Janavs, 49, of Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit laundering. "I'm so very sorry I tried to create an unfair advantage for my children," she told the court on Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors said she agreed to pay Rick Singer, a college admissions consultant, $100,000 to improve her daughters' ACT exam scores and $200,000 to have one of her daughters admitted to USC as a fake beach volleyball recruit. Janavs must also pay a $250,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release after her stint in prison.
Prosecutors had recommended Janavs serve 21 months in prison. Her defense lawyers argued that she was the victim of Singer's "manipulative sales tactics," and her public embarrassment was enough of a punishment. Catherine Garcia