NY Democrats' gerrymandering - UAE’s first corporate tax - Portugal’s Socialists win

Judge Lisa Godbey Wood's decision to turn down Travis McMichael and Gregory McMichael's plea agreements with federal prosecutors came after Arbery's [family] gave emotional statements asking the judge to reject the deal and proceed with a federal trial next week. Both men were convicted on state murder charges. They were sentenced to life in prison.
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The agreements called for the men to immediately serve 30 years in a federal penitentiary before being returned to [state prison]. "Through this resolution, the defendants will accept responsibility for the full nature of their crime, admitting publicly in front of the nation that this offense was racially motivated," federal prosecutor Tara Lyons said.
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"All they would have to do is stand up and say that they were motivated by hate and then this court will concede to their preferred conditions of confinement," Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told the judge. "Federal prison is going to be a lighter sentence for these men," Lee Merritt, an attorney for Cooper-Jones said.