Aloha Friday

May 22, 2026 — Aloha Friday

May 22, 2026

Transcript on disk — `/Volumes/mini/0522 Aloha/0522 Aloha Transcript.txt`

Story 1 · Bushart v. Perry County (First Amendment / Wrongful Arrest)

A retired cop spent 37 days in jail for posting a Facebook meme quoting President Trump about a school shooting 695 miles away. The sheriff admitted on camera he knew it wasn't a threat. Perry County just paid him $835,000 to go away.

Larry Bushart — 24 years National Guard, 34 years as a police officer — posted several Facebook memes in response to a public day of mourning following the death of Charlie Kirk. One meme was a Trump quote about a 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa. Bushart lived next to Perry County, Tennessee — same word, different place. Officers got a warrant alleging he threatened a school shooting in the wrong Perry entirely. They knew, Bryan says, that the meme was about Iowa, not Tennessee — the arrest was retaliation for Bushart not grieving Kirk. He spent 37 days in jail, lost his post-retirement job, missed the birth of his granddaughter. He sued under § 1983 for First Amendment retaliation and Franks v. Delaware (warrant obtained under false pretenses). Perry County settled this week for $835,000.

Constitutional question: First Amendment (free speech / retaliation); Fourth Amendment (warrant clause / Franks)

Story 2 · United States v. Minnesota (CFTC / Prediction Markets / Federalism)

Minnesota made prediction markets a felony. The federal government sued them the same day. At the center of it: a donut hole in Dodd-Frank, Don Jr. on the payroll of Kalshi, and a CFTC chair who won't put the "morality" sticker on gambling.

Constitutional question: Supremacy Clause (federal preemption); Commerce Clause (federal authority over commodities)

Episode-level notes

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