History Thursday: Impeachment

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History Thursday

Last night, for the third time in American history, the U.S. House voted to impeach the president. The first was Andrew Johnson in 1868, and the second — for a little This Day In History — was Bill Clinton on Dec. 19, 1998.

Catching our eye:

Truly awful. Cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer is reporting, “More than 15 percent of juveniles behind bars in Ohio reported being forced or coerced into sexual activity with another youth or staff member in the previous year, according to a newly released U.S. Department of Justice survey.

“That’s the worst rate in the nation and is more than twice the national average, according to the study, which was conducted in 2018.”

F plus, plus, plus, plus. Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler is reporting on the feedback received from a recent study of Ohio school and district report cards: “(O)ne thing came through to House Education committee chair Don Jones: the A-F letter grade system for schools pushed by former Gov. John Kasich in 2012 is flunking…

“‘There’s a pretty good consensus for it to go because a lot of people have the thought that if their school isn’t an A or B, they’re failing, which is not a true statement. A ‘C’ school means that they’re meeting expectations,’ Jones said.

“Jones suggested a simple label of whether a school is exceeding, meeting or not meeting standards may work, rather than a letter grade.”

Death penalty. The Associated Press is reporting that Cuyahoga County led the nation in handing down the death penalty the past two years:

“The five death sentences handed down the past two years in the Ohio county that is home to Cleveland surpassed any other county in the U.S., according to a new report from an anti-death penalty organization.

“Judges sentenced five inmates to death in Cuyahoga County — three this year and two in 2018 — surpassing two California counties and one Arizona county, which each had two over the same two-year time period, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.”