damnedifIknow
damnedifIknow's JournalCrazy
http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Latest-on-police-custody-death-Curfew-6230630.php#photo-7897685
Baltimore imposes bail bonds of half a million dollars in legal crackdown
Republican governor extends 24-hour detention-without-charge limit ‘to protect public safety’ while courts impose sky-high bail bonds for minor offences"
Baltimore’s under-fire criminal justice system risked antagonising its already seething local community on Wednesday by suspending legal procedures and imposing bail bonds of up to half a million dollars on the city’s most impoverished residents.
In one especially stark case, a 19-year-old charged with eight offences allegedly committed on Saturday, including riot, theft and disorderly conduct, was set a bail of $500,000. Court records show the defendant, a black man, was sent to jail after failing to produce the funds."
Meanwhile, most of the 235 people arrested during riots and protests in the past week still have not been charged, after Maryland’s new Republican governor, Larry Hogan, effectively suspended the state’s habeas corpus law – which limits detention without charge to 24 hours – in a move he said was “necessary to protect the public safety”.
*The attorney said three of Baltimore city’s district courts – which would ordinarily have shared the load of cases – were closed for no apparent reason. She reacted angrily to Hogan’s unilateral interference in detention-without-charge rules.
“The fact they have rescinded this rule, which was introduced specifically to protect citizens from being screwed over, is insane,” she said. “But it’s business as usual for Baltimore. The justice system in this city is broken. This situation to me is the story of how Baltimore works.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/29/baltimore-justice-system-protests-curfew
TrialFunder.com Launches Online Marketplace For Civil Litigation With Police Brutality Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES, April 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- TrialFunder.com, a new accredited crowdfunding online national platform for investment in plaintiff litigation, launches this week, assisting plaintiffs in their civil lawsuits dealing with police brutality, sexual harassment, wrongful death, personal injury and other cases.
The site's first lawsuit, "Rosales v. City of Chico," involves alleged police brutality against an elderly man caught on multiple eyewitness videos.
The Trial Funder platform was created with social justice in mind, says Los Angeles-based Trial Funder CEO Anoush Hakimi, Esq., "Trial Funder promises to democratize the legal system, while bringing a new level of transparency to the entire process."
Unlike other alternative litigation finance companies, Trial Funder puts an entire case on its home page – demonstrating with video and court files the exact nature of each case. Once a case is financed through the Trial Funder platform, the associated attorney's law firm, picture and practice information are prominently displayed. The platform is fully integrated with social media platforms driving traffic to the web portal. "
*Today's contingency fee structure results in plaintiff attorneys being reluctant to take matters to trial because of the high financial risks of a defense judgment. Our web portal promises to change the calculus of the entire civil litigation system," said Hakimi.
Trial Funder allows plaintiffs to apply directly to the site, granting access to non-recourse capital to fund litigation. "
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trialfundercom-launches-online-marketplace-for-civil-litigation-with-police-brutality-lawsuit-2015-04-29
Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think
Baltimore teachers and parents tell a different story from the one you've been reading in the media."
After Baltimore police and a crowd of teens clashed near the Mondawmin Mall in northwest Baltimore on Monday afternoon, news reports described the violence as a riot triggered by kids who had been itching for a fight all day. But in interviews with Mother Jones and other media outlets, teachers and parents maintain that police actions inflamed a tense-but-stable situation."
Meghann Harris, a teacher at a nearby school, described on Facebook what happened:
Police were forcing busses to stop and unload all their passengers. Then, [Frederick Douglass High School] students, in huge herds, were trying to leave on various busses but couldn't catch any because they were all shut down. No kids were yet around except about 20, who looked like they were waiting for police to do something. The cops, on the other hand, were in full riot gear, marching toward any small social clique of students…It looked as if there were hundreds of cops.
The kids were "standing around in groups of 3-4," Harris said in a Facebook message to Mother Jones. "They weren't doing anything. No rock throwing, nothing…The cops started marching toward groups of kids who were just milling about."
*Meg Gibson, another Baltimore teacher, described a similar scene to Gawker: "The riot police were already at the bus stop on the other side of the mall, turning buses that transport the students away, not allowing students to board. They were waiting for the kids.…Those kids were set up, they were treated like criminals before the first brick was thrown." With police unloading busses, and with the nearby metro station shut down, there were few ways for students to clear out."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/how-baltimore-riots-began-mondawmin-purge
FBI: Two Former Marion Police Officers Sentenced for Using Excessive Force While Tasing a Woman
WASHINGTON—Franklin Brown, 35, and Eric Walters, 39, both former police officers with the city of Marion Police Department in Marion County, South Carolina, were sentenced to serve 18 months and one year and one day in prison, respectively, today in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, by United States District Court Judge R Bryan Harwell for repeatedly tasing a former local female resident during the course of her detainment. For both defendants, three years of supervised release will follow the prison sentences and they each face a $100 special assessment. Brown and Walters previously pleaded guilty to violating the victim’s civil rights during this incident. According to court documents, on April 2, 2013, in the course of detaining the victim, Walters tased the victim causing her to fall to the ground and injure her head.
Once she was on the ground, Walters continued to tase the victim multiple times. Brown subsequently arrived on scene and proceeded to tase the victim as she was seated on the curb, restrained in handcuffs and surrounded by law enforcement. Walters and Brown admitted there was no legitimate law enforcement purpose for repeatedly tasing the victim as she did not pose a threat to the officers. “The defendants abused their authority as law enforcement officers by repeatedly tasing a defenseless, compliant victim,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division.
“Today’s sentence is a reminder that this type of abusive and dishonorable behavior will not go unpunished.”
http://7thspace.com/headlines/507416/fbi_two_former_marion_police_officers_sentenced_for_using_excessive_force_while_tasing_a_woman.html
Police brutality: Officers not excused from acting inhumanely
Police brutality stories in American society are no longer a rare occurrence; many have become so desensitized to these reports that it barely stirs a reaction out of them any longer. And if these stories still do get a reaction, it is usually distrust and outrage for the people who serve and protect.
This is the problem then: some police are abusing the power that was given to them in confidence of our protection, and more people are beginning to distrust police indiscriminately because of these unjust actions.
This past Sunday, a 25-year-old Baltimore citizen named Freddie Gray died in a hospital after suffering extreme injuries during an arrest. According to USA Today, “his spine was 80 percent severed at his neck.”
Injuries like these don’t just happen in a car ride."
*Police aren’t properly punished for acts of violence against those their badge claims they should protect and serve, and courts of law let them get away with their actions by giving them excuses like “it was not an officer’s job to protect the public but only to enforce the law.”
Among UH students, there is distrust when it comes to the police and their power.
“I definitely think they are (abusing their power), at least the ones that appear on TV,” said Edward Ansong, a computer science sophomore. “Not all cops are the same, of course, but there needs to be structure of laws and what they can do, because they’re doing just about anything they can get away with and not really being punished for it.”
“Being put on a desk job or having unpaid vacation isn’t really punishment.”
*When there are incidents popping up every day where police kill and injure people for no legal reason, gaining celebrity status in the process and not receiving proper punishment, it has even the most law-abiding citizens wondering if they’ll be next just for looking at cops the wrong way."
http://thedailycougar.com/2015/04/27/police-brutality-officers-not-excused-from-acting-inhumanely/
Ladies, you might want to swap the bourbon for a bong
It felt serendipitous that I was in Denver when I read that there’s been a steep rise in women’s binge drinking across the United States. Because it struck me that if women smoked pot – now legal in Colorado – with the same gusto with which they seem to imbibe alcohol, perhaps we’d be in better shape.
A new study, published in the American Journal of Public Health this month, shows that while men’s binge drinking increased just 4.9% between 2005 and 2012, women’s rates rose by a whopping 17.5%. That’s a lot of bourbon."
But unlike marijuana use - which outside of memory impairment shows very little in terms of severe physical damages – long-term use of alcohol has extremely serious consequences. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 5.8m American women have some sort of alcohol disorder and 26,000 women die from alcohol related causes annually. Deaths related to cannabis are so rare that German researchers claimed to find the first two cases just last year.
There’s a societal benefit to using weed instead of alcohol as well. Drunk driving kills 30 people every day in the US, but since Colorado has legalized marijuana, car crash fatalities have been on the decline. And let’s be honest – I’ve bet you’ve seen plenty of drunken fights and violence in your lifetime, but the only thing a high person is likely to get worked up about is the number of cheetos left."
I’m not advocating that women break out the bong and start a daily weed habit, but if you’re going to use a substance on a regular basis, it seems clear that marijuana use does significantly less damage than drinking. Especially if you’re using it to help quell anxiety issues. "
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/27/ladies-you-might-want-to-swap-the-bourbon-for-a-bong
Wisconsin police billboard features officer who shot two people in 10 days
Image posted by Kenosha Professional Police Association prompts anger from community after Pablo Torres killed Aaron Siler, 26
The Kenosha Professional Police Association (KPPA) posted a billboard thanking the community for its support. Some residents question the message behind the ad. It features Pablo Torres, a young officer who shot two people within a 10-day period in March. In the second shooting, Torres killed 26-year-old Aaron Siler.
Police have said the shooting occurred after a chase, when Torres was confronted with a weapon. A spokesperson for the Siler family, Kathy Willie, told the Guardian the billboard was “hurtful”.
“To me that doesn’t make the department look good,” she said. “What are they trying to say? Are they trying to say he’s not guilty and they know that for a fact? Why are they thanking him?”
The investigation is ongoing. Torres is on administrative leave.
The Kenosha News called for the billboard to come down, and said: “The billboard, and events such as the Back the Badge rally in Pennoyer Park on Saturday, may be intended as support for law enforcement and appreciation for that support, but they could also be seen as attempts to intimidate people who might criticize the police.”
*Another local outlet reported that Torres’s record shows nine citizen complaints for excessive use of force and seven departmental reprimands, including improper chase and failing to appear in court.
Michael Martin Bell is a retired air force pilot and long-time resident of Kenosha. In 2004 his son, Michael Edward, was shot in the head and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop. Bell and his son are white. The officer was cleared within 48 hours. "
Bell said that if he, a retired military officer with financial means, could lose a child to police violence, there was little hope for those with fewer levers to pull.
“I spent 10 years of my life on this,” he said. “I spent a million dollars of my money on this. I know the system is broken.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/26/wisconsin-police-billboard-pablo-torres
How could he admit something like that on national television?
How can you explain to your family Bruce that you're a Republican? Transgender is fine but oh man the Republican thing is scary.
The Sun Must Go Down on the Patriot Act
Not long after the Patriot Act was passed in 2001, I had dinner with the late Senator Paul Wellstone in Washington, who was a stalwart defender of civil liberties throughout his career. I asked him how he could have possibly voted for a law that so vastly expanded the government's spying powers. He told me that he was facing a tough election, but as soon as it was over he'd invite my organization, the American Civil Liberties Union, to testify before Congress about the Patriot Act's flaws and the threats it presented to privacy and civil liberties. "We'll work together to get this repealed," he promised. Unfortunately, that day never came, as the senator tragically died in a plane crash in October of 2002.
Almost 13 years later, the most egregious part of the Patriot Act, Section 215 -- which underlies the National Security Agency's call-records program -- is scheduled to expire on June 1. Some legislators want Congress to reauthorize it in its current form -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has just introduced a bill that would do exactly that, extending it for another five years. Others want to make relatively minor changes. Congress shouldn't do either of these things. Unless Congress can coalesce around far-reaching reform, it should simply let the provision expire."
*Predictably, the Patriot Act has been at the root of many of the most serious abuses of government spying powers. It was the Patriot Act the FBI relied on to vastly expand its use of "national security letters," which the FBI now issues thousands of times every year to obtain information about innocent Americans who have no connection to terrorism. It was the Patriot Act the government relied on to conduct clandestine searches in investigations having nothing to do with terrorism. It was the Patriot Act the government invoked to permit the FBI to disregard the Fourth Amendment's usual requirements -- criminal probable cause, a particularized warrant -- in ordinary law enforcement investigations. And it's the Patriot Act the government is now using to justify the NSA's call-records program. "
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-d-romero/the-sun-must-go-down-on-the-patriot-act_b_7118240.html
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