Bad Cops, Bad Cops, What Ya Gonna DO?

posted by The Sailor @ 6:17 PM Permalink

A 7 year old girl was killed by a Detroit cop at 12:40 am last Sunday. That's a fact. Some of what follows is spin and conjecture. Spin one:

Detroit Police shoot 7-year-old girl in house search

[...]
The shooting happened at 12:40 a.m., when the Special Response Team executed a no-knock search warrant on the duplex in the 4000 block of Lillibridge. Officers rushed in after throwing a stun grenade through the glass of a front window.

Family members said they were told by police the gun discharged when Mertilla Jones, 46, attempted to wrestle away the officer's weapon.

Knowing that wasn't going to work the cops walked it back:

Sunday, police spokesman John Roach said the weapon may have fired simply because Jones and the officer collided.

So we've gone to 'wrestled with' to merely 'collided'.

It didn't stop her grandmother from being hauled off to jail.

Mertilla Jones was held until Sunday afternoon, and it remained unclear if she will face charges. Police said she spent several hours hospitalized with what police described as medical issues.

Well of course she had 'medical issues' you shot her granddaughter in cold blood and then you arrested her!

It just gets worse:[Deputy Police Chief] Godbee said, calling Sunday "probably the worst day of my career."
F**k you and your career, a 7 year old child died!

And there's more:

Godbee would not comment on reports that neighbors told officers that there were children in the house, and pointed out toys in the front yard.

Godbee didn't say if the suspect in Blake's slaying was arrested in the downstairs or upstairs apartment. Godbee said, "The suspect was within the scope of our search warrant." He added that the warrant allowed police to search both units.

As it turns out, the suspect did not live there, they killed a little girl and have already lied about it multiple times.

And it gets worse, maybe spin, but it was allegedly caught on tape that we haven't seen:

Lawyer: Video proves murder of 7-year-old by Detroit police was ‘not an accident’

An attorney for the family of a 7-year-old girl who was killed by a police officer's bullet during a weekend raid at their home said Monday that he saw video of the raid that contradicts the police department's version of what happened.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger said he watched three or four minutes of video that showed police fired into the home after lobbing a flash grenade through the window.

So maybe we can find out the truth, partially because the pro-cop reality TV show 48 Hours were following these cops for their shoot.

Did the fact that 48 Hours was shooting affect the Detroit shooting?

While national experts say flash-bang grenades are useful tools in high-risk situations, Detroit police told the Free Press the devices are rarely used.

"In my entire career, we've only used these in barricaded-gunmen situations as a diversionary tactic," one police officer said, adding he was involved in hundreds of high-risk arrests and raids.

I've only quoted small parts of the articles, under fair use copyright.

But here's my take from reading all of them: The cops were showboating in front of cameras. Instead of waiting waiting for the alleged murderer to exit the UPSTAIRS apartment, they decided to toss a flash/bang grenade thru the window of the downstairs apartment which landed on a 7 year old girl and her grandmother. It set the little girl on fire and her grandma thought this was a bad thing. ergo, little girl dies, granma is hauled to jail, a guy upstairs in a different apartment is arrested, who might be the shooter from a couple of days before.

The cops claim they had the right to no-knock, flashbang, invade both apartments. If that is true, then the judge who signed the warrants needs to be charged with conspiracy to murder, just like the cops (yes, it's plural, just like felony murder) need to have a fair trial, and then be sentenced to LWOP.

But that's just MHO.

Labels: bad cops, bad judges

0 comments

In Re: Elena Kagan…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 3:01 PM Permalink

…Mouth-breathing right wings fanatics and those Republicans in the Senate who cater to that small minority and who will react likewise to those fanatics are really going to try and make Elena Kagan seem to be a fire-breathing liberal, unqualified for this office, and will seek to twist any stray comment ever uttered or written by her into an albatross to hang around her neck.

They'll take every cheap shot they can, ask questions of her that consume so much time she will be unable to adequately express her views in the time remaining to the politician who will cut her off by, "…reclaiming their time…," a time honored device by which a senator can cut off any answer from her that will obviously demonstrate her, in my opinion, superior intellect, temperate viewpoints and her ability to run logic circles around her questioner. Yes, it just wouldn't do to allow her, metaphorically speaking, to show how ignorant her interrogator is in comparison is to her, mental midgets questioning an intellectual giant insofar as law and life within the law is concerned.

I asked the same question when President Obama was elected to office: What's wrong with intelligent, unbiased, articulate people holding important public offices? And I believe our country can only be as good as it formerly was by doing this very thing.

It will be refreshing to have a SCOTUS Justice whom is steeped in the law and its application and implications for the country instead of some brown-noser whose head is always up some politician's ass. Many court appointees brown-nose and show fealty to one political party or viewpoint in order to get appointed to a lifetime position that guarantees them many years to seek achieving their patrons agenda. An agenda that seems to me is almost always detrimental to the citizens of this once great country; decisions made that further narrow the rights of us all instead of expanding our rights so that the 'regular person' can feel hope instead of fear, obtain an education versus the struggle to find a job paying a living wage, being secure in our homes, persons, and effects compared to suffering the raging paranoia that causes and permits illegal wiretapping, spying on innocent groups or people, the bankrupting and looting of the country's spirit, assets, and treasure that naturally follow the moral depravity of torture, Predator drones, land mines, cluster bombs, and the unspeakable horrors of genocide and displacement of millions in a vain attempt to force democracy upon people who do not wish for nor ask for a democracy.

And oil, too. Can't forget about the oil belonging to others that America attempts to steal with, I believe, little success.Especially when we could have legitimately purchased that oil on the open market without paying so dearly with the loss of American lives, and without the added cost of war, weapons, defense spending, and a wildly out of control administration as created by gwb.

But that's just my opinion and I certainly could be wrong.

Ciao.

Labels: bad judges, bad laws, bad politicians, bush war doctrine, constitution, Courts, criminal justice system, Justice system, SCOTUS

0 comments

I Shot the Sheriff

posted by The Sailor @ 7:08 PM Permalink

Sheriff Joe is at it again: July 18th

Apology ordered in court paper flap

A Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer has been ordered to apologize to a public defender for taking a document from files on her desk during a sentencing in Superior Court.

Judge Gary Donahoe said Officer Adam Stoddard must issue his apology at a news conference on the north plaza of the Central Court Building on or before Nov. 30 or face jail for contempt of court.

Stoddard was pictured on courtroom video Oct. 19 taking a piece of paper from the courtroom desk of Public Defense Joanne Cuccia.
[...]
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Wednesday [...] "Superior Court judges do not order my officers to hold press conferences," Arpaio said in a statement. "I decide who holds press conferences and when they are held regarding this Sheriff's Office."

I've excerpted this article not to cherry pick quotes but to fall in the guidelines of copyright protection. The whole article is much more damning.

The defense counsel, the prosecutor and ALL cops are officers of the court. To have a sheriff's deputy steal defense records, copy them and send them to the government's side is not only theft it's against federal law and a violation of the Constitution.

The cop is lucky he was only found in civil contempt. He should go down! (By 'down' I meant to the corner and apologize.) Personally, I think the Feds should prosecute him & Sheriff Joe et al for Federal crimes, (no way that the County Atty will prosecute the theft that was involved), because they think that cops run the gov't.

But wait, there's more:

MCSO officer files motion to delay judge's ruling

[...]
Video footage shows Stoddard glancing at the documents during a sentencing hearing for Antonio Solis Lozano, 26. He's then shown removing the handwritten notes and having them copied.

INAL, but as I understand it there is no recourse when a judge sentences you for civil contempt. Criminal contempt, yes, civil, no.

Justice might be served if Arpaio & Lozano were sentenced to live in tents and made to wear pink panties.

Gosh, I bet they'd never flout the law again! Like Bull Connor never did.[/sarcasm]

Sheriff Joe has got to go. He's not just a criminal, he runs a criminal enterprise.

Mother of mercy, can this be the end of RICO?*

*Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

When the U.S. Attorney decides to indict someone under RICO, he or she has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize a defendant's assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property, as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond.

Cross posted at SteveAudio

Labels: bad cops, bad judges, bad lawyers, bad parenting, bad prosecutors

0 comments

Talkin' 'bout my generation…and Americans like me that grew up during the heyday…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 9:00 AM Permalink

of rock and roll, listening to what I still believe to be the most socially relevant music of any era. Music that carried a message for the youth of America and sparked a generational social revolution among teens, young adults, and even those older guys who thought they were cool listening to rock and roll and suddenly discovered that they actually liked it, not just for the music and beats but for the lyrics that came to mean so much to so many.

Then the GOP came into power and the very group of society against which we rebelled acted swiftly to negate an individuals worth to society, whether they be rich or poor or somewhere in between, something which at my age, looking back, mystifies me as to how we lost our way and how or why we lost sight of what is truly important: the welfare of the whole takes precedent over the gathering of Midas-like wealth by the old monied million- and billionaires who would not stop to p*ss on you were you laying by the side of the road on fire, that would deny you medical care, food, and, if they could, the very oxygen you breath would be seized for their exclusive use.

And in large part the coming moral poverty and perversion by those wealthy enough to sway society in such ways as to not only encourage, but actually persuade, the poor, the elderly, the ill and infirm to vote against their own interests and for the pernicious agenda of a political party that would just as soon take them out to deep water and then scuttle the carrier ships to rid America of those whom the republicans despise simply for the fact of their existence is both cruel and inhuman.

All my life I have listened, grown, matured, and educated myself and everyone else around me that would listen to the lyrics and deeper meaning of those lyrics contained in so much rock and roll. Unfortunately I could influence only small circles of friends and family, but educate them I did and I'm proud to say that I did.

It's said that the tree of liberty needs refreshing from time to time with the blood of patriots. I disagree and fervently advocate teaching our children the values that made America great instead of asserting a need for regular and routine violence, whatever the GOP espouses and/or the fake reasons they create to commit war crimes of mass destruction and genocide by bombs instead of growing a better society here.

So, having expressed my penchant for the lessons we children of the 60s learned all by ourselves despite the hatred spewed by so many of our elders, I thought I would repeat here the words of a song called, appropriately, "Word Games" by Stephen Stills, one of the greatest artists of my lifetime and a song more socially relevant today than when first written. It's a little long, but I encourage all our readers to pour over every word, compare the meaning of those words to the political dribble and bigoted diatribes leveled against President Obama and realize that it is still possible, and not too late, to continue the change in America that started over forty years ago. For your enjoyment and edification:

Would you knock a man down if you don't like the cut of his clothes
Could you put a man away if you don't want to hear what he knows
Well it's happening right here people dying of fear by the droves
And I know most of you
Either don't believe it's true,
Or else you don't know what to do
Or maybe I'm singing about you,
Who knows.
It's incredibly sick, you can feel it, as across the land it flows
Prejudice is slick when it's a word game, it festers and grows,
Move along quick, it furthers one to have somewhere to go
You can feel it as it's rumblin'
Let emotions keep a tumblin'
Then as cities start to crumblin'
Mostly empty bellies grumblin'
Here we go
People see somebody different fear is the first reaction shown
Then they think they've got him licked the barbaric hunt begins and they move in slow
A human spirit is devoured the remains left to carrion crow
I was told that life is change
And yet history remains,
Does it always stay the same
Do we shrug it off and say
Only God knows
By and by, somebody usually goes down to the ghetto
Try and help but they don't know why folks treat them cold
And the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us just keep getting old.
You see one must have a mission
In order to be a good Christian
If you don't you will be missing
High Mass or the evening show
And the well fed masters reap the harvests of the polluted seeds they've sown,
Smug and self-righteous they bitch about people they owe,
And you can't prove them wrong, they're so God damn sure they know
I have seen these things with my very own eyes and defended my battered soul,
It must be too tough to die,
American propaganda, South African lies
Will not force me to take up arms, that's my enemies' pride,
Ands I won't fight by his rules that's foolishness besides,
His ignorance is gonna do him in and nobody's gonna cry,
Because his children they are growing up
And plainly tired of putting up
With bigots and their silver cups
They're fed up, they might throw up
On you

Peace, loving and helping one another, bettering our country by bettering ourselves, giving instead of taking, expressing kindness not hatred, building a lasting society rather than just another Roman Empire that will fade from history as yet another failure of man, sunk by the weight of hatred, bigotry, and the eternal war the GOP would prefer to be the norm.

Think about it, please. Our future and the future of our children hang in the balance.

Sailor: If you can find a good copy of this song to post with this I will be eternally grateful to you and will name a planet in another galaxy after you in your honor. I will further provide you with all the free tickets you need for passage to your planet. Bill

Labels: anarchy, bad cops, bad judges, bad laws, bad politicians, bad prosecutors, bad Religion, bigotry run amok, disinformation, propaganda

3 comments

Am I the only one laughing myself sick at the irony…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 12:23 PM Permalink

…of the gop, the most law-breaking, ignore the rule of law, and seeking any means of personal aggrandizement whether legal or not party in the entire history of America carping about a judicial appointment?

There are so many war criminals in the republican party that if you had a shot of whiskey every time one is named you would be in dire danger of alcohol poisoning.

republicans are traitors and brigands devoted to paying lip service to 'the rule of law' and looking every more silly and ever more self-destructive after having fought tooth-and-nail to impeach Bill Clinton for a personal flaw that had no effect at all on America or its safety. Now they are totally ignoring and willfully overlooking the hugh body of evidence documenting King George's and the Big Dick's incredible insanity in willfully violating law after law after law, damaging America's reputation, endangering our safety, pursuing and instigating illegal wars, conducting a genocide in Iraq, killing millions and displacing millions more, and abusing presidential power in the same manner as every petty dictator who ever subjugated a country. With republican support! Traitors!

When a republican sings, "This land is my land…," they actually mean that America belongs to their party and no other political entity need apply. America is theirs do with what they will, no matter how perverse, illegal, or damaging to America and Americans. (And from the sheer numbers of republicans exposed as wife-cheaters and perpetrators of immoral acts they have a good head start.)

Worst yet, they believe the entire world should be under their thumb and will bomb and destroy any country they believe is not obeying their edicts.

"You shall kneel before me Jor-el! Both you, and one day your heirs!" might as well be the official republican motto! With a few minor changes of course.

Labels: bad judges, bad laws, bad politicians, bad prosecutors, citizenship, civil disobedience, civil liberties, civil rights, GOP, propaganda

0 comments

Supreme Ignorance

posted by The Sailor @ 5:21 PM Permalink

Justice Thomas talked about his own school days, reminiscing fondly about seeing “a flag and a crucifix in each classroom.”
[...]
The event, on March 31, was devoted to the Bill of Rights, but Justice Thomas did not embrace the document, and he proposed a couple of alternatives.

“Today there is much focus on our rights,” Justice Thomas said. “Indeed, I think there is a proliferation of rights.”

“I am often surprised by the virtual nobility that seems to be accorded those with grievances,” he said. “Shouldn’t there at least be equal time for our Bill of Obligations and our Bill of Responsibilities?”

Sorry Clarence, we already have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights.

And the 'Bill of Obligations' and the 'Bill of Responsibilities' were not included.

There has been no 'proliferation of rights', there has only been the eroding of them.



Cross posted at SteveAudio

Labels: bad judges, bad laws

1 comments

The Just Us System

posted by The Sailor @ 1:16 PM Permalink

Convictions Reversed in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's highest court on Thursday overturned hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by a corrupt judge who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from youth detention centers.
[...]
In one of the most egregious cases of judicial corruption ever seen, federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, with taking $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in privately owned lockups.
[...]
Prosecutors have described a scheme in which Conahan, the former president judge of Luzerne County, shut down the county-owned juvenile detention center in 2002 and signed an agreement with PA Child Care LLC to send youth offenders to its new facility outside Wilkes-Barre.
[...]
The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center asked the Supreme Court to intervene in Luzerne County last year, citing statistics that Ciavarella was opting for detention in far high numbers than would be expected. The justices rejected the request without comment in early January, then changed their mind after Conahan and Ciavarella were charged.

Yet another example of why inherent government functions shouldn't be privatized. Just like cops and the DEA shouldn't have a profit motive to bust people, (i.e. civil forfeiture laws), and mercenaries & private contractors (i.e. Blackwater & KBR) shouldn't have a role in a combat theater. It always leads to corruption worse than any gov't corruption.

And note the State Supreme Court ignored it completely, until the judge & co were charged with crimes.
*************
Next up:

Missouri retracts police memo which labeled activists as 'militia'

The Missouri Department of Public Safety has retracted a controversial profiling memo which linked libertarian activists, Christians, constitutionalists, supporters of Congressman Ron Paul and other traditionally conservative groups to underground militias.

It also specifically cautioned police to be on the lookout for bumper stickers advertising third party candidates, or people with copies of the United States Constitution.

Well, dog nose the US Constitution is a powerful weapon, and everyone who reads or carries a copy, especially the 4th amendment, should be looked upon with suspicion![/snark]

Not to make light of the growing problem with militias and hate groups who want to kill the president and overthrow the country, but shouldn't the cops be looking for violent groups and not peaceful folks? And one would think they should be looking at the Constitution themselves instead of looking for people holding it. It sounds like they think having a copy is probable cause. (hint to cops: It's easy to tell the violent ones; they have assault rifles and explosives. The peaceful ones vote and hold protests.)
*************

States consider drug tests for welfare recipients

Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random drug testing.
[...]
Those in favor of the drug tests say they are motivated out of a concern for their constituents' health and ability to put themselves on more solid financial footing once the economy rebounds. But proponents concede they also want to send a message: you don't get something for nothing.

"Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs," said Craig Blair, a Republican in the West Virginia Legislature
[...]
[Christine Nelson, a program manager with the National Conference of State Legislatures said] They also cost less than the $400 or so needed for tests that can catch a sufficient range of illegal drugs, and rule out false positive results with a follow-up test.

Jeebus, where do I start!? It's not 'something for nothing' these are programs that people have paid into for years, it's called FICA, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act!

And this stupidity burns so bad "Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs", uh, yes they are! Jobs shipped overseas, economic meltdown, homes foreclosed due to regulatory malfeasance and removal. Can anyone else tell that that was a republican who said that!?

And if you want to save money, spending $400 per just the 12.5 million unemployed folks in this country is 5 TRILLION dollars! (Somebody check my math.)

And that doesn't include welfare or foodstamp recipients, nor the retesting for false positives!

Not to mention they're searching for drugs without probable cause and that different drugs stay in the system for various amounts of time. Is it really fair to conclude someone wasn't 'able, ready or willing to work' because they smoked a joint 2 weeks ago!?

I have a counter proposal: Test every elected or appointed politician randomly for drugs. Test them everyday they are legislating for alcohol. These folks are behind the wheel of our cities, states and country. They too get our tax dollars, and they can obviously do more harm to more citizens that any drunk driver.
*************

And last but not least:

NJ girl, 14, arrested after posting nude pics

A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.

The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site.
[...]
The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
[...]
Prosecutors in states including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have tried stop it by charging teens who send and receive the pictures.

In northeastern Pennsylvania, a prosecutor recently threatened to file child porn charges against three teenage girls who authorities say took racy cell-phone pictures that ended up on classmates' cell phones.

In the last case the girls sent OMG!!1! 'racy pictures!' (jeebus, get a grip! (No not there;-)

OMG, OMG, the sky is falling!!!1!

But seriously folks, can you actually charge a child for 'child porn' for sending or posting pictures of herself to an equally underage boyfriend? And how was this reported to the cops?

BTW, even the mothers of these last children, and the mother of Megan, of Megan's Law fame, object to this persecution.

Hmmm, anyone else think the prosecutors might be up for re-election?



Cross posted at SteveAudio

Labels: bad cops, bad judges, bad laws, bad prosecutors

0 comments

The GOP is composed of naught but liars, schemers, takers…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 12:58 PM Permalink

…and generally has become the most evil political party ever seen by Man.

And yes, this may be only my opinion, but what else do you call a party that initiates wars for control of natural resources, the extermination of entire races of people, conducting genocide in the manner of "gentlemen," not down in the mud, blood, guts, and gore that teaches the folly and horror of such ventures, but a party willing to spend billions of dollars every year surveilling innocents, bombing innocent women and children, driving millions from their ancestral homes, and managing to do it from 20-30,000 feet in the air so our pilots could kill freely without fear of injury or repercussions to themselves; those whose families are thousands of miles safely removed from the theater of combat and risk nothing while Republicans spend every red cent that becomes available to America fostering nothing but more greed, avarice, killing sprees, and all the other things the GOP has done since Ronnie Raygun, semi- senile when elected, became the puppet of those who would wield the might of America without prospect of punishment or indeed, any accountability whatever.

The GOP has become the rabid dogs ravaging our planet, killing any who disagree with their stated policies of greed and complete, utter, absolute gridlock of the now rogue government that did so much to aid the world in the past.

Our days of Empire have expired, which will still not impress in the GOP, who would take it all, steal it at the point of a gun or threat of nuclear war, taken at the detriment and to the actual harm of the hapless citizens of the world by a party a willing to leave behind nothing but the smoking embers of a planet gone mad.

May the GOP ultimately be destroyed at the hands of those governed who misplaced their trust so badly.

Labels: Assassination, bad judges, bad laws, bush hypocrisy, bush war doctrine, disinformation, GOP, propaganda, surveillance

0 comments

Does anyone else see the irony here?

posted by The Sailor @ 5:53 PM Permalink

Bump & Update:

Police to get training after head-scarf wearer's arrest

The Douglasville Police Department said Monday its officers will undergo "sensitivity and cultural diversity training" after a Muslim woman who refused to remove her head scarf at a courthouse was jailed.

"We never want this to happen again. It's not our intent to embarrass anybody," Police Chief Joe Whisenant said at a news conference.

The judge who had the woman jailed briefly for contempt of court will also take part in the training, Whisenant said.

Original post:

Ga. judge jails Muslim woman over head scarf

A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said Wednesday that she felt her human and civil rights were violated. A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court, said police in Douglasville, a city of about 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.
[...]
Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said state law doesn't permit or prohibit head scarfs.
[...]
Valentine's husband, Omar Hall, said his wife was accompanying her nephew to a traffic citation hearing when officials stopped her at the metal detector and told her she would not be allowed in the courtroom with the head scarf, known as a hijab.

Hall said Valentine, an insurance underwriter, told the bailiff that she had been in courtrooms before with the scarf on and that removing it would be a religious violation. When she turned to leave and uttered an expletive, Hall said a bailiff handcuffed her and took her before the judge.

Hmm, I guess you can wear a scarf in his courtroom!



Cross posted at SteveAudio

Labels: bad cops, bad judges

1 comments