Homeless in Arizona

Most people are in prison for victimless drug war crimes

After victimless drug war crimes most people are in prison for weapons violations

Victimless drug and gun crimes are why most people are in Federal prisons.

51 percent of federal prison inmates are there for victimless drug war crimes. In the above graph the second highest number of people are in federal prisons for weapons violations. The article didn't give a percent for weapons violations.

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Eric Holder is cutting federal drug sentences. That will make a small dent in the U.S. prison population.

By Dylan Matthews, Published: August 12 at 2:50 pm

Populations at federal prisons have grown, but state prisons are the real problem.

Attorney General Eric Holder will announce Monday that the Justice Department will no longer charge nonviolent drug offenders with serious crimes that subject them to long, mandatory minimum sentences in the federal prison system. As my colleague Sari Horwitz explains, Holder “is giving new instructions to federal prosecutors on how they should write their criminal complaints when charging low-level drug offenders, to avoid triggering the mandatory minimum sentences.”

He’s also expected to call for the expanded use of prison alternatives, such as probation or house arrest, for nonviolent offenders and for lower sentences for elderly inmates. And he’ll endorse legislation by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would increase federal judges’ flexibility in sentencing nonviolent drug offenders.

The changes Holder wants will likely make a big difference at the federal level. But that won’t be enough to solve America’s mass incarceration problem.

Focusing on drug offenses is a smart way to go about reducing the federal incarceration rate. According to data in Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?, a new book by UC – Berkeley’s Steven Raphael and UCLA’s Michael Stoll, the most serious charge for 51 percent of federal inmates in 2010 was a drug offense. By comparison, homicide was the most serious charge for only 1 percent, and robbery was the most serious charge against 4 percent.

Tougher drug sentencing accounts for much of the increase in the incarceration rate. “If you go back and decompose what caused growth in the federal prison system since 1984, a large chunk can be explained by drug offenses, around 45 percent,” Raphael says. The other big category accounting for the federal increase is weapons charges, such as the five-year mandatory minimum faced by drug offenders caught with guns. Raphael estimates that that accounts for 18 to 19 percent of the increase.

There’s also been an increase in incarcerations on immigration charges, with the rest of the increase in other areas. But there’s no doubt that the biggest category of crime behind the increase in the federal incarceration rate is drugs. Easing up on drug sentencing would make a big dent.

The states are different

But the federal system isn’t really where the action is. The most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimates find that there are 1,353,198 people incarcerated at the state level and 217,815 incarcerated federally. So about 13.9 percent of U.S. prisoners are in federal institutions; the other 86.1 percent are in state facilities. And most prisoners at the state level are not there for drug crimes.

In 2004, about 20 percent of state-level inmates were incarcerated on drug convictions, Raphael and Stoll find. Compared with the federal population, those incarcerated at the state level are much likelier to have committed violent offenses. In 2004, 14 percent were in prison for homicide, 9 percent for rape or sexual assault, 12 percent for robbery and 8 percent for aggravated assault. In 2011, it was much the same, according to BJS stats on state inmates serving sentences of a year or more. Fifty-three percent of inmates were in prison for violent offenses, 18.3 percent for property crimes, 10.6 percent for “public order” offenses such as drunk driving, weapons possession or vice offenses, and 16.8 percent for drug convictions.

Bjs state breakdown

Raphael and Stoll’s estimates of what’s accounting for the higher incarceration rates suggest that violent crimes are a big part of the state-level story. They find that harsher sentencing for violent offenders explains 48 percent of growth in incarceration rates, compared with about 22 percent attributable to increases in drug sentencing, and 15 percent due to increases in property crime and other sentences.

Then again, most people who go through state criminal justice systems do so on drug offenses. If you look at admission rates, rather than incarceration rates, at the state level, drugs become a much bigger part of the picture. For admissions, Raphael and Stoll find “relatively modest increases for violent crimes and property crimes and pronounced increases for drug offenses, parole violations, and other less serious crime.” And while higher admissions for less serious crimes with shorter sentences don’t affect the incarceration rate as much as increases in sentencing for serious crimes, they do dramatically affect the lives of those admitted, who have to find work as ex-offenders and live with the sundry restrictions states impose upon those who’ve served time.

It’s not hopeless

Holder is taking a fairly plausible approach to reducing the U.S. incarceration rate at the level where he can effect it. But that’s not the level that matters most, and if we were to get serious about reducing the state-level incarceration and admissions rates, we need to talk not just about reducing sentences for drug crimes but also about reducing prison admissions for drug offenses, and perhaps also lowering sentences for property crime and even violent offenses, particularly robbery.

There has been growing enthusiasm for reforming state sentencing laws, even backed by many conservatives. The American Legislative Exchange Council has joined the cause, creating model legislation for loosening state mandatory minimum laws. Especially if it’s not just limited to drug offenses, that kind of reform could greatly reduce the state incarceration rate.

Welfare for religious colleges in Mesa, Corporate welfare Tempe Town Toilet

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Richardson: The good news going along with the bad in East Valley of late

Posted: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 6:12 am

Commentary by Bill Richardson

Last week there was some good news and some not so good news for East Valley cities.

First, the good news.

[If you ask me this is bad news, because it involves mixing religion and government with the city of Mesa giving corporate welfare to these Christian Colleges which is a violation of both the US and Arizona Constitutions.]

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and Grand Canyon University officials announced the university would build a new 120-acre campus in Mesa’s fast growing educational and technical corridor. GCU’s new campus will grow to educate 10,000 students.

Mesa currently hosts the Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus and A. T. Stills Medical School in the corridor area. Smith told Fox News GCU will be the sixth new college to call Mesa home, including “five of them this year alone. This is unprecedented.” Mesa is fast becoming a major player in post high school and college level programs that will supply an educated workforce to the valley and state.

SNIP

Now for the bad news.

[Technically this was good news for the royal Tempe rulers because they get to accept boatloads of bribes, oops I mean campaign contributions from the special interest groups building the Marina Heights project in exchange for giving them $37.4 million in corporate welfare.]

While Tempe officials were taking bows and slapping backs at the Marina Heights festivities, it was less ceremoniously announced Tempe’s mayor and city council decided at a council meeting, with restricted public input, to stick Tempe residents, and not developers, with the $37.4 million cost to build a new dam on the west end of the Town Lake. That works out to about $225.00 in dam debt for each of Tempe’s 166,000 residents.

Along with the cost of the dam being dumped on Tempe residents, who are already weary of a steady stream of tax and fee increases, reduced services and higher costs, the mayor and city council, the highest paid in the East Valley, gave a generous incentive package to developers that goes beyond the tens of millions of dollars in dam costs.

According to the Arizona Republic’s July 31 story, “Tempe OKs controversial lake plan”, developers will now pay a lower annual “holding fee” and a lower annual interest rate on their share of lake construction.

Tempe city hall continues to charge residents plenty to do the people’s business.

Once again developers in Tempe get the proverbial gold mine while residents continue to get the shaft from city hall.

SNIP

Retired Mesa master police officer Bill Richardson lives in the East Valley and can be reached at bill.richardson@cox.net.

Man blows up dog, cites rapture, police say

I also wonder if the nut jobs in Congress were following Gods orders when they passed these draconian laws that make possession of firecrackers and bombs punishable by 20 years in prison.

Source

Man blows up dog, cites rapture, police say

Associated Press Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:20 PM

STEVENSON, Wash. — A Stevenson man accused of blowing up his dog has been charged with a felony.

The Skamania County sheriff’s office says the prosecutor filed charges Monday against Christopher Wayne Dillingham.

The felony is possession of a bomb or explosive device with intent to use for an unlawful purpose. If convicted, the 45-year-old could face up to 20 years in prison. He’s also charged with reckless endangerment.

Dillingham appeared in court Monday in Stevenson and was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

In court papers, investigators said Dillingham attached a fireworks bomb to the dog’s collar early Sunday and set it off with a blast that alarmed neighbors. Dillingham said he killed the dog because an ex-girlfriend had “put the devil in it.” He also said he was preparing for the rapture.

Legal fight brews on impairment in medical-marijuana DUIs

Arizona's medical marijuana law says people with medical marijuana prescriptions or recommendations are they are called can't be arrested for DUI simply because they have marijuana metabolites in their body, but the cops have decided to ignore Prop 203 and arrest medical marijuana patients for DUI solely because they have microscopic traces of marijuana in their body.

I believe Arizona's DUI/DWI laws are among the strictest in the nation and if even a microscopic trace of marijuana is detected in your body you are consider guilty of drunk driving according to ARS 28-1381 and ARS 13-3401

28-1381.A. It is unlawful for a person to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle in this state under any of the following circumstance

3. While there is any drug defined in section 13-3401 or its metabolite in the person's body.

13-3401. Definitions

4. "Cannabis" ...

ARS 36-2802.D Operating, navigating or being in actual physical control of any motor vehicle, aircraft or motorboat while under the influence of marijuana, except that a registered qualifying patient shall not be considered to be under the influence of marijuana solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause impairment.

Source

Legal fight brews on impairment in medical-marijuana DUIs

By JJ Hensley The Republic | azcentral.com Wed Aug 7, 2013 10:54 PM

Medical-marijuana cardholders in Arizona who drive after using the drug may face a difficult legal choice: their driver’s license or their marijuana card. If they use both, they could be charged with DUI.

Valley prosecutors say that any trace of marijuana in a driver’s blood is enough to charge a motorist with driving under the influence of drugs [per ARS 28-1381.A and ARS 13-3401] and that a card authorizing use of medical pot is no defense. [per ARS 36-2802.D - "a registered qualifying patient shall not be considered to be under the influence of marijuana solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause impairment"]

But advocates of medical marijuana, which voters approved in November 2010, argue that the presence of marijuana in a person’s bloodstream is not grounds for charging drivers who are allowed to use the drug. [again per ARS 36-2802.D]

The legal battle over the rights of medical-marijuana cardholders to drive while medicating is being fought in the state’s court system. Motorists convicted in municipal courts, which typically rule it unlawful for a driver to have any trace of marijuana in his or her blood, are appealing cases to Superior Court, where judges’ decisions could set precedents for how the medical-marijuana law applies to Arizona drivers.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia authorize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, making marijuana-related DUIs an issue for police, prosecutors and politicians nationwide.

The biggest issue is deciding what blood level of marijuana makes a driver impaired, similar to the way blood-alcohol levels determine when a person is legally drunk. [Arizona's DUI laws say any microscopic trace of an illegal drug is an automatic conviction for DUI, but Arizona's medical marijuana law says this does not apply to people with medical marijuana prescriptions or recommendations]

In Arizona, the confusion over interpretation of the Medical Marijuana Act stems from its inception because prosecutors and police didn’t have the chance to weigh in before it went to voters in 2010. [it's not confusion, police and prosecutors have decided to ignore Prop 203 which says - "a registered qualifying patient shall not be considered to be under the influence of marijuana solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause impairment"]

Prosecutors say Arizona law allows motorists who are not impaired to drive with prescription drugs in their system if they are using them under doctors’ orders.

The problem for marijuana cardholders is that pot can’t be prescribed, only recommended, offering no legal grounds for a motorist to drive with even trace amounts of the drug in their system, according to prosecutors. [wrong Prop 203 very specifically excludes people with medical marijuana prescriptions - "a registered qualifying patient shall not be considered to be under the influence of marijuana solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause impairment"]

For most driving-under-the-influence-of-marijuana cases, the drug charge is secondary to the charge of driving while impaired. Arizona’s DUI laws have three aspects: driving while impaired to the slightest degree, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of drugs.

The handful of cases making their way through the courts grew out of traffic stops, where drivers are typically cited for both driving while impaired to the slightest degree and driving under the influence of drugs.

Attorneys for the accused say they are willing to argue about impairment, which would allow a drug expert hired by the defense to counter testimony from a police drug-recognition expert, but that a suspect’s legal participation in the state’s medical-marijuana program should provide a defense to the DUI-drug charge if there is no evidence of impairment.

Prosecutors in Mesa and other jurisdictions have successfully argued to keep juries from hearing information about a suspect’s medical-marijuana card, which could be appealed.

“They can make that argument (about impairment) and I think it’s a fair one to make. What they can’t do is preclude a jury from hearing that he has a medical-marijuana card,” said Craig Rosenstein, an attorney representing a DUI-drug suspect in Mesa. “The idea that he would be able to beat the (DUI-drug) charge is impossible unless the jury can hear that they have a medical-marijuana card. Otherwise, he’s just a kid smoking weed and he got caught.”

Morgan Jackson Doyle, 24, was coming back from the Salt River on Memorial Day 2012 when he was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint by Mesa police near Power Road and the Red Mountain Freeway.

An officer said Doyle had reddened eyes and a raspy voice, which prompted him to ask whether Doyle had recently smoked marijuana, according to police.

Rosenstein, Doyle’s lawyer, said Doyle gave the officer his medical-marijuana card with his driver’s license, “out of an abundance of truth.”

Doyle was put through a series of field-sobriety tests, some of which indicated impairment while others did not, before a trained drug-recognition officer was called to put Doyle through more thorough tests that look for clues of drug use.

The drug-recognition expert determined it was not safe for Doyle to drive, police said. He was cited for driving while impaired to the slightest degree and driving under the influence of drugs.

Blood tests later showed Doyle had the psychoactive component of marijuana in his blood, but in an amount that falls below levels some scientists consider the threshold for impairment.

A judge in Mesa refused to allow Doyle to introduce the card at his trial, prompting his lawyer to seek a ruling in Superior Court, which sent the case back to Mesa. If the court rules as expected, attorneys said the case will be appealed.

“I think it’s ridiculous. Voters in Arizona adopted the Medical Marijuana Act, whether politicians agree, or not,” Rosenstein said. “My concern was, if this isn’t isolated to Mesa, in theory that could make bad law for the entire state.”

Phoenix prosecutors have taken the same stance on drug DUIs for marijuana cardholders, in part, because the drug does not come with any of the same controls as a standard prescription, said Beth Barnes, the city’s traffic-safety resource prosecutor.

The potency of marijuana can vary among dispensaries that sell to patients, and doctors’ recommendations do not have dosage limits and warning against operating heavy machinery that prescriptions usually carry, she said.

Those and other factors mean possession of a card is not relevant in DUI cases, Barnes said.

Aaron Carreón-Ainsa, Phoenix’s chief prosecutor, said he understands it is legal for authorized patients to use medical marijuana, but that right can infringe on other privileges they might enjoy.

“For those people who have medical-marijuana cards, OK, it’s legal. Fine,” Carreón-Ainsa said. “But don’t come to this building because you’ve been driving. Just take it and don’t drive.”

Blood concentration

Though some states have tried to attach a number to impairment, experts say the practice is complicated by a number of factors including the patient’s metabolism and smoking frequency.

A 10-year study of more than 8,700 DUI-drug cases in Sweden led researchers to conclude that zero-tolerance policies were probably most effective because they help identify suspects whose concentration-level might have fallen below an arbitrarily set limit while waiting to give a blood sample.

“Scientists have found it virtually impossible to agree upon the concentration of a psychoactive substance in blood that leads to impairment in the vast majority of people,” the researchers wrote.

Colorado legislators consistently rejected proposals to link impairment with a particular amount of marijuana in a driver’s blood, but this year passed a law allowing prosecutors to presume impairment if that level is above 5 nanograms per milliliter. Defense attorneys argue that 5 nanograms is an arbitrary amount that has no bearing on impairment.

“We need to stop looking at a meaningless number, and in the case of Arizona, not only a meaningless number but a cruel and unusual application of it: you punish somebody on a Monday morning for them killing their pain on a Friday night,” said Lenny Frieling, a Colorado attorney and medical-marijuana advocate.

“I don’t want impaired drivers on the road. The key in my mind is looking at whether somebody really is or is not impaired. If they’re impaired, I don’t care which drug impaired them.” [but Arizona's DUI laws in ARS 28-1381 say that anybody with a detectable amount of an illegal drug is considered guilty of DUI even if they ARE NOT impaired - and a person can have marijuana metabolites in their body weeks after using marijuana]

Frieling is developing a mobile test that gauges factors, including memory and balance, that could help determine impairment, but without years of clinical trials and research about marijuana concentrations that equate to impairment, the issue often relies on police drug-recognition experts and interpretation of state laws.

Courts within the same states have been inconsistent in applying the law.

A Michigan man was charged with driving a car with a prohibited substance in his system after he told an officer during a traffic stop that he was an authorized medical-marijuana cardholder and had smoked five hours earlier.

A judge concluded that the state’s medical-marijuana law protected him from prosecution unless police could prove he was impaired. Another court agreed before the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the judge’s order and determined that legislators deemed it unsafe for a motorist to drive with any amount of marijuana in their system.

The Michigan Supreme Court reversed that Appeals Court decision earlier this year and found that the state’s medical-marijuana law authorized participants to have traces of marijuana in their bloodstream so long as they were not impaired while driving.

The Michigan driver’s blood contained 10 ng/ml of the active marijuana metabolite — twice the limit adopted in Colorado — but the justices said the amount was not enough to constitute driving under the influence without evidence of impairment.

“The MMMA (Michigan Medical Marihuana Act) shields registered patients from the internal possession of marijuana,” the court ruled. “The MMMA does not define what it means to be ‘under the influence’ but the phrase clearly contemplates something more than having any amount of marijuana in one’s system and requires some effect on the person.”

Arizona’s medical-marijuana users should be afforded similar protections when they are not impaired, say the law’s supporters.

Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the organization that got the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act on the 2010 ballot, said law enforcement should not base an arrest solely on the presence of marijuana in a cardholder’s system.

“The presence of metabolites alone shall not constitute impairment under the law — period,” he said. He said the program’s language was “very mindfully” written to avoid cases such as the Mesa case.

“There’s absolutely no way that, if challenged in court, that a conviction would stand — the law is absolutely clear on this point,” Myers said. “You could medicate on a Friday and get pulled over on a Monday two weeks later. It’s that ridiculous — it would absolutely preclude any medical-marijuana cardholder from operating a motor vehicle at any time if they were an active patient. And that’s ridiculously onerous and it’s not reflective of reality for a person who medicates.”

Myers said law enforcement should propose legislation to establish a legal standard of impairment: “Until that point, I think the law needs to favor the citizenry,” he said. [Arizona's medical marijuana law clearly says it is illegal to drive when stoned on marijuana, but it also says that you are not considered guilty of DUI simply because you have marijuana metabolites in your body.]

Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema takes a junket to Israel

Atheist Kyrsten Sinema sells out to the Jewish Christian lobbyists???

Even though US Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema is an atheist in this article see seems to have sold out to the Jewish Christian lobbyists. And of course she also seems to have sold out to the military industrial complex which supplies Israel with weapons that they use to terrorize the Arabs.

"Sinema and other Democratic lawmakers were in Israel on a previously scheduled trip paid for by an arm of a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group."

Last but not least US Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema attempted to flush Arizona's medical marijuana law down the toilet by introducing a 300 percent tax on medical marijuana.

Source

Political Insider: Irate Goldwater refuses to answer senator’s questions on its ties to ALEC

The Republic | azcentral.com Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:17 PM

Another assault on freedom ... Or so the Goldwater Institute believes, as it sent an indignant retort to a U.S. senator who asked the conservative think tank if it is associated with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

Specifically, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wanted to know if Goldwater served as an ALEC member, if it funded ALEC this year and if it backed ALEC’s support of model legislation promoting “stand your ground” gun laws.

The reason for the Illinois senator’s snoopiness? Durbin wrote that he needs the information as he readies a congressional hearing on the self-defense law. He’s also reaching out to other groups that have been identified as ALEC funders.

Goldwater officials fired off a letter that effectively told Durbin to stuff it.

“Simply put, especially in the wake of IRS intimidation and harassment of conservative organizations, your inquisition is an outrage,” wrote Goldwater president Darcy Olsen, litigation director Clint Bolick and policy director Nick Dranias.

They refused to answer, because, they wrote, “as free Americans, that is our right.”

For the record, media reports have identified Goldwater as an ALEC donor.

Sorry, can’t make it, I had other plans ... Wendy Rogers, the tough, bike-riding, Republican Air Force mom who’s hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema in the midterm elections, was outraged that her potential Democratic rival missed President Barack Obama’s Phoenix speech this week.

“Disrespectful. Self-serving. In it for herself,” Rogers, who ran unsuccessfully in the primary last year, blustered on her Facebook page. “Today the president of the United States came to our AZ-09 district, yet our congresswoman didn’t even show perfunctory respect by at least showing up.”

Sinema and other Democratic lawmakers were in Israel on a previously scheduled trip paid for by an arm of a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group.

Arizona’s Republican members of Congress were in town. And none of them was at Obama’s speech, either.

He’s the president. ’Nuff said ... The state’s congressional delegation may have missed Obama’s speech, but the Legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer’s office were well represented.

The GOP gaggle waiting to get inside the Desert Vista High School auditorium wasn’t exactly thrilled to see Insider and offered different reasons for stepping into the swarm of swooning Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader John McComish said his district includes the Ahwatukee Foothills school, so he was representing his constituents. Senate Majority Whip Adam Driggs said the commander in chief, no matter their party, is a big deal: “It’s out of respect for the office.”

Brewer chief of staff Scott Smith, general counsel Joe Sciarrotta and spokesman Andrew Wilder also attended the speech. But given Brewer’s rather scathing prepared statement that followed — “Our recovery has been made possible in spite of the president’s policies — not because of them” — they apparently weren’t impressed.

State schools Superintendent John Huppenthal arrived early and grabbed a VIP seat with a passel of Democratic lawmakers. He’s the state’s top education official, and the speech was at a school, so that’s a handy excuse if he needs one.

But, really, does anyone need an excuse to see the president?

No resign if I run ... House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, is eying a run for the Congressional District 1 seat. And while he won’t say if he’s in, plenty of others in the political-gossip echo chamber are saying it for him.

Tobin said if he decides to take the plunge, he won’t jump out of the pool that is the Arizona Legislature. Tobin said he intends to remain speaker through the 2014 session, which would coincide with the eight-year limit on his term.

It’s bad form to abandon one office to seek another, he said.

Early prediction: If Tobin does jump into the CD1 race, look for a short session. It’s hard to campaign across a vast chunk of rural Arizona when you’re tied up in Phoenix.

Compiled by Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl, Mary K. Reinhart and Rebekah L. Sanders. Get the latest at politics.azcentral.com.

Teacher's jail term for having sex with boys 'shocking'

You know criminals that hurt people, like robbers, rapists and murders. Not some hot high school teacher that likes to have sex with her students!!!!

Source

Teacher's jail term for having sex with boys 'shocking,' lawyer says

By Richard Winton

July 31, 2013, 5:10 p.m.

A plea deal by the San Bernardino County district attorney that gave a one year jail sentence to an ex-Redlands high school teacher convicted of sex acts with three boys is a betrayal of the victims and would never occur with a male predator, an attorney for one of the victims said Wednesday.

Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28, who gave birth to a child by one of the boys this summer, had faced 41 felony counts of sex crimes with three boys she taught.

With the plea deal, she admitted guilt to six counts -- four for unlawful sexual intercourse and two for oral copulation of a person under 18.

"This is a slap in the face to the victims," said attorney Heather Cullen, whose law firm represents the family of the boy who fathered a child with Whitehurst.

"This is a very short sentence for such crimes," Cullen said. "It's shocking anyone would face so little time for abusing minors. This is definitely being treated differently because they are boys and she is a woman."

Cullen said her client and his family were aware a plea deal might be struck, but never thought it would be so generous.

In addition to jail, Whitehurst must serve five years’ probation, undergo counseling and register as a sex offender for life. She will serve her time in county jail but could be sent to state prison if she violates the terms of her parole, said San Bernardino County Deputy Dist. Atty. Melissa Rodriguez.

Rodriguez cautioned that the goal of the criminal justice system "is both justice and rehabilitation." She said the victims wanted to move on with their lives and the case resolution allows that.

Legal experts say far longer sentences are typically handed out for educators convicted of sex crimes with students. Dmitry Gorin, a former L.A. County sex crimes prosecutor and defense attorney, said two years or more in prison is typical.

But, he added, prosecutors may have considered mitigating information about her background, mental health and the victims' positions.

Cullen said her client's family will pursue other avenues, including civil litigation, to ensure such "injustice doesn't happen to other children in Redlands."

Whitehurst was arrested July 1 on suspicion of having sex repeatedly with a student from Citrus Valley High School. She gave birth in June to a child fathered by the now-17-year-old student, who was present at the birth. The boy's mother complained to school officials.

The case has raised questions about when Redlands school officials first suspected the misconduct by the teacher and how the case was handled.

The district superintendent denied an allegation in the police search warrant that school officials failed to immediately report their knowledge of a sexual relationship between a student and a teacher that resulted in a baby.

The search warrant alleges the district began investigating the accusation six weeks before reporting it July 1 and did not immediately notify Redlands police or social services, as required by law.

After Whitehurst's arrest, two other former students came forward, saying they also had sex with the teacher during her six-year tenure with the Redlands Unified School District.

Whitehurst resigned from her job earlier this month. During a call recorded by police, Whitehurst allegedly admitted to the "ongoing sexual relationship, the birth of the child and [the boy] being the father of the child," according to the July 3 search warrant.

She later told investigators they began having sex at her apartment in 2012.

Whitehurst joined the Redlands Unified School District six years ago as an English teacher at Redlands High and allegedly began sexual relationships with two boys, one who was 14, authorities say. She was charged with sex crimes involving both those boys, who are now adults.

Whitehurst's attorney James Gass described his client as "a clean-cut American girl sitting in jail, so she's having a hard time. But she will be OK."

Prosecutors love to carve notches in their guns

F*ck justice!!! It's about advancing your career as a prosecutor

Source

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Former prosecutor: 'I couldn't work for an office that no longer encouraged me to do the right thing'

By now, the Cook County state's attorney's office is accustomed to the withering critiques of reporters, pundits and activists with their crusading attorneys.

We challenge the prosecutors' commitment to truth — not just locally but in many such offices across the state, where victory and vengeance seem to take priority over justice for the accused. We accuse them of seeing themselves as adversaries of the defendants rather than advocates for accuracy and fairness, which they ought to be given the enormous power they have over the lives of individuals.

And we are accustomed to them sloughing us off or shrugging in sulky defiance even after we reveal grotesque wrongful convictions they've perpetrated.

But now the withering critique is coming from inside the office.

Or, rather, from someone formerly inside the office — Sonia Antolec, who resigned Aug. 1 as an assistant Cook County state's attorney.

Antolec has since delivered several broadsides at leaders of the office, headed by Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, suggesting that politics and public relations are interfering with proper prosecution.

The back story: In late March, a group of teen girls was arrested and charged in a mugging that had taken place on a Red Line CTA train. Antolec was assigned to the case.

"We subpoenaed video evidence," she said in an extraordinary interview last week on WTTW-Ch. 11's "Chicago Tonight" program (embedded and partially transcribed here) "We subpoenaed police records. We called the victims and the witnesses and spoke to them. And there were some red flags that were raised after our investigations."

One red flag? The victim told Antolec that the police conducted their suspect identification lineup with the subjects facing a wall, away from the victim, she said.

Police have denied this allegation.

Another? The images on the grainy surveillance video of the crime caused Antolec to believe that police might have arrested the wrong people. She said she and a supervisor, "zoomed in on the girls. We did enlargements. And we could not match any of the three girls that were on the video to any of the girls that had been arrested."

Antolec said that, in consultation with her supervisor, she elected to drop the case just before it was scheduled to go to trial last month.

About a week later, she said, office higher-ups called her into several meetings, accused her of not following protocol by informing her supervisor of her decision on the day she acted on it, suspended her for three days without pay and demoted her.

"My supervisor was aware of all of the flaws (in the case)," she told WTTW's Carol Marin. "My supervisor was aware what was going to ultimately happen with the case. No one (in the state's attorney's office) has ever said" that there was enough evidence in the case to go forward.

"I specifically asked if I made the right judgment call, and I was told, "Yes you dismissed unprovable cases."

Did she follow proper procedure?

"The first and foremost procedure is that you don't proceed on a case that you cannot prove and that you don't have a good-faith basis for proceeding on," Antolec said.

So rather than accept the suspension and demotion, she quit.

"I couldn't work for an office that no longer encouraged me to do the right thing," she said. "My (12-year-old) son, when he was younger and when I started the job, he asked me if I wore a cape to work because I do what Batman does, and he wears a cape to work. That's what this job meant to me. I was upholding justice. I was seeking justice. It wasn't about convictions, it was about justice."

She added, "While these cases are very important and of the utmost importance, and public safety is of the utmost importance, so are children's rights and so are defendants' rights. ... And so is a prosecutor's oath.

"And when I can no longer walk into work knowing that someone will respect me or stand up for me when I make the right decision, and in fact I'm being punished for making the right decision, that's an employer that I can no longer work for."

Considering the source, it's as damning an assessment of the integrity of the Cook County state's attorney's office as I've ever heard.

A spokeswoman for Alvarez released a response to the Sun-Times, which broke this story, saying only that "clearly defined office policies and procedures were not followed in the manner in which these cases were handled" and that "the law does not permit us to comment beyond that."

Such sticklers!

But the proof will be not in their words but in their actions; whether prosecutors demonstrate that Antolec erred by having the state's attorney's office reinstate the charges — the law does permit the office to do that — and convicting the defendants at trial.

I asked the office about this possibility.

"We are currently evaluating our options as to reinstating charges in some or all of the cases that you inquire about," the spokeswoman replied in a written response. "However, Ms. Antolec's extra-judicial comments in the media regarding the weight of the evidence in these cases may preclude us from being able to do so."

In the court of public opinion, perhaps. But in a court of law, "Antolec's extra-judicial comments in the media" aren't evidence and they aren't admissible.

If the witness ID is solid, as police say, and Antolec's interpretation of the surveillance video is errant, as her suspension and demotion suggested, then oyez, oyez! Bring it on.

But if they don't have a case — if they never had a case — they should say so.

If they admitted it when they were wrong now and then, it would spare the rest of us some trouble.

--------------

Carol Marin wrote a column for the Sunday Sun-Times based on the interview: ‘Heater’ case couldn’t wilt lawyer

Alvarez’s office does not dispute problems with the evidence. What the office does dispute is whether Antolec observed proper protocol in getting the upper echelons of the office to agree to dismiss.

“Whether these cases are bad or not is beside the point,” Alvarez chief of staff Dan Kirk told me Friday. “You have to go through procedures.”

Kirk added that he’s just learned Antolec had been looking for another job before this whole controversy blew up.

Can’t say as I blame her.

What's still missing from Team Anita is a specific explanation of what the "procedures" were and how egregious Antoloc's alleged failure to follow them was. The idea that "the law" does not permit the office to comment beyond the vague assertions they've already made raises yet another question: What "law" are they talking about? What "law" forbids a public official or group of public employees who are attacked from responding with factual information? Did they break that supposed "law" by telling Marin that they'd learned Antolec was looking for another job and thereby implying that she invented the entire controversy?

I'll forward that question to them as well.

After Guantánamo, Another Injustice

After Guantánamo, Another Injustice

By JOHN GRISHAM

Published: August 10, 2013

ABOUT two months ago I learned that some of my books had been banned at Guantánamo Bay. Apparently detainees were requesting them, and their lawyers were delivering them to the prison, but they were not being allowed in because of “impermissible content.”

I became curious and tracked down a detainee who enjoys my books. His name is Nabil Hadjarab, and he is a 34-year-old Algerian who grew up in France. He learned to speak French before he learned to speak Arabic. He has close family and friends in France, but not in Algeria. As a kid growing up near Lyon, he was a gifted soccer player and dreamed of playing for Paris St.-Germain, or another top French club.

Tragically for Nabil, he has spent the past 11 years as a prisoner at Guantánamo, much of the time in solitary confinement. Starting in February, he participated in a hunger strike, which led to his being force-fed.

For reasons that had nothing to do with terror, war or criminal behavior, Nabil was living peacefully in an Algerian guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2001. Following the United States invasion, word spread among the Arab communities that the Afghan Northern Alliance was rounding up and killing foreign Arabs. Nabil and many others headed for Pakistan in a desperate effort to escape the danger. En route, he said, he was wounded in a bombing raid and woke up in a hospital in Jalalabad.

At that time, the United States was throwing money at anyone who could deliver an out-of-town Arab found in the region. Nabil was sold to the United States for a bounty of $5,000 and taken to an underground prison in Kabul. There he experienced torture for the first time. To house the prisoners of its war on terror, the United States military put up a makeshift prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Bagram would quickly become notorious, and make Guantánamo look like a church camp. When Nabil arrived there in January 2002, as one of the first prisoners, there were no walls, only razor-wire cages. In the bitter cold, Nabil was forced to sleep on concrete floors without cover. Food and water were scarce. To and from his frequent interrogations, Nabil was beaten by United States soldiers and dragged up and down concrete stairs. Other prisoners died. After a month in Bagram, Nabil was transferred to a prison at Kandahar, where the abuse continued.

Throughout his incarceration in Afghanistan, Nabil strenuously denied any connection to Al Qaeda, the Taliban or anyone or any organization remotely linked to the 9/11 attacks. And the Americans had no proof of his involvement, save for bogus claims implicating him from other prisoners extracted in a Kabul torture chamber. Several United States interrogators told him his was a case of mistaken identity. Nonetheless, the United States had adopted strict rules for Arabs in custody — all were to be sent to Guantánamo. On Feb. 15, 2002, Nabil was flown to Cuba; shackled, bound and hooded.

Since then, Nabil has been subjected to all the horrors of the Gitmo handbook: sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, temperature extremes, prolonged isolation, lack of access to sunlight, almost no recreation and limited medical care. In 11 years, he has never been permitted a visit from a family member. For reasons known only to the men who run the prison, Nabil has never been waterboarded. His lawyer believes this is because he knows nothing and has nothing to give.

The United States government says otherwise. In documents, military prosecutors say that Nabil was staying at a guesthouse run by people with ties to Al Qaeda and that he was named by others as someone affiliated with terrorists. But Nabil has never been charged with a crime. Indeed, on two occasions he has been cleared for a “transfer,” or release. In 2007, a review board established by President George W. Bush recommended his release. Nothing happened. In 2009, another review board established by President Obama recommended his transfer. Nothing happened.

According to his guards, Nabil is a model prisoner. He keeps his head down and avoids trouble. He has perfected his English and insists on speaking the language with his British lawyers. He writes in flawless English. As much as possible, under rather dire circumstances, he has fought to preserve his physical health and mental stability.

In the past seven years, I have met a number of innocent men who were sent to death row, as part of my work with the Innocence Project, which works to free wrongly convicted people. Without exception they have told me that the harshness of isolated confinement is brutal for a coldblooded murderer who freely admits to his crimes. For an innocent man, though, death row will shove him dangerously close to insanity. You reach a point where it feels impossible to survive another day.

DEPRESSED and driven to the point of desperation, Nabil joined a hunger strike in February. This was not Gitmo’s first hunger strike, but it has attracted the most attention. As it gained momentum, and as Nabil and his fellow prisoners got sicker, the Obama administration was backed into a corner. The president has taken justified heat as his bold and eloquent campaign promises to close Gitmo have been forgotten. Suddenly, he was faced with the gruesome prospect of prisoners dropping like flies as they starved themselves to death while the world watched. Instead of releasing Nabil and the other prisoners who have been classified as no threat to the United States, the administration decided to prevent suicides by force-feeding the strikers.

Nabil has not been the only “mistake” in our war on terror. Hundreds of other Arabs have been sent to Gitmo, chewed up by the system there, never charged and eventually transferred back to their home countries. (These transfers are carried out as secretly and as quietly as possible.) There have been no apologies, no official statements of regret, no compensation, nothing of the sort. The United States was dead wrong, but no one can admit it.

In Nabil’s case, the United States military and intelligence agents relied on corrupt informants who were raking in American cash, or even worse, jailhouse snitches who swapped false stories for candy bars, porn and sometimes just a break from their own beatings.

Last week, the Obama administration announced that it was transferring some more Arab prisoners back to Algeria. It is likely that Nabil will be one of them, and if that happens another tragic mistake will be made. His nightmare will only continue. He will be homeless. He will have no support to reintegrate him into a society where many will be hostile to a former Gitmo detainee, either on the assumption that he is an extremist or because he refuses to join the extremist opposition to the Algerian government. Instead of showing some guts and admitting they were wrong, the American authorities will whisk him away, dump him on the streets of Algiers and wash their hands.

What should they do? Or what should we do?

First, admit the mistake and make the apology. Second, provide compensation. United States taxpayers have spent $2 million a year for 11 years to keep Nabil at Gitmo; give the guy a few thousand bucks to get on his feet. Third, pressure the French to allow his re-entry.

This sounds simple, but it will never happen.

The sky is falling - We need a police state!!!!

Tennessee judge says only Jesus can be named the Messiah!!!!

Ruling: Baby can't be named Messiah

Associated Press Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:53 AM

NEWPORT, Tenn. — A judge in Tennessee changed a 7-month-old boy's name to Martin from Messiah, saying the religious name was earned by one person and "that one person is Jesus Christ."

Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the name change last week, according to WBIR-TV. The boy's parents were in court because they could not agree on the child's last name, but when the judge heard the boy's first name, she ordered it changed, too.

"It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is," Ballew said.

It was the first time she ordered a first name change, the judge said.

Messiah was No. 4 among the fastest-rising baby names in 2012, according to the Social Security Administration's annual list of popular baby names.

The judge in eastern Tennessee said the baby was to be named Martin DeShawn McCullough, which includes both parents' last name.

The boy's mother, Jaleesa Martin, of Newport, said she will appeal. She says Messiah is unique and she liked how it sounded alongside the boy's two siblings — Micah and Mason.

"Everybody believes what they want so I think I should be able to name my child what I want to name him, not someone else," Martin said.

Ballew said the name Messiah could cause problems if the child grows up in Cocke County, which has a large Christian population.

"The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ," the judge said.

Sidewalk chalk could land four protestors in jail for a year

I remember we had an anti-war protest in Phoenix and the government used the same convoluted logic about a chalk drawing made on the sidewalk.

They also said the drawing would cost thousands of dollars to clean up, when in fact 5 minutes with a hose and water is all it would take to clean up the drawing.

Source

Sidewalk chalk could land four protestors in jail for a year

By FRANCIS MCCABE

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Four people could face up to a year in jail for chalking up city sidewalks while protesting police misconduct.

Kelly Wayne Patterson, 44, Brian Ballentine, 31, Hailee Jewell, 18, and Catalino de la Cruz Dazo Jr., 20, face multiple gross misdemeanor counts of placing graffiti or defacing property and conspiracy to commit placing graffiti.

If convicted, they could face probation, a suspended driver’s license, community service and up to a year in the Clark County Detention Center.

The four protesters, affiliated with Nevada Cop Block and Sunset Activist Collective, used washable colored chalk in July to write critical statements of police on the sidewalks outside the Metropolitan Police Department’s headquarters and in front of the Regional Justice Center.

Demonstrating against police brutality and officer-involved shootings in Las Vegas, the protesters say they were practicing free speech and should not face charges.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson is taking the case seriously.

“This is not a kid drawing with a piece of chalk on the sidewalk. These are adults who used chalk to draw profanity,” he said. “And there is a law on the books that make it a crime to engage in this activity.”

One statement read: “Not one single cop in Metro’s entire history has been charged after shooting someone. Even if that person was unarmed and/or innocent.”

Another was: “(Expletive) the police.”

Officers on July 13 watched the protesters write statements on the sidewalk and told them they were violating anti-graffiti laws, according to police reports and court documents.

After the protest, Patterson and Ballentine were cited, and police called the city graffiti abatement team, which used high-powered washers to clean the dusty words.

Days later, before a scheduled court hearing on the citation the protesters again used colored chalk, typically made from a composite of calcium sulfate, as part of their protest outside the Regional Justice Center.

One statement read: “(Expletive) Pigs.”

An unknown woman dumped coffee on it, washing it away, according to police who witnessed the protest.

According to documents, Patterson then wrote on the coffee-stained ground, “(Expletive) the police.”

Police documented the evidence, called the city’s graffiti abatement team and began exhaustive research about the perils of power washing to sidewalks, including that it “artificially erodes and abrades the concrete’s surface thereby adding to the unnecessary wear and tear.”

Detailed police reports said the city crew cost $1,550 to clean both crime scenes.

The reports did not include the cost of the coffee used to clean one of the statements. It’s unclear whether it was a small, medium or large coffee.

Lawyer Robert Langford called the case preposterous and is representing the defendants pro bono.

“Under that standard, any kid that does hopscotch patterns on the sidewalk can be guilty of the same crime,” Langford said.

The veteran defense lawyer added, “Justice in this case is that the case should be dismissed. They were engaged in constitutionally protected First Amendment activity. Period. They have the right to engage in that type of protest. This was something that was harmless.”

Langford accused law enforcement officials of inflating the cost of the cleanup to justify the arrest and incarceration until bail was posted, instead of simply issuing a citation.

Part of his defense will be to show that the chalk could have been cleaned up at a lessor cost.

“My bet is a good stiff broom would have done the same thing,” he said.

By employing the power washing crew at a cost of more than $250, the graffiti charge was elevated from a misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor, which could mean a stiffer sentence if they are convicted.

Langford said the amount of time, money and other taxpayer resources spent on the case is ridiculous. And all “because the bullies at the Las Vegas police department wanted to hurt people who wanted to criticize them. That’s, in the final analysis, what this case is about.”

Langford added he’s considering filing a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the defendants.

“Public property is being defaced with profanity,” Wolfson said. “That’s what it comes down to.”

A preliminary hearing is set for December.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.

Arpaio says crosses to be put where bodies found

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion

Arizona Constitution

No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or to the support of any religious establishment.

Arpaio says crosses to be put where bodies found

By D.S. Woodfill The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:03 PM

Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies will begin erecting white wooden crosses to mark the final resting places of immigrants who die after crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico, the Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

The crosses aren’t mere memorials, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said as he stood in front of several perched in a patch of desert in Laveen.

Arpaio said the crosses bear a number that, when given to 911 operators by a person seeking help, will be used to identify his or her location.

Sheriff’s spokesman Chris Hegstrom said responders had previously relied on identifying landmarks provided by those stranded.

Arpaio said the crosses would also provide a reminder of the risks of illegal border crossing.

“The crosses symbolize death,” Arpaio said, pointing out that four bodies had been found in the previous four days near Gila Bend.

The crosses are made by Maricopa County Jail inmates, and Arpaio said he hopes to have Sheriff’s Posse members and inmates erect more in other areas of county desert.

“This is just one way to try and save some lives,” he said.

Jesus Bombs You???

Baby Messiah case brings religious right, ACLU together

Baby Messiah case brings religious right, ACLU together

By Robin Abcarian

August 18, 2013, 6:22 p.m.

It's not very often that the ACLU gets love from the religious right, but after a Tennessee judge took it upon herself to rename a 7-month-old boy because she found his name offensive to Christians, the civil liberties group, which had strenuously objected, found some new friends.

"I got the classic call the other day," said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, who called the judge's action "totally unacceptable." "They said, 'I really don't like the ACLU, but I support what you are saying and doing about the baby Messiah."

You've undoubtedly heard about the baby Messiah.

This was the little boy whose mother, Jaleesa Martin, 22, took the father, Jawaan P. McCullough, 40, to family court to establish paternity and to set child support. The unmarried pair also had a quarrel about the boy's last name.

Although the father had wanted to name the baby Jawaan P. McCullough Jr., by the end of the Aug. 8 hearing, according to the judge, he no longer objected to calling the boy Messiah Deshawn. But he wanted the boy to bear his surname.

Nevertheless, the judge decided to give the baby a total name makeover.

"It is not in this child's best interest to keep the first name 'Messiah,'" Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew wrote in a breathtaking display of authoritarian gall. "'Messiah' means Savior, Deliverer, the One who will restore God's Kingdom. 'Messiah' is a title that is held by only Jesus Christ."

The name would impose an "undue burden on him that as a human being he cannot fulfill," she wrote. (Like, how would she know that?)

Furthermore, she noted, the boy's home of Cocke County, Tenn., has a "large Christian population" as evidenced by its "many churches of the Christian faith."

"Therefore," she concluded, "it is highly likely that he will offend many Cocke County citizens by calling himself 'Messiah.'"

I called around to a few Christian churches in Jaleesa Martin's town, Newport, Tenn., to see if I could find anyone who was offended by Messiah's name.

No one wanted to talk on the record. One pastor, who refused to let me name him, put it this way: "Nobody around here much cares for naming the kid Messiah, but a whole lot more are upset with the judge. That's gall. That's across the board."

A local TV reporter pointed out to Ballew that plenty of people are named Jesus. Ballew paused for a moment, then declared that information "not relevant to this case." Nor, presumably, is the widely reported statistic that "Messiah" is an increasingly popular American baby name. (Along with Lord and King. But I digress.)

With the sweep of her pen, Ballew has caused many to wonder: Can the government deprive parents of the right to name their children?

"Parents, not the government or anybody else, name children," wrote UC Davis constitutional law professor Carlton F.W. Larson in a law review article about the constitutional dimensions of baby-naming laws. "I am aware of no circumstances in American history, other than slavery, in which this right has been exercised by anyone other than parents."

In an interview, Larson called the judge's move "totally outrageous."

"Her entire line of reasoning totally violates basic freedom of religious purposes," Larson said. "This kid can't be a Messiah because the Messiah is Jesus Christ? Judges don't get to make pronouncements on the bench about who is the Messiah and who is not."

The ACLU's Weinberg agreed: "The judge is crossing the line by interfering in a very private decision and is imposing her own religious faith on this family. The courtroom is not a place for promoting personal religious beliefs, and that's exactly what the judge did when she changed the baby Messiah's name to Martin."

Larson suggested there could be what he called "a racial dimension" to the story, as the judge is white and the baby is black. "You wonder if she would have done that if it was a white couple," he said.

In his 2011 article for the George Washington Law Review, Larson wrote that baby-name law "is a legal universe that has scarcely been mapped, full of strange lacunae, spotty statutory provisions, and patchy, inconsistent case law."

For instance some states don't require names at all, some don't allow epithets or symbols or numerals or illegible combinations thereof. In Massachusetts, names must be composed of characters found on the "standard American keyboard." California once rejected a name that contained the N-word. New Mexico rejected a name that began with a common four-letter profanity followed by "Censorship."

Adolf Hitler Campbell, a New Jersey 3-year-old whose father made a stink when a bakery refused to write the boy's name on his birthday cake in 2008, had a perfectly legal moniker. (One of the boy's sisters was JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell. Years later, the father made news again when his fourth wife became pregnant and the couple publicly discussed naming her Eva Braun.)

Although there is nothing illegal about naming a child for one of history's most despicable mass murderers, Larson wrote, when a San Francisco couple tried to name their baby girl Lucía, they were not able to put their preferred spelling on her birth certificate because California's Office of Vital Records bans diacritical marks.

When Larson tried to put his full name on his daughter's birth certificate, including his two middle names "Frederick William," a five-generation tradition in his Swedish family, he ran into an even lamer snag. He was told it was too long to fit.

"Prior to computers you could have done this with no problem at all," Larson said. "Now all of a sudden, my rights have shrunk because of your software?"

Next month, Jaleesa Martin will return to court to fight to restore Messiah's perfectly good name.

Lord willing, and a good attorney at her side, she will prevail.

robin.abcarian@latimes.com

Cops pose as horny young girls who want to have sex with old men

Jesus, don't these cops have any real criminals to hunt down????

This sounds like a huge waste of our tax dollars.

Paying cops to spend hours on the web pretending to be an imaginary hot, horny, beautiful, 15 year old girl who loves to have sex with old men.

Source

2 men arrested for luring a minor in northern Ariz. sting

By Matthew Longdon The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team Wed Aug 7, 2013 7:38 PM

Two men are behind bars in northern Arizona after separate attempts to lure for sex a member of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office posing as a young girl online, authorities said.

Deputies arrested Ken Roberts, 60, of Tucson, on Aug. 2 upon his arrival at a hotel in Cottonwood where he agreed to meet who he thought was a young girl, according to a Sheriff’s Office statement.

The Sheriff’s Office said Roberts first met the person posing as the girl on a social networking site in July and sent her pictures of his genitalia, face and underwear he bought for her.

Deputies said they arrested Kai Keller, 30, of Cottonwood. after a similar encounter July 19. Keller made contact with who he thought was a young girl online a few days before his arrest and mentioned having a recent sexual encounter with another 15-year-old.

Authorities said Keller was arrested at the place he agreed to meet the deputy posing as a young girl. He told deputies it was good thing they arrested him before he could hurt a young girl, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Both men were booked into the Camp Verde Detention Center and are each being held on a $50,000 bond.

Sanjay Gupta: the DEA is a bunch of liars about marijuana???

"Gupta said he had mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency had sound scientific proof when it placed marijuana in the category of the most dangerous drugs"

"I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof"

Source

Sanjay Gupta: I was wrong about weed

By Alia E. Dastagir USA TODAY Thu Aug 8, 2013 3:29 PM

Sanjay Gupta is apologizing for "misleading" the American public on weed.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, whose documentary Weed airs on CNN this Sunday, said he was wrong about the effects of the drug.

"I have apologized for some of the earlier reporting because I think, you know, we've been terribly and systematically misled in this country for some time," Gupta told Piers Morgan on CNN Wednesday night. "And I did part of that misleading."

Gupta has spoken out against the use of medical marijuana in the past, including penning a TIME magazine article in 2009 titled, Why I Would Vote No on Pot.

In an op-ed that appeared on CNN's website Thursday, Why I Changed My Mind on Weed, Gupta said he had mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency had sound scientific proof when it placed marijuana in the category of the most dangerous drugs:

"I apologize because I didn't look hard enough, until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.

Instead, I lumped them with the high-visibility malingerers, just looking to get high. I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have 'no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.' "

Gupta says he hopes his upcoming documentary will help set the record straight on medical marijuana.

Glendale council eyes prayers before meetings

Glendale council eyes prayers before meetings

By Paul Giblin The Republic | azcentral.com Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:58 PM

The Glendale City Council is reflecting on whether to pray before meetings.

Typically, City Council meetings convene with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence, but Mayor Jerry Weiers has proposed “solemnizing” city proceedings with a prayer or invocation.

It’s no simple matter. Glendale officials have proposed a 16-point set of guidelines on how to pray without showing favoritism to any particular prayer leader, faith or belief, according to the proposed guidelines.

Among the proposed policy’s points:

No member of the council or anyone else attending council meetings will be required to participate in prayers.

Prayer leaders will not be paid.

City officials will recommend, but not require, that prayer leaders limit their orations to two minutes.

City employees will be barred from examining, censoring or participating in the preparation of prayers before they’re given.

At least 32 municipalities statewide convene council meetings with prayers or invocations, according to research compiled by Glendale officials. [So if 32 other government entities are violating the Constitution that makes it OK for Glendale to also violate the Constitution??? Sorry your just trying to find a lame excuse to justify the city of Glendale breaking the law and mixing government and religion]

Councilman Manny Martinez said during a public workshop Tuesday that he opposed the idea of Glendale joining the list. He prefers the current prayer-free protocol.

“No matter what faith, what religion, you can pray, you can meditate, you can do whatever you want in that moment of silence,” he said.

“The only thing I can think of with this — and I know I’m in the minority — is that down the line, it could cause some problems.”

Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack agreed.

“This has turned into such a complicated issue, and I just don’t think that prayer should be that complicated,” she said. [Of course obeying the Constitution and not having ANY prayers is much simpler]

“I just think that to have all this to tell you how to pray, and who can pray, and how many times, I think, I’m sorry, I think, it’s just, I just, ah ...” she said searching for the right words.

“I agree prayer is wonderful, but I’m also in agreement that I would prefer to still see a moment of silence.”

Weiers, a former state representative, told his colleagues that prayers have been offered before sessions in the state Legislature for more than a century without causing an issue. [That's a lie. Every year anybody who expects the government to obey the Constitution makes an issue of it]

But a secular invocation caused a stir three months ago.

Rep. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, who’s atheist, used his turn to offer the invocation on May 21 to ask lawmakers to celebrate their “shared humanness.”

“This is a room in which there are many challenging debates, many moments of tension, of ideological division, of frustration,” he said at the time. “But this is also a room where, as my secular-humanist tradition stresses, by the very fact of being human, we have much more in common than we have differences.”

The following day, Rep. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, who’s Christian, asked lawmakers to join him in a second daily prayer in repentance for Mendez’s secular invocation.

The debate resurfaces fairly regularly.

In 2011, Litchfield Park Councilman Peter Mahoney started walking out during prayers after the council replaced its moments of silence with invocations that Mahoney felt were Christian-oriented.

No disrespect was intended, he said at the time.

“I’m a Christian and a true believer in the separation of church and state,” Mahoney said.

The same year, the Chandler Unified School District went the opposite direction. It switched from public prayers to moments of reflection after officials at an Arizona School Boards Association law conference suggested that boards avoid prayers to prevent lawsuits.

The Glendale council is scheduled to vote on the prayer proposal Sept. 10.

The members of the Glendale, Arizona city council are:

• Mayor Jerry Weiers
  mayorweiers@glendaleaz.com
  (623)930-2260
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301
• Vice Mayor Yvonne J. Knaack
  yknaack@glendaleaz.com
  (623)930-2249
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301
• Ian Hugh
  ihugh@glendaleaz.com
  (623)930-2249
  (602)615-7672
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301
• Manny Martinez
  mmartinez@glendaleaz.com
  (623)561-8263
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301
• Norma Alvarez
  nalvarez@glendaleaz.com
  (623)930-2249
  (623)930-2249
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301
• Gary Sherwood
  gsherwood@glendaleaz.com
  (623)930-2245
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301
• Sammy Chavira
  schavira@glendaleaz.com
  (623)930-2249
  City of Glendale
  5850 W. Glendale Ave.
  Glendale, AZ
  85301

State clemency-board chief quit amid wide range of misconduct allegations

State clemency-board chief quit amid wide range of misconduct allegations

By Craig Harris The Republic | azcentral.com Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:34 PM

Jesse Hernandez, the ex-chairman and director of the state Board of Executive Clemency, suddenly quit last week after an investigation found nine cases of inappropriate behavior, including giving an unqualified female employee he was dating a promotion and a $21,340 pay raise, records obtained by The Arizona Republic show.

The Republic acquired heavily redacted documents through the Arizona Public Records Law on Wednesday after Gov. Jan Brewer’s office refused to explain why Hernandez abruptly quit Aug. 16.

Brewer appointed Hernandez, a Republican political operative, to the post last year even though he had no experience in corrections or criminal justice, according to his resume. Messages left on his cellphone were not returned.

The five-member clemency board considers parole for eligible inmates and recommends certain clemency actions to the governor, who appoints board members. Brewer last year sacked the prior board chairman, who had 20 years of experience, and two other board members in favor of Hernandez and two other new appointees.

One of the new appointees also quit recently and said another state probe is under way to determine whether Hernandez shorted the pay of other board members.

An Arizona Department of Administration investigation was launched after a May 16 complaint against Hernandez was filed by an employee who alleged retaliation and discrimination. The subsequent probe examined a dozen allegations of misconduct. Nine were substantiated. The investigation found:

Hernandez dated a female employee and promoted her with a substantial pay raise even though she did not meet entry-level qualifications for the job and did not perform the majority of the duties required. Hernandez also tried to get her an additional raise. Investigators were told that Hernandez would kiss the woman and play with her hair, while she would give him “play slaps.”

Hernandez began associating with New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire after the athlete attended an early-release hearing for a relative. Hernandez was given tickets to basketball games, met for lunch with Stoudemire and had his picture taken with Stoudemire, who once played for the Phoenix Suns.

Hernandez did not hold public hearings in accordance with state law and policies, and he treated clemency-board members and visitors inappropriately.

Board members were not allowed to review their recommendations before they were submitted to the Governor’s Office. Instead, the letters were edited and the board members’ names were stamped on the letters.

A female employee was picked on, harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment by Hernandez.

Hernandez ogled women as they walked by.

Hernandez regularly made discriminatory and inappropriate comments, such as saying one employee was promiscuous and another was a “heathen” because she did not attend church. [So I guess Jesse Hernandez, the director of the state Board of Executive Clemency doesn't believe in that First Amendment thing of separation of church and state???]

Hernandez was paid $84,146 a year.

Another of Brewer’s appointees, Melvin Thomas, also has quit, leaving the board with just three members.

Thomas, a former public and private prison warden, told The Republic that he resigned on Aug. 5, hoping the governor would take notice of problems with Hernandez.

“I needed to send a message to the Governor’s Office,” Thomas said.

Thomas said the Department of Administration is conducting a second investigation into whether Hernandez shorted the pay of other board members. Thomas said board members may not have been paid for all of their work because there was confusion about whether board members were salaried or hourly employees.

Department of Administration Director Brian McNeil said his office does not comment on pending investigations.

The Governor’s Office said board members are hourly employees, making $23.46 an hour.

Thomas also said Hernandez ordered the board to take a week of unpaid furlough in late July and early August, even though the state no longer mandates furloughs. When he contacted the Administration Department, Thomas said, officials there knew nothing about a furlough.

Brewer, who is traveling in India, could not be reached. Her spokesman, Andrew Wilder, declined to answer questions about Brewer’s appointment of Hernandez.

“Mr. Hernandez’s conduct as chairman and executive director was unacceptable,” Wilder said. “Consequently, Mr. Hernandez recognized that and the governor welcomed his resignation.”

Wilder on Monday said he was not familiar with the reasons Hernandez had resigned, even though the Administration Department had been investigating Hernandez since May and Thomas had submitted his resignation to the governor on Aug. 5.

In his letter, Thomas wrote: “I can no longer endure the way me and my fellow board members have been treated.”

The Department of Administration works directly for Brewer and is in constant contact with the Governor’s Office.

Brian Livingston, Brewer’s third appointee last year, has become the new executive director and chairman. He did not return calls on Wednesday. The remaining board members are Jack LaSota and Ellen Kirschbaum.

The Emperor Wears No Clothes

The Emperor Wears No Clothes

If you want a thousand good reasons to legalize, or re-legalize marijuana the book The Emperor Wears No Clothes has those reasons for you.

Gay to Straight program to be used in all Arizona schools

Source

Arizona schools not implementing gay-conversion therapy

By Alia Beard Rau The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Aug 22, 2013 2:42 PM

Arizona public schools are not implementing a new conversion-therapy program for gay students this fall.

A fictional article posted Wednesday by the staff of the political satire website National Report has gone viral, leaving Gov. Jan Brewer and the Arizona Department of Education scrambling to assure parents that the information is inaccurate.

National Report stated that Arizona would, on Nov. 1, implement a mandatory program for K-12 students “to help homosexual males and women become straight.”

The site indicates that the program is part of People Can Change, a real Virginia-based non-profit with a mission to “support and guide men who seek to transition away from unwanted homsexuality.”

People Can Change posted a large disclaimer at the top of its website declaring the National Report story fake.

“The spokesperson is fake, the interview is fake, the photo with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is fake, the press conference is fake -- and the quotes are fake, rude, and demeaning of gays,” the People can Change site states. “People Can Change does not provide programs or services for minors. We are a peer-led support organization of men who have personally experienced significant change from unwanted same-sex attractions ourselves and who now share our experience and give support to other adults who voluntarily seek similar change.”

The National Report article included fake quotes from Brewer stating that, “I think this will be an amazing opportunity for gay children to finally learn who they truly are for once in their lives ... Can you imagine how much more productive these ‘now-straight’ children will be not... wondering why god made them defective? What we have done here today is monumental. I can only hope and pray that other states follow suit.”

"It’s a completely phony and vile report, and its authors should be ashamed," Brewer spokesman Andrew Wilder said.

The article was submitted as a “press release” and posted on the news release dissemination site www.prlog.com. It gives no indication that it is intended to be satire and lists its source as a Fox News cable network story. There, it was viewed more than 70,000 times.

It’s since been posted on blog sites, popular community forums like cafemom.com and babycenter.com and social media.

Hundreds of comments have been posted on various sites in response to the article, many believing the information is accurate.

Nearly 900 people posted responses to the article on National Report’s website.

OK, this is a hoax, but a funny hoax. For a minute there I thought Cathy Harrod and her nut jobs at the Center for Arizona Policy got another one of their laws passed forcing their brand of religion on the rest of us Arizonans

Source

Gay-To-Straight Program To Be Used In All Arizona Public School Curriculums Beginning November 1st

Phoenix, AZ — Beginning November 1st of this year, the state of Arizona is implementing a mandatory school program designed for all children grades K-12 to help homosexual males and women become straight. The controversial conversion therapy will be used in all of Arizona’s 2,325 public school curriculums and is already gathering a large amount of criticism as well as those who approve of the new program.

Dean Huls who is the brain child behind People Can Change spoke with Fox News about their plan to help all the gay children of Arizona. “Since 2000 ‘People Can Change’ has been helping thousands of children resolve their unwanted same-sex attractions. We bring the gay demons out of these individuals so they can become who god intended them to be. Our success and track record speaks for itself,” Huls said. “Facing the reality that you have unwanted homosexual feelings can cause tremendous turmoil – especially as a child whose feelings conflict with deeply held values, beliefs and life goals. But there is a way out. A path that leads them to resolve rather than fight their homosexual feelings. A path to authentic brotherhood and to our innate heterosexual masculinity.”

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who signed off on the the ‘People Can Change’ program told CNN she is excited about the program. “I think this will be an amazing opportunity for gay children to finally learn who they truly are for once in their lives,” Brewer said. “Can you imagine how much more productive these ‘now-straight’ children will be not always being bullied or wondering why god made them defective? What we have done here today is monumental. I can only hope and pray that other states follow suit.”

Sheriff Joe Arpaio who runs some of the toughest jails and prisons in the country applauds Brewer’s decision. “Less gays in our jails makes for a smoother running prison system. There will be no more prancing around along with all the other gay activities that homosexuals like to do,” Arpaio said. “More importantly, we as parents can now sleep a little better at night just knowing there will be less gays out there wandering the streets trying to molest our children. I’m excited about this and I know all Arizonans are too.”

Though not everyone from Arizona feels the same way as Brewer and Arpaio. 32-year-old Katherine Morris from Phoenix whose son Daniel is a 12-year-old homosexual said she does not agree with the program. “My son Daniel is one of the nicest boys in the world. He is the most wonderful and loving child you could ever meet in your life. There’s not a problem with him, there is a problem with this conversion therapy,” Morris said. “I urge all Arizonians to fight back before this curriculum takes effect in November. Call your congressman. Call your senator. We still have time to fix this wrong. Tell them we do not want ‘People Can Change’ in our schools! It’s not only a waste of tax payer money but it is fixing something that is not broken.”

The organization ‘People Can Change’ is located in Ruckersville, Virginia and has hundreds of gay-to-straight camps and therapy conversion facilities all around the country. They have been in operation since May of 2000. ‘People Can Change’ can be contacted at 434-985-8551 or by email at lynn@peoplecanchange.com.

National Report attempted to contact the Superintendent of Public Instruction for comment but as of press time had received no response.

Source

Governor Jan Brewer Threatens Lawsuit Against Hoax Author Who Claimed She Supports Mandatory Gay Conversion Classes For Children

Phoenix, AZ — Governor Jan Brewer’s spokesman Andrew Wilder held a press conference this morning with reporters announcing news of a possible lawsuit against Phoenix, Arizona resident 34-year-old Paul Horner. Horner was the culprit behind yesterday’s hoax which had the internet up in arms. The satirical article stated that Brewer signed off on a bill implementing a mandatory school program designed for all Arizona children grades K-12 requiring all homosexual males and women to become straight.

Brewer’s office did not see the humor in such a stunt, and denounced the suggestion that the governor would target young people with such a discriminatory program: “It’s a completely phony and vile report, and its authors should be ashamed,” Wilder told the Arizona Republic yesterday.

“This lawsuit is real and is nothing to be taken lightly,” Wilder told CNN. “If the author of the article in question wants to avoid legal action, we are asking him to immediately remove the story from National Report and cease and desist any further foolishness of this nature against the governor.” Wilder continued, “Governor Brewer also expects a full and sincere apology, no less than 1,000 words long. This is to help compensate the harm and mayhem his ridiculous article caused the great state of Arizona and to the Governor’s Office. Mr. Horner can either post a public apology on his Super Official News website, National Report, his Facebook page located at facebook.com/paulissuperawesome or contact the governor directly at janjanbrewbrew1944@aol.com.”

Court forces atheist to participate in religious programs???

Judge: Former Calif. parolee needs compensation

Associated Press Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:59 PM

SAN FRANCISCO — A Northern California former parolee and atheist who went back to prison after refusing to participate in a religiously-tinged inpatient treatment program is entitled to monetary compensation, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In an opinion for the 9th U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote that a jury must award Barry Hazle Jr. of Redding compensatory damages for the violation of his constitutional rights.

“Now that the Ninth Circuit has ruled, Barry Hazle will finally be able to obtain the vindication to which he’s entitled,” Hazle’s attorney John Heller said in a statement Friday.

A district court ruled in 2010 that Hazle’s First Amendment rights were violated. But a jury tasked with assessing monetary damages awarded Hazle nothing over a question of whether the defendants named in the suit, including state corrections department officials, should be on the hook for the compensation, Heller said.

“The District Court had concluded they were liable for violating his rights,” Heller said. “The question was were they responsible for the damages that occurred.”

The state corrections department referred questions about the case to a federal receiver who controls inmate medical care in California. The receiver’s office did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Hazle had served a year in prison on a drug charge. After being released in 2007, he was ordered to take part in the program, but refused saying he’s an atheist.

He was then arrested and jailed again.

After serving three more months, Hazle sued state corrections department officials.

Heller said the case will now be remanded to district court and new proceedings could begin in the next several months.

He said in addition to damages, the suit seeks to show that the organization the state contracts with to provide such treatment programs shares responsibility for the violations.

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan guilty of murder for Fort Hood shootings

The British called George Washington a terrorist, Americans called him a "Freedom Fighter".

While the American government calls Army Maj. Nidal Hasan a terrorist, I am sure many anti-war Americans, along with many Arabs call Army Maj. Nidal Hasan a "freedom fighter".

While Army Maj. Nidal Hasan certainly is guilty of murdering 13 American soldiers, you have to remember that both George W. Bush and Barack Obama are guilty of murdering thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also both George W. Bush and Barack Obama are guilty of using drones to intentionally murder hundreds of suspected Arab military leaders along with many innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source

Soldier guilty of murder for Fort Hood shootings

Associated Press Fri Aug 23, 2013 12:02 PM

FORT HOOD, Texas — Army Maj. Nidal Hasan was convicted Friday in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, a shocking assault against American troops at home by one of their own who said he opened fire on fellow soldiers to protect Muslim insurgents abroad.

The Army psychiatrist acknowledged carrying out the attack in a crowded waiting room where unarmed troops were making final preparations to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded.

Because Hasan never denied his actions, the court-martial was always less about a conviction than it was about ensuring he received the death penalty. From the beginning of the case, the federal government has sought to execute Hasan, believing that any sentence short of a lethal injection would deprive the military and the families of the dead of the justice they have sought for nearly four years.

A jury of 13 high-ranking military officers reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all charges — 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder — in about seven hours. Hasan had no visible reaction as the verdict was read. After the jury and Hasan left the courtroom, some victims who survived the shooting and family members began to cry.

In the next phase of the trial that will begin Monday, they must all agree to give Hasan the death penalty before he can be sent to the military’s death row, which has just five other prisoners. If they do not agree, the 42-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Hasan, a Virginia-born Muslim, said the attack was a jihad against U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He bristled when the trial judge, Col. Tara Osborn, suggested the shooting rampage could have been avoided were it not for a spontaneous flash of anger.

“It wasn’t done under the heat of sudden passion,” Hasan said before jurors began deliberating. “There was adequate provocation — that these were deploying soldiers that were going to engage in an illegal war.”

All but one of the dead were soldiers, including a pregnant private who curled on the floor and pleaded for her baby’s life.

The sentencing phase is expected to include more testimony from survivors of the attack inside an Army medical center where soldiers were waiting in long lines to receive immunizations and medical clearance for deployment.

About 50 soldiers and civilians testified of hearing someone scream “Allahu akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” — and seeing a man in Army camouflage open fire. Many identified Hasan as the shooter and recalled his handgun’s red and green laser sights piercing a room made dark with gun smoke.

Hasan, who acted as his own attorney, began the trial by telling jurors he was the gunman. But he said little else over the next three weeks, which convinced his court-appointed standby lawyers that Hasan’s only goal was to get a death sentence.

As the trial progressed, those suspicions grew. The military called nearly 90 witnesses, but Hasan rested his case without calling a single person to testify in his defense and made no closing argument. Yet he leaked documents during the trial to journalists that revealed him telling military mental health workers that he could “still be a martyr” if executed.

Death sentences are rare in the military and trigger automatic appeals that take decades play out. Among the final barriers to execution is authorization from the president. No American soldier has been executed since 1961.

Hasan spent weeks planning the Nov. 5, 2009, attack. His preparation included buying the handgun and videotaping a sales clerk showing him how to change the magazine.

He later plunked down $10 at a gun range outside Austin and asked for pointers on how to reload with speed and precision. An instructor said he told Hasan to practice while watching TV or sitting on his couch with the lights off.

When the time came, Hasan stuffed paper towels in the pockets of his cargo pants to muffle the rattling of extra ammo and avoid arousing suspicion. Soldiers testified that Hasan’s rapid reloading made it all but impossible to stop the shooting. Investigators recovered 146 shell casings inside the medical building and dozens more outside, where Hasan shot at the backs of soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot.

The first person to charge Hasan, a civilian doctor, was shot dead while wielding a chair. Another soldier who ran at him with a table was stopped upon being shot in the hand.

Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Royal saw an opening after hearing the distinct clicking of the gun’s chamber emptying. But he slipped on a puddle of blood while starting a sprint toward Hasan. He was shot in the back.

Tight security blanketed the trial. The courthouse was made into a fortress insulated by a 20-foot cushion of blast-absorbing blockades, plus an outer perimeter of shipping containers stacked three high. A helicopter ferried Hasan back and forth each day. The small courtroom was guarded by soldiers carrying high-powered rifles.

In court, Hasan never played the role of an angry extremist. He didn’t get agitated or raise his voice. He addressed Osborn as “ma’am” and occasionally whispered “thank you” when prosecutors, in accordance with the rules of admitting evidence, handed Hasan red pill bottles that rattled with bullet fragments removed from those who were shot.

His muted presence was a contrast to the spectacles staged by other unapologetic jihadists in U.S. courts. Terrorist conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui disrupted his 2006 sentencing for the Sept. 11 attacks multiple times with outbursts, was ejected several times and once proclaimed, “I am al-Qaida!”

Prosecutors never charged Hasan as a terrorist — an omission that still galls family members of the slain and survivors, some of whom have sued the U.S. government over missing the warning signs of Hasan’s views before the attack.

Glendale deacon resigns after claim of child sex abuse

Source

Glendale deacon resigns after claim of child sex abuse

By Michael Clancy The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:25 PM

A Catholic deacon who worked at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Glendale for 10 years has resigned after he was accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

The allegation against Ron Gonzalez came to the diocese on Aug. 13. It referenced incidents that took place in Gonzalez’s previous postings in Texas and Pennsylvania 15 to 20 years ago. The name of the accuser and the nature of the incidents were not disclosed.

Gonzalez was removed from ministry immediately, a diocese spokesman said, and resigned from his job the next day. The pastor of St. Thomas More, the Rev. Jim Turner, informed parishioners during weekend masses, and the diocese posted a community notice on Monday.

Gonzalez, 62, assisted at St. Thomas More parish in Glendale since 2003 and was officially assigned to the parish in January 2011, after he retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, where he had been working as a supervisory chaplain in Phoenix.

Gonzalez was named parish manager on May 1. There have been no reported allegations or incidents of any wrongdoing at St. Thomas More or elsewhere within the Diocese of Phoenix, according to the diocese official, Rob DeFrancesco.

A diocese statement said Gonzalez worked as a chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., from 1983 to 1999, and a supervisory chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the Diocese of Phoenix from 1999 to 2010. He was ordained as a deacon in Dallas in 1987.

It was unclear whether Gonzalez had a diaconate assignment from 1999 to 2003, when he began helping out at St. Thomas More.

Turner said Gonzalez assisted at Sunday Masses for a number of years before his formal appointment and taught several adult-education classes over the years as a volunteer.

“I do not believe he had much, if any, working contact with minors at the parish,” Turner said, noting that he was respected in the parish and was known as a good preacher.

The pastor said Gonzalez is married with two adult children.

A sex-abuse victims’ organization, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Bishop Thomas Olmsted should disclose the reasons for Gonzalez’s assignment to Phoenix and his whereabouts.

Turner said Gonzalez currently is out of state visiting family.

Gonzalez initially came to Phoenix to take advantage of a promotion in the prison system, the diocese spokesman said.

NSA Surveillance - Lady Liberty Raped

NSA Surveillance - TSA goons destroying America

Arizona sure sounds like a religious theocracy with laws like these

Women, men celebrate 'topless' for equal gender rights

Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 7:17 pm | Updated: 8:08 pm, Sun Aug 25, 2013.

By Josh Frigerio, ABC15.com

Both men and women took off their tops Sunday in Tempe for "Go Topless Day," a protest against gender inequality.

Despite the cooler temps, individuals walked down Mill Avenue carrying signs demanding equal rights when it comes to men and women legally being allowed to be bare chested in public.

Protesters shouted, "What do we want? Topless right," as the group made their way down Mill Avenue.

Arizona law classifies indecent exposure as when a female "exposes the areola or nipple of her breast or breasts and another person is present," according to the Arizona Legislature's website.

For it to be criminal, the persons exposing themselves must be "reckless about whether the other person, as a reasonable person, would be offended or alarmed by the act."

In protest, men and women used colored tape to cover their nipples to, according to them, stay within the confines of the law.

Protesters said they didn't expect the law to change overnight, but the ultimate goal was to raise awareness.

The law goes on to say that breast-feeding is not considered indecent exposure

Keep prayer, government apart

Keep prayer, government apart

Sat Aug 24, 2013 6:42 PM

Apparently, many municipalities and the state Legislature begin their meetings with a prayer. Now Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers wants to join in (“Glendale council eyes prayers,” Valley & State, Wednesday).

I guess none of these bodies believe in the Constitution because a main cornerstone of this document is separation of church and state.

Prayer should be found in churches and in the home of those who wish to do so, not in secular settings such as governmental meetings.

— Al Stein, Phoenix

Cops bust church members for handing out food???

Source

Church Group Members Threatened With Arrest for Handing Out Biscuits, Coffee to the Homeless

By ALEXIS SHAW | Good Morning America

A North Carolina church group said they were prevented from handing out food to the homeless after police threatened them with arrest, according to their website.

For the past six years, volunteers from Love Wins Ministries frequented Moore Square in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturdays and Sundays to give out hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich to those in need, according to the church group's website.

But when volunteers went down to their usual weekend spot to dole out the 100 sausage biscuits and the gallons of coffee they had brought to feed the crowds who had gathered Saturday morning, they were also greeted by officers with the Raleigh Police Department, according to a statement on the church group's website.

"An officer said, quite bluntly, that if we attempted to distribute food, we would be arrested," the Rev. Hugh Hollowell wrote on the group's website. "We asked the officers for permission to disperse the biscuits to the over 70 people who had lined up, waiting to eat. They said no. I had to face those who were waiting and tell them that I could not feed them, or I would be arrested."

The Raleigh police were there to enforce a city ordinance that bans the distribution of food in any of the city's parks, ABC Raleigh, N.C., station WTVD-TV reported.

While the group said it was aware they could not use the park itself, they had set up on the sidewalk for the past six years without issue, their website said.

"No representative from the Raleigh Police Department was willing to tell us which ordinance we were breaking, or why, after six years and countless friendly and cooperative encounters with the Department, they are now preventing us from feeding hungry people," Hollowell wrote.

In addition, the group learned it would need to apply for a permit to use the park, which costs $800 a day, their website said.

No arrests were made in connection with the food distribution, Raleigh Police Department spokesman Jim Sughrue told WTVD-TV.

"People were simply informed the ordinance prohibits the kinds of actions some groups have been engaged in at the park," he said.

Despite the off-putting encounter, Hollowell wrote that the group plans to find a venue in downtown Raleigh to carry out their mission.

In the meantime, they are seeking out owners of private buildings or parking lots to allow them to continue to bring biscuits to the hungry, the website said.

Love Wins Ministries did not immediately return ABC News' requests for comment.

Ginger Chabot wants for force her prayers on us????

Show some maturity on prayer

Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:20 PM

I am so tired of the whining by those who oppose prayer at governmental meetings.

As Americans, everyone has as much right to appreciate or participate in prayer as those who don’t.

If you prefer not to listen or participate, take the high road and show some respect for the people who do.

Showing some maturity and tolerance won’t hurt you, I promise.

— Ginger Chabot, Gilbert

Mixing government and religion in Mesa???

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith shovels the government welfare to Catholic Benedictine University

Source

Mesa's 5th new college, Benedictine U., blesses, opens downtown campus

Posted: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 7:05 am

By Katie Mayer, Special to Tribune

A crowd of more than 250 gathered in downtown Mesa Tuesday for a blessing and ribbon-cutting in the building that was once Mesa’s Southside Hospital and is now home to Arizona’s first Catholic university.

The 44,000 square-foot contemporary renovated space, located at 225 E. Main Street, is the primary academic building for Benedictine University at Mesa and includes nine classrooms, a nutrition lab, computer lab, a chapel and faculty and administrative offices, along with empty space to grow.

On Sept. 3, students will step foot on campus and be the first to experience a learning style that university officials call “lecture-free classes.” University officials would not release the number of students starting classes, but said the number is changing, as enrollment is ongoing.

“When I came out here to Mesa, I had a big dream, but I didn’t dream big enough,” said Charles Gregory, executive vice president of Benedictine University. “It’s more than I could ever have comprehended.”

The ribbon-cutting event kicked off at 10 a.m. with a program that included a blessing from Diocese of Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted. The bishop and priests then walked around the campus to bless the new building.

Many City of Mesa officials and university officials repeatedly mentioned the lengthy process of what started as a vision for a higher education institution in downtown Mesa and ended with a $10 million joint venture renovation that is now the new Benedictine University at Mesa campus.

Benedictine University President William Carroll said the journey was not “sweet talk” and involved “heavy duty negotiations.”

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said that officials were not simply looking for a college to offer classes downtown, but that they wanted a university that would actually change the community.

“They saw that in many ways Benedictine University and Mesa were like twin sisters,” Smith said.

Smith said both the city and university are innovative and community-focused and that both are focused on investing in the future of generations to come.

“We are writing the next chapter in Mesa’s history,” said Mesa Councilman Chris Glover, whose grandfather had been a physician at Southside Hospital.

Glover delivered an emotional speech that began with a story about Jesus and ended with his calling the work with the university “one of the most intrinsically rewarding experiences of my life.”

A number of students, wearing the school’s red-colored shirts, attended the event and shared their excitement about starting college classes.

“This school has everything I was looking for,” said incoming freshman Dulce Perez, 18, of Mesa. “It’s small and I liked that it would be hands on.”

Steffen Spreng, who is 20 years old and transferring to the university from Mesa Community College, said he’s excited to “see the Christian Community growing in Mesa,” even though he is not Catholic.

“I like how it’s going to be small and another thing that really intrigued me is the lecture-free environment because I’m a hands-on learner,” Spreng said.

Benedictine University at Mesa Branch Campus President Michael Carroll said rather than passively sit and listen to lectures, students at the university will problem-solve, debate, assess and self-regulate.

Students will work on tablets, download lectures and attend all classes in a learning lab environment. Officials call the classroom style “flipped” because instead of reading a textbook and then looking at a problem, students will learn about a problem or issue first, and then conduct research to find a solution.

“By the time they graduate, they are going to have an electronic portfolio to show employers what they’ve accomplished,” Carroll said.

Benedictine University at Mesa is part of a larger effort city officials launched to attract colleges and universities to Mesa. The first institution, Albright College, opened earlier this year in Mesa’s Bank of America building and throughout August, three more institutions opened – Upper Iowa University, Wilkes and Westminster.

Grand Canyon University also announced in late July that it would begin building a campus in Eastmark in 2014.

The main Benedictine University campus is located in Lisle, Ill., which is 25 miles west of Chicago. Tuition for students attending Benedictine University at Mesa is $20,000 per year. For more information, go to www.ben.edu/mesa.

NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations

Source

NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations

By Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo Associated Press

Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:28 AM

NEW YORK — The New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorist organizations, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD has opened at least a dozen “terrorism enterprise investigations” into mosques, according to interviews and confidential police documents. The TEI, as it is known, is a police tool intended to help investigate terrorist cells and the like.

Many TEIs stretch for years, allowing surveillance to continue even though the NYPD has never criminally charged a mosque or Islamic organization with operating as a terrorism enterprise.

The documents show in detail how, in its hunt for terrorists, the NYPD investigated countless innocent New York Muslims and put information about them in secret police files. As a tactic, opening an enterprise investigation on a mosque is so potentially invasive that while the NYPD conducted at least a dozen, the FBI never did one, according to interviews with federal law enforcement officials.

The strategy has allowed the NYPD to send undercover officers into mosques and attempt to plant informants on the boards of mosques and at least one prominent Arab-American group in Brooklyn, whose executive director has worked with city officials, including Bill de Blasio, a front-runner for mayor.

The revelations about the NYPD’s massive spying operations are in documents recently obtained by The Associated Press and part of a new book, “Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD’s Secret Spying Unit and bin Laden’s Final Plot Against America.” The book by AP reporters Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman is based on hundreds of previously unpublished police files and interviews with current and former NYPD, CIA and FBI officials.

The disclosures come as the NYPD is fighting off lawsuits accusing it of engaging in racial profiling while combating crime. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the department’s use of the stop-and-frisk tactic was unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups have sued, saying the Muslim spying programs are unconstitutional and make Muslims afraid to practice their faith without police scrutiny.

Both Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have denied those accusations. Speaking Wednesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Kelly reminded people that his intelligence-gathering programs began in the wake of 9/11.

“We follow leads wherever they take us,” Kelly said. “We’re not intimidated as to wherever that lead takes us. And we’re doing that to protect the people of New York City.”

***

The NYPD did not limit its operations to collecting information on those who attended the mosques or led prayers. The department sought also to put people on the boards of New York’s Islamic institutions to fill intelligence gaps.

One confidential NYPD document shows police wanted to put informants in leadership positions at mosques and other organizations, including the Arab American Association of New York in Brooklyn, a secular social-service organization.

Linda Sarsour, the executive director, said her group helps new immigrants adjust to life in the U.S. It was not clear whether the department was successful in its plans.

The document, which appears to have been created around 2009, was prepared for Kelly and distributed to the NYPD’s debriefing unit, which helped identify possible informants.

Around that time, Kelly was handing out medals to the Arab American Association’s soccer team, Brooklyn United, smiling and congratulating its players for winning the NYPD’s soccer league.

Sarsour, a Muslim who has met with Kelly many times, said she felt betrayed.

“It creates mistrust in our organizations,” said Sarsour, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. “It makes one wonder and question who is sitting on the boards of the institutions where we work and pray.”

***

Before the NYPD could target mosques as terrorist groups, it had to persuade a federal judge to rewrite rules governing how police can monitor speech protected by the First Amendment.

The rules stemmed from a 1971 lawsuit, dubbed the Handschu case after lead plaintiff Barbara Handschu, over how the NYPD spied on protesters and liberals during the Vietnam War era.

David Cohen, a former CIA executive who became NYPD’s deputy commissioner for intelligence in 2002, said the old rules didn’t apply to fighting against terrorism.

Cohen told the judge that mosques could be used “to shield the work of terrorists from law enforcement scrutiny by taking advantage of restrictions on the investigation of First Amendment activity.”

NYPD lawyers proposed a new tactic, the TEI, that allowed officers to monitor political or religious speech whenever the “facts or circumstances reasonably indicate” that groups of two or more people were involved in plotting terrorism or other violent crime.

The judge rewrote the Handschu rules in 2003. In the first eight months under the new rules, the NYPD’s Intelligence Division opened at least 15 secret terrorism enterprise investigations, documents show. At least 10 targeted mosques.

Doing so allowed police, in effect, to treat anyone who attends prayer services as a potential suspect. Sermons, ordinarily protected by the First Amendment, could be monitored and recorded.

Among the mosques targeted as early as 2003 was the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge.

“I have never felt free in the United States. The documents tell me I am right,” Zein Rimawi, one of the Bay Ridge mosque’s leaders, said after reviewing an NYPD document describing his mosque as a terrorist enterprise.

Rimawi, 59, came to the U.S. decades ago from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“Ray Kelly, shame on him,” he said. “I am American.”

***

The NYPD believed the tactics were necessary to keep the city safe, a view that sometimes put it at odds with the FBI.

In August 2003, Cohen asked the FBI to install eavesdropping equipment inside a mosque called Masjid al-Farooq, including its prayer room.

Al-Farooq had a long history of radical ties. Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian sheik who was convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks, once preached briefly at Al-Farooq. Invited preachers raged against Israel, the United States and the Bush administration’s war on terror.

One of Cohen’s informants said an imam from another mosque had delivered $30,000 to an al-Farooq leader, and the NYPD suspected the money was for terrorism.

But Amy Jo Lyons, the FBI assistant special agent in charge for counterterrorism, refused to bug the mosque. She said the federal law wouldn’t permit it.

The NYPD made other arrangements. Cohen’s informants began to carry recording devices into mosques under investigation. They hid microphones in wristwatches and the electronic key fobs used to unlock car doors.

Even under a TEI, a prosecutor and a judge would have to approve bugging a mosque. But the informant taping was legal because New York law allows any party to record a conversation, even without consent from the others. Like the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, the NYPD never demonstrated in court that al-Farooq was a terrorist enterprise but that didn’t stop the police from spying on the mosques for years.

And under the new Handschu guidelines, no one outside the NYPD could question the secret practice.

Martin Stolar, one of the lawyers in the Handschu case, said it’s clear the NYPD used enterprise investigations to justify open-ended surveillance. The NYPD should only tape conversations about building bombs or plotting attacks, he said.

“Every Muslim is a potential terrorist? It is completely unacceptable,” he said. “It really tarnishes all of us and tarnishes our system of values.”

***

Al-Ansar Center, a windowless Sunni mosque, opened in Brooklyn several years ago, attracting young Arabs and South Asians. NYPD officers feared the mosque was a breeding ground for terrorists, so informants kept tabs on it.

One NYPD report noted that members were fixing up the basement, turning it into a gym.

“They also want to start Jiujitsu classes,” it said.

The NYPD was particularly alarmed about Mohammad Elshinawy, 26, an Islamic teacher at several New York mosques, including Al-Ansar. Elshinawy was a Salafist — a follower of a puritanical Islamic movement — whose father was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, according to NYPD documents.

The FBI also investigated whether Elshinawy recruited people to wage violent jihad overseas. But the two agencies investigated him very differently.

The FBI closed the case after many months without any charges. Federal investigators never infiltrated Al-Ansar.

“Nobody had any information the mosque was engaged in terrorism activities,” a former federal law enforcement official recalled, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation.

The NYPD wasn’t convinced. A 2008 surveillance document described Elshinawy as “a young spiritual leader (who) lectures and gives speeches at dozens of venues” and noted, “He has orchestrated camping trips and paintball trips.”

The NYPD deemed him a threat in part because “he is so highly regarded by so many young and impressionable individuals.”

No part of Elshinawy’s life was out of bounds. His mosque was the target of a TEI. The NYPD conducted surveillance at his wedding. An informant recorded the wedding and police videotaped everyone who came and went.

“We have nothing on the lucky bride at this time but hopefully will learn about her at the service,” one lieutenant wrote.

Four years later, the NYPD was still watching Elshinawy without charging him. He is now a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit against the NYPD.

“These new NYPD spying disclosures confirm the experiences and worst fears of New York’s Muslims,” ACLU lawyer Hina Shamsi said. “From houses of worship to a wedding, there’s no area of New York Muslim religious or personal life that the NYPD has not invaded through its bias-based surveillance policy.”

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