Criminal Justice

The Bad Cop Database

February 20, 2015 Leon Neyfakh, www.slate.com Organize! Accountability, Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality

At a time when police departments around the country are being criticized for a lack of a transparency, the arrival of Legal Aid’s database represents a bold attempt to systematically track officers with a history of civil rights violations and other kinds of misbehavior, and thereby force judges, prosecutors, and juries to take the officers’ past actions into consideration when adjudicating cases. If a defense attorney can successfully call into question the credibility of an arresting officer, she might be able to convince a judge to let a defendant out of jail without bail, or maybe even to dismiss the case entirely. Information about an officer’s past misconduct can also serve as a bargaining chip during plea negotiations with prosecutors.

Madison Co. Judge Accused Of Racial Abuse Indicted

February 17, 2015 Kate Royals, www.clarionledger.com Educate! Criminal Justice, Law, Madison, Racial Justice

Nine months after a Madison County Justice Court judge was accused of striking and yelling a racial slur at a mentally challenged young man, a grand jury served an indictment for simple assault on a vulnerable adult. Justice Court Judge Bill Weisenberger turned himself in to the Madison County sheriff Thursday, according to a spokeswoman with the Attorney General's office. He was released on $10,000 bond. According to witnesses, Weisenberger struck 20-year-old Eric Rivers, an African American, and yelled "Run, n-----, run" at the Canton Flea Market on May 8 of last year. If convicted, the charge of simple assault against a vulnerable adult carries a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 5 years imprisonment, or both. The charge against him is a felony.

Go To Trial: Crash The Justice System

February 13, 2015 Michelle Alexander, www.handsupunited.org Strategize! Criminal Justice, Law, Mass Incarceration, police brutality, Racial Justice

AFTER years as a civil rights lawyer, I rarely find myself speechless. But some questions a woman I know posed during a phone conversation one recent evening gave me pause: “What would happen if we organized thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of people charged with crimes to refuse to play the game, to refuse to plea out? What if they all insisted on their Sixth Amendment right to trial? Couldn’t we bring the whole system to a halt just like that?” The woman was Susan Burton, who knows a lot about being processed through the criminal justice system. I was stunned by Susan’s question about plea bargains because she — of all people — knows the risks involved in forcing prosecutors to make cases against people who have been charged with crimes. Could she be serious about organizing people, on a large scale, to refuse to plea-bargain when charged with a crime? “Yes, I’m serious,” she flatly replied.

150 People Reported Disappeared In Piedras Negras, Mexico

February 9, 2015 teleSur, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Criminal Justice, Mexico

Over 150 people have been reported disappeared in the small city of Piedras Negras in the northern border Mexican state of Coahuila in the last 18 months, of which at least 60 have been attributed to elite police forces, according to a lawyer overseeing the cases. Families of victims and their lawyers accused state government of creating special forces that have carried out arbitrary detentions, tortures and enforced disappearances across Coahuila during the last six years. The creation of elite police forces, which in the past have been sent to the U.S. for special training by the FBI, is not new in Mexico. These types of forces have been accused of acting as death squads for the government and have sometimes carried out assassinations ordered by organized crime gangs.

When Silencing Dissent Isn’t News

February 9, 2015 Robert Parry, www.consortiumnews.com Educate! CIA, Criminal Justice, Wars and Militarism

So, what if I told you that an internationally known American – a 75-year-old Army veteran and a longtime official at the Central Intelligence Agency, someone who had famously questioned the imperious Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about his Iraq War lies in a public event that led evening newscasts in 2006 – was recently denied entry to a public speech by another Iraq War icon, Gen. David Petraeus, and – despite having paid for a ticket – was brutally arrested by the police and jailed? Wouldn’t that be a story? Wouldn’t that be something that the news media, especially the “liberal” news media, should jump all over? Wouldn’t a newspaper like the New York Times just love something like that?

Support The Flood12 In Court!

January 30, 2015 Staff, www.floodwallst.net Resist! Climate Change, Criminal Justice, Flood Wall Street

If you went Jacob Riis beach this summer, you undoubtedly noticed the view obstructed by an offshore oil rig, part of a Williams Transco project that, once completed, will run a high-pressure liquid natural gas (LNG) pipeline along beaches, and right under Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn. This oil rig is not only an eyesore, but drilling fluids from the construction are deposited on the ocean floor. The new higher-pressure pipeline also threatens residents’ safety, as gas pipelines sometimes explode. Our action was justified and we would do it again. The latest news from Lima, Peru where U.N. climate negotiators are currently meeting and once again failing to adequately address the climate crisis reminds us all that we cannot stand idlely by when so much is at stake. Meanwhile from Massachusetts to Michigan to Manhattan, climate justice activists have invoked the necessity defense in the past 12 months. We expect this to become an increasingly common practice in the years ahead. In our case, we urge the Judge to listen closely to the arguments we are ready to make about the existential threat Wall Street poses to the climate. Beyond what happens in the courtroom, we hope to inspire others to act boldly and take action to ensure our survival.

Leak Trial Shows CIA Zeal To Hide Incompetence

January 22, 2015 Norman Solomon, www.exposefacts.org Educate! CIA, Criminal Justice

Six days of testimony at the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling have proven the agency’s obsession with proclaiming its competence. Many of the two-dozen witnesses from the Central Intelligence Agency conveyed smoldering resentment that a whistleblower or journalist might depict the institution as a bungling outfit unworthy of its middle name. Some witnesses seemed to put Sterling and journalist James Risen roughly in the same nefarious category — Sterling for allegedly leaking classified information that put the CIA in a bad light, and Risen for reporting it. Muffled CIA anger was audible, coming from the witness stand, a seat filled by people claiming to view any aspersions on the CIA to be baseless calumnies. Other than court employees, attorneys and jurors, only a few people sat through virtually the entire trial. As one of them, I can say that the transcript of USA v. Jeffrey Alexander Sterling should be mined for countless slick and clumsy maneuvers by government witnesses to obscure an emerging picture of CIA recklessness, dishonesty and ineptitude.

Injustice At The Intersection

January 20, 2015 Benjamin Ross, www.dissentmagazine.org Create! Criminal Justice, Law, Mass Incarceration, Racial Justice

Raquel Nelson’s troubles didn’t end there. In the wake of her son’s death, she was charged with vehicular homicide because, with three young children and an armful of groceries, she chose not to walk a third of a mile to the nearest marked crosswalk. A jury whose members never ride local buses found Nelson guilty of a crime whose true perpetrators were poverty and traffic engineering. She nearly went to jail, but after a national outcry, the judge reversed her conviction. She ultimately paid a $200 fine for jaywalking. The death of another young black man this summer has made the setting of these events familiar. Like Ferguson, Missouri, the run-down corner of Cobb County, Georgia, where A.J. Newman was killed is a declining inner suburb.

Threat Of Protests Moves St. Louis County Inaugurations

January 4, 2015 Steve Giegerich, www.stltoday.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Ferguson

Security concerns have prompted a change of venue for the New Year’s Day ceremonies at which St. Louis County Executive-elect Steve Stenger and County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch are scheduled to be sworn into office. Normally held in the County Council chambers on the second floor of the Lawrence K. Roos County Administration Building, the inaugural events will instead take place on the 6th floor of the St. Louis County Courthouse by invitation only. Stenger spokesman Cordell Whitlock said unspecified threats prompted the decision to move the proceedings to the courthouse. “After consulting with law enforcement we decided it was prudent to change the venue,” Whitlock said. A St. Louis County Police spokesman said the request to switch sites came at the request of McCulloch and Stenger’s offices.

2014: The Year The American Justice System Officially Died

January 1, 2015 Carey Wedler, www.theantimedia.org Educate! Criminal Justice, Law, Mass Incarceration, Racial Justice, Social Change

In 2014, the problem of police brutality forced itself to the forefront of the national conversation following the brutal killing of Americans at the hands of the police. This increased attention has been a success for activists from all walks of life and for the well-being of citizens. The problem of racism and police murders that involve it is finally receiving widespread acknowledgment and opposition. But as much as the issue of police abuse needs attention, it remains that injustice in America permeates layers of society that transcend law enforcement, race, and problems of direct violence against citizens. Rather, police brutality is a symptom of much deeper decay in the concept and system of “justice” in the United States. In 2015, the fight against police injustice must continue. But that fight must not forget the multitude of other ways that justice is trampled. In fact, if the system is allowed to continue, any small, superficial wins made in the fight against brutality will surely be reversed at the hands of a government whose foundational power is never questioned.

Grand Jury Fails To Indict Another White Cop

December 24, 2014 Sputnik, www.us.sputniknews.com Educate! Criminal Justice, Houston, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice

It's becoming an all-too-familiar story. After months of hearing testimony, a grand jury in Texas decided not to indict officer Juvenito Castro in the fatal shooting of Jordan Baker, an unarmed 26-year old, in January. Castro was off duty and was working as a private security officer at a strip mall when he confronted Baker on suspicion of burglary. Authorities indicated that a “brief struggle and foot chase” followed. Officers claim that at one point Baker stopped running and turned around. When he reached for his waistband, Castro fired. Castro was wearing his police uniform at the time of the incident. A string of burglaries had been reported at the mall that same month, though no evidence suggested that Baker was involved.

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