No measures are too extreme to bring criminals to justice nor too extreme to hunt down terrorists. Eichmann and Entebbe – kra
No, I am not Jewish, but we must never forget that no measures are too extreme to bring criminals to justice nor too extreme to hunt down terrorists.
The Israelis did a masterful job at both in Operation Eichmann (I was only 14 when they caught Eichmann and put him on trial … too young to grasp its real significance), and in the raid on Entebbe. I was 29, and just as astonished and impressed as the rest of the world when the Israelis swept into Entebbe, killing the hijackers and freeing all of the hostages, while losing only one commando!
Operation Eichmann =
https://lnkd.in/etHUrzT
The Raid on Entebbe = https://lnkd.in/eEUa_fh
Late DOC inmate’s family files lawsuit claiming abuse – The abuse which I have SEEN – kra
My friend and great lawyer, Steve Hampton, has what it takes to kick the bad guys’ asses. This article relates an all too familiar story about a young man incarcerated with MH issues. I have NO doubt that all of Steve’s allegations are true, and I KNOW that this one is true: “When Darius was being victimized at JTVCC or MCCC his plight was common knowledge at all levels of authority, including the warden.”
Young Mr. Sarro was serving a one-year sentence for a violation of probation on a fourth-degree rape charge. READ Letter to Editor or Editorial Submission – What a Monster we Have Created! Probation and Parole 2/19/19 =
Excerpts from the Article:
The family of an inmate who died after being found hanging two years ago has filed a lawsuit citing the alleged disregard of mental health, abuse and safety concerns during a two-year period.
Darius Sarro was supposedly subjected to constant “terror and torture” before dying while being held at Morris Community Corrections Center in Dover in 2017, according to the 45-page Superior Court action filed action filed on Tuesday. He was also incarcerated at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna during the stretch.
Connections Community Support Programs Inc. and Delaware Department of Correction officials were named as defendants.
The plaintiff’s attorney Stephen Hampton described the case as “tragic … but probably will not be the last if DOC and CCSP continue like they have been.”
Also, the attorney said, “We get contacted by phone, mail, or email upwards of 30 times a week with complaints by inmates or their families about prison conditions. Almost all involve the failure to get healthcare, or bullying by correctional officers.
“Conditions for inmates seem to be as bad as they have ever been, except in the year after the (inmate) revolt (that included the death of a correctional officer at JTVCC).”
Delaware Department of Correction spokesman Paul Shavack said, “We are in the process of reviewing the details of the filing, but due to pending litigation we will not discuss the specifics of the case.”
Attempts to reach CCSP for comment were unsuccessful.
According to the lawsuit, Sarro hung himself in a bathroom sometime overnight on Oct. 10, 2017. DOC records and reports showed that he “was unaccounted for during the 30 to 45 minutes before he was discovered.”
The complaint indicated that Sarro was classified as a Seriously Mentally Ill inmate by CCSP “who required frequent and daily mentoring, monitoring, and medication.
“He had long hair and was slight in stature, standing (5-foot-2, weighing around 120 pounds.) His appearance was youthful, childlike even, and it made him a target of larger inmates who sexually abused him, raped him, bullied him, stole his property, extorted money from him and threatened him during the two years preceding his death.”
Sarro, 23, was pronounced dead on Oct. 14, 2017 after transport to Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital in Dover. He was serving a one-year sentence for a violation of probation on a fourth-degree rape charge.
The lawsuit claimed that “CCSP employees failed to provide Darius with the mental health treatment necessary for a suicidal rape victim. Instead, employees ignored his plight and failed to take steps to prevent Darius from being victimized by these inmates. “They also failed to monitor him even when they knew he was suicidal, out of sight, and wearing a belt.”
According to the action, Sarro had supposedly been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (noted in an initial psychiatric evaluation in December 2014 following incarceration), depression and attention deficit disorder and had been admitted to Dover Behavioral Health and Rockford Center five times, with a most recent suicide attempt in 2012.
Also, the action noted multiple mental health sick call requests, supposed bullying and sexual assaults that were allegedly mishandled or ignored.
DOC employees allegedly failed to follow Prison Rape Elimination Act guidelines and failed to interview Sarro and failed to “take any actions against his attackers other than to move them to another tier.
“When Darius was being victimized at JTVCC or MCCC his plight was common knowledge at all levels of authority, including the warden.”
Speak OUT – What a load of BALONEY! – 10/4/19 – kra
M. Jane Brady,now head of Delaware’s Republican party, wrote an op ed in The Delaware State News. Here it is:
Commentary: Separating facts from fiction in ‘impeachment inquiry’
I responded appropriately, with the email below which I sent to the paper. I know Jane fairly well (we were about two feet apart in offices in the Attorney General’s office for many months, when we both were “young pups”… and she is a mediocre lawyer at best!), and she never was “the brightest bulb in the room”. She was elected A G only because she is female and there was a yearning for more women in power at that time. And she was a judge because she is Republican. In Delaware, although the U S Supreme Court may soon change this fact, politics is a consideration in appointing judges.
Speak OUT – What a load of BALONEY! – 10/4/19
I could type two full pages pointing out the misleading and just plain wrong statements made by Ms. M. Jane Brady in her recent “Commentary” about the impeachment of our criminal president. But I have much other work to do. It is maddening enough that she refers to “the unprecedented transparency” of Trump … a worn out talking point for his pathetic supporters. I too am a former prosecutor, and … Wow! You call lying like hell at every turn, refusing to answer questions, and hiding his tax returns (THAT will be some indictments when they are seen!) “transparent”?! I am, again, “’boutapuke”! Sad to say that Ms. Brady is just another political hack.
Ken Abraham, former Deputy Attorney General, founder of Citizens for Criminal JUSTICE, Dover, DE 302-423-4067
Slain man’s brother hugs Dallas cop after she gets 10 years – We need to see more such wise youngsters!
This wise young man had great parents! Great mentors or teachers of some sort, for him to act as he did!
I wish more folks had such magnanimity!
I do believe that he agrees with my assessment of this sad case: it was a horrible ACCIDENT. No, not an accident as if “she didn’t know the gun was loaded”, but an accident in that the officer had NO racial malice in her heart when she shot. This was NOT a “Black Lives Matter” situation.
The grieving mother certainly had a good point when she said: “If Amber Guyger was trained not to shoot in the heart, my son would be alive today….”
I have long called for more non lethal force where force is needed … bean bag guns, shoot in the leg, taser, etc.
READ Dallas cop breaks down talking about killing her neighbor – Could go either way – kra
Excerpts from the Article:
The brother of a black man who was shot dead by a white Dallas police officer who said she mistook the victim’s apartment for her own forgave and embraced her Wednesday as she sobbed after being sentenced to a decade in prison.
As people outside of the courtroom reacted angrily to the 10-year sentence given to Amber Guyger for killing Botham Jean in his apartment, believing it was too lenient, his brother was allowed to address her directly from the witness stand.
Brandt Jean told Guyger that he thinks his brother would have wanted her to turn her life over to Christ, and that if she can ask God for forgiveness, she will get it.
“I love you as a person. I don’t wish anything bad on you,” he said to the 31-year-old Guyger, before adding, “I don’t know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug?”
The judge said he could, and Brandt and Guyger stood up, met in front of the bench and embraced while Guyger cried.
Jurors could have sentenced the former officer to up to life in prison or as little as two years, but prosecutors asked them to send her to prison for 28 years, which is how old Botham Jean would have been if he was still alive.
The 10-year sentence, which will make Guyger eligible for parole after five years, was met with boos and jeers by the crowd outside of the packed courtroom, with one woman saying, “It’s a slap in the face.”
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Jean’s mother, Allison Jean, criticized the investigation into her son’s death, saying “the corruption that we saw during this process must stop” and that it’s up to the people of Dallas to bring about change. She also criticized Guyger and the police training to shoot to kill.
“If Amber Guyger was trained not to shoot in the heart, my son would be alive today. He was no threat to her. He had no reason to be a threat to her, because he was in his own apartment,” Allison Jean said.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, a former trial judge, called Brandt Jean’s embrace of Guyger was an “an amazing act of healing and forgiveness that is rare in today’s society … especially for many of our leaders.”
“If your 18-year-old brother can heal and express healing in that fashion, in his words and in his deeds, I would hope that the greater community, not just Dallas but all of Texas and all of the United States, could gain a message from that,” he told reporters.
Mike Mata, who heads the Dallas Police Association, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
The basic facts of the unusual shooting were not in dispute throughout the trial. Guyger, returning from a long shift that September 2018 night, entered Jean’s fourth-floor apartment and shot him. He had been eating a bowl of ice cream before she fired.
Guyger said she parked on the wrong floor and mistook Jean’s apartment for her own, which was directly below his, and mistook him for a burglar. In the frantic 911 call played repeatedly during the trial, Guyger said “I thought it was my apartment” nearly 20 times. Her lawyers argued that the identical physical appearance of the apartment complex from floor to floor frequently led to tenants going to the wrong apartments.
But prosecutors questioned how Guyger could have missed numerous signs that she was in the wrong place. They also asked why she didn’t call for backup instead of walking into the apartment if she thought she was being burglarized and suggested she was distracted by sexually explicit phone messages she had been exchanging with her police partner, who was also her lover.
The shooting drew widespread attention because of the strange circumstances and because it was one in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers.
One of the Jean family lawyers hailed the verdict as “a victory for black people in America” after it was handed down Tuesday.
The jury was largely made up of women and people of color.
Giving Nature a Boost—from Prison
This humane treatment of inmates works better than you might think in reducing crime. Working with animals started with programs where inmates train dogs, and those programs are hugely successful. Those who take such programs are FAR less likely to re offend. This article was sent to me by J. Frederico Martin from LinkedIn.
Excerpts from the Article:
IT STARTED WITH A SMALL FROG in big trouble. Oregon spotted frogs once flourished from British Columbia to Northern California, but habitat loss and invasive predators have driven these marsh dwellers from more than 90 percent of their historic range. In 2009, incarcerated men at Washington State’s Cedar Creek Corrections Center stepped up to help.
Advised by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife scientist Marc Hayes—and with training from corrections staff and environmental science graduate students at nearby Evergreen State College—13 prisoners worked as conservation technicians during six seasons, nurturing tadpoles to robust adulthood so the animals could join and bolster wild populations.
Hayes admits he was concerned at first, uncertain the men could master demanding wildlife-handling protocols. But he shed those reservations after seeing the program’s first-year results. “Cedar Creek did consistently better than other breeding programs,” he says, “producing higher survival rates and larger mature animals.” From 2009 to 2015, the inmates, staff and graduate students raised 879 healthy frogs and released them into wetlands along Puget Sound. “We learned a lot about rearing Oregon spotted frogs,” Hayes says. “I’m proud to have worked with so many dedicated folk.”
Cedar Creek’s frog work was part of the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP), a collaboration between Evergreen State College and Washington’s Department of Corrections. It was the first prison-based wildlife-recovery effort in the nation, according to SPP co-director Kelli Bush, and served as a springboard for similar programs powered by the work of hundreds of incarcerated men and women.
One major focus of their work: pollinators. In 11 of 12 state prisons, inmates and staff nurture some 60 thriving honey-bee hives along with native plants in pollinator-friendly landscaping and garden plots. And at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women (MCCCW), inmates are working to save the highly endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly. Destruction of its native grasslands had reduced the species to a handful of small, isolated groups. But since 2011, more than 18,000 MCCCW-reared caterpillars and butterflies have been released into protected habitats in Washington, helping launch new populations. Checkerspots also are more likely to find the food and shelter plants they need because nurseries at three other state prisons cultivate seeds and plugs of native plants for prairie restoration.
Program participants benefit along with wildlife. Carolina Landa, now an Evergreen State College graduate student, says rearing endangered butterflies while incarcerated at MCCCW was transformative. “Doing something good for the environment … gave me a sense of worth,” she says, “and a base for being successful after release.”
More Fucking Outrageous Injustice!
Rough day already! Carpe Diem! 10/2/19 … I did not sleep well when my friend, X, told me what happened in court yesterday.
A guy I was helping by phone and email got screwed yesterday. Long story short: He was on trial in MO for the past two days and he had a PD who did NOTHING. He is, in fact innocent, yet was convicted of all 3 charges. He clutched on the stand and did not say what I had advised him to say, and his PD was useless. He was convicted of 1. possession of meth with intent to deliver, 2. poss of pot, 3. poss of paraphernalia – rolling papers.
He was sentenced to 10 years!! TEN YEARS! 🙁
NICE GUY, AGE 32, NO PRIOR RECORD (a couple of pot charges from 4 and 9 years ago, respectively).
I spent at least 10 hours talking with him on the phone and he IS innocent. He was stopped for a traffic charge, the cop saw a joint in the ashtray, and searched the car. He found a scale with meth residue.
Now, X had the scale because he needs it to weigh ingredients for a medicine which he takes. He has never used meth, much less sold it. He had the instructions for the medicine, showing the need for the scale, and he did get that into evidence… over the objection of his idiot PD!
He had lent the scale to a friend the day b4 the stop, and, obviously, that guy used it for meth and did not clean it b4 returning it.
1. What the fuck does it achieve by locking him up for TEN YEARS!?
2. I am going to email the prosecutor this weekend to tell him he’s and asshole. Oh, yes I am! X called me several times yesterday during breaks in the trial, telling me his PD did not believe him, was doing nothing, and the jackass prosecutor objected to nearly every word X said as he tried to tell the truth to the jury. Clearly one of those asshole, idiot, dangerous prosecutors who thinks it’s a numbers game …. how many people can I lock up?!
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?
- The PD waltzed in on the morning of trial, had never met X nor talked with him b4, and, when X told him why the scale had meth on it, the PD said “Well, I don’t believe that story”! Shoot that asshole! I have interviewed thousands of people charged with crimes, and I can tell when they are lying. THAT’S MY JOB! I spent many, many hours talking with X over the past several months, because he has been so worried about these charges, and, I “cross-examined” him early on… there is no doubt about the real reason he had the scale.
- The arresting officer takes the stand, bedecked in his uniform, and says something like: “I am Sgt. Bozo, with the MO State Police, and I am assigned to the drug unit. I have been there for 15 years, made x thousand drug arrests for all kinds of drugs, … blah blah blah. In my extensive experience (“when I could have been doing some good solving our backlog of unsolved rapes and murders, but, oh shit, that takes real wok!”) if someone has a scale with a drug residue on it they are selling that drug. Never mind that he never saw anyone sell anything, and neither did anyone else. Never mind that X had offered to take a polygraph exam about why he had the scale (they did not give him one and he could not afford a private one … they cost about $600.00). You see, the cop is an “expert” so he can say what he said, and voila!, X, an innocent man, is convicted. This happens EVERY DAY IN OUR FUCKED UP CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM!
READ Beware of “Expert” Witnesses! A funny true story about “experts”.
Trump’s tweet threatening ‘civil war’ is a ‘basis for impeachment’: Harvard Law professor – Of course it is! – kra
Of course it is! Threatening war because Congress is doing its duty?! Absurd.
And, as for the prospect of actual violence when tRump is impeached … Ain’t gonna happen! Like tRump himself, his followers are all talk and damn near NO action. IF any are dumb enough to get violent they will be arrested, and State governors will activate the National Guard if needed. His ignoramus tRumpsters are not THAT stupid. tRump tries to conjure visions of violence because he knows his base loves chaos, and because HE IS A CORNERED RAT! And I dare predict tRump’s next residence will be a prison cell!
Excerpts from the Article:
President Donald Trump is experiencing a backlash in response to repeating a far-right evangelical pastor’s threat that impeachment could lead to civil war in the United States. And a Harvard Law School professor is asserting that repeating the pastor’s comment is, in itself, a “basis for impeachment.”
Over the weekend, Trump supporter Robert Jeffress — far-right pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas and a prominent figure on the Christian Right — appeared on “Fox and Friends” and railed against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for coming out in favor of an impeachment inquiry. Jeffress, during a Sunday appearance on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” angrily defended Trump and told co-hosts Pete Hegseth and Jedediah Bila, “I do want to make this prediction this morning: if the Democrats are successful in removing the president from office, I’m afraid it will cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.”
Trump took to Twitter and repeated Jeffress’ “civil war” threat, and John Coates — a law professor at Harvard University — saw Trump’s tweet and responded, “This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment: a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power.”
Trump’s tweet has also been condemned by Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a military veteran who tweeted that having “visited nations ravaged by civil war,” he found the tweet “beyond repugnant.” Kinzginer served in the U.S. Air Force during the Iraq War.
Sign of the times: State protected by sovereign immunity – Yes, Many do not realize that you cannot sue the State. – kra
Even a busted sign can teach us something. Here, a homeowner tried to sue a State agency over the incomplete removal of a sign from her property. She found out that one cannot sue the State. Although this case cites Delaware laws, the same is true in every state and for the federal government: you cannot sue the USA nor any State because they have “sovereign immunity” … with rare exception.
Countless people sue the State when their real and legitimate complaint is against a government official officials. They waste a lot of time and money, or lose the case, because they cannot afford an attorney, they did not call me or know of my website (articles tell you exactly what to do), and there is no available advice for even simple legal principles. The law IS complicated, and that’s why God made good lawyers.
If you know of anyone saying “I am going to sue the state … ” just tell them to CALL me at 302-423-4067.
Excerpts from the Article:
Kathleen Lucas found out the hard way that the state is immune to some insurance claims.
That unfortunate knowledge stems from a recent accident that left her with a bill for lawnmower repairs that totaled nearly $800. For the past five or six years, a friend’s son has cut the grass at Ms. Lucas’ Smyrna property. According to Ms. Lucas, he was hard at work one summer day when the lawnmower hit something — the remains of the base of a road sign.
While the sign on Vandyke Greenspring Road had been removed by the Delaware Department of Transportation, a piece had apparently been left behind. The small metal base remained stuck in the ground, obscured by the grass, Ms. Lucas said.
A lawnmower was damaged when a sign base was left in the grass by DelDOT workers. She was unsure how long it had been since the sign was removed when the mower hit the metal base on July 27.
After she called DelDOT, the agency sent people out to excavate the remaining bit. In the meantime, Ms. Lucas said she sought to file an insurance claim for the lawnmower, but, despite DelDOT admitting the sign belonged to the department, her attempt to have the state cover the damages was denied.
A letter from the Department of Human Resources spells out the rationale. The Delaware Constitution gives the state sovereign immunity, it says, with that immunity being lifted only in select circumstances approved by the General Assembly.
“In the case of liability claims, the waiver of sovereign immunity only applies to circumstances where the State has obtained insurance to cover the risk,” reads the letter. “Since the State has obtained no such insurance for this matter, any damage or injury claims therefore would be barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Therefore, we are unable to make any restitution to you for your damages.”
According to a bill for lawnmower repairs, the vehicle suffered damage to the blades and the spindle connecting the center blade. The cost came to $779.
Ms. Lucas said she was told she should use her homeowners insurance, but there’s one problem: the $1,000 deductible.
The episode has left her extremely frustrated — and out $779. “To me, it’s negligence. They didn’t take the base of the sign out,” she said.
A spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to a question about general state liability.
Jury awards former detainee $25 million in jail beating case – More Costly, Counterproductive, Preventable, Prison Abuse – kra
This is likely to be reduced on appeal, only because judges often do reduce large awards. YOU should read: Why the Massive Indifference is a Massive Mistake
Excerpts from the Article:
A man who attorneys say was beaten and left with a traumatic brain injury inside a now-shuttered jail has won his lawsuit against the state of Maryland.
News outlets report a Baltimore jury awarded Daquan Wallace $25 million on Tuesday. His attorney Cary Hansel says he will contest the $200,000 limit on tort claims against the state. Office of Attorney General spokeswoman Raquel Coombs says the state is reviewing the decision.
The lawsuit says at least three correctional officers allowed gang members to attack Wallace while he was a detainee at the Baltimore City Detention Center in 2014. Hansel says Wallace now uses a wheelchair and cannot talk.
In 2013, state and federal officials said gang members had effectively taken control of jail. Gov. Larry Hogan closed it in 2015.
Pennsylvania governor calls for legalization of recreational marijuana – It’s about time! – kra
Governor Wolf in PA is calling for legalization of Pot. There are scores of articles on my website as to why this is better than current policies. Let us pray that the idiot legislators do it … it is inevitable, yet some of them – Republicans – are still saying stupid shit like “we are disappointed because it is still a Schedule 1 narcotic according to the federal government”! Full legalization is inevitable, and NOW is the time for PA to join the sensible states.
Excerpts from the Article:
Gov. Tom Wolf wants to legalize recreational marijuana for adults in Pennsylvania. In a news conference Wednesday, Wolf called for legislation to eliminate criminal charges for nonviolent acts involving small amounts of cannabis and expunge the records of those previously convicted.
Wolf also wants the General Assembly to begin serious debate on legalizing regulated recreational marijuana for adults. “I said in the past that I didn’t know if Pennsylvania was ready for this,” Wolf said. “I believe Pennsylvania is ready for this.”
The governor points to a 93-day tour that took Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to all 67 counties in the state to discuss recreational marijuana. Based on a report from the tour, Wolf said 68% of the attendees were in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana.
“If you oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana, you are in the minority in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Eugene DePasquale applauded Wolf for calling for reform to the state’s marijuana laws as part of criminal justice reform.
“It’s time for public policy to catch up with public opinion,” DePasquale said in a statement. “My research shows that regulating and taxing marijuana for adult use could generate up to $581 million in new revenue annually, money that Pennsylvania could use to strengthen support for education, fight opioid addiction and expand access to health care.”
Wolf and Fetterman were quick to point out that, like alcohol, this would only be legal for adults.
“We now know the majority of Pennsylvanians are in favor of legalization, and that includes me,” Wolf said. “I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together, especially the criminal justice reforms I am proposing today, which will have an immediately positive influence on thousands of families across Pennsylvania.”
Recreational marijuana is fully legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania is one of 22 states where medicinal marijuana is legal, but pot remains illegal for recreational use. CBD oil is legal in six more states.
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