Justice Department Just Gutted An Obama Program To Prevent Police Misconduct – Sessions kra
Ken’s Comments:
Another step backwards. No surprise, but you would think the “law and order” president would want cops to obey the law. Trump is disaster for criminal justice reform.
Excerpts:
On the same day as the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white St. Louis police officer who shot a black man during a high-speed chase in 2011, the Department Of Justice has announced that they are essentially abandoning the Collaborative Reform Initiative, an Obama-era program that was aimed at revamping community relations with police departments.
The program, which was tasked with investigating local police departments and issuing public reports about their failings, was administered by the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). While the program overlapped with some of the work done by the Department’s civil rights division, it was an attempt to address issues arising from the multiple shootings by local police of unarmed civilians in the past few years as well as the increasing militarization of local police forces who have received surplus military equipment from the federal government to supplement their arms caches. While the Obama Administration moved to stop the distribution of this type of surplus gear in its last months in office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions resumed the shipments last month as part of his move to put the Justice Department solidly on the side of local law enforcement. While the Obama Administration moved to stop the distribution of this type of surplus gear in its last months in office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions resumed the shipments last month as part of his move to put the Justice Department solidly on the side of local law enforcement.
According to The Washington Post, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the move “a course correction to ensure that resources go to agencies that require assistance rather than expensive wide-ranging investigative assessments that go beyond the scope of technical assistance and support.” Critics of the Attorney General fear that the action is another step backwards for the rights of citizens who have been unfairly targeted by police simply because of their skin color or ethnicity.
With the removal of close scrutiny by federal officials, local police will have one less barrier to prevent the potential for abuse of power. Let’s hope that oversight by state and local governments will be powerful enough to replace the lack of a strong federal role in keeping local police behaving according to the standards we all should expect from them.
Read the Whole Story:
Justice Department Just Gutted An Obama Program To Prevent Police Misconduct
Ex-cop Jason Stockley found not guilty in black man’s death – Bad decision! kra
Ken’s Comments:
Here we go again! Video shows the cop planting a gun in the victim’s car. The only gun found, and having only the officer’s fingerprints! The judge’s bias is evident in his remarks! Gee I wonder why anyone would protest … NOT! And this is what the judge heard the cops say B4 the shooting: “We’re killing this motherf***er.” Outrageous!
I wonder whether this sign hangs in the Courthouse!
You don’t have to be a Racist to work here, but if you are I don’t suppose anyone will notice.
Excerpts:
Protests broke out in downtown St. Louis on Friday afternoon hours after a judge found former police officer Jason Stockley not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of black motorist Anthony Lamar Smith. “This Court, in conscience, cannot say that the State has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, or that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense,” St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson wrote in his ruling.
Stockley, then a St. Louis officer, fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, after a police chase in December 2011 over a suspected drug deal. Stockley pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in self-defense and believed Smith was reaching for a gun in his car. Prosecutors accused the officer of planting a silver revolver to justify the shooting.
Following the verdict, demonstrators gathered to block intersections and disrupt traffic. St. Louis police said on Twitter that some officers were hit by water bottles.
“What the country needs to know is, every single person in our country, we have a right to be mad,” said Al Watkins, an attorney for Smith’s fiancée, Christina Wilson, after the verdict. “We have a right to disagree. We have a right to express our opinion. We have a right to protest.” “Exploit that right, don’t compromise it,” he said. “Stay peaceful.”
The judge also cited two witnesses who testified during the trial that the absence of Smith’s DNA on the weapon does not necessarily mean he didn’t touch the gun. Wilson said it wouldn’t be unusual for Smith to have a gun, writing, “Finally, the Court observes, based on its nearly thirty years on the bench, that an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly.”
A bag with narcotics was found inside Smith’s car, according to a responding officer’s testimony. It was later revealed to be heroin, the judge said in a footnote to the ruling. Prosecutors had asked for lesser charges to be considered if Stockley was acquitted of murder. But Wilson declined to consider charges such as involuntary manslaughter because he found the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley’s “use of force was not justified in self-defense.”
Prosecutors argued Stockley intended to kill Smith, citing audio from the internal police vehicle camera during the car chase in which he told his partner, “We’re killing this motherf***er.” But the judge noted in his decision that “people say all kinds of things in the heat of the moment or while in stressful situations.”
Stockley left the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department in August 2013. Later that year, the St. Louis police board settled a wrongful death suit with Smith’s survivors for $900,000.
Few police officers ever face trial in shooting deaths, and even fewer are convicted. Before Friday’s verdict, the past year had seen officers acquitted or mistrials declared after jurors deadlocked in several high-profile trials, including at least four since May.
Help Us to Reform Federal Forfeiture Laws – Make Yourself Heard!
Ken’s Comments:
While some states have changed their laws, requiring conviction of a crime before any forfeiture, this remains a BIG problem on the federal level.
Excerpts:
As many of you know, Attorney General Sessions recently directed federal law enforcement to increase and expand its civil asset forfeiture program, despite the strong bi-partisan legislative support that exists to limit the program based on due process and fairness concerns. Specifically, the recent directive from Attorney General Sessions reinstates some restrictions that had been placed on the program in recognition of these concerns—most notably restrictions on “adoptive seizures.”
In response to the Department of Justice’s decision to reverse course and embrace its controversial federal civil asset forfeiture program, several Representatives have filed amendments to a bill that will fund federal law enforcement agencies for the upcoming fiscal year. Right now, the House of Representatives will consider amendments early next week that would defund or limit certain aspects of the federal civil asset forfeiture program. Please contact your House member now to express support for the adoption of such amendments.
Under current federal law, law enforcement can seize property and money believed to be connected to a crime without convicting, or even charging, someone with a crime. Unfortunately, this system has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses.
Early next week, the House will consider H.R. 3354. Division C of this bill authorizes funding for federal law enforcement agencies for the upcoming fiscal year. A number of Representatives have offered Division C amendments that seek to either prohibit federal funds from supporting the recent directive to increase the use of civil asset forfeiture or prohibit federal funds from being used to execute adoptive seizures. Specifically, Rep. Justin Amash has offered Amendment 70; Rep. Tim Walberg has offered Amendment 46; and Rep. Jamie Raskin has offered Amendment 67. All of these amendments effectively seek to limit or bar federal authorities from working with local law enforcement to seize assets in states that have reformed their practices.
These amendments represent important steps toward reigning in the widespread abuses of civil asset forfeiture practices and allow states to protect the rights of their citizens from federal intrusion.
Contact your House member NOW and ask them to vote YES on these amendments so that important concerns regarding the federal civil asset forfeiture program can be considered.
Click here to Contact your House member and read more!
Trump prepares to lift limits on military gear for police -Sessions kra
Ken’s Comments:
More bad news for the criminal justice system, courtesy of our doofus president! This policy was so widely abused, and so crazy [a town with a population of 8,000 receiving tank-like equipment] that it was reined in. This is more “law and order”, “tough on crime” nonsense which politicians love, but which does NOTHING to reduce crime!
Excerpts from the Article:
he Trump administration is preparing to restore the flow of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies under a program that had been sharply curtailed by the Obama administration amid an outcry over police use of armored vehicles and other war-fighting gear to confront protesters. Documents obtained by The Associated Press indicate President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order undoing an Obama-era directive that restricted police agencies’ access to the gear that includes grenade launchers, bullet-proof vests, riot shields, firearms and ammunition.
Trump’s order would fully restore the program under which “assets that would otherwise be scrapped can be repurposed to help state, local, and tribal law enforcement better protect public safety and reduce crime,” according to the documents.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions could outline the changes during a Monday speech to the national conference of the Fraternal Order of Police in Nashville, Tenn., a person familiar with the matter said. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss the plan ahead of an official announcement.
The changes would be another way in which Trump and Sessions are enacting a law-and-order agenda that views federal support of local police as a way to drive down violent crime.
National police organizations have long been pushing Trump to hold his promise to once again make the equipment available to local and state police departments, many of which see it as needed to ensure officers aren’t put in danger when responding to active shooter calls and terrorist attacks. An armored vehicle played a key role in the police response to the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.
Acting DEA administrator says Trump ‘condoned police misconduct’ in remarks about handling suspects.
Groups across the political spectrum have expressed concern about the militarization of police, arguing that the equipment encourages and escalates confrontations with officers. Obama issued an executive order in 2015 that severely limited the surplus program, partly triggered by public outrage over the use of military gear when during protests in Ferguson, Mo., following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Police responded in riot gear and deployed tear gas, dogs and armored vehicles. At times they also pointed assault rifles at protesters.
Obama’s order prohibited the federal government from providing grenade launchers, bayonets, tracked armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft and vehicles, and firearms and ammunition of .50-caliber or greater to police. The agency overseeing the program then recalled more than 100 grenade launchers, more than 1,600 bayonets and 126 tracked vehicles — those that run on continuous, tank-like tracks instead of wheels — that were provided through the program.
Most police agencies rarely require military equipment for daily use but see a need to have it available, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum. “It is hard to imagine any situation where a grenade launcher or bayonet would be something that a major police department would need, but defensive shields and armored vehicles kept on reserve will be welcome,” he said.
Sessions has said he believes improving morale for local law enforcement is key to curbing spikes in violence in some cities. The plan comes after Sessions has said he intends to pull back on court-enforceable improvement plans with troubled police departments, which he says can malign entire agencies and make officers less aggressive on the street.
Exonerated Man Spent 25 Years In Jail, Says Cops Framed Him, Suing for $125 Million
Ken’s Comments:
Another tragic tale of BAD cops. Pray that he wins every penny of it; that may send a message which bad cops will understand!
Some states offer compensation. ALL SHOULD! Twenty-three states, including Washington, don’t offer any financial compensation for the wrongfully incarcerated. In the 27 states that do, the reparations vary widely.
Excerpts from the Article:
A Detroit man served 25 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. His conviction was based on falsified evidence, and he has filed a lawsuit seeking $125 million, accusing police of deliberately framing him by switching bullets. Desmond Ricks, 51, has spent half of his life wrongfully imprisoned, but was released in May after new tests supported his remarkable claim: Detroit police intentionally pinned him with a homicide in 1992, reported The NY Post.
An analysis of 2 bullets taken from the victim and still in police storage proved they were not fired from the gun that was presented as the murder weapon, so prosecutors agreed to drop the case. They also claimed they cannot investigate officers involved in Ricks’ arrest because the statute of limitations had expired.
“Since the officers cannot be put in prison, this is the only way to begin to right a horrific misconduct and the harm to our criminal justice system,” Ricks’ attorney, Wolfgang Mueller, said.
“It’s evil,” he added Thursday. “I can’t picture how a police officer who is sworn to uphold the law and be objective could go to sleep at night.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, names the city of Detroit and two retired officers as defendants. Ricks’ two daughters are also plaintiffs in the case. The head of Detroit’s law department, Melvin “Butch” Hollowell, declined to comment on the lawsuit, according to The Post.
“It’s hell,” Ricks said. “It’s not a good place. It’s the most abnormal environment ever created on Earth.”
The case was reopened at the request of the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school. David Townshend, an expert who testified at Ricks’ trial, said bullets taken from the victim were not the ones given to him for examination back in 1992.
Townshend believes the bullets presented to him were from the gun that belonged to Ricks’ mother, not from Bennett’s body.
Read the Whole Story
Exonerated Man Spent 25 Years In Jail, Says Cops Framed Him, Suing for $125 Million
Fiteembiteemandoutem! Bad Judge? Bad Lawyer? Bad Cop? Bad Prison Staff? Bad Social Worker? Fiteembiteemandoutem! kra
We MUST speak out about injustice, and hold the wrongdoers accountable!
Fiteem … Fight ’em! Fight back by exposing the wrongdoer. Do not “go quietly into the night” and do not be silent because you fear retaliation! Whether it is a judge who imposes a “crazy long” sentence. totally inappropriate for the conduct involved, a legislator proposing some stupid “get tough on crime” law, or a prison official who is caught lying, expose them! READ What YOU Can Do About Police Abuse and Prison Abuse & Bad Judges, CPS Workers – Updated!
Biteem … Bite ’em! If you can get a good lawyer to do so, sue their sorry asses! Hit them where it hurts!
Outem ,,, Out ’em! Don’t just report bad judges, cops, or lawyers to the right authorities, shame them in the press! Write a Letter to the Editor criticizing their conduct. Just click the tab Letters to the Editor on this website for easy instructions and many, many samples! 🙂
Legal Crisis – Above the Law? kra Updated 8/25/17 OUTRAGEOUS! Arpaio is Pardoned. With Letter to the Editor
President Trump suggests that Sheriff Joe Arpaio should not be punished for “doing his job”! What twisted thinking! What utter nonsense! His job was not to violate the law, and that is precisely what he did so openly, defiantly, and arrogantly!
He had his day in court ans was convicted. Indeed, he convicted himself before the whole world with his public comments! He continuously violated the rights of many, many Americans and immigrants, and then knowingly defied the Court Order because 1) he wanted to and 2) he knew that many who voted for him would like such conduct. Well, we don’t have “law by the mob” in this country, thank God.
Make no mistake: Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court for intentionally violating federal court orders, after violating the constitutional rights of people of color in his community. Trump’s pardon condones racial profiling and a sheriff who defied the rule of law.
Now Trump is hinting at a Pardon for Sheriff Joe. We have a legal crisis in America when a president might be so stupid, or so misguided, that he may grant a pardon for political reasons. Politics should play no role in the criminal justice system, yet it too often does. The wayward sheriff may not get prison time (which I think he should, as should any law enforcement officer committing a serious crime!); that is up to the judge.
Nobody is above the law in America. This is one of our bedrock principles, and we must not let it be eroded by Trump or anyone else!
UPDATE 8/25/17 President Trump Pardons Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio
As this article in The Atlantic states: Trump’s pardon of Arpaio will likely rank among the most controversial exercises of the power.
You should send this out where you live as a Letter to the Editor! Click on Articles, then on the tab Letters to the Editor for easy instructions!
Sound off Delaware – Rule of Law 8/26/17
A fundamental principle in this country is that nobody is above the law. With the swipe of his presidential pardon pen, president Trump severely undermined it. Arpaio repeatedly and defiantly committed crimes, violated the rights of Americans, and bragged about it. In his rush to reward political loyalty, which he obviously values more than loyalty to our Constitution, Trump did not even use the D O J system for pardons. Nobody with any sense of justice would say that Arpaio deserved a pardon!
Ken Abraham, Dover, DE 302-423-4067
THE most important Practical Tip! Enforce the Law Inside the Walls! with sample Letter to the Editor.
I have posted and given to so many people, many Practical Tips concerning our criminal justice system. Everything from Always Speak at Sentencing to information about Habeas Corpus, and all of them are on this website. Though this is not that sort of tip, it is THE most important of all!
There are more than 2 million people languishing in prison. Many just waste time, playing basketball, loafing, watching TV ( the few who have one!) and some are quite productive, with classes and programs, their artwork, etc. REMEMBER, I was in for 5 long years; I SAW what goes on. READ It’s not about What They Did to Me -Prison Abuse
I urge YOU to get the Letter to Editor or Op Ed Submission to every prisoner you know. Suggest that they get busy sending it out wherever they are – or their version of it – and they have ALL inmates do the same!
ADVICE TO INMATES EVERYWHERE: PLAN STATEWIDE PEACEFUL UPRISINGS OR PROTESTS EVERY FUCKING MONTH- THEY CAN’T KEEP YOU ON LOCKDOWN FOREVER, AND I REALIZE THAT TO MAKE IT STATEWIDE SNITCHES INVARIABLY WILL FIND OUT AND TELL SOME COs. THEY WILL BETRAY YOU, JUST AS JESUS WAS BETRAYED. BUT DO NOT LET THAT STOP YOU! Exercise your rights of free speech, and DO something about the abuse!
Some of the prison rules are total bullshit, created just to intimidate you and to keep you quiet! I shall never forget [ and I mention him by name in my book, describing him as “a sorry sack of scum” ] when a so-called officer named Patrick Smith told the other COs with him to write me up for “disrespect” as I calmly called him a lying jackass as he walked past my iso cell and gave me the finger to try to provoke me. I said “Disrespect? Boy you’ve got that right you lying scumbag. You deserve NO respect!” loud enough for the whole building to hear me. The funny part is that the hearing office on that one, who had gotten to know me a little, and who knew what Smith had done to me {READ It’s not about What They Did to Me -Prison Abuse , found me “not guilty” when I told him I said it because it is true! They busted him from Lieutenant to corporal for that!
PEACEFUL PROTESTS, PEACEFUL. RAISE A RUCKUS; I, MORE THAN MOST, KNOW ALL THE ABUSE THAT OCCURS. READ THIS: Why only PROSECUTION and IMPRISONMENT Will Stop Prison Abuse and Police Abuse! Demand It!! How to Avoid the Deaths of More Prison Guards! [http://www.citizensforcriminaljustice.net/prosecution-imprisonment-will-stop-prison-abuse-demand-avoid-deaths-prison-guards/ ]
SIMPLY DEMAND THAT THE LAW BE ENFORCED INSIDE THOSE WALLS, THAT COs and OTHERS- HEALTH CARE BOZOS – BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! 🙂 🙂 UNTIL THIS HAPPENS, YOU WILL – WILL! – BE ABUSED.
Letter to the Editor or Op Ed Submission – Hold them Accountable! – [DATE]
Nobody is above the law. As Justice Brandeis said: “At the foundation of our civil liberties lies the principle that denies to government officials an exceptional position before the law and which subjects them to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen.”
I am an inmate at [name your prison by name and the state], and I have seen countless crimes by corrections officers go unpunished. Every day they commit crimes from theft to aggravated assault and even murder, doing whatever they please, with NO accountability. Even when video captures the clearly criminal conduct, nobody is prosecuted and there are no consequences! The grievance process is a total joke! This is true in prisons across the nation, and it is a national disgrace. The criminal COs wearing law enforcement uniforms are a disgrace to law enforcement and a disgrace to the hundreds of their colleagues who do their thankless jobs properly. After the fact, if there is any semblance of an investigation, and even often when none is imminent, they concoct false – fictitious!- “Disciplinary Reports” to cover their crimes. These reports look oh so official, but they are total lies!
The abuse must be deterred. Why is prosecution the ONLY remedy?
1.Union rules make it nearly impossible to fire prison guards.
2. Even if an inmate, or the family of a dead inmate, wins a lawsuit [a one in a million chance because so many judges, like the prosecutors, have their heads in the sand and will not acknowledge this huge problem; they ignore the law and misstate the facts to make theses cases go away!] it is the State which pays the money award, not the guard. So the guards laugh at the system and keep on committing crimes, because they “feel no pain”. They are not truly held accountable. Even when an inmate wins a large money award = a clear indication that the jury found the guard at fault for abuse – the guard keeps his job, goes on to be promoted, etc.! Convict them and lock them up for years – THIS will send the message that the outrageous abuses must stop. Those who do the right thing are afraid to speak out, because if they do they know that they will not get a promotion, they will never get overtime pay. The criminal COs proudly proclaim “We stick together”!
Is being a prison guard easy? Hell no. For the most part it is a very boring job. Guards DO need to deal with some extremely dangerous characters who plan escapes, plan harm to guards, etc. and there are systems in place to do that the right way. And the guards need to navigate the “sinister culture of cover up”. I call it what it is = blatant, outrageous criminal conduct! Sadly, too many of the men and women who serve as guards choose to keep their mouths shut about this, and understandably so; many more accede to the abuses, and still more quit in disgust when they see what they are being asked to do. Yes, this is one big reason for the high attrition rate among new hires.
We, all inmates, demand that prosecutors do their jobs and enforce the law inside those walls!
Sincerely, Name, city and state, phone number [they often call the author of a letter to confirm that he/she wrote it. This is a problem because inmates cannot accept phone calls, but use the prison number; at least they can confirm that you are there.
…………………………
TELL THE INMATE:
I get lots of letters published, and ghost write for others. THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO REACH THOUSANDS OF READERS! The keys to getting your Letter published are:
1. Keep it to 250 words or fewer.
2. Do not make it about “poor little old me”. Describe the problem as one which not only affects the individual, but is a senseless or ineffective measure, policy, or law which also harms communities and society. For example, with reentry, the obstacles make it unnecessarily difficult for the individual, but also harm society by making it hard to become productive, spending money and paying taxes in the community, and they cause increased recidivism = increased crime.
3. Speak from your heart.
4. Google any facts you are not sure about.
5. Do not name-call.
Do what works: Write that Letter!
…………
Letter to Editor – sign name, town, state, and your phone number (they often call to verify that you sent it), and “Member of Citizens for Criminal JUSTICE” if you like – shows you are part of a large group.
Send the email to yourself, and put on the “bcc” bar the email addresses for Letters to the Editor for the top ten newspapers in your state and several national ones – The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, U S A Today (google the Letter to Editor email addresses). Any questions, CALL me at 302-423-4067!
GOOGLE THE EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR” FOR THE TOP TEN NEWSPAPERS IN YOUR STATE AND SAVE THAT INFORMATION FOR REPEATED USE – Some papers will print a letter from you every 2 ekke, some every 30 days, some every 90 days. They have varying policies. But if you really want to make a difference shoot them a new letter once a month! I send one out every 2 weeks.
Need a Letter on some criminal justice issue and not a great letter writer? NO EXCUSE! Email me a rough draft and call me and I’ll polish it up! kenabraham3138@gmail.com .
ANY QUESTIONS, CALL ME AT 302-423-4067.
Cops Kill a Family Pet every 98 Minutes; OUTRAGEOUS!
Ken’s Comments:
That’s right, at least 5,363 family pets are killed by cops annually, and most of those shootings are needless!
Excerpts from the Article:
State police in West Virginia shot a family’s dog June 24 as it was reportedly running away from them during a search for a suspect on adjoining property. Shots rang out even as the dog’s owner was screaming for officers to hold their fire and let her put her dog inside. In Maryland, two Baltimore police officers were charged last week with animal cruelty after one of them allegedly held down Nala, a 7-year-old Shar-Pei, while the other slit the dog’s throat.
Richard Bruce Rosenthal, general counsel and co-founder of New York-based the Lexus Project, said police across the country are trending toward less tolerance and less respect for people’s pets, which he sees as part of a larger trend toward more aggressive policing tactics in America.
A pet is a person’s property, which should not be summarily executed for doing what dogs naturally do, which is to investigate unknown people or other dogs who approach their territory, he asserted.
“All over the country we have cops shooting dogs for no other reason than they can. And our courts and our elected officials, rather than protecting the citizens and the Constitution, simply see it as a way to take more power and more money. I think it’s a civil-rights violation. I think it’s a constitutional violation.”
Police shot a dog in front of its owner in Hawthorne, California, because they didn’t like the owner recording them.
“I’m going to have to call on other legislators to work with me on a combined letter demanding it,” he said. “Unless they are forthright and give the information without being required to, I think we’re going to have to get a letter from several lawmakers. Our letter will probably go to the governor because he’s their boss.
“There are so many non-lethal ways they could have dealt with this dog. Pepper spray, or simply yelling at it, probably would have made him run away.”
No government agency keeps a national database on the number of pets killed by police. But animal-abuse activists have kept statistics, and they say a pet is killed by law enforcement every 98 minutes in America. They say it is largely a result of officers having little-to-no training on how to deal with dogs.
“It’s a travesty that’s going on all over the country, and the more it happens the more our police feel emboldened to pull their guns and shoot first,” Rosenthal said.
“Whenever and wherever this happens, people are horrified at the reckless use of police power, but basically (police) ignore it in the name of security,” Rosenthal said. “The only way it’s going to be reformed is if more and more people get lawyers and litigate. And people need to petition their state legislature to make them responsible. If pet owners would band together and say ‘we’re going to vote them out of office unless they start protecting us,’ things would change.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/police-take-horrific-action-every-98-minutes/#x2vo78wCu6ItMuzP.99
Suicide at Texas Jail Results in Firings, Lawsuit, Investigation and Legislation
Ken’s Comments:
I have seen at least 6 articles on prison suicides in the past two weeks, and I have posted a couple with remarks about how prison officials lie like hell and falsify documents to cover up their wrongdoing. There are many such reports about prison officials on this website. Here we see some constructive measures emerge from the Sandra Bland case which will improve the system, if they are enforced!
READ Father Questioning Prison’s Policies After Inmate’s Suicide
Excerpts from the Article:
On July 10, 2015, Sandra Bland was stopped while driving in Prairie View, Texas. The 28-year-old Illinois native was in the process of moving to Waller County when she was stopped by Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia, allegedly for changing lanes without signaling. A verbal altercation ensued over whether Bland had to put out the cigarette she was smoking, and Encinia arrested her for allegedly assaulting him. Three days later Bland was found hanging in an isolation cell at a jail operated by the Waller County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO). Her death was ruled a suicide. [See: PLN, Jan. 2017, p.44].
In January 2016, a grand jury indicted Encinia for perjury after a review of his vehicle’s dashboard camera footage showed him reaching into Bland’s vehicle to pull her out and threatening her with a Taser – directly controverting his official report that she cooperated with his request to exit the car on her own before assaulting him. Encinia was fired shortly thereafter, and he and Waller County were sued by Bland’s family.
The county and Encinia’s former employer, the Texas Department of Public Safety, reached a $1.9 million settlement in September 2016. According to attorney Cannon Lambert, Bland’s mother was pleased with the settlement, particularly its “non-economic components.” The settlement agreement required the use of electronic sensors during cell checks at the Waller County jail to prevent document falsification, employment of an on-duty nurse or EMT for all shifts, and additional employee training on booking and intake screenings.
Additionally, on May 2017 the WSCO terminated Deputy Dormic Smith, the jailer responsible for monitoring Bland when she committed suicide. Although named in the suit filed by Bland’s family, Smith, 30, was fired in connection with an unrelated incident that allegedly occurred during a patrol arrest in March 2017. At the time of Bland’s death, Smith was working under a 3-month-old temporary jailer’s license.
Bland’s suicide occurred the same year as a number of other high-profile deaths during or after police encounters, and sparked protests outside the WCSO. On July 31, 2015, Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith asked local attorney Paul Looney to form a committee to investigate the WCSO’s practices and policies related to patrol and jail functions, and make recommendations for improvements.
Looney tapped Houston civil rights attorneys Craig Washington and Randall Kallinen, former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Morris T. Overstreet, Houston criminal defense attorney Juan L. Guerra and JoAnne Musick, president of the Harris County Criminal Defense Association, as committee members.
On April 12, 2016 the committee published an eleven-page report critical of operations at the Waller County jail, which included nine recommendations.
The one most pertinent to Bland’s suicide was that medical and mental health evaluations during the jail’s booking process should be performed by EMTs instead of deputies who are untrained in properly evaluating the medical needs of incoming prisoners. Bland admitted she had a history of suicidal thoughts when she was admitted to the jail, though she said she wasn’t having any at that time.
The report also recommended developing a written policy for the use of video footage and purchasing body cameras to be worn by law enforcement officers. In Bland’s case, it was only after reviewing Encinia’s dashboard camera footage that officials realized his version of events was false.
Addressing a proposal for a new jail in Waller County, the report said construction should be accelerated because the current facility does not meet safety and security needs; it also made a number of other suggestions related to improving paperwork and booking procedures, and hiring additional staff.
Critics claim the sheriff used the committee and its report to harness the outcry over Bland’s death, to generate favorable publicity for the new jail.
“After all the praises went up for Sheriff Glenn Smith, it became clear that the overriding theme to the campaign, disguised as a jail investigation, was merely to exploit the death of Sandra Bland to get a new Waller County jail,” said DeWayne Charleston, a community activist and former prisoner.
“Not one thing has changed [since Bland’s death],” added LaVaughn Moseley, a friend of Bland’s family. “Always all talk and no action.”
The final chapter in Sandra Bland’s tragic death occurred on June 15, 2017, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the “Sandra Bland Act.” The law requires county jails to divert people with substance abuse and mental health problems into treatment programs, mandates that jail deaths be investigated by independent agencies, makes it easier for mentally ill defendants to be released on personal bonds and requires de-escalation training for law enforcement officers. The statute will go into effect on September 1, 2017.
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