The New York Times article about the recent near-unanimous decision concerning the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, declaring that there was no need at the moment to decide whether that provision was still constitutional in light of the fundamental changes that have swept across the South in recent decades.
In an 8-to-1 ruling in perhaps the most important case of its term, the court said that passing judgment on an act of Congress is “the gravest and most delicate duty that this court is called upon to perform,” and that it need not undertake that momentous duty at this time. But the court stated pointedly that “the act also differentiates between the states in ways that may no longer be justified.”
At stake was Section 5 of the act, which requires a number of states and many local governments, mostly in the South, to seek federal permission before changing their voting procedures. That section was reauthorized by Congress for 25 years in 2006, even though the lawmakers relied on practices that have all but disappeared and voting data from decades ago.
“The historic accomplishments of the Voting Rights Act are undeniable,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court. “When it was first passed, unconstitutional discrimination was rampant and the ‘registration of voting-age whites ran roughly 50 percentage points or more ahead’ of black registration in many covered states,” he noted, quoting from an earlier ruling involving the Voting Rights Act.
But while not striking down Section 5, the court ruled that a small Texas water district whose challenge to Section 5 led to Monday’s ruling — and by implication some other political units as well — should have an easier time applying for and obtaining exemption, or getting a “bail out,” from Section 5 provisions. So Monday’s ruling was a victory for the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One in its suit, backed by a conservative group, against the United States.
More important, the court noted: “Since 1982, only 17 jurisdictions — out of the more than 12,000 covered political subdivisions — have successfully bailed out of the act. It is unlikely that Congress intended the provision to have such limited effect.” Exactly which political units will be able to “bail out” of Section 5 will probably require detailed examination.
Only Justice Clarence Thomas dissented Monday, stating that he thought it inappropriate to sidestep the constitutional question in Northwest Austin Municipal District Number One v. Holder, No. 08-322, and that he thinks Section 5 is no longer constitutional.
Those who want the Voting Rights Act to remain intact greeted Monday’s ruling more with relief than exultation.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund issued a statement calling Section 5 “critical to our democracy” and saying it was pleased that “however grudgingly, the court acknowledges that in its opinion.”
Debo P. Adegbile, the organization’s director of litigation, called the Voting Rights Act “one of Congress’s greatest legacies.”
“The utility district brought this case to tear out the heart of the Voting Rights Act,” said Mr. Adegbile, who argued the case before the high court. “Today, it failed.”
Jerry H. Goldfeder, adjunct professor of election law at Fordham Law School, said the court “has essentially granted the Voting Rights Act a stay.” Since the court sidestepped the issue of constitutionality, “the law’s continuing viability is assured for the foreseeable future,” said Mr. Goldfeder, who is special counsel at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and the chairman of the Election Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement expressing relief at the ruling and saying that if the court had overturned Section 5, it would have been guilty of “judicial activism.”
“However, I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court that Congress’s reauthorization of Section 5 poses serious constitutional concerns,” Mr. Leahy said. “There is no more explicit constitutional grant of power to the Congress than in the second section of the 15th Amendment, to protect the right to vote.”
When the case was argued on April 29, the questions posed by several justices hinted at a willingness to find Section 5 unconstitutional. But Chief Justice Roberts used language that every member of the court, including Justice Thomas in part, was able to embrace. Referring to the Voting Rights Act in its entirety, the chief justice wrote, “In part due to the success of that legislation, we are now a very different nation.”
How different can be appreciated, as some of those associated with the case have pointed out, with the presence of a black man in the White House and many black elected officials in what used to be the Confederacy, including Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, who was beaten by Alabama police officers in a civil rights march in 1965.
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plez sez: even though, i have not read the entire ruling, a few things come to mind:
what the HELL is wrong with clarence thomas?!? how does he look at himself in the mirror every morning when he so clearly hates the skin he's in.
what the HELL was the point of the ruling? section 5 of the voting rights act is either unconstitutional or it isn't. why did scalia and alito abandon thomas on this ruling, or did thomas not get the memo?
how much longer can a race-based criteria for federal oversight continue in the south when there is a Black man sitting in the oval office? this must've been deemed such a volatile issue (like roe v. wade) that no high court will ever have the cajones to address it.
An official announcement is planned for later this morning, but it appears that President Barack Obama is poised to name the first person of Hispanic descent to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Read the AJC.com report:
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama tapped U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, officials said, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice.
If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor, 54, would succeed retiring Justice David Souter. Two officials described Obama's decision on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.
Administration officials say Sotomayor would bring more judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice confirmed in the past 70 years.
A formal announcement was expected at midmorning.
Obama had said publicly he wanted a justice who combined intellect and empathy — the ability to understand the troubles of everyday Americans.
Democrats hold a large majority in the Senate, and barring the unexpected, Sotomayor's confirmation should be assured.
If approved, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court.
___
May 26, 2009 - 8:36 a.m. EDT
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When the retirement of David Souter was announced, Sotomayor's name was floated as a possible nominee in a Huffington Post article.
plez sez: from reading sotomayor's background, it appears that she is an accomplished jurist with a background that will allow her to empathize with "the people." she was raised in ruff-and-tumble bronx, yet made it out of her environment to attend princeton and yale.
as a "moderate liberal" she is a perfect replacement for the moderate david souter.
if there is any unease with this selection in plezWorld, it is Obama's over-reliance on the ivy league connection for so many of his appointments. but if that's the way of the world, i guess i better work alittle harder on making sure the SugarPlum gets into an ivy league school!
All of the major news organizations are reporting the Supreme Court Justice David Souter - appointed by George H. W. Bush - has decided to step down the end of this current term, which ends in June. President Barack Obama will get to appoint his replacement.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After more than 18 years on the nation's highest court, Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring, a source close to Souter told CNN Thursday.
Souter will leave after the current court term recesses in June, the source said.
Filling Souter's seat would be President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court appointment -- and the first since George W. Bush's picks of Samuel Alito in 2006 and Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005.
Souter, 69, was tapped for the court by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, but disappointed many conservatives when he turned out to be a typical old-fashioned Yankee Republican -- a moderate, with an independent, even quirky streak.
Souter's departure will leave the two oldest justices -- and the most liberal -- still on the bench. Retirements for John Paul Stevens, 89, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, have been rumored for years, with many expecting that one or the other would be the first to give a new Democratic president a Supreme Court vacancy.
Souter's decision came as something of a surprise, although he has long been known to prefer the quiet of his New Hampshire farmhouse to the bustle of the nation's capital.
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plez sez: the two oldest justices - john paul stevens and ruth bader ginsburg - are still hanging in there, but it will only be a matter of time before Obama will be tasked with replacing them (ginsburg returned to the bench this year after a bout with cancer). all told, Obama's appointments to SCOTUS will probably be the lasting legacy of his presidency. he will appoint at least three justices to the nine person bench.
SCOTUS appointments last far longer than the presidency, since they are appointed for life. and a relatively young justice, like clarence thomas when he was appointed, can remain on the bench for 30 to 40 years!
i can see Obama calling someone like bill clinton to bench, or reaching into the federal bench to find a hispanic or asian american to fill the open seat. your thoughts?
Over the past couple of years, there has been a growing epidemic of taser-related deaths at the hands of the police. Unfortunately, an unsettling number of these deaths are Black men. As peace officers, the job of the police is to maintain order and enforce laws. Using their police powers to indict, convict, and execute innocent Americans has never been part of their job description. The only time that deadly force should be used is when their lives or the safety of the general public is threatened.
The taser is supposed to be a non-lethal way to subdue and apprehend those suspected by the police of crime or mayhem. Unfortunately, this tool has become as lethal as a bullet fired from an officer's service revolver.
CNN.com reports that Amnesty International has reported that, since June 2001, more than 150 people have died in the United States after being subdued with a stun gun. The organization has called for police departments to suspend use of the devices pending study of their possible risks. Few have done so, said Amnesty, which added that more than 7,000 of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement agencies use the devices.
Back in July 2008, plezWorld posted the sad story of Baron "Scooter" Pikes who was executed by the police after he was tasered NINE TIMES.
After wandering over to Electronic Village, you will notice that Scooter's sad story is far from being out of the ordinary:
plez sez: i am a proponent of the actions necessary to review the use of tasers. if they are no longer a non-lethal alternative, then maybe they should be banned.
it is my hope that by bringing this story to plezWorld on this day of blogging for justice, the injustice caused by the unlawful use of tasers by the nation's police will be addressed.
the UN has condemned the use of tasers as torture. in light of the ongoing discussion about the Bush policies of torturing prisoners of war, we have verifiable examples of US citizens being tortured to death by the very police who had sworn to protect them.
What follows is the video of a teenager attacking the school bus driver on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. WARNING: The attack is violent and brutal.
School Bus Video of the Attack
Entire WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3 account of violent attack:
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - She drives students to school each day, but on Tuesday a driver's morning route became a violent nightmare.
Police say the driver became the victim of a student's rage, and instead of driving the bus to school, she was rushed to the hospital.
The Kalamazoo school-bus driver is recovering on Wednesday after being badly beaten.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, around 7:30 in the morning near the corner of Gull Road and Brook Drive in Kalamazoo Township. Police say that a 16-year-old male repeatedly punched the driver in the face and head.
The teenager is being held at the juvenile home, charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Newschannel 3 pulled the young man's records, we can't reveal his name or show his face because he is a juvenile, but we did learn that he has been charged with five assaults going back to 2005.
A source has told Newschannel 3 that several of the victims in those cases were para-pros, or teachers at the teen's school.
The bus driver who was assaulted on Tuesday is a veteran Kalamazoo Public Schools bus driver who was filling in on a route on Gull Road. Police say some of the students on the bus became agitated when she made a stop where there were no students.
At that point the 16 year old got out of his seat, and despite the driver repeatedly telling the teen to sit down, he continued to yell at her, took off his jacket and walked to the front of the bus.
As the student threatened her, the driver grabbed the radio to call for help, and the beating began.
Newschannel 3 watched the video with Kalamazoo Township Police Chief Tim Bourgeois.
"It was very violent," said Chief Bourgeois. "First punch that's followed by repeated punching to the head, at that point she is trying to cover her head with her hands."
As the attack continued, another student tried to put a stop to it.
"The suspect curses at him, pushes him away, and then continues the assault," said Bourgeois.
Eventually students managed to push the suspect toward the back of the bus, allowing the driver to get on the radio and make a call on her cell.
The suspect got off the bus, and took off at the urging of another student before the police arrive.
"When our first officers arrived, the driver was off the bus and the officer contacted her outside," said Bourgeois. "It was obvious she had severe facial injuries and had injuries to her hands."
When police questioned the remaining students on the bus, they refused to give any information. Police did eventually track the student down at his Kalamazoo home.
Newschannel 3 did speak to the victim in the case. She told us that she is doing okay, although her hand was broken while she was trying to fend off the teen and she has broken blood vessels in her eye.
Entire WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3 story of the teen's parents' defense:
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - On Tuesday, a bus driver for the Kalamazoo Public School system was brutally beaten by a teenager on her bus.
The attack happened around 7:30 Tuesday morning near the corner of Gull Road and Brook Drive in Kalamazoo Township.
Police say a 16-year-old student at K-Resa repeatedly punched the driver in the face and the head.
Looking into the incident, Newschannel 3 learned that this is not the first time the young man has been involved with violence.
Newschannel 3 spoke with the victim of the attack on Wednesday, she didn't want to go on camera for fear of further attacks, but the beating she received left her with a broken hand, burst blood vessels in both eyes, cuts and contusions all over her head and face, six stitches in her lip and a cheek that had swollen to the size of a softball.
Newschannel 3 also spoke the parents of the attacker, who also asked not to be revealed, but told us that their son isn't responsible.
"Our son has stated to us several times he's got twins living up in his head," said the suspect's mother, "and yesterday when I talked to him he said something about the twins in his head."
The parents say their son has been diagnosed with both bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia.
"[He's] been hospitalized several times," said the suspect's mother, "but you know it's working with the medication, trying to get him on the right medication, right now he's working with an excellent doctor."
The suspect's father believes something must have happened on the bus to set his son off.
"We know he's not a bad kid, something else must have went on to provoke him," said the father, "he wouldn't just do that."
The suspect told his father that he was provoked.
"The bus driver had hit the brakes real hard and he said he fell and hit his shoulder on the seat," the suspect's father said.
Video of the incident shows where the suspect loses his balance after the bus driver taps the brakes, but he never falls or hits anything. The suspect's father says that his son doesn't remember anything from then on.
The video shows the suspect calmly taking off his jacket before walking back to the bus driver and beginning to beat her.
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plez sez: this isn't normally in my jurisdiction, but the sheer violence and total lack of respect shows an utter bankruptcy of morals on the part of this young man. he is a bad ass who needs to have his ass beaten... and then thrown in a small dark cell away from the rest of humanity!
i don't buy the "sorry" excuses from his parents who expressed no concern for the welfare of the woman who was so brutally attacked by their son. to my way of thinking, they should shoulder a portion of the responsibility of letting such an animal leave their home on a daily basis... an animal who is capable of this level of barbarism toward his fellow man.
there is no other word for this... but "sick"! i have no doubt that this is a troubled young man, but to my way of thinking, he is incorrigible and needs to be put away for a long time!
Back in December 2008, plezWorld took a peek into the shadowy and fetid world that is Blackwater International. Five of their mercenary murderers were actually accused of... yep, murder while "on duty" in Iraq. Their case is winding its way through a courtroom in Utah. Their shadowy and fearless leader, Erik Prince, has decided to drag his cash-laden luggage out the backdoor while no one was looking!
CNN.com reports that Prince, founder of the Blackwater Worldwide security firm, announced Monday he has resigned as head of the company, recently renamed Xe. Prince, in an e-mail to employees and independent contractors, said Danielle Esposito will become chief operating officer and executive vice president. Esposito has worked for the firm and its partners for nearly 10 years. Blackwater/Xe's president, Gary Jackson, is also retiring. And the position of CEO will remain open, the company said.
This wouldn't be such a big deal if not for the indictments for murder for five of his employees and the fact that Blackwater/Xe had the largest security contract in Iraq. Incidentally, the US State Department and the Iraqi government declined to renew Blackwater's very lucrative contract in light of the murder indictments. Losing the contract will be a huge blow to Blackwater, which was renamed Xe last month. While the company is privately held, the Iraq contract has been estimated to make up one-third to one-half of its business. Blackwater/Xe has about two dozen aircraft in Iraq, as well as 1,000 personnel.
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plez sez: a show of hands... who thinks their contract would've been renewed had john mccain been elected president? oh yeah, you too?!?
go back to my december post on these characters and see how cocky prince is in the interview with "60 Minutes." he is unrepentant as the blood of the iraqi people drip from his spindly fingers. another bush-cheney crony who is taking a hike with hundreds of millions of dollars to show for it... this is maddening!
In November 2006, a group of Atlanta police officers executed a "no knock" warrant at the home of Kathryn Johnston in a drug infested part of Atlanta. Thinking someone was breaking in, 92-year old Johnston squeezed off a warning shot from the old pistol she kept by her side. The police officers burst in behind a hail of gunfire, leaving the elderly woman riddled with bullets in her own home.
The police officers planted some marijuana in the house and "lamented" the old lady's loss of life while trying to protect her "drug empire"! Yeah, a 92-year old drug dealer!
Well, two and a half years later, the cops who perpetrated the crime are finally brought to justice.
Excerpts from AJC.com story:
A federal judge who sent three fallen cops to prison for a notorious drug raid that left an elderly woman dead said Tuesday that Atlanta Police Department performance quotas unduly influenced the officers’ behavior.
At the close of an emotional two-day hearing, Carnes sentenced former officers Gregg Junnier, Jason R. Smith and Arthur Bruce Tesler to between 5 and 10 years in prison.
At the hearing, Tesler’s lawyer provided examples of other Atlanta police officers breaking the rules or violating the law and said a disturbing culture of misconduct pervades the force.
Carnes imposed the most severe sentence — 10 years — on Smith, 36, who obtained the illegal, no-knock search warrant allowing officers to batter down 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston’s door.
A terrified Johnston, thinking she was victimized by a home invasion, fired a warning shot through the door. Narcotics officers responded with a hail of gunfire, killing her.
Carnes sentenced Junnier, 42, to 6 years in prison. Junnier, the most experienced officer, was the first to cross the “blue line” — the unspoken code of silence among police — and divulge to the FBI what really happened at Neal Street and how the officers concocted a sophisticated coverup.
For Junnier’s cooperation, Carnes cut his time from the 10 years recommended by sentencing guidelines.
The judge gave the biggest break to Tesler, saying prosecutors’ recommendation of a 10- to 14-year term was “unduly harsh” because, overall, he played a “minor role.” She sentenced Tesler, 42, to five years in prison.
The FBI also found performance quotas of 9 arrests and 2 search warrants a month expected of officers, McKenney said. Officers who failed to meet their quotas risked being transferred, he said.
This helped explain, Carnes said, why Smith, Junnier and Tesler — three men who were devoted family men and who gave selflessly to the communities — began cutting corners through lies.
Carnes also ordered all three former officers to reimburse Johnston’s estate the $8,180 it cost to bury the 92-year-old woman.
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plez sez: but will there ever be justice for Kathryn Johnston? she's still dead. it may be years before the family sees the $8,000 for her funeral costs. what ever became of her house?
this is one of those stories that have no happy endings. these cops will do some time, but nothing equal to first degree murder during the commission of a crime. ms. johnston's family will never be adequately compensated for their loss. and i'll bet my paycheck that to this day, drug dealers are still slinging crack down the street or around the corner from where ms. johnston was slain.
One day in late August, the world was shocked out of its slumber by Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate on the 2008 presidential ticket. And NOTHING on the right side of the aisle has been the same since!
Subsequent to the day of the selection, we find this woman has the thinnest of political resumes (for some a political plus, for others of the airhead variety, a liability), the intellectual capacity of a small rodent, the tenacity of a mad dog (perhaps a pitbull with lipstick), and the pedigree that panders to the lowest common denominator of American society (i.e. trailer trash). Within days of her "unveiling" in Dayton, Ohio we find that she lives in Wasilla, Alaska (widely known as the "Crystal Meth Capital" of the Pacific Northwest), she has harassed the Public Service Commissioner into quitting while trying to get her sister's ex-husband fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper, her husband is a card carrying member of the Alaskan Independence Party, she has at least four children, she is possibly the 44-year old grandmother of an infant born of dubious circumstances (read more: here and here), she has a son being quickly whisked off to combat in Iraq, and she has a daughter who had spent the previous six months hidden from the public (presumably to have the infant that Sarah is claiming as her own), and this same 17-year old daughter is currently knocked up (okay, five months pregnant) by some hockey punk from Wasilla. And how can we forget her horrendous television interviews with Charles Gibson (ABC News) and Katie Couric (NBC News); we learned that this woman knows diddly-squat about the world we live in or the state of the current political landscape.
Soon after the Republican National Convention we learn her lovely 17-year old pregnant daughter, Bristol, is betrothed to marry the dude who knocked her up, 18-year old Levi Johnston, in December. Levi sat with Bristol and the rest of the Palin family in St. Paul, Minnesota, during Gov. Palin's speech to the Republican National Convention, and he joined the family on the stage afterwards.
By the end of the campaign, it is discovered that Palin had bolstered her personal wardrobe by accepting $150,000 in clothes for herself and her family from the Republican National Party and her favorite phrase is "Barack Obama has been pallin' around with a domestic terrorist."
~ ~ ~
Barack Obama is now the President-elect, John McCain gave a magnificent concession speech while Sarah Palin seethed in the background, she wanted to speak, too! Obama went to work on building his cabinet, McCain went on the late night television circuit to salve the hurt of another lost campaign, and Palin went back to the comforts of Wasilla, ostensibly to run her iceberg of a state.
Thursday afternoon, the squad cars' blue lights were flashing. Alaska State Troopers surround the rundown hovel on the outskirts of Wasilla, Alaska. The troopers served a warrant on the homeowner at the "conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation." Minutes later they emerge from the residence with 42-year old Sherry L. Johnston in handcuffs. Troopers charged Johnston with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance -- generally manufacturing or delivering drugs -- as well as fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, or possession; a total of six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance. The controlled substance was Oxycontin, a powerful narcotics drug - used for high levels of pain - that is only available by prescription. This was the illegal drug of choice of Rush Limbaugh.
She was arrested around noon and released on a $5,000 unsecured bond just after 2:00 p.m.
Ms. Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla 18-year-old who is engaged to the governor's pregnant teenage daughter. Ms. Johnston is scheduled to become a grandmother over the weekend, according to the governor's father, Chuck Heath.
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From Wikipedia - OxyContin:
Oxycodone is a drug subject to abuse.
The introduction of higher strength preparations in 1995 resulted in increasing patterns of abuse. Unlike Percocet, whose potential for abuse is somewhat limited by the presence of paracetamol (acetaminophen), OxyContin and other extended release preparations contain mainly oxycodone. Abusers crush the tablets to break the time-release coating and then ingest the resulting powder orally, intra-nasally, rectally, or by injection. Research has shown that the brains of adolescent mice, which were exposed to OxyContin, can sustain lifelong and permanent changes in their reward system. It is notable that the vast majority of OxyContin related deaths are attributed to ingesting substantial quantities of oxycodone in combination with another depressant of the central nervous system such as alcohol, barbiturates and related drugs.
Illegal distribution of OxyContin occurs through pharmacy diversion, physicians, doctor shopping, faked prescriptions, and robbery.
In the United States, Oxycodone is a schedule II controlled substance, i.e. it must be given by written prescription which cannot have refills, nor can it be called in to a pharmacy by a physician. Trafficking (dealing) is punishable at first offense by not more than 20 years imprisonment. If there's a related death or serious injury, then not less than 20 years (up to life sentence) and a fine of US$1 million if an individual or US$5 million if not an individual. On second offense the penalty is of not more than 30 years imprisonment. If there's a death or serious injury, not less than a life sentence and a fine of US$2 million if an individual or US$10 million if not an individual.
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plez sez: WHEW! we really dodge a bullet - BIG TIME - on november 4th. i took some heat for vilifying sarh palin (and her ilk), but stories like these about her friends and associates continue to confirm my worst fears about that woman... she was not and more than likely, never will, be ready to lead this country. her background, her lack of curiosity, and the backwoods mentality of sarah palin simply scares me.
exchange the ozarks for the wasilla mountains, swap out moonshine stills for meth labs and oxycontin tablets, and you are looking at modern day hillbillies... in the flesh! "ellie mae, rench out the washin' in the cee-ment pond, out yonder!" *spit*
the palins glorified the independence of the alaskan spirit and the lack of a moral code - that's why their 17-year old daughter got knocked up in the spring while recovering from a serious bout of mono (if you wanna believe the palins' lies). and poor levi's momma, she was just minding her own business. if sarah hadn't run for vice president, no one would've even been snoopin' around the johnston house!
this whole sarah palin episode is better suited for "jerry springer" than "meet the press."
whatever they got going up there in alaska... i hope they keep it up there, where it belongs!
and i can assure you, the hard-on that plezWorld has had for all things palin has been satiated... i think i can say with relative certainty that i won't be visiting this subject matter any time in the near future... now i'll go up and grab a six-pack out of the fridge that sits on the front porch.
On March 11, 2005, Brian Nichols was being transferred from the Fulton County lockup to the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta to be arraigned on a rape case. The rape case was never heard.
While he was supposed to be changing out of the prison garb into a suit, Nichols overpowered the 51-year-old female sheriff's deputy, 5'1″ Cynthia Hall, took her service revolver and proceeded to the courtroom of Judge Rowland Barnes. According to hospital sources, the deputy sustained significant brain injury, facial fractures and a large laceration to her forehead. After the attack, her condition was reported as critical, but she survived. Deputy Hall's injuries were so severe that doctors at Grady Memorial Hospital initially believed that she had sustained a gunshot wound to the face.
Nichols shot and killed Judge Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau. He was chased outside by Sgt. Hoyt Teasley; Nichols got the drop on Teasley and shot him dead.
Brian Nichols had the entire city of Atlanta gripped in fear as he seemingly vanished in a stolen car outside of the courthouse. Nichols reappeared briefly the next day when he killed off-duty U.S. Customs Agent David Wilhelm as he worked on a house in Buckhead. He was captured later that day after a standoff with police in the apartment of a woman he had taken hostage in Gwinnett County (just north of the city).
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Nichols held Ashley Smith hostage for seven hours prior to his capture by the police. What follows is the transcript of her statement a few days after his capture:
It was about 2 o'clock in the morning. I was at--I was leaving my apartment to go to the store. I noticed a blue truck in the parking lot with a man in it pulling up. And he parked in the parking space. And I really didn't think too much about it because I just moved into that apartment, you know, two days prior. So I thought maybe he was a neighbor coming home or something. So I left and went to the store. And I came back to my apartment about five minutes later. And the truck was still there. And he was still in it. . . . And I kind of got a little worried then. I thought there's somebody still in that truck. So I got my key to my house ready. And I opened up my car door, and I got out and shut it. And I heard his shut right behind me. I started walking to my door, and I felt really, you know, scared. . . .
I started to scream, and he put a gun to my side and he said, "Don't scream. If you don't scream I won't hurt you." He told me to go into the bathroom, so I went to the bathroom. And he followed into the bathroom and he said, "Do you know who I am?" and I said no because he had a hat on. And then he took his hat off, and he said, "Now do you know who I am?" And I said, "Yeah, I know who you are. Please don't hurt, just please don't hurt me. I have a 5-year-old little girl. Please don't hurt me."
He said, "I'm not going hurt you if you just do what I say." I said, "All right." So I got--he told me to get into the bathtub, so I got in the bathtub. And he said, "I really don't feel comfortable around here. I'm going to walk around your house for a few minutes just so I get the feel of it."
I said, "OK."
He said, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody else, so please don't do anything that's going to hurt you." He said, "You know, somebody could have heard your scream already. And if they did, the police are on the way. And I'm going to have to hold you hostage. And I'm going to have to kill you and probably myself and lots of other people. And I don't want that."
And I said, "OK. I will do what you say."
He looked around my house for a few minutes. I heard him opening up drawers and just going through my stuff. And he came back in. And he said, "I want to relax. And I don't feel comfortable with you right now. So I'm going to have to tie you up."
He brought some masking tape and an extension cord and a curtain in there. And I kind of thought he was going to strangle me. I was--I was really kind of scared. But he told me to turn around and put my hands behind my back. And he wrapped my hands in a prayer--in a praying position, so I did that. And he wrapped masking tape around my hands. And then he told me to go into my bedroom. And I sat down on the bed like he asked. And he wrapped my legs with masking tape and an extension cord. . . .
He said, "Can you walk?"
And I said, "No."
And so he picked me up and took me to the bathroom. And he put me on a stool that I have in my bathroom. He said he wanted to take a shower.
So I said, "OK. You take a shower."
He said, "Well, I'm going to put a towel over your head so you don't have to watch me take a shower."
So I said, "OK. All right."
He got in the shower. Took a shower. And then he got out of the shower. And he had the guns laying on the counter. But--I guess he really wasn't worried about me grabbing them because I was tied up.
He asked me if I had a T-shirt. I told him where to find one.
So he got dressed. He put on some clothes that I had in my house that were men's clothes. And then he came back in the bathroom.
He said, "Can you get up?"
So I got up.
He said, "Can you walk now?"
I said, "No, but I can hop."
So I hopped to my bedroom and sat on the bed. And he cut the tape off of me, unwrapped the extension cord and curtain. I guess, at that point, he kind of made me feel like he was comfortable enough with me that he untied me. So--we went back in the bathroom. That's where he felt more comfortable--in the bathroom away from the front of the house, I guess. And we just talked.
I asked him if--I told him that I was supposed to go see my little girl the next morning. And I asked him if I could go see her. And he told me no.
My husband died four years ago. And I told him that if he hurt me, my little girl wouldn't have a mommy or a daddy. And she was expecting to see me the next morning. That if he didn't let me go, she would be really upset.
He still told me no. But I could kind of feel that he started to--to know who I was. He said maybe. Maybe I'll let you go--just maybe. We'll see how things go.
We went to my room. And I asked him if I could read.
He said, "What do you want to read?"
Well, I have a book in my room." So I went and got it. I got my Bible. And I got a book called "The Purpose-Driven Life." I turned it to the chapter that I was on that day. It was Chapter 33. And I started to read the first paragraph of it. After I read it, he said, "Stop, will you read it again?
I said, "Yeah. I'll read it again." So I read it again to him.
It mentioned something about what you thought your purpose in life was. What were you--what talents were you given? What gifts were you given to use?
And I asked him what he thought. And he said, "I think it was to talk to people and tell them about you."
I basically just talked to him and tried to gain his trust. I wanted to leave to go see my daughter. That was really important. I didn't want him to hurt anybody else.
He came into my apartment telling me that he was a soldier. And that people--that his people needed him for a job to do. And he was doing it.
And--I didn't want him to hurt anybody else. He didn't want to hurt anybody else. He just told me that he wanted a place to stay to relax, to sit down and watch TV, to eat some real food.
I talked to him about my family. I told him about things that had happened in my life. I asked him about his family. I asked him why he did what he did.
And his reason was because he was a soldier.
I asked him why he chose me and why he chose Bridgewater Apartments. And he said he didn't know, just randomly.
But after we began to talk, he said he thought that I was an angel sent from God. And that I was his sister and he was my brother in Christ. And that he was lost and God led him right to me to tell him that he had hurt a lot of people. And the families--the people--to let him know how they felt, because I had gone through it myself.
He told me that he didn't--he didn't want to hurt the agent that he hurt. He begged and pleaded with him to do things his way, and he didn't. So he had to kill him. He said that he didn't shoot the deputy, that he hit her. And that he hoped she lived. He showed me a picture of the--the agent that he did kill. And I tried to explain to him that he killed a 40-year-old man that was probably a father, a husband, a friend.
And he really began to trust me, to feel my feelings. He looked at pictures of my family. He asked me to--if he could look at them and hold them. . . .
I really didn't keep track of time too much because I was really worried about just living. I didn't want to die. I didn't want him to hurt anybody else. And I really didn't want him to hurt himself or anyone else to hurt him. He's done enough--he had done enough. And he really, honestly when I looked at him, he looked like he didn't want to do it anymore.
He asked me what I thought he should do.
And I said, "I think you should turn yourself in. If you don't turn yourself in," this is what I said, "If you don't turn yourself in, lots more people are going to get hurt. And you're probably going to die."
And he said, "I don't want that to happen."
He said, "Can I stay here for a few days? I just want to eat some real food and watch some TV and sleep and just do normal things that normal people do."
So, of course, I said, "Sure. You can stay here." I didn't want--I wanted to gain his trust.
Most of my time was spent talking to this man about my life and experiences in my life, things that had happened to me.
He needed hope for his life. He told me that he was already dead. He said, "Look at me, look at my eyes. I am already dead."
And I said, "You are not dead. You are standing right in front of me. If you want to die, you can. It's your choice."
But after I started to read to him, he saw--I guess he saw my faith and what I really believed in. And I told him I was a child of God and that I wanted to do God's will. I guess he began to want to. That's what I think.
He got to know me. I got to know him. He talked about his family. How--he was wondering what they were thinking. He said, "They're probably--don't know what to think."
We watched the news. He looked at the TV and he just said, "I cannot believe that's me on there."
About 5:30, 6--well, 6, 6:30--he said, "I need to make a move." And I said, "A move?" He said, "I need to get rid of this car before daylight, this truck [the agent's]." I said, "OK."
I knew that if I didn't agree to go with him, follow him to get the truck--he'd just take the truck, then one thing--or two--one of two things. He would kill me right then, and say, "All right, well, if you're not going to help me, then I won't need you anymore." Or the police would never find him, or it would take longer. And someone else would get hurt, and I was trying to avoid that.
So I went . . . I said, "Can I take my cell phone?" He said, "Do you want to?" I said, "Yeah." I'm thinking, well, I might call the police then, and I might not. So I took it anyway. He didn't take any guns with him. The guns were laying around the house. Pretty much after he untied [me], they were just laying around the house.
And at one point, he said, "You know, I'd rather you shoot--the guns are laying in there--I'd rather you shoot me than them." I said, "I don't want anyone else to die, not even you."
So we went to take the truck, and I was behind him, following him. And I thought about calling the police, you know, I thought, he's about to be in the car with me right now. So I can call the police, and when he gets in the car, then they can surround me and him together, and I could possibly get hurt, or we can go back to my house.
And I really felt deep down inside that he was going to let me see my little girl. And I said--or then when I leave, he can be there by himself, or he--he finally agreed to let me go see my daughter. I had to leave at 9, 9:30. And I really believed that he was going to.
From the time he walked into my house until we were taking that truck, he was a totally different person to me. I felt very threatened, scared. I felt he was going to kill me when--when I first--when he first put the gun to my side. But when I followed him to pick--to take the truck, I felt he was going to--he was really going to turn himself in. So he took the truck.
He got in the car and I said, "Are you ready now?" And he said, "Give me a few days, please." I said, "Come on, you've got to turn yourself in now." I didn't feel like he might--I felt like he might change his mind, that he might not want to turn himself in the next day, or a few days after that, and that if he did feel that way, then he would need money, and the only way he could get money was if he hurt somebody and took it from them.
So we went back to my house and got in the house. And he was hungry, so I cooked him breakfast. He was overwhelmed with--"Wow," he said, "real butter, pancakes?"
And I just talked with him a little more, just about--about--we pretty much talked about God . . . what his reason was, why he made it out of there.
I said, "Do you believe in miracles? Because if you don't believe in miracles--you are here for a reason. You're here in my apartment for some reason. You got out of that courthouse with police everywhere, and you don't think that's a miracle? You don't think you're supposed to be sitting here right in front of me listening to me tell you, you know, your reason here?"
I said, "You know, your miracle could be that you need to--you need to be caught for this. You need to go to prison and you need to share the word of God with them, with all the prisoners there."
Then 9 came. He said, "What time do you have to leave?" I said, "I need to be there at 10, so I need to leave about 9:30." And I sat down and talked to him a little bit more. And he put the guns under the bed, like . . . I'm not going to mess around with them anymore.
He gave me some money when I was about to leave. Just kind of like he knew. I said, "You might need this money." And he said, "No, I don't need it. I'm going to be here for the next few days."
I basically said, keep the money. And he said, "No, I don't need it." He asked me if there was anything I could do--or he could do for me before I left, or while I was going. He says, "Is there anything I can do while you're gone?"
I know he was probably hoping deep down that I was going to come back, but I think he knew that I was going to--what I had to do, and I had to turn him in, and I gave him--I asked him several times, you know, "Come on, just go with me." He said, "I'll go with you in a few days."
But when he asked me, "Is there anything I can do while you're gone, like hang your curtains or something?" And I said, "Yeah, if you want to."
He just wanted some normalness to his life right then. He--I think he realized all this--all this that I've been through, this is not me. I don't know, that's my opinion of what he . . .
Then I left my house at 9:30. And I got in the car. And I immediately called 911. I told them that he was there, and she asked me where I was. I said, "Oh, I'm on my way to see my daughter." I felt glad to just really be on my way to see my daughter. She said, "You've got to turn around and go to the leasing office." So that's what I did.
Prosecutors said Nichols confessed to the shootings shortly after his arrest. His defense team did not dispute whether he was the gunman, focusing instead on his mental state and claiming he suffers from a disorder that "overmastered" his will to refrain from criminal acts.
The jury was made up of five Black women, two white women, three Black men, a white man and a man of Asian descent, court officials said. Their options were to convict Nichols, find him guilty but mentally ill, acquit him or find him not guilty by reason of insanity. They convicted Nichols after several weeks of testimony.
During the penalty phase of his trial, the jury was deadlocked for several days, finally voting 9-3 in favor of death; the death penalty requires a unanimous decision by the jury. On Saturday morning, Superior Court Judge James Bodiford sentenced Brian Nichols to seven life sentences and four sentences of life without parole plus 485 years for the crimes he committed on March 11, 2005. Judge James Bodiford made all the sentences consecutive — meaning each sentence starts after the prior one is completed — to make the point of the seriousness of Nichols crimes.
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plez sez: i remember being away on business but seeing the news reports about the grip of fear that brian nichols had on the city. the biggest fear was that he would go on a killing spree, especially after the off-duty customs agent was found dead.
nichols was on the loose for over 24 hours, spending 7 hours with ashley smith, the hostage who turned him in. she collected a reward of $70,000.
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the entire ordeal continues to be bizarre. how does an inmate mastermind such a bold daylight escape from custody only to be turned in by his hostage in gwinnett county a day later? brian nichols is a smart, college-educated man who comes from a good family (plezWife works for the same government agency where nichol's mother was employed, prior to her retirement). on the day of his murderous rampage, nichols was probably the smartest guy in the entire courthouse... but his anger and level of frustration with the system took him over the edge.
unfortunately, his rage cost four families the lives of their loved ones. it is an awesome responsibility for a citizen to determine that another human being no longer deserves to live and by and large, plezWorld is against the death penalty. but in a case like this where the convicted person is obviously the perpetrator in the wanton death of another, i don't see another alternative. i'd be interested in finding out the reasons why the three jurors voted against the death penalty for brian nichols.
~ ~ Citations ~ ~
Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution articles about the death penalty phase of the Nichols trial here and here.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was awakened on Tuesday morning by the knocks of FBI agents. He was arrested on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired. Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions, prosecutors said.
Blagojevich's chief of staff, John Harris, also was arrested.
Blagojevich was released on $4,500 bail. And he had to surrender his passport.
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U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declared Tuesday a "sad day for government." The government had bugged the governor's campaign office and placed a tap on his home phone.
Fitzgerald also said, "Gov. Blagojevich has taken us to a new low. This conduct would make [Abraham] Lincoln roll over in his grave."
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President-elect Barack Obama claims that he had no knowledge of what was going on and had not had any contact with the governor or the governor's office. He said, "Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney's office today. But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
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The Two Counts in the Federal Indictment
Count One
From in or about 2002 to the present, in Cook County, in the Northern District of Illinois, defendants did, conspire with each other and with others to devise and participate in a scheme to defraud the State of Illinois and the people of the State of Illinois of the honest services of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, in furtherance of which the mails and interstate wire communications would be used, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341,1343, and 1346; all in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1349.
Count Two
Beginning no later than November 2008 to the present, in Cook County, in the Northern District of Illinois, defendants ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, being agents of the State of Illinois, a State government which during a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2008 and continuing to the present, received federal benefits in excess of $10,000, corruptly solicited and demanded a thing of value, namely, the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and transactions of the State of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, the provision of millions of dollars in financial assistance by the State of Illinois, including through the Illinois Finance Authority, an agency of the State of Illinois, to the Tribune Company involving the Wrigley Field baseball stadium; in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 666(a)(1)(B) and 2.
~ ~ ~ Quotes from the Indictment WARNING: there is some vulgar language
In regards to the Senate seat, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there.”
On November 3, 2008 [the day prior to the General Election], ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Deputy Governor A. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Deputy Governor A that if he is not going to get anything of value for the open Senate seat, then ROD BLAGOJEVICH will take the Senate seat himself: “if . . . they’re not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it.”
During the call [also on November 3rd], ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated, “unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], shit, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH later stated, “I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying. And if I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself.” Later, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that the Senate seat “is a fucking valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.”
On November 4, 2008 [on Election Day], ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with JOHN HARRIS regarding the potential vacant Senate seat. Later ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he will make a decision on the Senate seat “in good faith . . . but it is not coming for free. . . .It’s got to be good stuff for the people of Illinois and good for me.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH states “[President-elect], you want it? Fine. But, its got to be good or I could always take [the Senate seat].”
On November 5, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Deputy Governor A regarding positions that ROD BLAGOJEVICH might be able to obtain in exchange for the soon-to-be vacated Senate seat. Among the potential positions discussed were Secretary of Health and Human Services and various ambassadorships. Deputy Governor A noted that the cabinet position of Secretary of the Energy is “the one that makes the most money.” Deputy Governor A stated that it is hard not to give the Secretary of Energy position to a Texan, but with ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s coal background it might be a possibility.
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Read and download the entire 79-page pdf of federal indictment here.
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plez sez: this story reeks to high heaven. and this has to rank up there as one of the LAST THINGS that PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA would like to address as he prepares to transition to the white house in a couple of weeks.
i've read the indictment and it doesn't appear that Obama is implicated in any way, shape, or form, BUT the taint of having his senate seat being bartered like a stud fee by the democratic governor of his state. it just so happens that when blagojevich was elected governor of illinois, Obama's chief of staff rahm emmanuel took his spot in the house of representatives. tony resko's name shows up in the indictment; recall that resko was a big contributor to Obama's first campaigns in chicago and brokered the deal for Obama's house in chicago, as well. and Obama's key advisor valerie jarrett is believed to be one of the senate candidate names that was being bandied about by the governor!
no matter how clean his hands, there is undoubtedly going to be some blowback on Obama from this entire sordid affair. if any of Obama's minions are even remotely connected to the blagojevich corruption, they should be front and center with this information by the morning news cycle on wednesday!
~ ~ Citations ~ ~
Read and download the entire 79-page pdf of federal indictment here.
Read the Chicago Tribune articles about the arrest of Rod Blagojevich here and here.
On Monday, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment of five former Blackwater security guards on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and weapons violations.
On September 16, 2007, the Blackwater guards in the indictment we involved in a shooting in a Baghdad square that left 17 Iraqis dead. Blackwater International said its guards were protecting a U.S. diplomatic convoy when they came under attack from armed insurgents. The guards returned fire.
An Iraqi investigation called the killings "premeditated murder" and accused the guards of firing on civilians indiscriminately. The first U.S. soldiers to arrive on the scene told military investigators they found no evidence the contractors were fired upon.
Blackwater USA has been called the largest private army in the world but little is known about how it operates. The company has a thousand highly trained and well armed security specialists on the ground in Iraq alone, hired by the U.S. government to protect American officials.
Blackwater has maintained the innocence of its former employees:
"Based on the information available to us, we understand that these individuals acted within the rules set forth for them by the government and that no criminal violations occurred. [There have been a number of] misguided assumptions and generalizations that surrounded this unfortunate incident. ... [our] work has been mischaracterized and all of our personnel unfairly maligned."
Blackwater Founder Erik Prince on "60 Minutes"
A CNN.com report cites the complexity of this case for the Justice Department:
The complex legal case has been dogged by difficulties and may present a major challenge to federal prosecutors.
Among the potential problems is that the law under which the charges are expected to be brought covers contractors working for the U.S. military, but the Blackwater guards were contracted by the State Department. Some independent legal experts question whether U.S. courts have jurisdiction in this case.
Also muddying the waters are alleged assurances of immunity given to the guards by State Department diplomatic security agents investigating the incident before the FBI got involved.
The State Department said its agents did not offer blanket immunity from criminal prosecution but only promised that statements the guards made on the scene could not be used against them in any prosecution.
But when the investigation was turned over to the Justice Department to examine possible criminal activity, FBI agents discovered some guards believed they were immune from prosecution and therefore refused to be interviewed again, complicating the FBI probe.
The shooting heightened tensions between U.S. and Iraqi government officials and contributed to a protracted debate over the extent of immunity that U.S. military personnel and civilian contractors have from Iraqi laws.
Security contractors had immunity from Iraqi law under a provision put in place in the early days of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. But starting next year, under a U.S.-Iraq security agreement that Baghdad approved last week, Iraq will have the "primary right to exercise jurisdiction" over U.S. contractors and their employees.
The Blackwater Five, all decorated military veterans who had served the United States in trouble spots around the world and who were employed by Blackwater Worldwide, the largest security contractor in Iraq , surrendered together at a federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, where their lawyers accused the government of overstepping their authority and of tarnishing their clients’ records of honorable service.
Mark Hulkower, a lawyer for one of the defendants, said the men surrendered in Utah, a relatively conservative, pro-military area, because they hoped to find a jury pool where “people are more sympathetic to the experiences of coming under enemy fire.”
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The State Department, which employed Blackwater to protect U.S. diplomats and other employees, renewed Blackwater's contract this year over strong objections from the Iraqi government.
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plez sez: military stuff really isn't in the bailiwick of plezWorld, since i'm pretty much a pacifist when it comes to launching attacks on sovereign nations. i guess that's why this particular story has my interest.
i saw the "60 Minutes" story about blackwater in october 2007. i still don't understand why the us government is paying untold millions to some corporation to provide "soldiers" in combat when our us troops are underpaid, underfunded, under-equipped, and unappreciated. and then the part of the blackwater arrangement that really reeks was their immunity from iraqi laws while they were over there shooting at anything that moved.
so i have no doubt that these "goons" opened fire into a crowd of iraqis with their sub-machine guns, killing just about anything that moved... since they weren't accountable to any authority in iraq or in the us. hell, they weren't even contracted to work with the defense department, they were a shadow army for the state department!
One blogger wrote: "Blackwater is the new mercenary army accountable to nobody except the corporations and governments who hire them. Keep in mind that Blackwater is now training hundreds of police departments across the US including the Los Angeles Police Department."
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instead of utah, these guys should be sent back to the jurisdiction where the CRIME was committed. and let the iraqi government deal with them in a manner of their choosing ("an eye for an eye" sounds good to me!). there is a sliver of hope that justice is done and these five goons are relieved of their liberty... or more!
Former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for the position of attorney general, according to two prominent Democrats involved in transition matters. Holder, who is still being vetted, has indicated he will accept the job if it is offered, the sources said.
If confirmed, Holder would be the first African-American to lead the Justice Department.
Holder, 57, is a graduate of Columbia University Law School and a former federal prosecutor, he is currently a partner at the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling. Holder first joined the Justice Department in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976 straight out of Columbia University Law School. President Ronald Reagan nominated him to be an associate judge at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he served for five years. He left that post to become the first African-American U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, chosen by President Bill Clinton. He served in that position until Clinton picked him to become deputy attorney general, the first African American to hold that position as well. He co-chaired President-elect Obama's vice presidential selection process.
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This pick by Obama does not come with some "Clinton baggage." Commodities trader Marc Rich fled to Switzerland in 1983 while being prosecuted on tax evasion charges and allegations of illegal oil dealings with Iran. Holder advised President Clinton to issue a pardon for commodities trader Marc Rich just before he left office in 2001. Critics contended that Clinton issued the pardon because Rich's former wife had made substantial donations to the Democratic Party and Clinton's library.
Holder testified later before a Republican-controlled Congress and acknowledged if he had it to do over again, he would have handled it differently. A Democratic source has said he was confident a flap over Clinton's pardon of Rich would not be a major hurdle for Holder with a Democratic Congress.
plez sez: BARACK OBAMA keeps stepping up and keeps knocking 'em outta the park.
at first blush, the Holder nomination comes off as another in a growing list of clinton administration re-treads (read: hillary as secretary of state). but as one looks alittle deeper into the choice, you see a solid choice of a knowledgeable washington insider who'll be able to affect the change that Obama campaigned on. holder will have his job cut out for him to undo much of what the bush administration has put into effect (i.e. restoration of many of our civil liberties that were snatched away after 9/11 AND redirect justice department efforts to more effective community policing with more cops in the nation's neighborhoods).
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to my way of thinking, holder being the first Black attorney general is of little consequence... after the OBAMA presidency. it is my hope that in a few years, Black "firsts" will become passe' OR a thing of the past (been there, done that!).
plezWorld Post Artwork: Nicolas Poussin. Pharaoh's Daughter Finds Baby Moses. 1638. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris, France.
Wikipedia definies a "Safe Haven" Law, also known in some states as "Baby Moses" law, as the popular name for United States' laws that decriminalize leaving unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that the child becomes a ward of the state. "Safe Haven" laws typically let parents remain nameless to the court, often using a numbered bracelet system as the only means of linking the baby to the mother.
Well, earlier this year, the state of Nebraska went one step further to extend their "safe haven" law to protect parents of children as old as 18 years of age! Parents can drop abandon their kids (and teens) at a hospital with no questions asked. Parents at their wits end are dumping their kids at Nebraska hospitals, many even crossing state lines to do so.
CNN.com reports that Nebraska's "safe haven" law, intended to allow parents to anonymously hand over an infant to a hospital without being prosecuted, isn't working out as planned. As of early October 2008, of the 17 children relinquished since the law took effect in July, only four are younger than 10 -- and all four are among the nine siblings abandoned by one man on September 24 at an Omaha hospital.
Over this past weekend, a 12-year-old boy was dropped off at Bryan Lincoln General Hospital East by his mother. The Lincoln Police Department said the boy's mother told police she was unable to discipline her son and dropped him off just before 10pm... she had driven to Lincoln, Nebraska from Smyrna, Georgia (over 1,000 miles away)! This boy is the 20th child to be dropped off under the Safe Haven law since the law went in effect this past July.
Gov. Dave Heineman laments the abuse of the law, "The few situations we've seen so far demonstrate the need for a change in Nebraska's safe haven law. In the coming legislative session, I will advocate for changes that put the focus back on protecting an infant in danger. That should be our priority."
All 50 states have safe haven laws, but only Nebraska's lacks an age limit. Most states let parents and guardians drop off children up to a month old at hospitals or other safe places. Sixteen states including Georgia have the 3-day-old age cap.
Nebraska's part-time Legislature is adjourned until January, but two state legislative committees will hold a joint hearing November 13 to discuss a remedy.
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Channel 7 (KETV in Omaha) has a number of articles on kids dropped off under the "safe haven" law here and here and here.
plez sez: wow! talk about abdicating one's parental responsibility! waiting 10 or 12 years before finding a state dumb enough to take your "mistake" off of your hands!
one dude dropped off NINE kids after his wife died! i wonder if those hellions played a part in her death?!?
...just asking.
and what about the lady who drove over 1,000 miles from georgia to be rid of her adolescent nightmare? it would serve her ass right if the nebraska authorities put his bad ass on a greyhound bus that met her in georgia a few hours after she got home!
something tells me that the lawmakers in nebraska were only planning on housing, feeding, and caring for the offspring of legal residents... and i know they had not planned on getting all of these kids who've already started growing body hair.
the nebraska legislature needs to fix this law QUICK! i cannot think of a state in the union that is equipped to handle the physical and mental turmoil that these kids must be going through to be abandoned by their parents as soon as it is legally possible for them to do so! how long would it be before parents just dropped their kids off on the state while they take a vacation in the caribbean? and then come back in a few weeks to claim custody... without fear of legal ramifications and without the financial cost feeding and housing a growing teenager!
hmmmm... that gives me an idea about a low cost alternative for my daughter when my wife and i go to Paris to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary!
~ husband ~ father ~ son ~ brother ~ mentor ~ subdivision dweller ~ northern by birth ~ southern by choice ~ raised a black baptist, now guided by the spiritual ~ raised a kennedy democrat, now politically dead center (moderate) ~ raised in a Cadillac Coupe Deville, now hooked on an SUV ~ college educated and still a student of life ~ wild college frat boy and now a settled alumnus ~ intellectual yet fun-loving geek ~ technical and leading edge ~ corporate cog ~ consultant ~ college football saturday devotee ~ and a ramblin' gamblin' helluva engineer (GO JACKETS!) ~
This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine; and they are in no way associated with the views of my employer, family, friends, or associates.
The New York Times article about the recent near-unanimous decision concerning the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
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