New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 30 2017

http://sexoffenderfaq.blogspot.com/2014/01/sex-offender-faq.html

If you think the Sex Offender Registry is not unconstitutional; than please leave this webpage, now; by official decree, of the author of this webpage.

If you believe it is ok to deny registered sex offenders human rights or U.S. Constitutional rights. If you do not believe registered sex offenders are denied their human and constitutional rights or if you are against free speech. 
Please leave this web page now. Thank you.

By remaining on this web page you here by acknowledge that you support human rights and United States constitutional rights for registered sex offenders and that you support freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is understood to be fundamental in a democracy. The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights.

This blog is not for people to be critical of what is posted here and if the reader is critical of anything here than that means they did not read the disclaimer on the top of each of the pages here and are not welcome here and should stop reading and leave this blog upon my request and in the name of freedom of speech, and my rights as a American citizen.


No sexual abuse is ever acceptable. Sex offense laws and policies should be based on sound research and common sense, not fear, panic or paranoia. Current laws and policies that paint all sex offenders with one broad brush are counter- productive, wasteful, and cause needless harm. Each offense must be judged on its own merits with a punishment that fits the crime and does not waste taxpayer dollars. The public sex offender registry and residency restriction laws do not protect children but instead ostracize and dehumanize individuals and their families. Money spent on purely punitive measures would be better used for prevention, healing, and rehabilitation. 

The author of SO FAQ does not affiliate with any other organization or people on the internet or the world for that matter. I have been saying this since I first logged on to the internet. Just because I like organizations like the ACLU; does not mean I believe in everything they believe in or stand for. Just like in our great country when we vote; we will never believe in everything the candidate we vote for; believes in or stands for. That does not mean we are should not vote.

New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 12 2017
I have been waiting forever, it seems like for a victory; to start a new page. :

from: http://www.theindianalawyer.com/judge-orders-3-off-sex-offender-registry/PARAMS/article/43351



ILNEWS



Judge orders 3 off sex offender registry

IL StaffApril 10, 2017 



Three men who moved to Indiana and were required to put their names on the state’s sex offender registry are likely to win their lawsuit that claims they wouldn’t face that requirement had they lived in Indiana all their lives, a judge ruled, ordering their names removed.



Judge Richard Young last week ruled in favor of Brian Hope, Gary Snider and Joseph Standish, holding they are likely to prevail in their federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Young granted a preliminary injunction barring authorities from enforcing the Indiana Sex Offender Registration Act against the plaintiffs.



The suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana argues that SORA’s application to them violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and implicates the right to travel, and Young found the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on those claims. He did not reach the plaintiffs’ ex post facto argument.



Based on their crimes, the Department of Correction determined each plaintiff was an offender against children and a serious sex offender, and that Snider and Standish qualified as sexually violent predators.



Indiana’s Sex Offender Registry dates to 1994, and each of the plaintiffs’ convictions came prior to the registry’s enactment, or was an offense that didn’t require reporting at the time of conviction. Young wrote that had the plaintiffs not crossed state lines, they would not be required to register under Wallace v. State, 905 N.E.2d 371 (Ind. 2009), which prohibited the application of SORA to offenses predating the registry.



Hope was convicted of an Indiana offense and the other two plaintiffs were convicted in Michigan. After Hope left the state and returned, and the other two men moved to the state, they were told they would have to register as sex offenders for life. Young rejected the Department of Correction’s argument that finding for the plaintiffs would make Indiana a “safe haven” for sex offenders.



“Defendants’ proposed justification — preventing persons from relocating to Indiana in order to avoid registration requirements — has absolutely no applicability to (plaintiffs).  SORA is therefore overbroad with respect to this interest,” Young wrote.  


“When the Plaintiffs arrived in Indiana they were not afforded the same status as persons who had resided in Indiana all along. As a result of the DOC’s policies, long-term Indiana residents who have never travelled out of state are treated differently than new Indiana residents. This differential treatment offends the fundamental right to travel,” he wrote.



“Plaintiffs have a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their Equal Protection and right-to-travel claims.”



The case is Brian Hope et al. v. Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction, et al., 1:16-cv-02865.


New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 13 2017
Other casualty's of war; in our sick obsession to incarcerate; all things having to do with sex crimes. I believe in protecting women from sexual assault in all it's forms; my online record speaks to that. This is not protecting women at all. I certainly believe in protecting mentally ill from sexual assault. I definitely believe in cooperating with the police to accomplish this. This story to me is the opposite of protecting women, the opposite of protecting the mentally ill. I do not know the particulars of these cases but I imagine that they lack cooperation with the police very early on.


article: 

The women were sexually assaulted — and jailed to make sure they cooperated in court

Rape victims across the country can be arrested and held if authorities worry they won’t cooperate in criminal cases. A watchdog group in New Orleans wants to stop that practice in its area. 

Court Watch NOLA, a justice advocacy group, called on the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office to stop detaining victims of sexual assault as material witnesses. The group said authorities should take into consideration the trauma already experienced by a victim and refrain from putting them in jail, an experience that will cause further stress.

Authorities arrest people as material witnesses when they are concerned the person will not appear in court or will refuse to testify in a case. According to Court Watch NOLA, out of 30 material witness warrants in Orleans Parish in 2016, half were issued for witnesses of crimes and half for victims. In one case examined by the group, a woman who alleged she had been raped was arrested and kept in jail for eight days. 

Other victims across the country have endured the same thing. According to the Oregonian, a former inmate at an Oregon prison was jailed last year while awaiting trial against a former corrections officer at the facility, who was accused of sexual misconduct. The woman, who said she spent two years in the mental health unit at Oregon’s women’s prison, was detained by a judge because of her criminal and drug use history. She was in chains at the hearing where the judge determined she must be kept in custody. 

A Texas woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia was jailed for more than a month because prosecutors were afraid she wouldn’t come back to court. As she was testifying in the trial against her accused rapist, she had a psychological breakdown and was afterward committed to a psychiatric ward. When she was released from the hospital, she was taken into police custody in 2015.

She was released — with a black eye, according to the Houston Chronicle — and months later filed a lawsuit alleging that she was abused and attacked by both other inmates and jailers. Days before being released, she had appeared in court and testified against her accused rapist. He was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences.

In Washington, a woman who had allegedly been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend was forced to perform sexual favors on another man. According to the the Daily News, that man tried to rape her but she escaped by running through the woods. Prosecutors got a material witness warrant because she had skipped several scheduled pre-trial meetings. She was held in jail overnight but then released, with a judge warning her that another warrant would be issued if prosecutes had trouble getting in touch with her again.

“If (material witness warrants) are being issued, even in just a handful of cases, what message are you sending to other victims of sexual assault?” Geneva Brown, a professor at Valparaiso University, told the Advocate. “Other victims may not come forward if they know this is how they’re going to be treated.”



New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 13 2017

I was talking to my wife about this and wanted to post this.  I think it is a example of how religion mixed with our government hurts our community. Like I always say we need to observe separation of church and state like the ACLU does.

Maybe we should imprison everyone that commits adultery in all it's forms. The bible says if you think of committing adultery; it is the same as if you did it. If that is the case than we should imprison all those who think of committing adultery; in any way.  Everyone that has sex out of wedlock should also be imprisoned for adultery.

New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 13 2017

According to media outlets and human rights organizations across the globe, police in the Russian republic of Chechnya have been rounding up dozens of men on the suspicion of being gay. These men have been placed in detention. Some have been tortured. And at least three are reported to have been killed. No one is safe.

Upon receiving this news, HRC President Chad Griffin wrote to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and urged him to help stop these anti-LGBTQ atrocities. Will you join Chad in making your voice heard? Click here to send an email to President Trump and urge his administration to take immediate action.

With Chechen leaders refusing to stop the arrests, one government spokesman went as far as to deny that LGBTQ people even exist. He claimed that, if they did, their own families would have “sent them to where they could never return.” On top of that, the Russian government has refused to intervene.

This is one of the most disturbing things I have seen in my time at HRC.

That’s why we’re calling on President Trump to make it clear to Russia that lawless detentions, arrests, torture and murders are categorically unacceptable. We urge him to make it heard loud and clear around the world that violence towards LGBTQ people will never be tolerated.

Richard, as advocates for LGBTQ equality, we know that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And we well know that failing to act in the face of injustice allows this type of violence and discrimination to continue.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 14 2017

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - A Cheektowaga law created more than a decade ago to serve as a tougher version of New York's sex offender law. Now, it's being called unconstitutional.

Cheektowaga council member Alice Magierski says the local law extended the distance any level sex offender could live from a school or park from 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet. The law also casts a wider net on locations to include more kid-friendly destinations.

A state appeals court recently ruled the local law is unconstitutional, saying it conflicted with state law. Under the ruling, police no longer have the power to enforce the local law, but members of the council say they plan to hold a public meeting to let neighbors decide if the law should stay on the books.

"We have no intent whatsoever that this isn't going to be monitored by the police department...it is absolutely completely monitored but within the guidelines that we now have to follow," Councilwoman Magierski tells 7 Eyewitness News.

Magierski says the law was overturned just a few months ago, and she's unsure what prompted the law to face an appeals court. The public hearing is set for April 25 in Cheektowaga.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 17 2017

Lawsuit alleges state violated Minnesota sex offender's privacy
Moose Lake detainee is alleging that his private medical records were wrongfully released to another detainee. 
Star Tribune  APRIL 12, 2017 — 10:40PM


The suit alleges, the other detainee “did in fact open and read the contents which contained the Treatment information that listed both plaintiffs [sic] name and medical records number and further had plaintiffs [sic] private treatment information.”

Jamison alleged that DHS violated the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, and is seeking a bench trial on the matter, compensatory damages in excess of $50,000 or “such a sum as a jury deems appropriate” and punitive damages of up to $25,000.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 18 2017

Thank you for urging your lawmakers in Austin to raise the age at which Texas youth can be charged with adult crimes. Now that you've done it, share it! :


Act Now: Protect juveniles from adult jail, prison

Texas kids are like most other American youth, but they don't enjoy the same protections from the justice system.

Texas is one of six states which still treat 17-year olds as adults for purposes of criminal prosecution. Though they cannot vote, buy cigarettes, or join the military without parental consent, Texas law has them prosecuted as adults.

Most Texans are unaware of this quirk in state law, and generally only find out about it if their high-school junior son gets arrested. Too often, youth end up with a felony tag before they even get out of high-school, hurting their chances to get housing and a job going forward. 

Seventeen year olds in adult prisons risk being mistreated and abused by other inmates and are at much greater risk of suicide. In January, 17-year old Emmanuel Akueir hanged himself in the Fort Bend County Jail, but in 43 other states he would have been considered a juvenile until he was 18 years old and never locked up in an adult facility. The Sheriffs Association has joined the Texas PTA and the Texas Public Policy Fountation to endorse raising the age to 18 because they want to keep protect these kids and keep them out of their jails.



New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 19 2017





New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 21 2017

I have said on the internet many times; the age for sexual consent should be 21. The same should be the same for this:

Excellent news! Today, the Texas House of Representatives approved legislation to raise the age at which juveniles can be charged as an adult from 17 to 18. In the end, 83 House members supported this historic measure, with 53 against. There's one more vote tomorrow on "third reading" before the bill goes to the senate, but this was the big vote where opponents made their stand.

Chairman Harold Dutton, the bill author, informed members that 17 had been set as the age of adulthood in Texas in 1918, during  World War I, and was then being raised from age eight! Since then, 17 year olds have been denied rights to drink, smoke, marry, or even join the military without their parent's consent. Most parents of 17-year olds by no means consider them adults, a fact which seemed to hit home with legislators who'd parented teens.

What opposition there was stemmed mainly from fears that the measure would cost counties too much money. But the efffective date was put off for two years so that costs could be evaluated and built into the budget during the 86th Legislature. A task force was created to study costs and the bill doesn't take effect if the Legislature doesn't pay. That was enough to win over strong bipartisan support. Plus, if they dont' change the law, local county jails will have extra costs larded on thanks to new federal regulations that makes them keep 17 year olds separate from other inmates.

Texas would be the 45th state to raise the age to 18, which is also the age for federal crimes. South Carolina and New York passed raise-the-age bills in the last year. For more background on this important proposal, check out this awesome report on the subject put out by our friends at Texas Appleseed.

This has been a major Just Liberty priority and our supporters have sent the Legislature more than 2,300 emails in support of HB 122, with Just Liberty volunteers scouring the capital in the days leading up to the big vote to educate members about the proposal. That work and the work of our allies paid off, big time. This is an historic day for Texas.

So congratulations! Now, after the "third reading" vote tomorrow, it's on to the senate. And Just Liberty remains committed to keeping you informed and about how to most effectively engage in the process.

Please continue to support Just Liberty's work, both through your contributions and by taking our email actions. Together, we can accomplish great things for Texas.





New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 21 2017

WI: SEX OFFENDERS WIN FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST VILLAGE OF PLEASANT PRAIRIE: “IT’S GOING TO OPEN A LOT OF DOORS”

Sex offenders in Kenosha County have won a federal lawsuit against the Village of Pleasant Prairie, in a case that could have nationwide implications. The men who sued said the village’s sex offender residency restrictions violated their constitutional rights. 







New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 24 2017

from: http://www.richmond.com/news/local/crime/michael-mcalister-exonerated-of-a-sexual-assault-in-south-richmond/article_874f0ac9-e792-512c-ad9b-eaf1f6e19cc8.html

Michael McAlister, exonerated of a 1986 sexual assault in South Richmond, dies in Florida

Michael McAlister, who was freed last night after serving 29 years for a rape he did not commit, looks skyward as he left Riverfront Towers where he spoke with the media Thursday May 14, 2015.

Michael Kenneth McAlister (left) was pardoned in 2015 in a 1986 sexual assault in Richmond that was committed by Norman Bruce 

Michael Kenneth McAlister has died in Florida, less than two years after his exoneration and release from prison for a 1986 sexual assault he did not commit.

McAlister, 60, died on April 15, apparently of natural causes, said Becci Conkwyn, a daughter who also lives in Florida. “He had been struggling with major chest pains, and he had recently been in the hospital quite often,” she said. “We believe it was his heart, that his heart just gave out.”

McAlister was wrongfully convicted of the 1986 abduction and attempted rape of a woman in a laundry room at the Town & Country Apartments in South Richmond, for which he served almost 30 years in prison. He was pardoned in 2015 after a confession by the real assailant — a serial rapist to whom he bore a striking resemblance at the time.

Supporters during his exoneration bid included the former Richmond detective who investigated the 1986 attack, as well as Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and volunteer lawyers with a high-powered Washington law firm.

McAlister’s pardon on May 13, 2015, and release from prison came as he was facing possible civil commitment and indefinite confinement for treatment as a violent sexual predator for a crime he did not commit.

Shawn Armbrust, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, said Friday, “Mike called me two weeks ago because he wanted to make sure I knew how grateful he was for the work I’d done on his case — even though he was released almost two years ago.”

“And that was Mike. He went through an unimaginably horrible experience and struggled to adjust after his exoneration, but he never lost his decency, his concern for others, or his sense of humor,” Armbrust said.

Last year, the Virginia General Assembly awarded McAlister $1.2 million in wrongful imprisonment compensation, of which $253,740 was paid in an initial lump sum with the rest to be paid over the years in an annuity.


The compensation was put at risk, however, by his arrest last October in Florida on charges related to cocaine possession. Virginia law bars payments to those convicted of new felonies.

McAlister, who pleaded not guilty to the new charges, was placed in a pre-trial diversion program which, if successfully completed, would have led to the dismissal of the felony charge. Orange County court records show the case has now been closed, presumably because of McAlister’s death.

“Things were looking good. ... It looked like he was starting to try to build a life,” Conkwyn said Friday.

Armbrust said, “That he had a difficult time adjusting after his exoneration is not a commentary on Mike, but a commentary on how much more support exonerees need when they leave prison.”

Experts say relatively few exonerated people run into trouble after release, but those who do generally have substance-abuse issues, often related to post-traumatic stress disorder. They said the trauma of prison is exacerbated by the knowledge that you are innocent.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 26 2017

I hate this blog, I really do. I have to work on it because I love my country and care about it enough to say: what would our fore fathers say if they could see so much cruel and unusual punishment in the name of our country?


Feds tell Supreme Court that mug shots should stay secret

The Justice Department won't budge from its position that federal mug shots of criminals should be kept secret, arguing in a U.S. Supreme Court brief that jailhouse photos are "embarrassing, nonpublic" moments that add to defendants' grief.

The agency clarified its stance as part of an ongoing legal battle over whether federal law enforcement, like many states, should be required to hand over booking photos.

"Mug shots reveal much more than the sterile fact of arrest and booking," the Justice Department wrote in a Supreme Court brief filed this month. "They graphically depict individuals in the embarrassing, nonpublic moment of their processing into the criminal justice system."

The case has been appealed to the nation's highest court following a lawsuit brought by the Detroit Free Press newspaper. The Free Press, which is owned by Gannett, the publisher of USA TODAY and dozens of other newspapers, has challenged the federal government over its decision not to release the mug shots of four Michigan police officers charged with public corruption charges in 2013.

The Free Press has won four lawsuits over the issue.

The agency's response aligns with the rulings of three federal appeals courts, which determined the photos should be kept from the public. In July, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found the promotion of mug shots on the internet and social media have made booking photos more "embarrassing and humiliating" than before.

The Justice Department, in its latest response, played to the demeaning nature of the photos.

"The adage that one picture is worth a thousand words is apt in this context," the response said. "The visual depiction of the individual’s appearance at booking in a law-enforcement facility reflects a uniquely powerful and lasting image of what can be one of the most difficult episodes in an individual’s life."

Lawyers for the Free Press have contended the government is less interested in protecting the reputations of the accused, but rather want to have a grip on the flow of information to the press.

"The public has a right to see who the government is indicting," said Free Press attorney Herschel Fink on Saturday. "Given the fact that names can be similar, a photo is the best way to identify who the government is prosecuting."

Dissemination of mug shots can serve the public interest by revealing whether or not a suspect has been beaten by police, the Free Press has argued. Media scrutiny of mug shots can also reveal whether federal agencies are arresting high numbers of minorities, and in some cases, a suspect's photo may help solve crimes if a past victim recognizes the person.





New Blogs Part 7 Updated April 26 2017


Indiana school district settles sex abuse case for $1.4M

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana school district has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a lawsuit over a former employee’s sexual misconduct with a woman when she was a 15-year-old high school student.

The South Bend Tribune reports the woman sought more than $20 million from the South Bend Community School Corp. She sued the school district in 2013, alleging it negligently hired Stephen A. Rokop and failed to supervise him, protect her, safeguard the school and train employees.

Rokop was a paraprofessional and freshman boys’ basketball coach at Washington High School when the sexual misconduct occurred during the 2009-2010 academic year. Rokop was later convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction.

He was sentenced in 2011 to six years in prison, but was released in July 2013. He will remain on Indiana’s sex offender registry until July 2023.

In the lawsuit, the woman levied complaints against the school district based on 32 separate alleged instances of misconduct. The woman and the school district later agreed to settle the case out of court, and a judge dismissed the lawsuit in January.

The school district released copies of the settlement agreement this week. It calls for the district to pay the woman a lump sum of $1.15 million up front, followed by another $250,000 within the next two decades.

The district denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and the woman agreed to cease any current or future legal action.


The state has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the guardians of two girls who said a foster parent sexually abused the children.

The abuse occurred between January 2012 and April 2014 while the children were in the care of James Mobley in Medford, according to the suit. It occurred on his living room sofa, where the girls were ordered to sleep, the suit said.

The suit also alleged that Mobley used corporal punishment -- withholding food, forcing the children to bathe together and in his presence and berating them with profane language – to instill fear of reprisal if they reported the abuse.

Thomas Peterson, the attorney for the guardians, developed evidence that Mobley faced a similar complaint when he lived in California before moving to Oregon.

Mobley, now 80, was arrested by Medford police in April 2014 on three counts of first-degree sex abuse in connection with the allegations. He pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sex abuse.

On Sept. 23, 2014, he was sentenced in Jackson County Circuit Court to six years and three months in prison, followed by 10 years of post-prison supervision. He also was ordered to register as a sex offender.

The state's payout doesn't represent "an admission or proof of any liability or fault'' by the state Department of Human Services or its employees, according to the written settlement agreement.

Andrea Cantu-Schomus, spokeswoman for the department, declined comment about the settlement.

The agreement, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Medford, will go to the Jackson County Circuit Court probate department for approval.


New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 02 2017

Texas' outdated bail-bond system costs taxpayers millions in extra incarceration and court costs. Finally, though, a bipartisan coalition of Texas legislators  and a slew of leaders from the state judiciary want to get rid of money bail in most cases and shift instead to risk assessments to decide who gets released.

After all, Robert Durst could afford bail. A typical nonviolent offender picked up at a traffic stop may not.

Bipartisan legislation has been filed this session to address this problem, and a new group called Just Liberty has been rallying support. I just took their action. If you want to contact your state legislators to reform this outdated institution, go to their action page directly:


New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 03 2017

I got this email in my inbox, with the  header image blocked by my yahoo email address:

Did you know that kids as young as 10 are on the Texas Sex Offender Registry??? Kids are currently being treated EXACTLY THE SAME as adults- regardless of the situation that led to their adjudication/conviction. This is antithetical to the juvenile justice system's stated mission of rehabilitation for children!

Texas HB 2879 allows for youths convicted of a sex offense to register their information privately with law enforcement. This is a vital and important distinction for juvenile registrants, and is a step in the right direction to provide more opportunities for rehabilitation for such individuals- the entire point of the juvenile system! We need HB 2879 to pass out of committee. We need your support and signature TODAY.

Unable to provide link to this petition.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 09 2017

Family of inmate killed in 2015 Tecumseh prison riot files lawsuit against Nebraska 
May 2, 2017 


LINCOLN — The family of an inmate who died during the Mother’s Day 2015 riot at the Tecumseh State Prison has filed a lawsuit accusing the state of failing to protect him and adequately staff the facility.

Shon Collins, 46, was one of two inmates found dead after inmates took control of two housing units at the prison for several hours, setting fires and ransacking cells, resulting in more than $2 million in damage.

The lawsuit, filed by Lincoln attorney Joy Shiffermiller, says that the state failed to keep Collins apart from other inmates.

A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services declined to comment, saying that the agency’s policy is to not comment about pending legal action.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Lancaster County District Court, did not specify an amount of damages requested. But Collins’ family asked for $1.2 million in a claim with the State of Nebraska that was denied last year.

Collins, a sex offender, was in protective custody, separated from other inmates, at the time of the riot because he previously had been threatened and assaulted by other inmates, the lawsuit says.

Yet, on the day of the riot, the suit says, inmates from three housing units, including those in general population and those in protective custody, were all released from their cells to a prison yard to obtain medications.

When the riot broke out, corrections officers quickly were overwhelmed and fled to a prison guard tower, leaving Collins unprotected, the suit says. “The inmates were left to fend for themselves while the staff left their posts and ran for safety.”

Collins was serving 66 to 80 years for first-degree sexual assault of a child and visual depiction of sexually explicit content in Box Butte County. His sentence began in 2010.

Collins, his family was told, died from blunt force trauma but also had been stabbed several times.
The other inmate found dead, Donald Peacock, was also a sex offender. He was sentenced in Dodge County to serve 40 to 50 years for first-degree sexual assault of a child and visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct. He began his sentence in 2014.

Collins’ lawsuit is the first filed in connection with five deaths at the Tecumseh prison over the past two years. The deaths have raised questions about the staffing and safety at the state’s highest-security facility.

Two inmates were found dead after a disturbance March 2 at the prison. Then, on April 15, 22-year-old Terry Berry was found dead in a cell. A cellmate of Berry’s, Patrick Schroeder, has been charged with first-degree murder and use of a weapon, a towel, to kill Berry.

Charges have not been filed in connection with the four other deaths. State officials have said they’ve been frustrated by the destruction of evidence and the lack of cooperation from inmates in making arrests in those cases.

The Collins’ lawsuit says the Tecumseh prison was overcrowded and understaffed. It took three hours for emergency riot response teams to arrive at the prison because most team members must drive from Omaha and Lincoln.

Collins, according to the lawsuit, had been honorably discharged from the military after serving 21 years, including stints in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he was drawing a $200-a-month pension that helped support his parents.



New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 12 2017


REPORT: LOUISIANA’S PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM VIOLATES RIGHTS OF THE POOR
May 04, 2017

The SPLC and allies asked a judge today to certify a lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s broken public defender system as a class action case – citing an expert report that describes how the state’s overburdened public defense system fails to protect indigent defendants’ constitutional right to counsel.

If granted class action status, rulings in the case would apply to the approximately 20,000 indigent defendants facing noncapital criminal charges in Louisiana, potentially reforming the failed system detailed in the report. The lawsuit would likely be the largest indigent defense case of its kind.

The findings, issued by a law professor with more than 40 years of experience in public defense, were filed with the motion for class certification in the 19th Judicial District in East Baton Rouge Parish. The report notes that the Louisiana Public Defender Board and the state public defender – who, along with Gov. John Bel Edwards, are defendants in the lawsuit – consider the system to be in crisis.

“The report we filed today documents what indigent defendants across the state have long known: Louisiana’s public defender system is broken,” said Lisa Graybill, SPLC deputy legal director.  “This failure has created a two-tiered justice system in Louisiana – one for those with the money for meaningful representation in court and another for the poor that simply churns them through the system without providing them the meaningful defense required by the Constitution.

“Louisiana’s public defense system is underfunded, unmonitored, and wholly inadequate,” Graybill said. “The failure of the system is a statewide problem, and it calls for a statewide remedy.”

The motion for class certification argues that Louisiana has allowed the system to languish for years under excessive caseloads and inadequate staffing – a description echoed in the report by public defense expert Robert Boruchowitz.

Boruchowitz’s report describes how heavy caseloads prevent public defenders from conducting adequate investigations and notes that defenders virtually never hire expert witnesses. The report also outlines how many people charged with crimes wait weeks – or even months – in jail before a public defender is appointed.

The result, according to the report, is a criminal justice system where judges, public defenders and prosecutors have become accustomed to a culture that violates the rights of indigent defendants.

Boruchowitz, a Seattle University School of Law professor, conducted and oversaw visits to nearly 20 of Louisiana’s parishes for the report. His conclusions are based on court observations, a review of records, and interviews with public defenders and other criminal justice stakeholders.

The underlying lawsuit was filed in February by the SPLC; the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP and Jones Walker LLP. 



New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 12 2017

SEE IT: North Carolina teacher suspended for comparing student to slave

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/north-carolina-teacher-suspended-comparing-student-slave-article-1.3159237

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, May 12, 2017, 9:16 AM
A North Carolina teacher was suspended after a student recorded him comparing another child in the class to a slave.

The majority of the video is inaudible, most of the exchange muddled by students in the class laughing. However, Ayona Wilson said the recording clearly captures the seventh grade teacher using a racial slur in speaking to her son.

“Did I call you a n----r? No. I said you’re being controlled by him and that’s exactly what happened to slaves,” the teacher can be heard saying. “They were controlled by their owners. You’re letting him control you.”

Ayona Wilson, the mother of the student, speaks with WNCN in an interview. A teacher at Apex Middle SChool in North Carolina was suspended after a video revealed him comparing a student to a slave.

Wilson told WNCN the confrontation was sparked by her son laughing at another student who was dancing in the classroom at Apex County Middle School on Wednesday.

She said as soon as she learned what happened she pulled her son out of school and met with the principal and assistant principal Thursday.

The student, who wished to remain anonymous said his teacher later clarified — telling the student that he was using an analogy. Still, the seventh-grader said the language was “surprising.”

“This was coming from a caucasian man to an African American student and we’re already in a predominantly white community, a predominantly white school,” Wilson told the news station, “so for him to use those words, it really hurt my feelings.”

A teacher at Apex Middle SChool in North Carolina was suspended after a video revealed him comparing a student to a slave. 

In a phone call to families, the school principal explained that the teacher — who they did not identify — had been suspended and that Wake County schools was investigating the incident.

“While we are not at liberty to discuss confidential personnel information, please be assured that the district takes any complaints against personnel seriously and is committed to fair and thorough investigations and resolutions of such matters,” he said in the call.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 13 2017

This kind of so called therapy is sick! I have been against this since I first read about it in the deep jungles of South America where lesbians were raped as a form of conversion therapy. I blogged about it extensively when I was on Democrat.org. 

Sign this great petition that is filling up very quickly:

Being gay is not an illness.

Leading medical and mental health experts describe so-called conversion therapy, which practitioners claim can force a change in a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation, as dangerous, ineffective and unnecessary.

Conversion therapy is based on the false and hateful lie that being LGBTQ is a defect or disorder that needs curing. It is rooted in anti-gay and anti-transgender bigotry and based on lies that have been disproven again and again.

Recently, the Supreme Court let California’s ban on conversion therapy for minors stand.1 Now progressive champion Rep. Ted Lieu, who pushed for the crucial protections in California, has reintroduced a bill to ban conversion therapy nationally by calling it what it is: fraud.

Tell Congress: Conversion therapy is fraud. Protect LGBTQ people by passing the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. Click here to sign the petition.


New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 17 2017

From  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-oscar-lopez-rivera-freed-20170517-story.html

Puerto Rican militant Oscar Lopez Rivera freed from custody after 36 years; will be in Chicago Thursday 

Puerto Rico nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera was freed from house arrest Wednesday after decades in custody in a case that transformed him into a martyr with supporters but outraged those who lost loved ones in a string of deadly bombings. He will be in Chicago on Division Street — Paseo Boricua — tomorrow.

Wearing a black shirt and jeans, the 74-year-old grinned broadly and waved to supporters through a fence at his daughter's San Juan home before getting into a white jeep. He was scheduled to stop at a federal building to return electronic tags that monitored his movements during his home confinement.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated May 29 2017

WI: SEX OFFENDERS CHALLENGE MILWAUKEE RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS
May 27, 2017 

Six registered sex offenders are suing the City of Milwaukee over an ordinance that virtually bans them from living in the city, arguing the rules violate their constitutional rights. Full Article: 


JACOB WETTERLING RESOURCE CENTER: WE SPEND TOO MUCH MONEY WATCHING SEX OFFENDERS

May 27, 2017 

Thursday was National Missing Children’s Day, a day meant to highlight the problem of child abduction.

And while there have been advancements in laws and technology to keep children safe and help families, an organization known for protecting kids thinks says we spend too much money in at least one area.

“There is huge hysteria around released sex offenders when they are not usually the problem,” said Alison Feigh, the program director at the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center

Feigh said children are harmed most often by people they know, trust and have access to – not convicted sex offenders. Full Article:


L.A. GROUP WANTS SEX OFFENDERS TO BE INCLUDED IN PROP 57’S EARLY RELEASE

May 23, 2017 

The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (Yes, that’s a thing) claims that state prison officials have undermined Prop 57’s parole process, by not including sex offenders for consideration for early release. Full Article:


ID: LAWSUIT OVER IDAHO’S SEX-OFFENDER REGISTRY LAWS EXPANDS TO 134 PLAINTIFFS

May 23, 2017 

A lawsuit filed last year by 104 sex offenders challenging Idaho’s laws that require registration and community notification of sex offenders has been expanded to 134 sex offenders.

They say the laws violate an array of constitutional rights, from the prohibition on double jeopardy to freedom of religion. Full Article:


MO: MISSOURI TO REMOVE HUNDREDS OF GPS MONITORING DEVICES RECENTLY PUT ON SEX OFFENDERS

May 22, 2017 

Hundreds of sex offenders will soon have GPS monitoring devices removed from their ankles after Missouri officials recently required that they wear the bulky devices, according to a preliminary injunction filed in Cole County Circuit Court on Monday. Full Article:


MN: SEX OFFENDERS SEEK TO TAKE THEIR CASE TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

May 22, 2017 

A group of Minnesota sex offenders has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to examine whether the state is violating the Constitution by confining people indefinitely in prison-like treatment centers after they have already completed their criminal sentences. Full Article:


New Blogs Part 7 Updated June 22 2017

You know how I always say our the USA will not be here in the end times, because the bible does not mention us? I do not think we will be destroyed by another country any more. I believe we will be destroyed from with in; like they thought in the 1950's. I now think our country will be destroyed by a civil war; like many middle eastern country's are destroyed. You can not go against your own citizens; the way so called sex offenders are destroyed, even though a very tiny percent of them are a danger. Like I always say if we learn from history; no country that tortures their own citizens for the amusement of the media and the internet and it's own, for instance, every stands the test of time. As we continue to waste, time and money, of our law enforcement on stalking sex offenders; we become weaker and weaker to stop all the truly threatening crimes of violence that will eventually could help lead to a civil war. 


New Blogs Part 7 Updated June 22 2017

WEINER WILL BEAR WEIGHT OF SEX OFFENDER LAWS HE HELPED PASS
May 20, 2017 
… Do you remember those committee hearings you attended on the Adam Walsh Act (a failed attempt to standardize the complexities of sex offender registration)? Hopefully you paid attention, because sex offender registration laws and compliance with such laws are far more complex than simply avoiding sending nude pics via the wrong phone app. You helped make sure that, over the past decade, registration laws became some of the most draconian laws known to man. Full Article

MN: SEX OFFENDERS SEEK TO TAKE THEIR CASE TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
May 22, 2017 
A group of Minnesota sex offenders has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to examine whether the state is violating the Constitution by confining people indefinitely in prison-like treatment centers after they have already completed their criminal sentences. Full Article

WI: SEX OFFENDERS CHALLENGE MILWAUKEE RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS
May 27, 2017 
Six registered sex offenders are suing the City of Milwaukee over an ordinance that virtually bans them from living in the city, arguing the rules violate their constitutional rights. Full Article

JACOB WETTERLING RESOURCE CENTER: WE SPEND TOO MUCH MONEY WATCHING SEX OFFENDERS
May 27, 2017 
Thursday was National Missing Children’s Day, a day meant to highlight the problem of child abduction.

And while there have been advancements in laws and technology to keep children safe and help families, an organization known for protecting kids thinks says we spend too much money in at least one area.

“There is huge hysteria around released sex offenders when they are not usually the problem,” said Alison Feigh, the program director at the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center

Feigh said children are harmed most often by people they know, trust and have access to – not convicted sex offenders. Full Article

UPDATED: 50-STATE COMPARISON RELIEF FROM SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION OBLIGATIONS
June 11, 2017 
Prepared for the NACDL Restoration of Rights Project. List

US Supreme Court strikes down NC sex offender social media ban
June 19, 2017
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a North Carolina law prohibiting registered sex offenders from using Facebook or other social networking sites that minors can join. Full Article

TX: SUPREME COURT RULING COULD IMPERIL TEXAS SEX OFFENDER RULES
June 20, 2017
Texas rules barring some sex offenders from using certain websites were thrown into jeopardy Monday morning after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar statute in North Carolina violates the First Amendment. Full Article



New Blogs Part 7 Updated June 27 2017


TDCAA: Some Texas probation, parole orders may violate new SCOTUS ruling on sex-offender access to the internet
How will the new Supreme Court ruling in Packingham v. North Carolina - which forbade blanket bans on use of the internet for sex offenders - affect Texas cases? The Texas District and County Attorneys Association offered this preliminary analysis:
Texas does not have a statute that criminalizes a sex offender’s access to social media websites, but Texas does have statutes that permit orders prohibiting a sex offenders’ access to social networking sites, both as a condition of parole (§508.1861(b)(1)(B) of the Government Code) and as a condition of probation (Art. 42A.454(b)(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure). Based upon the broad language of this decision, it seems likely that a wholesale prohibition of access to Facebook or Twitter or Instagram would be unconstitutional. A more directed condition, prohibiting communication with minors or prohibiting access to chat rooms or dating websites, would seem to be permissible, even under this decision. But it is certainly going to create new litigation.





New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 11 2017


WISCONSIN -- Several southeast Wisconsin cities are now the target of federal lawsuits by registered sex offenders. The two civil rights attorneys representing them recently won a major verdict against Pleasant Prairie.


Iowa: The state can't stop a convicted sex offender from having a smart phone or internet access, according to a ruling from the Iowa Court of Appeals.


New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 15 2017



THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017
Blain: 'What does actual police reform look like?'
Charles Blain of the Restore Justice project at Empower Texans has a column in The Hill posing the question, "What does actual police reform look like? More training and more oversight." Blain represents the grassroots conservative wing of the party represented by the Freedom Caucus in the Texas House and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in the senate. So what does police reform look like from that perspective?

For starters, he wants more "purposeful training."

In some states, like New York, California, and North Carolina, obtaining a barber’s license requires more hours of training than to become a sworn officer 

In Louisiana becoming an officer takes less training than becoming a manicurist.

Blain also suggests that, "local governments should fully embrace independent police oversight boards giving civilians have a voice in policing." Further, "Out of 18,000 police departments in the country, only about 200 have an independent or civilian oversight board," he lamented. Blain offered up this unusual (for a conservative) discussion of the benefits of a civilian review board:

Two persistent problems on many oversight boards are the scope of authority entrusted to them and the requirements for civilians to participate. 

In Texas alone, the scope of authority for boards in major cities spans across the spectrum. In San Antonio, the Chief’s Advisory Action Board has the ability to interview officers before making a recommendation for disciplinary action to the chief. 

Dallas’ review board is authorized to hire investigators, take sworn testimony, and subpoena witnesses. Houston’s operates largely in private and only takes cases referred to them by the internal affairs bureau of the department. 

Many of the boards require members to have extensive background in policing, law, or criminal justice, which excludes much of the community whose concerns they are meant to address. 
Civilian boards need power, resources and autonomy to be as effective as possible.

Blain embraced body cameras. And although he recognizes the public policy problems with how they've been implemented, including in Texas, he punted on prescribing what good policies might look like:

Policies determine when the officer has the discretion to turn the camera on or off, how regularly it must be charged, if the data on it is subject to public information, the officer’s ability to review it prior to making a statement on an incident, chain of custody for the camera, and policy regarding data retention and manipulation just to name a few. 

Without a sound policy, body worn and dash cameras don’t serve their intended purpose.
He recommended customizable apps to facilitate public engagement, and use of ShotSpotter technology to identify the sources of gunshots.

Grits appreciates Mr. Blain's taking a first stab at thinking through policies that might "actual police reform." But your correspondent would be remiss if I didn't point out that "actual" reform must go further than these proposals or it will be ineffective and fail.

For starters, Grits simply disagrees that civilian review boards can ever be an effective check on police misconduct no matter what their structure. I'm unaware of any such review board anywhere in the country which has achieved the goals of reform activists who got them created. (When I was Police Accountability Project Director of the ACLU of Texas from 2000 to 2006, this was basically my beat.)

Think about it: What does the public demand when an officer shoots someone improperly or engages in misconduct? His or her termination or reprimand. Yet those are precisely the things civilian review boards cannot do. At most they only advise and that advice is routinely and easily ignored because the structure of the police disciplinary process insulates decision makers from being accountable for outcomes - they can typically only be held accountable for complying with the process. Civilian review boards are structurally not capable of satisfying public concern over these issues and may help provide political cover for misconduct when they are weak and ineffectual, which is all the time.

The power to discipline and fire police officers cannot be wrested from departments and even if  it could, that would be a bad idea. Instead, management's ability to enforce rules must be strengthened at the expense of labor. Even when one does not fully trust police management, the best play for police accountability activists is to seek to empower them vis a vis the union.

Re: Training. More is fine, but what's really needed is for police department policies to change to emphasize deescalation, then to retrain on those policies. More training on the sort of cowboy-style shoot-em-up methods taught by a lot of modern training consultants isn't going to help much. Policies and practices must change, then more training will help.

On body cameras, the transparency/privacy questions must be answered because, as presently constituted in Texas, body camera footage for the most part is secret unless a law enforcement agency decides releasing it will somehow help them, thanks to a terrible law passed by Sen. Royce West in 2015. Texas must roll back that thicket of thick-headedness before body cameras will be a true reform measure here.

Finally, some of the most important police accountability measures needed aren't broached in Blain's column. In a column in 2011, Grits identified a few of them:

Transparency: Independent, aggressive press oversight, as a practical matter, is MUCH more effective than any civilian oversight mechanism I've ever heard of, anywhere. Civil service cities like Houston have most of their disciplinary records closed unless officers are severely disciplined (more than two days suspension), and then only summary information is public. So, for example, in Dallas or El Paso, which never opted into the civil service code, reporters get a LOT more information on police misconduct than Houston or other civil service cities, and it really shows in their coverage, particularly at the Dallas News. Easily the most effective change to improve police oversight in Houston and other civil service cities, without costing the taxpayers a dime, would simply be to re-open police disciplinary files; hundreds of non-civil service cities and every Texas Sheriff operate just fine under the Public Information Act, and so would civil service cities if they were brought back under its umbrella. 

Another key, too-often neglected transparency issue: Former Harris County DA Johnny Holmes and the Texas Supreme Court, abetted by the Legislature after the fact, gutted the Law Enforcement exception (Govt Code 552.108) to the Public Information Act in Holmes v. Morales. State Rep. Harold Dutton still carries a bill (see here) every session to change the standard back to what it what from the inception of the Open Records Act until that episode. This change was pivotal, casting a thick blanket of secrecy over information which had been public for decades. If we don't fix the transparency problem - both reinvigorating the law enforcement exception and re-opening disciplinary files in civil service cities - IMO all other "solutions" will founder. 

Accounting for Misconduct in Promotions: Then-state Rep. Chuy Hinojosa filed a bill back in 2001 that never went anywhere but which would have required sustained misconduct to be counted against officers when considering them for promotions, see here. I've always thought that would give a lot more oomph to internal disciplinary decisions than is currently the case and potentially play a big preventive role. 

Bolstering Disciplinary Decisions: The biggest problem with the civil service code regarding police misconduct at Texas police departments is that, too often, fired officers too often don't stay fired. The state could require civil service cities to have a "Uniform Disciplinary Matrix," which is a pre-set array of punishments available for different types of misconduct. This helps prevent arbitrators from overturning punishments when they comply with the disciplinary matrix, including indefinite suspensions/terminations, establishing what's a reasonable punishment as a matter of policy instead of letting the arbitrator make an arbitrary determination after the fact in each case. (See the discussion here.)

There are also an array of special protections in for misbehaving officers in the state civil service code which need to be reformed. And additional provisions limiting accountability are sprinkled throughout meet and confer agreements between local municipalities and police unions. These are all important sites for reform work.

There are other ideas which Blain could have mentioned, including one Restore Justice supported during the legislative session: Eliminating arrests for Class C non-jailable offenses. Arrests are dangerous for both officers and suspects and this reform would reduce their number by more than ten percent.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it's more complete than Mr. Blain's offering in The Hill. There's no sense in limiting the array of possible reforms on the front end, nor in repeating mistakes of the past. See the solutions page at Campaign Zero for more reform ideas.



OH: OVERHAUL COULD DROP THOUSANDS FROM SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY
July 14, 2017 
Two decades after Ohio began labeling sex offenders on a public database and setting restrictions on where they can live, a major overhaul to the law is being proposed that could drop thousands of lower-level offenders off the list

Some critics are even calling for doing away with the registry entirely, saying it’s been an expensive effort with little benefit to the public. Full Article: http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/overhaul-could-drop-thousands-from-sex-offender-registry/Vx8yW4iYcPGAdLqTqPvxxJ/



New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 19 2017

There is no modern day human rights struggle that compares to the struggles of the so called registered sex offender: than the modern day LGBTQ human being, in today's society. I can just imagine the most zealous supporter's of inflicting cruel and unusual on registered sex offenders; also is against LGBTQ people. 
I have no idea why this article was emailed to me yesterday, but just is case here is the link:
France Welcomes First Gay Refugee From Chechnya as Putin Promises ‘The Whole Truth’

May 31, 2017 

On the same day that President Emmanuel Macron held his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, France has accepted its first gay refugee from Chechnya.

Gay and bisexual men in Chechnya have in recent months been abducted, tortured and in some cases murdered in concentration camps. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has denied the existence of such camps. However, Putin has announced plans to investigate following international pressure.

Maybe my Yahoo email is sending me emails from 3 months ago now. My yahoo email is almost unusable these days. If you have the same problem you can complain here: 


New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 19 2017

AL: AS SOME STATES RECONSIDER SEX-OFFENDER REGISTRIES, AN ALABAMA RESIDENT ARGUES THE STATE’S FOR-LIFE REQUIREMENTS ARE TOO MUCH

July 15, 2017

A lawsuit before a federal appeals court may have broad implications for Alabama’s sex offender laws

The case is before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 





Look I am funny and that is a fact. I make my wife laugh until she cry's almost every day. Literally almost every day. I just observe things she does and parody it and most of the time it makes me laugh too. 

I was raised in a Irish Catholic School and never had even had a bad feeling about anyone involved with the Catholic faith as being a sex offender; ever. I was a great alter boy for both my schools church and my mom's church that we went to every Sunday all my life. My wife is part Irish. I have a love for the Irish forever embedded in me. This Irish dude preaches it! Watch the beginning of this to realize why I tell people I do not like the kids. 

Bill Burr Why Do I Do This 


00:00:11 I'm sick of pedophiles.
00:00:12 [Laughter] yeah.
00:00:15 Sex offenders.
00:00:17 Dude, they're on every channel.
00:00:18 Everybody is doing something on sex offenders, you know?
00:00:21 It's like, dude, I got it.
00:00:23 There's people out there touching kids, you know?
00:00:26 But it's not everybody.
00:00:28 It's a very small portion of the population, so, you know, take it down a few, 'cause you're making it [beep] awkward out there.
00:00:36 [Laughter] dude, you can't say hi to kids anymore.
00:00:39 I love kids.
00:00:40 [Laughter] I love kids.
00:00:42 I like making faces at 'em on the airplane, making 'em laugh.
00:00:45 Now, parents are like, "is that " they start huddling their kids in, making me feel like a freak, you know?
00:00:52 I'm terrified of kids now.
00:00:54 Remember back in the day when a kid would come walking up to you?
00:00:57 You could pat him on the head.
00:00:58 "Hey there, rusty.
00:00:59 How you doing," right?
00:01:00 [Laughter] now a kid comes walking up, I'm like, "dude, get that thing the [beep] away from me.
00:01:04 Get it away from me.
00:01:05 I'm serious, dude.
00:01:06 Get it away from me.
00:01:07 Hands are up high.
00:01:07 Not aroused, just terrified.
00:01:09 Please, for the love of god, I'm serious.
00:01:11 Get that thing away from me, " or that "to catch a predator" guy to come walking out, like, "what are you doing here?
00:01:20 Huh, what are you doing here?
00:01:21 " [laughter] that show, "to catch a predator," man, that is horrible p.r. for white people, huh?
00:01:29 [Laughter] jesus christ.
00:01:32 Can they move that show to an urban area every once in a while?
00:01:35 kellys peeing on some kids, you know?
00:01:39 Just balance it out a little bit?
00:01:42 It's like, does every dude walking in that house got to look like me?
00:01:45 Like, "yeah, I'm gonna [beep] an eight-year-old, " [laughter] no, but it's unbelievable.
00:01:54 Everybody is talking about pedophiles and all that type of stuff, I don't know.






New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 25 2017

PA: SOME LAWYERS, PROSECUTORS DISAGREE ON CHILD INTERFERENCE CONVICTIONS BEING MEGAN’S LAW OFFENSES
July 23, 2017 
Philadelphia resident ____ ____ became a registered sex offender in Pennsylvania last year after pleading guilty to interfering with the custody of her daughter.

But if prosecutors had let the 49-year-old noncustodial parent plead guilty to a different crime for signing her daughter out of school without the consent of the girl’s legal guardian in 2015, ____ wouldn’t find her photo and personal information listed with convicted child molesters, kiddie porn collectors and rapists on Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law registry.

Pennsylvania prosecutors know what criminal offenses carry so-called Megan’s Law attachments, meaning that defendants convicted of the crimes are required to register as sex offenders for at least 15 years, local defense attorneys said. from: http://www.theintell.com/news/local/some-lawyers-prosecutors-disagree-on-child-interference-convictions-being-megan/article_48855efd-46cc-5dbf-a051-63a3c765843b.html

Ruling raises questions about sex offender registry’s future

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Changes are coming to Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry as a result of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision issued this week, but experts say it’s unclear exactly how they will play out.

Ryan Tarkowski, a spokesman for the state police, which run the Megan’s Law website, said the court’s decision may result in the removal from the registry of sex-crime offenders who committed their crimes before the new version of the law took effect five years ago.

He called the ruling “a complex decision” that will “undoubtedly impact” management of the registry. Tarkowski said it it’s too soon to know how many offenders will be removed.

State police are assessing the decision’s impact and working on “an appropriate course of action” to comply with the new court decision, as well as state and federal laws.

It does not surprise me that the home of the liberty bell is one of the first states to see that sex offender registration is Anti-American! I believe them that support the torturous treatment of American citizens; under the guise of the cruel and unusual sex offender laws, are against America and should leave America.

If you don't like America, YOU CAN GET OUT, Go America. Go Broncos.: South Park

South Park - Go America, Go Broncos - YouTube

The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the London firm of Lester and Pack (known subsequently as the White chapel Bell Foundry), and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof," a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations.


New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 26 2017

TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2017 from: Grits

Petition seeks change to DPS rules on Class C arrests


Yesterday, Just Liberty filed a formal petition to initiate rule making at the Texas Department of Public Safety to substantially limit arrests by state troopers for non-jailable Class C misdemeanors. See the document here.

The proposal enjoys broad, bipartisan support and in fact implements (for DPS) a plank from the Republican Party platform: "Restricting Arrest Powers - Republican Party of Texas calls on the Texas Legislature to authorized the arrest and jailing of individuals only for offenses for which jail is a punishment or to prevent family violence."

Under Texas law, if 25 people sign a petition requesting a change in DPS Administrative Code rules, the agency has 60 days to either reject the petition or launch the rule making process. Long-time readers may recall that this blog used the same process to initiate rule making at DPS to create an indigence waiver and amnesty program for the Driver Responsibility surcharge. (Check out a couple of segments from the latest Reasonably Suspicious podcast on that effort beginning at the 3:45 mark.)

Petition signers include representatives from 16 different groups, several state legislators, and Sandra Bland's mother. Go here to send an email to DPS Director Steve McCraw to encourage the agency to initiate rule making and adopt the proposed rules.


July 12 was historic! We broke records in coming together to defend our open Internet, and the Net Neutrality protections we rely on to keep the web from becoming Cable TV 2.0.1
Millions of Americans submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission, emailed and called their Congressmen and Senators, and digital rights organizations joined hand in hand with tech companies like Facebook and Reddit, Google and Netflix, Amazon and even PornHub.2
It was a massive success and made politicians and the media stand up and take notice — you don’t mess with the Internet and get away with it.
And now we have to keep the pressure on. We built a tool that makes it super easy to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to name and shame your Member of Congress into standing up for Net Neutrality, and an open web.
 

Sex offender registration is Anti American! 

 I believe them that support the torturous treatment of American citizens; under the guise of the cruel and unusual sex offender laws, are against America and should leave America.

 Just because the media is to blame for originally introducing sex offender paranoia into our society and snowballing it, everyday; does not mean they are all Anti American. Right?

  Here are some cool images I found on Google:











New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 27 2017

I may have not been in the military but my wife was and I had to endure 7 years of hardship; never knowing when she would be called upon to die for her country. Weeks and months, I had to wait for her to come home never knowing if she would be killed in training. Waiting for her always with a sick heart and being so happy the short times she was home.

Only 1% of all US Citizens serve their country.

My dad police officer more than half of his life and was in the US Air Force during Vietnam and my Grandfather severed during WWII. My wife's father served during WWII and her brother was a Army Veteran and a advanced weapon's designer for Pratt and Whitney.



New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 28 2017

The problem with Net Neutrality is people do not know what it means. A high quality DVD or YouTube video is a great way for people to learn. :


Manhattan Neighborhood Network and Free Speech TV to Premiere Net Neutrality Special

Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) and Free Speech TV (FSTV) co-host, What’s at Stake?: Net Neutrality, that will air on Thursday, July 27 at 8pm ET on both MNN-FSTV (Spectrum channel 1301 and FiOS channel 39 for Manhattan viewers) and FSTV (DISH 9415, DIRECTV 348 or streaming on Roku, Amazon Fire, Android TV and freespeech.org).

Just two years after the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), under the Obama administration, affirmed the concept of net neutrality, some of the largest media corporations in the world are looking to privatize the information highway. This time they have powerful allies, including the Trump administration and the new Chair of the FCC, Ajit Pai.

Moderated by host, Laura Flanders, of The Laura Flanders Show, the hour-long program features panelists at the leading edge of the fight to oppose this fresh attack, including former FCC Special Counsel and Open Society Fellow, Gigi Sohn; Free Press Executive Director, Craig Aaron; Color of Change Campaign Director, Brandi Collins; and Columbia Law School Professor and Author, Tim Wu. The special was taped at the MNN El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center in East Harlem. MNN President and CEO, Dan Coughlin said, “Net Neutrality and equal broadband access for all is vital to maintaining a level playing field so that local voices can be heard in the media landscape.” Otherwise, the big media giants will continue to dominate and grow, shutting out diversity.”

https://www.freespeech.org/whats-stake-net-neutrality



New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 30 2017

Got a update on this petition in my email:

Sign this petition if you have not:
click below:

 Abolish the Sex Offender Registry
How does the sex offender registry protect society and children?
In a nutshell, it doesn't.

The sex offender registry protects no one, and takes rights away from tax paying citizens who have paid their debt to society as defined by the courts. People can say what they want about the registry not being punitive, but in reality it is punitive. A person on the registry cannot work, cannot live in most areas, cannot use the internet, cannot travel without notifying the police in person and in writing, cannot have an email address unless they register it with the police in person and in writing, have to register anywhere they are located for more than 3 days consecutively, or visits more than 6 times in a 6 month period, is not allowed into any public parks or pools, cannot attend schools, cannot obtain a visa for travel, must register phone numbers in person and writing to the police, and must register any changes of any of the above in person and in writing, and the list goes on, along with ignorant and angry citizens taking vigilante violence against these ex-offenders who have paid for their crimes. What happens if the registered EX-sex offenders fail to abide by any of the above? 15 years to life in prison.
Okay, okay, okay.... What are the benefits of having the registry? None. When a person is charged with a sex offense the police take DNA samples, photographs and fingerprints and put them in a nice little file. Now, it is proven that less than 6% of the registered EX-offenders will commit a new sex crime; in fact, people who commit a sex offense have the second lowest recidivism rate. The lowest being murder. This is the same now with the registry as it was 25 years ago before the registry. More than 80% of all sex offenses are committed by people who are not on the registry. Not one sex offense was averted by the registry.

I heard one reporter make a statement that a sex offender is like an alcoholic... once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Once a sex offender, always a sex offender. That is the most absurd statement I have ever heard. Unless your definition of an alcoholic includes a person who takes one drink and never touches alcohol again.

Two examples of how a person who had previously committed a sex offense gets arrested for a new sex crime. First we will take an ex-offender from 25 years ago, before the registry. He knows that the police has that little file with all his goodies in it, so to avoid being an automatic suspect, he drives an hour away, roughly 60 miles from where he lives, and then commits the crime. The victim then calls the police. The police will perform the obvious tests, first by asking if the victim knew the suspect or if the victim got a good look at the suspect or saw any identifying marks. If yes, the police look through their little files and show them to the victim. When the victim sees the suspect, the police go and arrest the suspect. If the victim didn't see anything, they continue to a rape kit and get DNA samples. If a DNA sample is found, the police look back into their little files until they find a match, and then go and arrest the suspect. If no DNA sample is found, the suspect gets away with it.

Now the same scenario from today with the ex-offender who is on the registry. He knows that the police have that little file with all his goodies in it, and he knows he is on the registry, so to avoid being an automatic suspect; he drives an hour away, roughly 60 miles from where he lives, and then commits the crime. The victim then calls the police. The police will perform the obvious tests, first by asking if the victim knew the suspect or if the victim got a good look at the suspect or saw any identifying marks. If yes, the police look through their little files and show them to the victim. When the victim sees the suspect, the police go and arrest the suspect. If the victim didn't see anything, they continue to a rape kit and get DNA samples. If a DNA sample is found, the police look back into their little files until they find a match, and then go and arrest the suspect. If no DNA sample is found, the suspect gets away with it.

Did the registry save this victim from having the crime committed against them? No. Did the registry help this victim identify the suspect? No, the little file did.

The registry doesn't work. Never has, and never will. If all these ex-offenders are so dangerous, why didn't the judge or court sentence the ex-offender to more time? They give excuses like they don't have room, or cost too much money to keep them locked up. But the truth of it is, it is much, much cheaper to keep the less than 6% of the ex-offenders who are actually dangerous locked up, than it is to put all 100% on a registry that is so blatantly unconstitutional and ineffective.

Here are some facts. ALL people who commint a sex offense have their DNA on file. If a person decides to re-offend, the registry is not going to change that. The registry protects no one. An example would be that the very few people on the sex offender registry that did re-offend was not stopped from offending. They were not caught because they were recognized on the public shaming system. They were caught because of DNA or mugshots of offenders on file.
Regardless of it's intent, the registry offers real punishment for the sole purpose that someone may commit a crime, and that IS unconstitutional... No matter how you try to justify it. Government is praying on the fear and hate of the people to fuel their goals. Something that happened not all that long ago in Germany to thier Jewish citizens. And I'm not saying being Jewish is a crime, just showing how another government used these tactics.
Another straight out lie is that the registry is to help protect our children... And like I stated above, the registry protects no one. If the registry truly is civil and not punitive, then it can be applied retroactivily to anyone. And if the goal is to protect our citizens and children, then there should be a national DWI/DUI registry.

Sex offenses vs alcohol traffic Deaths in 2009

Forcible rapes for 2009 = 88,097(Charged not convicted)

DEATHs from alcohol related traffic offenses = 10,839 (This is excluding those maimed and injured) - 181 of those DEATHS were children 0 to 14 years of age, and of those 181, about 92 of those children were in the car of the drunk driver. Another 1.4 million drivers were arrested for drunk driving, which each could have resulted in injury and Death. And another 147 million people admitted to drinking and driving.

recidivism for related crime: Sex offenses roughly 5%(The majority of this 5% had multiple charges and were strangers to the victim 

DUI/DWI nearly 60% 

Then you would hear the people who drink say things like: 

You only drove while under the influence one time? You don't consider yourself an alcoholic?
Sounds the same as 95% of the 'Sex Offenders' on the registry. If they have paid their debt to society, then society should stop punishing them more and more. They are no longer Sex offenders. They are citizens of the United States, who should have their rights protected. But unfortunately society as a whole is hateful and ignorant. Only when you talk to these people who have committed the sex offense can you get the feel of who they are. Not to judge by a label. Not to neglect them work. Not to make them and their families endure hell on earth. The courts know who the dangerous people are, but they choose to ignore that. If a Judge gives a person probabtion for a sex offense, how dangerous does that judge believe that person to be? If the judge really thought that person was a threat to society, he would have sentenced him or her to prison, in some cases life without parole.


I could list tons of sites that have studies and court cases proving my point, but I don't see a reason, anyone can see how wrong these laws are... anyone with common sense. So I request, as a citizen, a taxpayer, a voter, and someone who served his country, that the sex offender registry come to an end for those who have paid their debt to society.






Got a new email from Jim Hightower of whom I a great fan:

go to http://jimhightower.com/

Progressives are organizing across the country to demand House Democrats cosponsor a people’s platform – 8 bills that say definitively people over profit.

Our Revolution just launched Summer for Progress: We're fighting for a Congress that will put people before profits to create an America where everyone, regardless of the age, race, gender or economic status has access to health care, free college tuition, a livable planet, and a job that pays a living wage.

Find out more and join the fight! summerforprogress.com

It's more important than ever to have progressives step up to the plate when running for local offices. In Detroit, MI, longtime activist and native Detroiter Garlin Gilchrist II is running for Detroit City Clerk to create effortless voting, engaged citizens and an accessible city council. This weekend, the campaign is launching a big, final push towards their August 8th primary. Can you support Garlin?

Garlin Gilchrist II

They're taking donations, phonebankers, opening a new East Side office in Detroit for locals to come by, and much more. Garlin is the real deal, who will fight with decades of organizing and technology experience for the justice this hardworking town deserves. 

2-MINUTE READS 'N' LISTENS

Real news, fake news… and BS news
  July 27, 2017
How can journalism help people make sense of our turbulent world if it can't make sense of itself?

Why did Trump back off from his Mexican border tax?
  July 25, 2017
Often, when world powers pick fights with seemingly powerless countries, they learn that even small dogs have sharp teeth - as President Trump is finding out in his ill-fated war with Mexico.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated July 31 2017

My real life hero's growing up were Vietnam Veterans:

Today at the White House, President Donald J. Trump will award the Medal of Honor to former Specialist Five James C. McCloughan, U.S. Army. McCloughan will receive the Medal of Honor for distinguished actions during 48 hours of close-combat fighting against enemy forces near Don Que, Vietnam, from May 13 to 15, 1969. McCloughan, then 23 years old, voluntarily risked his life on nine separate occasions to rescue wounded and disoriented comrades. He suffered wounds from shrapnel and small arms fire on three separate occasions, but refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend wounded Americans.

Celebrating and Honoring American Heroes 
Last week was American Heroes Week at the White House, where President Trump was proud to celebrate and honor those who put their own lives on the line every day to protect American lives.




New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 04 2017


In the past couple of years, we've heard a lot about the so-called "Ferguson effect," where cops supposedly react to public criticism by failing to do their jobs and intentionally allowing crime to flourish. Grits has expressed skepticism that that's really the attitude of the cop on the beat, but regardless, it's a common meme.

What's less commonly discussed is the reverse problem: when police misconduct goes unpunished, resulting in a loss of trust by the community and a failure to report crimes for fear of interaction with the cops. A Columbia Law Review article by Tracey Meares includes this summary of some recent research on exactly how that occurs:

In a recent study, Professors Matthew Desmond, David Kirk, and Andrew Papachristos present an example of how researchers can use such data. The researchers studied how police brutality against unarmed Black men affects cities and the Black community in particular by examining whether there was a change in the number of 911 calls in Milwaukee before and after a highly publicized incident of police violence against an unarmed Black man, Frank Jude. Jude was attacked by several White police officers in October 2004 after they accused him of stealing a police officer’s badge at a party. The officers stomped on his face with heavy boots and punctured his eardrums with pens. After the incident, Jude’s photo was shown in the newspaper demonstrating his extensive injuries. The results of the researchers’ analysis of 911 calls surrounding this incident are startling. After Jude’s beating was reported in the local press, Milwaukee residents—and especially residents of Milwaukee’s Black neighborhoods—were less likely to report crimes by calling 911. The magnitude of the crime-call decline in Milwaukee was large and long lasting. It persisted for over a year, “result[ing] in a loss of approximately 22,200 911 calls, a 17 percent reduction in citizen crime reporting, compared with the expected number of calls.” Moreover, the “missing” calls were primarily confined to the areas of Milwaukee in which mostly African Americans lived. After a year, the number of calls went up again.


Police shootings in Houston may not directly result from racial bias, according to academic analyses of data from Houston PD, but they do occur in a statistically discriminatory fashion. That's because officers' intent cannot be proven but the results are wildly disparate. This excerpt from a new academic article from Jeffrey Fagan and Daniel Richman described the two analyses and how they differ:
Research by Professor Roland Fryer examining police use of force in Houston, one of the nation’s largest cities, shows a nearly 50% greater incidence of use of force by police in encounters with Black or Latino persons but no disparity by race in shootings by police. Justin Feldman’s subsequent analyses of Professor Fryer’s Houston results showed that, in fact, Blacks were nearly five times more likely to be shot relative to Whites and Latinos were nearly twice as likely to be shot relative to Whites. Professor Fryer searched for evidence of racial bias in police shootings in Houston, using statistical models to identify intentional bias. He found none. Feldman’s analyses of the same data examined statistical discrimination — or disparate treatment of Black and Latino suspects by police in their use of force — and showed large racial disparities. Overall, the evidence of racially disparate police enforcement across cities reinforces longstanding beliefs among Black citizens about disparate treatment at the hands of the police and helps spread a narrative of an uneven burden that Black citizens bear in police–citizen encounters.
The authors explain the two studies' different conclusions by pointing out that they were analyzing two different things - "statistical discrimination" vs. "racial bias" - offering this explanation in a footnote: "Statistical discrimination reflects differences in the rates of an event by race, after controlling for race-specific and plausible nonrace factors that might explain such differences. Racial bias looks for evidence of intent to discriminate, independent of evidence of racial disparities."

If the outcome is that discriminatory ("Blacks were nearly five times more likely to be shot relative to Whites"), it's hard to know whether the public should be comforted by the concurrent finding that the discriminatory outcomes weren't generated by "bias." In essence, Prof. Fryer was positing HPD officers' good intentions, while Prof. Feldman lamented that they were the type with which the road to Hell is paved.

August 03, 2017

The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board should investigate the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office for issuing fake subpoenas that threatened witnesses with fines and jail time to coerce them into answering prosecutors’ questions – actions that violate rules of professional conduct, according to a complaint the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed with the board today.

An investigation is needed to determine the scope of the practice and to hold the lawyers involved accountable for violations of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, which forbid lawyers from engaging in deception, according to the complaint. The filing notes that District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro has admitted that his office had engaged in the practice since 2009, but has refused to divulge which assistant district attorneys were also involved.

If the board finds that violations occurred, it could recommend probation, admonition or the filing of formal charges against Cannizzaro or the attorneys under his leadership who used the fake subpoenas.

“District attorneys have almost unchecked discretion in our criminal justice system,” said Lisa Graybill, SPLC deputy legal director. “As Louisianans work to reform the state’s criminal justice system and shed the title of incarceration capital of the world, district attorneys must be held accountable when they abuse the public’s trust.

“These bogus subpoenas violated people’s legal rights through manipulation and intimidation. An investigation is needed to restore the public’s confidence, and prevent other prosecutors from engaging in such misconduct.”

A subpoena is a court’s written order compelling a person to appear before the court or face a penalty. A subpoena cannot be issued by a district attorney.

The false subpoenas warned that a person may face a fine or imprisonment for failure to appear before prosecutors for questioning. The office even sought the arrest of at least one person who failed to respond to a false subpoena.

Cannizzaro’s office initially defended the documents, but later announced it would stop issuing them. Cannizzaro also attempted to deflect blame by explaining that the practice has been in use by the office for decades – well before his tenure. This admission, according to the complaint, only underscores the need for an investigation because it heightens concerns about the depth and breadth of this practice.

The district attorney’s other practices have also drawn attention and made headlines. Earlier this year, Cannizzaro jailed crime victims – including victims of rape – who did not want to testify in court. Last year, the SPLC report More Harm Than Good documented how Cannizzaro’s office prosecutes children as adults in unprecedented numbers.

The SPLC filed a similar complaint today against Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick for issuing documents labeled as subpoenas. Unlike the documents issued by Cannizzaro’s office, they did not threaten punishment for noncompliance, but did “order” witnesses to come to the DA’s office. Connick’s office has stopped the practice, replacing the documents with letters requesting witness cooperation. His office has not revealed which assistant district attorneys used the fake subpoenas.



New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 07 2017

WI: MILWAUKEE MAY DRAMATICALLY LOOSEN SEX OFFENDER RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS
July 29, 2017
The City of Milwaukee may dramatically loosen its residency restrictions for sex offenders.

The city’s current ordinance bans many sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of places like schools, parks, and day care centers. A measure set to be considered Monday by the Common Council would reduce that “buffer” to 500 feet. Full Article

NE: 8TH CIRCUIT SAYS NEBRASKA’S SEX OFFENDER LIST DOESN’T APPLY TO BOY
August 1, 2017 
The 8th Circuit Court has ruled in favor of a 15-year-old boy whose family sued the Nebraska State Patrol to keep him from being put on the state’s sex offender registry for a juvenile case in Minnesota. Full Article

AFTER EXONERATION,JARRETT ADAMS IS HELPING OTHERS WRONGFULLY CONVICTED
August 5, 2017 
Lester Holt interviews Jarrett Adams, who was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault when he was just 17 and — as an attorney — is now helping others who are in similar positions as he used to be.





New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 10 2017 : I am pasting some emails I got today. I learn more from my emails; than I do the news. 

Notwithstanding the latest inflammatory speculation coming from the 
usually wrong Defense Intelligence Agency, which cable TV is 
instantly converting into conventionally agreed hysteria, North Korea 
does NOT have the capability to strike the United States mainland 
with conventional let alone nuclear weapons. 

If they did, North Korea would not be threatening to attack Guam, as 
they did in response to Trump's own hot-headed and provocative 
rhetoric yesterday. It's a tell that THEY believe Guam is the outside 
edge of the extent of what they are even potentially capable of. 

Most importantly, we just achieved a huge diplomatic victory in 
getting a 15-0 vote in the UN Security Council for major new 
sanctions against North Korea. In this context, the presidential 
thing to do would have been to emphasize that the whole world is 
united against the escalation of the North Korean military threat, 
not go shoot your mouth off like some unilateral nuclear first strike 
cowboy. 

But of course presidential is exactly what Trump is not. 

The good news is that there is someone in the Trump administration 
who does sound presidential right now, Rex Tillerson. 

Listen to him talk. One can be critical of his corporate, fossil fuel 
promoting background. But when you talk about measured, experienced, 
we have to say in all fairness it's all there in Tillerson. If you 
close your eyes, it's easy to imagine him sitting behind the oval 
desk instead. 

But unfortunately, we are stuck with blowhard Trump for the moment, 
who wrote a check with his mouth yesterday that he cannot cash, 
threatening to unleash "fire and fury like the world has never seen" 
is response to any THREATS from North Korea, who of course 
immediately issued exactly such a threat (against Guam) in their own 
immature, childish way. 

If the concept, assuming Trump was even capable of a strategic 
concept, was to get North Korea to back down from their own rhetoric, 
all we can say sarcastically is, "That went well." 

People who make threats like that, like North Korea, like Donald 
Trump, are not projecting strength, they are in fact projecting 
weakness. 

But Congress has already acted to constrain Trump once in foreign 
policy, specifically with regards to Russian sanctions, and Congress 
must immediately act to do so again now, making it clear that Trump 
does not have the discretion to launch a nuclear first strike against 
North Korea. 

Here is the new action page: 

No First Strike action page: https://www.utalk.us/?a=no_first_strike 

And here is the same thing as one of our classic desktop computer 
action pages. 

http://www.peaceteam.net/no_first_strike.php 

The constitutional fact is that Trump is not granted the power to 
declare war by himself. An attack on North Korea of any kind is 
completely unacceptable without direct and explicit congressional 
authorization. 

Congress must make that expressly clear to the bonehead in the White 
House. 

The military fact is that there is no attack that North Korea could 
ever launch that would even make a dent in our own retaliatory 
resources. They would themselves be utterly wiped out. 

North Korea has to know that. 

The only point of their own "threats" is to try to deter a first 
strike against themselves, fearing the fate of parallel dictators in 
Iraq, Libya, and don't forget Panama either. 

At that same time there is no strike we could launch that could stop 
North Korea from wiping out South Korea with the conventional weapons 
they ALREADY have. 

It's about time that the person who is supposed to be the president 
of the United States got that. And it's the duty of Congress to make 
sure he does. 

Tell Congress to enforce a no first strike policy now, a 
NON-authorization to use military force, if you will. 

And after you submit the action page, why not pick up a Trump 
resistance demonstration gift. 

Lock Him Up/Impeach Trump popcorn boxes: https://www.utalk.us/?g=5:PB 

Trump, YOU're Fired caps: https://www.utalk.us/?g=2:Y 

Trump the Fraud bumper stickers: https://www.utalk.us/?g=1:SF 

Dump Trump bumper stickers: https://www.utalk.us/?g=1:SU 

Custom Trump Resistance bumper stickers: 
http://www.peaceteam.net/custom_trump_sticker.php 

You may forward this message to any friends who would find it 
important. 




New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 10 2017

TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR THE STATE OF MISSOURI 
AUGUST 2, 2017
< BACK TO LATEST
BALTIMORE – The NAACP Travel Advisory for the state of Missouri, effective through August 28th, 2017, calls for African American travelers, visitors and Missourians to pay special attention and exercise extreme caution when traveling throughout the state given the series of questionable, race-based incidents occurring statewide recently, and noted therein.

“The NAACP is a membership-based advocacy organization that has worked for generations to protect the hard-fought freedoms of all American citizens—freedoms which are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—and one of the most basic of those freedoms is the ability to freely travel from state-to-state without fear of threat, violence or harm,” said Derrick Johnson, interim president and CEO. “The numerous racist incidents, and the statistics cited by the Missouri Attorney General in the advisory, namely the fact that African Americans in Missouri are 75 percent more likely to be stopped and searched by law enforcement officers than Caucasians, are unconscionable, and are simply unacceptable in a progressive society.

“We share the alarm and concern that black individuals enjoying the highways, roads and points of interest there may not be safe, and the national office will also be closely monitoring the progress of Governor Greitien’s review of Bill SB 43,” Johnson adds.

SB 43, advanced by Senator Gary Romine, hearkens back to the Jim Crow-era. The Bill legalizes individual discrimination and harassment within the State of Missouri, and “would prevent individuals from protecting themselves from discrimination, harassment and retaliation in Missouri,” the advisory reads.

About the NAACP

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work, and our six “Game Changer” issue areas here.



New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 10 2017

Do you think it is a coincidence that LGBT's are more persecuted than sex offenders? Who bashes LGBT's the most in our country? The religious do. If you are a Christian or religious and fight for the constitutional rights of all people; which includes sex offenders. Than you are obviously not one of them that take human rights from people; with cruel and unusual sex offender registration and cruel and unusual prison sentences. 

You must realize that the Christian and the religious are the biggest supporters of unconstitutional treatment of those called sex offender. According to the Bible the religious rule of the world (as it is today) will come to an end in the Book of Revelation. You could also say the inhuman treatment of them called sex offender; will also come to a end. 


A 22-year-old Florida man was shot and killed outside a restaurant in downtown Lake Worth early Sunday for standing up to homophobia, witnesses say. 

Witnesses told police that Juan Javier Cruz was killed for defending his gay friends from a gun-wielding man who said he hated homosexuals and spoke of his desire to “kill [them] like rats.” 

Cruz was leaving Restaurante y Pupuseria Las Flores with a group of friends when another restaurant patron confronted the group, shouting threats and expletives at them, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office report. 

Hip-hop legend charged with murdering homeless man


August 2, 2017

Rapper Kidd Creole — one of the founding members of the legendary hip-hop group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 — has been charged with murder for the stabbing of a homeless man who he thought was hitting on him in Midtown.

The 57-year-old Bronxite, whose real name is Nathaniel Glover, was arrested at his home in Mt. Hope on Wednesday after allegedly killing the individual on Tuesday night, according to police sources.

He had gotten into a shouting match with the man — identified as 55-year-old John Jolly, a registered sex offender — at the corner of E. 44th St. and Third Avenue before the stabbing occurred, the sources said.

After the incident, Glover apparently fled and left Jolly, who was drunk, bleeding on the sidewalk.

Cops later found him and thought he was just too intoxicated to stand, but then noticed multiple stab wounds in his chest and rushed him to Bellevue Hospital — where he was pronounced dead.

A high-ranking police source told The Post that Jolly was an ex-con who did six years on rape charges.

He’s been arrested at least three times for sexual assault, the source said.

Over the years, Creole has tried to stay relevant by using social media to promote his shows. He tweets and posts pictures regularly — even popping a tribute to Keith Cowboy, who died in 1989, just before he was arrested on Wednesday.

this image is from this cool website I just discovered: http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/tnpidx.htm




New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 24 2017

I want to show a screen shot of my last email from GayUSA:
 This is a screenshot of the email I sent Ann and Andy of GayUSA
http://gayusatv.org/
GayUSA totally resembles: http://all4consolaws.org/
I propose a Television show to free speech TV like GayUSA except about Registered Sex Offenders: about a year ago.



New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 24 2017

Lets see the latest news from GayUSA from the email I got from them yesterday:

In the news with Ann and Andy (taped 8-23-17)

∎ Trump escalating our war on Afghanistan while continuing his assault on LGBT rights and his support for what he calls the “fine people” in the neo-Nazi movement.

∎ Gwynevere River Song is the 17th transgender woman murdered in the US this year.

∎ Police judged to have beaten a gay man in Brooklyn in 2013 and lied about it; police also shoot to death a knife-wielding transgender woman in St. Louis and in NY bust a man threatening to kill gay cops and others.

∎ Police in Martin Co., Florida arrest 45 in a sting on gay men cruising in a park.

∎ Lots of notable passings, including transgender pioneer Holly Boswell, an award winning Broadway producer, and a gay Republican strategist who specialized in electing anti-LGBT bigots.

∎ In Australia, the postal referendum on same-sex marriage has not even been sent out, but the campaign has gotten very ugly already.

∎ Two world leaders marched in the Montreal Pride parade.

∎ LGBT pride marches are attacked in Russia and Uganda.

∎ Use of Truvada as PrEP is increasing, but more among white gay men and less among the people of color who need it most.

∎ We will review Michael Moore’s Broadway show: “The Terms of My Surrender”

How do you like that; for a bunch of bad news as always?



New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 24 2017

REGISTRANTS SUE CITY OF SAN DIEGO IN FEDERAL COURT
August 7, 2017 
Two registrants challenged in federal court today residency restrictions within the City of San Diego that prohibit registrants from living within virtually all of the city.  The lawsuit was filed after the San Diego City Council refused to repeal the city’s residency restrictions despite a recommendation from the City Attorney because the restrictions are “likely not enforceable”.

During the City Council’s meeting on August 1, Councilmembers defended the city’s residency restrictions and stated that they “don’t like them (registrants) living in our communities” as well as falsely stated that registrants cannot be rehabilitated.  One Council member added that rejecting repeal of the city’s residency restrictions contravened “our form of democracy and constitutional justice.”

“The San Diego City residency restrictions are unlawful because they violate the state and federal constitutions,” stated ACSOL executive director Janice Bellucci.  “They are also inconsistent with recent court decisions, including a decision by the California Supreme Court that similar restrictions in San Diego County were unreasonable, arbitrary and oppressive.”

 In that decision, the California Supreme Court determined that registrants were prohibited from residing in 97 percent of available rental housing in San Diego County which led to increased homelessness as well as restricted access to job opportunities, medical treatment and other social services.  According to materials provided by city staff to the San Diego City Council, the city’s residency restrictions prohibit registrants from living in many more places as compared to the law under review in that case.  

 Before the lawsuit was filed, ACSOL sent a letter to the City of San Diego warning that the city’s residency restrictions were unlawful and threatening legal action if the restrictions were not repealed.  During the City Council meeting, the City Council member who made the unsuccessful motion to repeal the city’s residency restrictions predicted that if the restrictions were not repealed, they would be challenged in court.

 A total of 26 lawsuits have been filed so far challenging residency restrictions in 26 cities within California.  The first lawsuit, challenging residency restrictions in the City of Grover Beach, was filed in June 2015.   

Related Media Articles





THE NEW UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF JUVENILE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION: SUSPENDING THE PRESUMPTION OF CONSTITUTIONALITY FOR LAWS THAT BURDEN JUVENILE OFFENDERS
August 7, 2017 
In Smith v. Doe, the Supreme Court held that Alaska’s sex offender registration and notification statute did not constitute punishment and was therefore not susceptible to challenge under the Ex Post Facto Clause. In reaching that conclusion, the Court looked to the seven factors articulated in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez. To evaluate those factors, the Court applied a presumption of constitutionality, conducting the sort of narrow factual inquiry characteristic of rational basis review. Since Smith, courts have disagreed as to whether sex offender laws are punitive when applied to juveniles, and the Supreme Court has not yet addressed the issue. This Note argues that the Court should suspend the presumption of constitutionality when conducting its ex post facto inquiry for laws that burden juvenile offenders. The Court should do so because the very rationales that underlie the presumption are inapplicable in both the case of juvenile offenders and the ex post facto context. Introduction – Full Paper (pdf)

AL: TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEX WITH STUDENTS GETS CHARGES THROWN OUT AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
August 10, 2017 
DECATUR, Ala. – An Alabama teacher accused of having sex with two of her students succeeded in having her charges thrown out on constitutional grounds, Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson confirmed Thursday.

Carrie Witt was facing potential prison time for allegedly having sex with two students between 16 and 19 years old while she taught at Decatur High School.


MO: CITY UNION MISSION SUES JACKSON COUNTY SHERIFF OVER ARREST THREATS
August 11, 2017 
[The Kansas City Star]
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is targeting some sex offenders for arrest at the City Union Mission because it sits near a park, according to a federal lawsuit alleging that the practice violates the charity’s constitutionally protected rights of religious freedom.

The suit centers on how the sheriff’s office interprets a Missouri law that prohibits certain offenders from “loitering” within 500 feet of a public park that contains a pool or playground equipment.

The mission operates several facilities in the 1100 block of East 10th Street near Margaret Kemp Park, and the sheriff’s office has interpreted that law to cover those offenders at the mission, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.


WA: SEATTLE SET TO PREVENT LANDLORDS FROM CONSIDERING APPLICANTS’ CRIMINAL RECORDS
August 12, 2017 
[The Seattle Times]
Seattle set to prevent landlords from considering applicants’ criminal records. Seattle landlords would be almost completely prohibited from screening prospective tenants based on their criminal histories, under a proposed ordinance approved by a City Council committee Tuesday.

The only people who could be denied housing based on their criminal histories would be those listed on sex-offender registries because of adult convictions.

And landlords denying housing to such sex offenders would still need to state a legitimate business reason for doing so.


CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: THE CASE AGAINST REGISTERING KIDS AS SEX OFFENDERS
August 14, 2017
[Impact Justice]
America’s kids have racked up some big wins in the nation’s most august court. The victory lap began in 2005 when the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for juveniles. (Roper v. Simons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).) In 2010, the Court barred mandatory life without parole for juveniles, except those convicted of murder. (Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010).) Two years later, the Court eliminated this exclusion, reasoning that a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release violates juveniles’ constitutional protections against “cruel and unusual punishment.” (Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012).)

The justices’ decisions in these and other cases were based in large part on a body of research that has established important cognitive and other differences between children and adults, especially in the areas of reasoning and impulse control. (See, e.g., Kayla Pope et al., Developmental Neuroscience and the Courts: How Science Is Influencing the Disposition of Juvenile Offenders, 51 J. Am. Acad. Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 341 (2012).) These studies provide a sound empirical basis for concluding that juveniles are less blameworthy for their criminal conduct than adults, and thus less deserving of the harshest punishments.


FORT COUNCIL AMENDS SEXUAL OFFENDER DOMICILE RESTRICTIONS
August 17, 2017 
[Daily Jefferson County Union]
To comply with recent federal court rulings, the Fort Atkinson City Council has amended its ordinance restricting the placement of sex offenders.

At its meeting Tuesday, the council removed the domicile restriction from the ordinance that had prevented convicted offenders who did not live in Fort Atkinson at the time of their offense from moving into the city once released.

When adopted in February 2016, many other municipalities were including the domicile restriction in their ordinances. Since then, in a federal case titled Hoffman v. the Village of Pleasant Prairie, the Eastern District federal court in Milwaukee has ruled that the restriction is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Fort Atkinson city attorney David Westrick brought forward the recommendation to remove the restriction to the city’s Ordinance Committee based on his analysis of the court rulings.



AK: GOING HOME – EVEN SEX OFFENDERS SHOULD GET A CHANCE TO REJOIN SOCIETY
August 17, 2017 
The good news is that Alaska’s sex offender treatment program works. The bad news is that a shortage of providers creates a many-months-long waiting list that traps sex offenders from rural Alaska in Anchorage, sometimes homeless.

With 250 sex offenders coming out of Alaska prisons annually, 45 percent of them Native, this is a public safety threat and a humanitarian fiasco. We must do better.


This one really made me sad. Like I always say my dad was a police officer and his friends on the force; were my friends too. That did something to me in my early 20's. It changed how I think about law enforcement. I was also a security guard for a department store around then, where I personally caught over 11 people shoplifting in 1 month; the most ever for that store. I was inspired to get that job by my dad and his friends on the force. 

METRO OFFICER WHO PLEADED GUILTY TO CHILD PORN PRESUMABLY COMMITS SUICIDE
August 18, 2017
[KVVU-TV Las Vegas]
A Metro police officer who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges earlier this year has died at the age of 25, one day before he was supposed to answer for his crimes.

Investigators said Officer Ruben Delgadillo was using software to share one of the largest stashes of child pornography in Nevada. He was 24 years old when he was arrested last Aug. and faced the up to 45 years in prison. Officers said Delgadillo told them he knew he had a problem and felt guilty comparing himself to sex offenders arrested in child molestation cases.

Delgadillo was found dead in his bedroom on July 24, the day before his sentencing. Law enforcement sources close to FOX5 said he committed suicide by asphyxiation. The Clark County Coroner’s Office said it is still running tests.


Good to see my old buddy's are still going strong: 

TAPING BEGAN TODAY! A WOMEN AGAINST REGISTRY AND METAMORA FILMS PROJECT
August 18, 2017

A message from the Women Against Registry (WAR) National Directors:



W.A.R. is Becoming a Major Player

For those of you who might not be aware, Women Against Registry is taking part in the 4th International Conference on Hate Studies in October, 2017. The conference, sponsored by Gonzaga University, will be held on the school’s campus in Spokane, WA. WAR’s participation, following on the heels of our own successful conference, signals an increase in our visibility and our influence within the community. This exposure will ultimately further our ability to affect change. This is a very good thing.

WAR will create a 90-minute podcast that will be shown at the conference. It will be followed with a question and answer session. While sex offenders, registrants, and family members have historically had to deal with hate in various forms, this specific audience is never-the-less, not very familiar with the nuances of our topic. We intend that our podcast be a revelation to these viewers. We intend for them to leave wondering why they didn’t know more about such a serious and disturbing topic.

We recognize that hate is expressed in many forms and for many reasons. But we are making an important distinction between hate and stigma. Hate typically disrupts our lives when someone lashes out in an ugly, hurtful manner, with or without actual facts, in the name of protection or fear. Stigma is something we feel; stigma is heaped on us by haters, employers, landlords, society at large, and, yes, by ourselves; and stigma is that pervasive haunting feeling that can envelop someone slowly, break their spirit, and ultimately, if allowed, destroy their lives and the lives of their families. Hatred and stigma are topics equally worthy of study…….and change.

For our podcast, we have solicited three respected academics/researchers and the sheriff who investigated the brutal murder of a married couple at the hands of a vigilante. They will be interviewed by our own Matt Duhamel. We will intersperse quotes from several high-profile politicians as well as the thoughts of national advocates and organizers. And we may show film footage, news articles, and photographs to drive home the absolute need to increase research, education and conversation about the unintended consequences of the registry, our draconian laws, and the permanent exclusion of an entire subclass of criminals in this country. We need to drive home the point that this kind of treatment does not allow for redemption or rehabilitation; that this kind of treatment is inhumane.

I hope it is clear to you, as it is to us, how important this podcast is to our plight. We will submit the podcast by August 31st. Then, we need to get our presenters to Spokane, WA for the conference. We are humbly asking for donations to accomplish these goals.

Yes, WAR is becoming a substantial player in this arena, but like so many organizations reliant on donations, our membership and fundraising lags behind our desire for change.
Please make your tax deductible donation at the link below. We thank you in advance for your continued efforts no matter how large or small. We are all in this together.


LA: REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER’S MURDER BEING INVESTIGATED AS HATE CRIME
August 20, 2017
An elderly man from Many was killed this morning after being shot in the chest. According to the Sabine Parish Coroner’s Office, sheriff’s deputies arrived in the 1300 block of Matthews Lodge Road — off of LA Hwy. 6 — after an alarm tech found the man in the doorway of a home.

The victim, identified as 72-year-old _____ _____, was located lying face-up on the living room floor of his mobile home, just inside the front door. Deputies say an unknown suspect fired a single shot through the storm door, hitting ____ in the upper chest and killing him instantly.

A definite motive has not been established, but the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, because ____ was a registered sex offender. Full Article

PA: MEGAN’S LAW LIST MIGHT GET SMALLER
August 20, 2017
The number of sex offenders on the state’s Megan’s Law sex offender registry could drop as the result of a July ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, three Valley district attorneys and the Pennsylvania State Police say. Full Article

UNDER LEGAL THREAT, VICTORVILLE TO REPEAL SEX OFFENDER RESIDENCY RULES
August 22, 2017
[Victorville Daily Press]
With threat of a lawsuit hanging over its head, the city will repeal local residency restrictions for registered sex offenders and defer to existing state regulations.

The move is not unexpected. Cities across California have been forced to bow to pressure from sex offender law reformists in recent years, while courts have simultaneously limited local regulatory authority.

In December 2014, the City Council reluctantly agreed to align its local ordinance restricting the movements of registered sex offenders with the statewide regulations already in effect.

That decision came after the California chapter of Reform Sex Offender Laws sued the city in August of that year, contending that local ordinances were overkill.





New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 24 2017
I have been getting emails from these folks for 20 years and this is the best one yet: 

 Sign This Petition!

Americans across the country are calling for the removal of statues that lie about the Confederacy and glorify its “heroes." But whitewashing the Confederacy's racist history goes far beyond statues.

In 2010 the Texas State Board of Education adopted new and very controversial history standards that force public schools to hide the truth about the Civil War and what caused it. And that problem is not limited just to Texas.

The state board is set to revise the social studies curriculum standards over the next year. You can help make sure Texas schools teach fact-based history:

Sign this petition calling on the State Board of Education to correct the racist history in school curriculum standards.

If you are an educator or other qualified scholar, apply to serve on a state team that will revise the curriculum standards.

Get Confederate ‘Heroes' Out of Texas Classrooms

History curriculum standards in Texas schools glorify the Confederacy and whitewash the history of slavery and the Civil War. It’s past time to correct this racist history.

Tell the Texas State Board of Education:
Stop whitewashing the history of slavery and the Civil War in Texas schools.

Learn More

Politicians on the State Board of Education in 2010 approved controversial curriculum standards that mislead Texas public school students about the history of the Civil War and slavery in our country.

In fact, the standards downplay the role of slavery in causing the Civil War (Grade 5 TEKS 4E, Grade 7 TEKS 5A, Grade 8 TEKS 8B). They glorify misleading justifications Confederate President Jefferson Davis gave for secession (Grade 8 TEKS 8C). They even portray "Stonewall" Jackson, a Confederate general who took up arms against his country, as someone who modeled “effective leadership in a constitutional republic” (Grade 8 TEKS 22B).

The state board has the opportunity to correct this rewriting of history when it revises the curriculum standards starting this fall.

The cause of the Civil War was the evil institution of slavery. Confederate leaders were not heroes. And it’s past time that politicians, schools and public monuments stopped lying about all of that.




I love the south and I love living in Texas; and always will. When I lived in the north east as a child; I thought that most people were prejudice in the south. I have been almost in every state since then. I lived in Georgia when my wife did her A.I.T. (Advanced Individual Training) for the US Army. I visit my grandparents many time in Florida. I drove across the southern states with my wife to move to Southern California and drove through the deep south once to go to her A.I.T. and then to move to Killeen Texas; after A.I.T. from California. I have lived in Texas since 1994. 98% of the people from the south are extremely friendly: filled to the brim with southern hospitality. That being said I will now post my latest email from SPLC:

AUGUST 26, 2017
Good morning,

Marissa Blair was walking down Fourth Street when the car struck. Her fiancé, Marcus Martin, had just a split second to push her out of its path.

When she got up, all Blair could see of Martin was his bloodied baseball cap lying on the ground, she told The New York Times.

"It terrified me," said Blair.

She found Martin, his leg broken. But the couple couldn't find the friend who had been with them on Fourth Street — 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Heyer died when a white supremacist rammed his car into counterprotesters who were demonstrating against the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. James Alex Fields, 20, is being held without bail on multiple charges, including second-degree murder.

But in six states – North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Rhode Island and North Dakota – Republican lawmakers have proposed measures that could shield drivers who hit protesters from civil liability.

"You can protest all you want, but you can't protest up on a roadway," said North Dakota Rep. Keith Kempenitch in January.

Historically, however, you can. After state troopers and a sheriff's posse beat marchers on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, on a day that would become known as Bloody Sunday, a federal judge ruled on that very question.

"The law is clear," wrote U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., "that the right to petition one's government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups. These rights may be exercised by marching, even along public highways."

Four days after Johnson's ruling, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led civil rights protesters from Selma to Montgomery in support of voting rights. Just two years earlier, King had stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during another of our country's most significant protests, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

"Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy," said King.

Today, as thousands of Americans gather in the streets to make their voices heard in the Trump era, it is again time for their representatives to ensure that the promise of our democracy is reflected in our laws.

Lawmakers should applaud — not criminalize — their constituents' civic engagement. They should guarantee protesters' safety, not the safety of the drivers who hit them. They should not pass any measure that threatens to undermine free assembly, as at least 18 states have tried this year to do.

Monday marks 54 years since Dr. King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to 250,000 protesters gathered on the Washington Mall. And it will have been 16 days since Heyer died while resisting the same white supremacy against which King fought.

Our representatives should honor both their memories by protecting a pillar of our democracy – the right to freely assemble in civic protest.

As always, thank you for your support,

The Editors

P.S. Here are some other pieces this week that we think are valuable:

Confederate monuments are more than reminders of our racist past. They are symbols of our racist present. by B. Brian Foster for The Washington Post

We just feel like we don't belong here anymore by Becca Andrews for Mother Jones

The worst (and best) places to be gay in America by Frank Bruni for The New York Times

Is 'mass nonviolent action' needed to fight white supremacists? Civil rights hero John Lewis speaks out. by Abigail Jones for Newsweek

A black man went undercover online as a white supremacist. This is what we learned. by Peter Holley for The Washington Post








New Blogs Part 7 Updated August 30 2017

We gave to the American Red Cross and I think that is a good one to recommend personally. 

I have been getting allot of emails from our great representatives like Sam Johnson. This is a great one from John Culberson.:

Dear Neighbor,
Harvey continues to wreak havoc on Houston and the lives of millions of Texans. Our communities have come together and neighbors are not only helping each other, they are helping strangers in need.  This is a great testament to the character of Texans.  I am also grateful to all of our first responders and the people of Louisiana and all across the country for risking their lives to help us.
I am in communication with our local elected officials and emergency personnel and my staff is updating my website, Facebook and Twitter to provide you with resources for during and after the storm.  Please continue to check these sites for new information.
It is imperative that you remain vigilant and  monitor the flow of the water at Harris County Flood Warning System.
If you need immediate assistance, please use the following contact information.
EMERGENCY CONTACTS:
  • Harris County Office of Emergency Management: 713-881-3100
  • Texas Emergency Assistance Hotline: 1-877-541-7905
  • Social Security Administration: 1-800-772-1213
  • Harris County Evacuation Assistance Registration: 2-1-1 (County wide) 3-1-1 (in Houston)
  • United States Coast Guard: 281-464-4851, 281-464-4852, 281-464-4853, 281-464-4854, 281-464-4855
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): 1-800-621-3362 TTY 1-800-462-7585
SHELTERS:
For Houstonians who have been displaced due to the storm, there are several shelters across Harris County.
ADDITONAL RESOURCES:
City of Houston – Houston residents should visit the City of Houston recovery website, or dial 3-1-1 for assistance.
American Red Cross – For shelter, food, clothing, and other emergency assistance, call the American Red Cross at (866) 526-8300.
Harris County Flood Control District – For the latest information on the state of Harris County’s watersheds, visit the website or to report house flooding call 713-684-4000.
Harris County Recovery Network – For questions about general disaster recovery resources available to Harris County residents, please call the Community Services Department team at (713) 696-1998, or visit their website.
I encourage you to continue monitoring updates and instructions from local, state, and federal agencies as well as the Harris County Office of Emergency Management for guidance.


Sincerely, 

John Culberson





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