bill of rights

A Commissarina Rises: Wendy J. Olson’s Reign of Terror

"After being appointed to her current post by Barack Obama in 2010, Olson wasted no time in building a large network of undercover informants and devising remarkably novel ways to turn innocent people into criminals. While Olson’s efforts have done nothing to enhance the security of persons or property, they have been immensely lucrative for the coercive class. An October 4 press release from the Commissarina’s office boasted that her staff had collected $84 million in fines, assessments, and forfeiture proceeds over the past year – ten times its operating budget." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Commissarina Rises: Wendy J. Olson’s Reign of Terror

Kentucky Appeals Court Upholds Random License Plate Scans

"Judges in Kentucky have no problem with police randomly scanning the license plates of motorists who are not suspected of any crime. The state Court of Appeals last week upheld the conviction of Timothy Gentry who was stopped on October 3, 2009 because a Lexington police officer conducted what he said was a random license plate scan. The court also dismissed Gentry's complaint that Officer Newman acted arbitrarily because the Lexington Police Department had no official policy guidelines to limit random information checks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKentucky Appeals Court Upholds Random License Plate Scans

Human rights advocates raise concerns over increased police Taser use

"Taser use in England rose by 45% in 2011 and the numbers are expected to continue to increase as more weapons are given to rank-and-file officers. The stun guns were fired by police at 27-year-old Dale Burns in Barrow, Cumbria, last year, who later died. In the US, where they are more regularly used, there have been hundreds of deaths. Before 2008, the use of Tasers was restricted to firearms officers, but their use has increased in recent years as more frontline officers have access to them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHuman rights advocates raise concerns over increased police Taser use

NJ Assemblyman, Former Mayor Accosted By Cop Previously Fired For Lying

"'What happened to me should happen to no one,' the 56-year-old former Washington Township mayor said Friday. 'I was targeted. I was hunted down by this police officer who lied in a police report, lied in the summons he gave to me, lied to me, lied on tape, and also lied to his supervisors,' he said. 'I didn't do anything wrong that day.' In the video - obtained by Moriarty's lawyer, John Eastlack - the officer's mobile video recorder shows a sequence of events that appears to correspond with Moriarty's account of the police stop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNJ Assemblyman, Former Mayor Accosted By Cop Previously Fired For Lying

Jury Nullification Victory For New Jersey Weedman

"A jury found Ed 'NJWeedman' Forchion not guilty Thursday in the Rastafarian activist’s marijuana distribution case. The decision came after Forchion was nearly held in contempt of court in the morning as he delivered his closing argument. Forchion, formerly of Pemberton Township, tried to introduce his jury nullification argument into the closing, but was quickly stopped by Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey, who had barred any discussion of it." Continue reading →

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No-Fly List Strands Man In Hawaii

"The 34-year-old from Gulfport, Miss., was stranded in the islands this week after being told he was on the FBI's no-fly list during a layover for a military flight from California to Japan. The episode left Hicks scrambling to figure out how he'd get home from Hawaii without being able to fly. How could someone on a list intelligence officials use to inform counterterrorism investigations successfully fly standby on an Air Force flight? He wasn't told why and wondered whether his controversial views on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks played a role. Hicks said he disagrees with the 9/11 Commission's conclusions about the attacks." Continue reading →

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Ben Affleck Defends TSA ‘Dick Grabbing’

"During a recent appearance on Bill Maher's Real Time, actor Ben Affleck defended the TSA's policy of grabbing people's genitals. Affleck probably isn't too fussed about what the TSA do because he is driven straight to the runway to board his private jet - he doesn't even have to go through TSA security!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBen Affleck Defends TSA ‘Dick Grabbing’

‘Fusion centers’ spark security controversy

"The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help establish more than 70 such 'fusion centers' throughout the country. The idea was for the centers to serve as a domestic information-sharing network that would help local, state and federal law enforcement agencies better collaborate to prevent a future attack. But a two-year inquiry released earlier this month questions the value of such centers saying they’ve provided irrelevant, useless or inappropriate information that, in some instances, threatened people’s constitutional rights." Continue reading →

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TSA removes X-ray body scanners from major airports

"The Transportation Security Administration has been quietly removing its X-ray body scanners from major airports over the last few weeks and replacing them with machines that radiation experts believe are safer. The TSA says it made the decision not because of safety concerns but to speed up checkpoints at busier airports. The United States remains one of the only countries in the world to X-ray passengers for airport screening. The European Union prohibited the backscatters last year 'in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens’ health and safety.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA removes X-ray body scanners from major airports

Why Firing a Bad Cop Is Damn Near Impossible

"All of these Rhode Island cops, and many more like them across the country, were able to keep their jobs and benefits—sometimes only temporarily, but always longer than they should have—thanks to model legislation written and lobbied for by well-funded police unions. That piece of legislation is called the 'law enforcement bill of rights,' and its sole purpose is to shield cops from the laws they're paid to enforce." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Firing a Bad Cop Is Damn Near Impossible