CLibertyC

Louisiana prison official: Raped 14-year-old inmate was no ‘Little Miss Muffin’

"Louisiana prison officials and attorneys are trying to evade culpability in the rape of a 14-year-old juvenile inmate by claiming that the girl had a consensual relationship with the guard who molested her. Lawyers for the parish filed papers in court that said, 'Vickers could not have engaged in sexual relations within the walls of the detention center with [the victim] without cooperation from her. Vickers did not use force, violence or intimidation when engaging in sexual relations.' Vickers, 49, was arrested in 2011 and charged with four counts of juvenile molestation and sexual malfeasance in office based on his conduct with Mary Doe and other girls." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLouisiana prison official: Raped 14-year-old inmate was no ‘Little Miss Muffin’

The IRS has become one of America’s leading exports

"If a 747 jetliner filled with one investor from each jurisdiction on earth touched down in a newly independent country, and each investor risked $1000 in a start-up venture, in the new economy, the American would face a far higher tax than anybody else on any gains. Special, penal taxation of foreign investment, exemplified by the so-called PFIC taxation, plus the U.S. nationality tax, can result in tax liabilities of 200 per cent or more on long term assets held outside the United States. A successful American could reduce his total lifetime tax burden as a citizen of any of more than 280 other jurisdictions on the globe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe IRS has become one of America’s leading exports

Atlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

"On June 27, IJ asked the court to clarify that Atlanta does indeed have a vending law in place under which the vendors can work. Shortly thereafter, we helped more than 75 vendors and their supporters march on City Hall. Three major civil rights groups joined us, as did most of Atlanta’s major media outlets who covered the protest. The very next day, the court clarified that the law authorizing the vending monopoly was 'wholly void' and should be treated 'as if it were never passed.' Because that law repealed an earlier vending ordinance, its invalidation meant that the old ordinance, which allows public property vending, was once again the law of the land." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAtlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

Wisconsin lawmaker & state official threatened with arrest for observing protest

"A Wisconsin lawmaker and a state official were both threatened with arrest for observing a progressive 'Solidarity Sing Along' protest at the state Capitol. State Rep. Sondy Pope and executive secretary Tia Nelson of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands told Isthmus they were threatened with arrest by a Capitol Police officer. The officer told the two women that anyone who stood to watch the protest rather than moving along was subject to arrest. In July, a judge ruled that groups of more than 20 people could not gather in the Wisconsin Capitol without a permit. Police have issued more than 100 citations to protesters so far." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWisconsin lawmaker & state official threatened with arrest for observing protest

NYPD agrees to purge database of people stopped by police

"The New York City Police Department has agreed to purge a database of names and addresses of people stopped by police under the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program but later cleared of criminal wrongdoing. The department will cease collecting the information as part of a settlement ending a lawsuit filed in 2010 in state court by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which announced the agreement on Wednesday. The settlement applies to people issued a summons or arrested after a police stop but whose cases were dismissed or ended with a fine for a noncriminal violation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD agrees to purge database of people stopped by police

Snowden’s father says Putin will continue to stand firm

"Lon Snowden’s comments came on the day that President Barack Obama canceled a summit meeting with Putin planned for next month in retaliation for Russia giving refuge to Edward Snowden. “These games of ‘Well, I’m not going to go to this meeting,’ or ‘I’m not going to go to that meeting,’ … I do not believe that President Vladimir Putin will cave to that,” he said. The older Snowden, who was in the Coast Guard for about 30 years before he retired in January 2009, said he 'wouldn’t take the unauthorized release of classified information lightly, and I did not initially either. The fact is, is now I have a much greater understanding of what has occurred.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden’s father says Putin will continue to stand firm

IRS secretly used DEA surveillance database to launch investigations

"Details of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration program that feeds tips to federal agents and then instructs them to alter the investigative trail were published in a manual used by agents of the Internal Revenue Service for two years. The practice of recreating the investigative trail, highly criticized by former prosecutors and defense lawyers after Reuters reported it this week, is now under review by the Justice Department. An IRS spokesman had no comment on the entry or on why it was removed from the manual. Reuters recovered the previous editions from the archives of the Westlaw legal database." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS secretly used DEA surveillance database to launch investigations

Texas man sues GOP lawmaker and husband over months of workplace Tasings

"A 45-year-old Texas man is suing a Republican state lawmaker and her husband over what he calls months of attacks with a Taser while working for them that left him paranoid in his private life. 'I was constantly looking behind my shoulder, distracted, couldn’t sleep,' Bradley Jones told KHOU-TV. 'I would even look behind my shower curtain at home.' KHOU reported on Tuesday that Jones has filed a civil suit against state Rep. Patricia Harless (R) and her husband, Sam Harless. The couple owns Fred Fincher Motors, where Jones has worked since 2009." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas man sues GOP lawmaker and husband over months of workplace Tasings

U.S. government tried to aggressively punish ‘leaker’ journalist in World War II

"The U.S. government attempted to aggressively prosecute a journalist who revealed early in World War II that American intelligence agencies had cracked the Japanese military’s secret code language. According to the Wall Street Journal, recently disclosed Justice Department documents show that government prosecutors contemplated not only punishing the reporter who wrote the story, but staff and editors at the newspaper that printed it, too. It is worth noting that the Tribune at that juncture was published by interests unfriendly to the Roosevelt administration. A grand jury dismissed all charges against Johnston." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. government tried to aggressively punish ‘leaker’ journalist in World War II

Unhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A ‘High Threat’

"Watch out for 'Hema.' A security training test created by a Defense Department agency warns federal workers that they should consider the hypothetical Indian-American woman a 'high threat' because she frequently visits family abroad, has money troubles and 'speaks openly of unhappiness with U.S. foreign policy.' That slide, from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), is a startling demonstration of the Obama administration's obsession with leakers and other 'insider threats.' One goal of its broader 'Insider Threat' program is to stop the next Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden from spilling classified or sensitive information." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A ‘High Threat’