Land Of The Flea

Police Shoot Man For No Reason Except Open-Carrying Rifle

"A 27-year-old Edmonds man who was shot by police after a verbal confrontation was in serious condition Saturday at Harborview Medical Center. Police spokesman Aaron Snell said the man had been walking along a street near Edmonds Elementary School carrying a rifle. His behavior prompted two 911 calls from nearby residents — the first coming in around 7:30 a.m., Snell said. He said officers don’t know of a motive for the man’s actions. 'We don’t believe he was aiming or shooting the weapon,' Snell said. The Edmonds officers who responded to the 911 calls issued verbal commands to the man, then fired at him, Snell said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice Shoot Man For No Reason Except Open-Carrying Rifle

76-Year-Old Man Loses $197,000 Home Over $134 Tax Lien

"On the day Bennie Coleman lost his house, the day armed U.S. marshals came to his door and ordered him off the property, he slumped in a folding chair across the street and watched the vestiges of his 76 years hauled to the curb. Movers carted out his easy chair, his clothes, his television. Next came the things that were closest to his heart: his Marine Corps medals and photographs of his dead wife, Martha. The duplex in Northeast Washington that Coleman bought with cash two decades earlier was emptied and shuttered. By sundown, he had nowhere to go. All because he didn’t pay a $134 property tax bill." Continue reading →

Continue Reading76-Year-Old Man Loses $197,000 Home Over $134 Tax Lien

Deputies punished for actions during 1:30 am wrong-address arrest

"Deputies went to a house in Ellenwood on July 26 to serve an arrest warrant. The family told CBS Atlanta News they were startled at 1:30 a.m. when deputies beat on their front door. Fearing for their safety, the family said they took their time to open the door. Once inside, an officer used excessive force and aggressive language, according to one family member. 'If the police come to your house and need to come in, whether you agree or not that they need to come into the home, you need to open the door,' said DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown." Continue reading →

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Government Tattoo Statists of America

"Always on the lookout for opportunities to violate individual constitutional rights, statists want to interfere with that longstanding classic right of personal self expression – tattoos -- a practice which has been unregulated since the dawn of mankind. The Department of Health for the city of Washington D.C., is proposing a new regulation requiring a 24-hour waiting period and other onerous requirements for the provision of tattoo services. Sixty-five pages of rules and regulations designed to stifle tattoo parlors would require that a tattoo artist cannot apply a tattoo or body piercing until at least 24 hours after a customer requests it." Continue reading →

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New York Police Officer, Customs Officer Arrested For Trafficking Illegal Guns

"A New York Police Department officer and two of his brothers were arrested for allegedly trafficking high-powered firearms out of the United States and into the Philippines, federal law-enforcement officials announced on Friday. Rex Maralit, a 44-year-old officer assigned to police headquarters in Lower Manhattan, was arrested on charges of conspiring with his brothers to violate the Arms Export Control Act and engage in unlicensed firearms dealing, law-enforcement officials said. His brother, Wilfredo Maralit, 48, a Customs and Border Protection Officer at Los Angeles International Airport, was also arrested." Continue reading →

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Tulsa police officer arrested for engaging in prostitution

"A Tulsa police officer has been arrested for engaging in prostitution within 1000 feet of a church and having a gun while committing a felony. From Tulsa police we've been able to determine the investigation into Turner was a lengthy one. And it came to head Thursday when documents show he made contact with an undercover female officer and solicited sex for $40. We even tried talking with residents at the Executive Inn. Most said the story makes them lose faith in police, but they didn't want to go on camera. Turner's second charge involving a firearm is because when he arrested in this room, he was searched and police found a loaded gun on the off duty officer." Continue reading →

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North Carolina Court To Decide Whether Firemen Can Perform Traffic Stops

"Gordon Shatley, a Chapel Hill Fire Department lieutenant, was responding to a fire alarm when he stopped his fire engine at the intersection of Estes Drive and Fordham Boulevard at 10:30pm on May 27, 2011. To his left he saw a light-colored Mercedes stopped with a window partially rolled down in pouring rain with only parking lights and the interior dome light on. He found it odd. Shatley called the police and followed the vehicle which began weaving toward oncoming traffic. Shatley had the red flashing lights of the fire truck activated and the siren blasted twice. The Mercedes pulled over." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNorth Carolina Court To Decide Whether Firemen Can Perform Traffic Stops

Journal Explores Incentive For False Results In Lab Tests For DUI

"A recent analysis published in the Criminal Justice Ethics academic journal suggests when technicians perform forensic analysis of blood and other evidence for cases such as drunk driving, the results can be influenced by built-in financial incentives to produce a conviction, arguing that even if false conviction rates are very low, a 3 percent error rate could put 33,000 innocent individuals behind bars every year. The primary problem, according to the paper, is that fourteen states reward crime labs with a bonus for each conviction they generate. North Carolina pays a $600 bounty 'upon conviction' to the law enforcement agency whose lab 'tested for the presence of alcohol.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJournal Explores Incentive For False Results In Lab Tests For DUI

In Terrorism Fight, Government Finds a Surprising Ally: FedEx [2005]

"FedEx has opened the international portion of its databases, including credit-card details, to government officials. It has created a police force recognized by the state of Tennessee that works alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [..] Moreover, the company is setting up a system designed to send reports of suspicious activities directly to the Department of Homeland Security via a special computer link. At rival United Parcel Service Inc., spokesman David Bolger says the company won't disclose information about its customers' shipments unless required to do so by law or regulation. FedEx also has a seat on a regional terrorism task force which has access to sensitive data." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Terrorism Fight, Government Finds a Surprising Ally: FedEx [2005]

6 Ways the U.S. Drug War Intrudes On Your Life, Whether Or Not You Use

"Many Americans who do not use illegal 'drugs' assume exemption from drug war policies. But regardless of how much marijuana you do or don't smoke, the U.S. war on drugs affects nearly everyone. While some prohibition tactics are more obvious than others, the drug war has slyly pushed its way into many corners of American life. Be it at the post office, in the workspace, or behind the counter at Walgreens, the war on drugs has established a nagging presence in the everyday lives of Americans, even those who do not get high illegally. Whether or not you are aware that the drug war is behind these creeping invasions, our drug policy has unequivocally curtailed basic civil rights." Continue reading →

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