Police State

Over 700 arrested so far in North Carolina ‘Moral Monday’ protests

"Demonstrators rallied outside the Legislative Building in the first 'Moral Monday' protest since the state Senate approved an unexpected bill last week increasing restrictions on abortion providers. Janet Colm, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, was among 64 protesters who were arrested when the demonstration moved inside the building. Over the past two months, more than 700 people have been arrested in the weekly protests against the actions of the Republican-led General Assembly. In anticipation for Monday evening's arrests, the Wake County Magistrate's Office more than doubled its staff to help handle the influx of arrests." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOver 700 arrested so far in North Carolina ‘Moral Monday’ protests

Federal judge orders Secret Service to release files on Internet activist Aaron Swartz

"U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued her ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by Wired reporter Kevin Poulsen, who is investigating the reasons for the heavy-handed prosecution that spurred Swartz to commit suicide. Swartz, who helped create the first RSS protocol at age 14 and co-founded the popular websites Reddit and Demand Progress, was charged in 2011 of stealing data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after he accessed a secure database of academic papers. Prosecutors threatened him with up to 30 years in prison, and Swartz committed suicide by hanging in January, at just 26 years old." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal judge orders Secret Service to release files on Internet activist Aaron Swartz

Police videos draw disparate opinions in Oklahoma

"A court ruled in May that a dash-cam video made by Claremore police of a DUI arrest in 2011 contains facts concerning the arrest and is public under the state Open Records Act. The city of Claremore has petitioned the Oklahoma Supreme Court, asking it to review the decision. 'I'm not trying to be coy or provide a lack of transparency,' Claremore Police Chief Stan Brown said in a telephone interview. 'I base my administration on my mission statement, which includes accountability. I want us to be accountable. But I'm not just accountable to the people that request the information. I'm accountable to the people that I'm supposed to be protecting, too.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice videos draw disparate opinions in Oklahoma

Deputy in viral DUI checkpoint video has checkered past

"Channel 4 News has learned some new information about the Rutherford County sheriff's deputy who is seen in a viral video at a July 4 DUI checkpoint. Deputy AJ Ross has faced scrutiny in the past and has actually worked for the department on two different occasions. His personnel file shows Ross left the sheriff's department in 2004. He resigned instead of being terminated after failing to show up to testify in court on a day when he had dozens of criminal cases on the docket. He also missed a grand jury appearance, according to the file. On top of all that, Ross lied about having insurance when he rear-ended someone in his pickup truck, the file shows." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeputy in viral DUI checkpoint video has checkered past

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Talk to the Police

"REASON #1: Talking to the police CANNOT help you. If the police are talking to you, it’s because they suspect you have committed a crime. If they have detained you, it’s because they already have enough evidence to arrest you and they want to see if you will admit it and thus, give them an even stronger case against you. If they have evidence to arrest you for a crime, they will. If they don’t, they won’t. It’s as simple as that. Talking to them or not talking to them won’t make a difference! No one has ever 'talked his way out of' an arrest. If the police have enough evidence to arrest, they will." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTop Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Talk to the Police

A Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive

"Did you know that the U.S. government considers the U.S. border to be a 'constitution-free zone'? Did you know that customs officials can take your computer away from you, keep it for 30 days or more, and make a copy of everything that is on your hard drive? Sadly, this is actually true. According to the government, when you choose to cross the U.S. border you temporarily give up your constitutional rights. They can look at anything on your computer that they want to, and if they find anything that violates any law, they can use it against you in court. You may think twice about taking your computer out of the country after you read the rest of this article." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive

Supreme Court asked to suspend NSA and FBI’s blanket collection of phone data

"The US supreme court will be asked to suspend the blanket collection of US telephone records by the FBI under an emergency petition due to be filed on Monday by civil rights campaigners at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic). Previous attempts to appeal against the rulings of these courts have floundered due to a lack of public information about who might be caught up in the surveillance net, but the disclosure of specific orders by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has opened the door to a flurry of new challenges. It comes as a similar legal challenge was filed in Britain on Monday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSupreme Court asked to suspend NSA and FBI’s blanket collection of phone data

The State: Always the Accuser, Never the Defendant

"As Harvey Silverglate points out, each of us commits at least three acts each day that could be described as felonies by any reasonably ambitious prosecutor. By using NSA-provided metadata to conduct a 'pattern of life' analysis of a targeted individual, law enforcement agencies could probably contrive an excuse to arrest practically anybody at any time. This capacity will dramatically expand opportunities for official retaliation against Mundanes who seek redress for abuses committed by police – including family members of deceased victims." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe State: Always the Accuser, Never the Defendant

Perverted Judge Perverts Judgment With Pre-Signed Blank Arrest Warrants

"Michael Henderson, a former captain in the Murray County, Georgia Sheriff’s Office, has pleaded guilty to obstruction and witness tampering by retaliating against a woman who filed a complaint against a local judge. Henderson and a deputy sheriff staged a pretext traffic stop on a vehicle in which Mrs. Garmley was a passenger, a conspiracy to retaliate against Mrs. Garmley by planting methamphetamine in a small metal container hidden on the underside of the vehicle. Charges against them were dropped shortly after Judge Cochrane was forced to resign. In his letter of resignation, Cochrane admitted that he had illegally pre-signed blank warrants for police officers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPerverted Judge Perverts Judgment With Pre-Signed Blank Arrest Warrants

The Ten Most Disturbing Things You Should Know About the FBI Since 9/11

"1. USA Patriot Act Abuse; 2. 2008 Amendments to the Attorney General's Guidelines; 3. Racial and Ethnic Mapping; 4. Unrestrained Data Collection and Data Mining 5. Suppressing Internal Dissent: The FBI War on Whistleblowers; 6. Targeting Journalists; 7. Thwarting Congressional Oversight; 8. Targeting First Amendment Activity; 9. Proxy Detentions; 10. Use of No Fly List to Pressure Americans Abroad to Become Informants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Ten Most Disturbing Things You Should Know About the FBI Since 9/11