statism

Michael Douglas slams U.S. prison system after Emmy win

"Backstage, Douglas elaborated: 'My son is in federal prison. He’s been a drug addict for a large part of his life. Part of the punishments — if you happen to have a slip, and this is for a prisoner who is nonviolent, as about a half-million of our drug-addicted prisoners are — he’s spent almost two years in solitary confinement. Right now I’ve been told that I can’t see him for two years. It’s been over a year now. And I’m questioning the system.' Continued Douglas: 'Obviously at first, I was certainly disappointed in my son. But I’ve reached a point now where I’m very disappointed with the system.' Cameron Douglas is currently serving a sentence of nearly 10 years for non-violent drug offenses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Douglas slams U.S. prison system after Emmy win

Sheriff sentenced to 9 years in prison for jobs-for-cash scheme

"Former sheriff's office investigator Darrin DiBiasi, 45, was sentenced to 364 days in jail for passing on some $25,000 to Spicuzzo from people looking to get hired by the department. As part of a plea agreement, Spicuzzo, the once-powerful chairman of the Middlesex County Democratic party, pleaded guilty in June to taking $25,000 in cash bribes in exchange for promoting one of his own employees. That was a fraction of the $112,000 prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s office say Spicuzzo, 68, accepted from people seeking jobs or promotions in the sheriff’s office during his 30-year reign as one of Middlesex County’s top law enforcement officers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheriff sentenced to 9 years in prison for jobs-for-cash scheme

Irvington police chief paid $115K while suspended

"Irvington Police Chief Michael Chase hasn’t worked a single day in the past nine months, but a series of legal fits and starts has allowed the town’s suspended top cop to take home roughly $115,000 so far this year, leading to a state investigation, officials said. Chase was suspended in December 2012 after an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office accused him of quashing a probe into alleged misconduct by his police officer nephew and charged him with failing to properly supervise his department’s Internal Affairs Unit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIrvington police chief paid $115K while suspended

Where Prisoners Are Guaranteed To Private Prisons

"Most quotas require at least 90 percent of the beds in a prison to be filled, according to a new report by the advocacy group In the Public Interest, and quotas were part of nearly two-thirds of the contracts the group analyzed. Prison companies use the profits to expand, effectively pulling the strings on state prison populations as lawmakers must incarcerate a certain number of people — or pay. The state of Arizona recently paid the prison company Management & Training Corp. $3 million for empty beds when a 97 percent quota wasn't met, reported HuffPost's Chris Kirkham. The U.S. leads the world in incarcerating its residents, with one in 100 adults behind bars." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhere Prisoners Are Guaranteed To Private Prisons

Vacant Private Prisons in Oklahoma May Re-Open

"CCA has posted job openings for various positions at the Watonga prison and a warden has been named, according to the CCA website. The prison, whose capacity is about 2,100, closed in 2010 after the state of Arizona ended its contract with the company. Meanwhile, in Hinton, Mayor Shelly Newton said representatives from Geo Group, which operates the Great Plains facility, have been holding job fairs in preparation for a new contract. The Great Plains prison, which has a capacity of 2,000 inmates, closed in 2010 after Arizona also ended its contract for that facility. Newton said re-opening the prison would greatly benefit Hinton’s economy. The city has about 2,000 residents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVacant Private Prisons in Oklahoma May Re-Open

Oklahoma inmates access Facebook with smuggled cellphones

"Dozens of Oklahoma inmates — some of them convicted murderers — have been active on Facebook from behind bars, even though it is against prison rules, an investigation by The Oklahoman found. Reporters spent hundreds of hours on Facebook to find inmate users, primarily by their Facebook photos. Many inmates put 'selfies' online, photos of themselves taken by holding a cellphone camera away from their bodies. One of the most prolific photo-takers is a convicted murderer, Clifford Putman, 26. He has more than 200 photos on Facebook dating to June 2012." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOklahoma inmates access Facebook with smuggled cellphones

Robber ran major drug ring from prison

"In state prison since 2004 for robbery, inmate Marsial 'Oso' Garcia still found a way to operate a major drug ring, federal authorities say. He used smuggled cellphones, authorities say. Garcia, 31, pleaded guilty last week in Oklahoma City federal court to cocaine distribution and a money-laundering conspiracy involving more than $200,000. He will be sentenced later. Beginning in November 2011, from prison, Garcia arranged with suppliers in California and elsewhere to send 'multi-pound quantities of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics' to Oklahoma for distribution, according to a federal indictment against 11 other defendants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRobber ran major drug ring from prison

Justice Department: ATF misplaced 420 million cigarettes in stings

"Government agents acting without authorization conducted dozens of undercover investigations of illegal tobacco sales, misused some of $162 million in profits from the stings and lost track of at least 420 million cigarettes, the Justice Department's inspector general said Wednesday. In one case, ATF agents sold $15 million in cigarettes and later turned over $4.9 million in profits from the sales to a confidential informant — even though the agency did not properly account for the transaction. The audit came as a new blow to a beleaguered agency still reeling from congressional inquiries into the ATF's flawed handling of the Operation Fast and Furious weapons tracking probes in Mexico." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustice Department: ATF misplaced 420 million cigarettes in stings

The American Economy is Not a Free-Market Economy

"Those inclined to dismiss Lewis’s claim as exaggerated must confront the solid body of evidence he amasses. Everyone knows that governmentally-sponsored mortgages helped to fuel the housing bubble that burst in 2008 with disastrous consequences. As Lewis points out, though, the situation is much worse than most people imagined. 'By the end of 2007 government-sponsored mortgages accounted for 81% of all the mortgage loans made in the US and by 2010 this had risen to 100%.' Government dominance is of course bad for the economy, but it works to the benefit of a small group of the powerful. A great strength of the book is that Lewis names names: he tells us who the predators are." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe American Economy is Not a Free-Market Economy

IRS official caught in tea party scandal retires with $50,000/year pension

"Lois Lerner, the IRS official who presided over a partisan program that targeted conservative organizations because of their political beliefs, will retire on Monday with a full pension package, a source at the Department of Treasury told MailOnline. Lerner, 62, has been a federal government employee since at least 1981, making her eligible for the most robust retirement package the federal government offers career employees. In May Lerner herself launched the scandal that would eventually claim her job, by answering a planted question about how the IRS handled politically oriented groups that applied for tax-exempt status." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS official caught in tea party scandal retires with $50,000/year pension