Who Watches The Watchers

FBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes in one year

"The FBI gave its informants permission to break the law at least 5,658 times in a single year. Agents authorized 15 crimes a day, on average, including everything from buying and selling illegal drugs to bribing government officials and plotting robberies. FBI officials have said in the past that permitting their informants — who are often criminals themselves — to break the law is an indispensable, if sometimes distasteful, part of investigating criminal organizations. USA TODAY asked the FBI for all of the reports it had prepared since 2006, but FBI officials said they could locate only one, which they released after redacting nearly all of the details." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes in one year

Florida education chief resigns after fixing charter school grades for GOP donor

"Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett resigned on Thursday after he was accused of changing a grading system while serving as Indiana school superintendent so that a Republican donor’s charter school would not receive bad marks. An Associated Press report earlier this week found that Bennett had quickly overhauled a school grading system after discovering that high-profile charter school Christel House was expected to receive a 'C' grade. Under a revised formula, the school was awarded an 'A' grade. Bennett had left Indiana to take the top education job in Florida in January." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida education chief resigns after fixing charter school grades for GOP donor

The FBI Ran a Child Porn Site for Two Whole Weeks

"The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Bureau agents posed as child porn dealers, actively distributing pornography while the site was under their control—just as other agencies perform sting operations with drugs and prostitution. It's not yet clear if the technique worked that well: in the two week period, the FBI attempted to identify 5,600 users who had shared over 10,000 images of children. What can, perhaps, be judged, is the ethical position of distributing child pornography to incriminate suspects. Is it worse than supplying drugs in a sting? Or is it fair game given the end result? What do you think?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe FBI Ran a Child Porn Site for Two Whole Weeks

Indianapolis “Officer of the Year” attacks man in under 16 seconds of conversation

"Brian Hudkins was disputing with hotel staff over the fact that unauthorized people had entered his hotel room. He was upset but not in any way aggressive. He even clasped his hands behind his back. That's when 'Officer of the Year' T. Michael Wilson and Brian Hudkins began interacting. Video shows that in only 16 seconds of talking to Hudkins, he inexplicably grabs him by the shoulders and tackles him violently to the ground. Hudkins had his hands behind his back during the entire body-slam maneuver. Hudkins suffered cuts and bruises, an injured shoulder, was denied medication, and has had his business and reputation suffer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndianapolis “Officer of the Year” attacks man in under 16 seconds of conversation

Texas jailer must face trial after video caught him raping 15-year-old

"A federal judge ruled this week that a trial against a Texas jailer can go forward after video caught him allegedly raping a 15-year-old female inmate. In a suit filed late last year, Michelle and Danny Hall accused former Harris County correctional officer Robert Robinson of raping their daughter, M.S.H., during her two month stay at Houston’s Harris County Juvenile Justice Center. The suit accuses Robinson of 'grooming' the girl with food and candy, before the encounters 'quickly escalated with quid pro quo requests that exchanged gifts for genital fondling and touching.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas jailer must face trial after video caught him raping 15-year-old

60 U.S. military members fired in Pentagon sexual assault review

"Sixty people have been removed from jobs as military recruiters, drill instructors and victims counselors as a result of screenings ordered following a jump in the number of sexual assault in the U.S. armed forces, officials said on Friday. The Army said 55 people had been suspended from their positions since screenings ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began last month. The Navy said it had screened more than 10,000 recruiters, drill instructors and personnel responsible for assisting sexual assault victims and had removed five people from their positions." Continue reading →

Continue Reading60 U.S. military members fired in Pentagon sexual assault review

Japanese university to retract Novartis study based on fabricated data

"A Japanese university is to retract a study that touted the effectiveness of a blood pressure drug made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis because it was based on fabricated data. The move was the latest chapter in a growing scandal over allegations that bogus data were used in a string of Japanese university studies for the drug Valsartan which exaggerated its effectiveness in preventing strokes and angina. On Wednesday, Tokyo's Jikei University School of Medicine said it would retract research that appeared in respected medical journal The Lancet six years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapanese university to retract Novartis study based on fabricated data

After the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed

"The former high-ranking National Security Agency analyst now sells iPhones. The top intelligence officer at the CIA lives in a motor home outside Yellowstone National Park and spends his days fly-fishing for trout. The FBI translator fled Washington for the West Coast. This is what life looks like for some after revealing government secrets. Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing, according to those who did it. Jeopardizing national security, according to the government. A look at the lives of a handful of those who did just that shows that they often wind up far from the stable government jobs they held. They can even wind up in the aisles of a craft store." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfter the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed

Cops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

"A divided federal appeals court ruled today that the government does not need a probable-cause warrant to access mobile-phone subscribers’ cell-site information, a decision reversing lower court decisions that said the location data was protected by the Fourth Amendment. The 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the third federal appeals court to decide the privacy issue. All the while, two federal appellate courts have now taken the government’s position that court warrants are not required for the location data. And a third federal appellate court said judges had the option to demand warrants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

Disturbing Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother, Judge Does Nothing

"The initial events took place in 2011, when Monica Contreras was led from the court into a waiting room for a supposed, though unexplained, drug search. She then says a court marshal named Ron Fox touched her and ordered her to lift up her shirt. When she fled back into the courtroom and complained to the hearing master, asking at least for a female marshal, Fox had her arrested for 'making false accusations against a police officer.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDisturbing Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother, Judge Does Nothing