Category: Born again Cynic!
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Maybe this ruling/agreement can be taken to other places. Philadelphia Will Dismantle Its Asset Forfeiture Program and Pay $3 Million to Victims.
Maybe this ruling/agreement can be taken to other places. Philadelphia Will Dismantle Its Asset Forfeiture Program and Pay $3 Million to Victims.
Four years after Philadelphia police seized the home of Markela and Chris Sourovelis for a minor drug crime committed by their son, the city has agreed to almost completely dismantle its controversial civil asset forfeiture program and pay $3 million to its victims.
The Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, announced today that the city had agreed to a settlement in a federal civil rights class-action lawsuit challenging its forfeiture program.
The Constitution (that document that no one reads anymore) maintains that government can’t impose excessive fines, and it also can’t take private property without just compensation. The way asset forfeiture works in this country violates both of those restrictions.
A 2015 report by the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union found that almost a third of cash forfeiture cases in Philadelphia involved money owned by people who had not been found guilty of a crime.
The “court” in which you had to appear to contest this was run by prosecutors – no judges, and no “court-appointed attorneys.” And it sounds like very little justice. (Hat tip to Irons in the Fire.)
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Opinion
Fayetteville, AR –-(Ammoland.com)- Since 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been a key defender of basic rights in America, fighting cases in the courts, and often winning, to protect the ability of people in the unpopular minority to express themselves in speech and belief, to control their own bodies, and to insist that the judiciary affords them due process.
The organization’s one consistent blind spot has been their views on gun rights.
This is not hard to understand. The emphasis on civil liberties—the protections afforded by law, instead of rights that are inherent in human beings—shapes the group’s thinking, and the case law on the Second Amendment was mixed prior to the Heller decision.
Still, the ACLU isn’t actively a part of the anti-gun lobby, and in the same way that attacks on the NRA because they don’t work on some activist’s pet obsession are misdirected, criticizing the ACLU for their views on guns is mostly a waste of effort.
That’s especially the case since on some important points of contention, the ACLU has discovered the concept of consistency.
When, for example, the Social Security Administration was contemplating a change in the rules regarding the exercise of gun rights by persons whom the agency determined to be incapable of managing their own affairs, the ACLU objected, saying that an administrative finding cannot be a substitute for due process, even when members of the organization might approve of the result.
This is a good test of anyone’s intellectual honesty. As stated above, the ACLU has spent decades defending due process, and it would have been hypocritical to sacrifice the same in pursuit of the objective of making legal gun ownership more difficult—though again, that’s not a primary goal of the organization.
Gun control advocates all too often demonstrate their willingness to discard any other right that stands in the way of their desires.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union is speaking out against the efforts of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to silence the NRA by cutting off the latter’s access to financial services. A statement from the ACLU put it this way:
“Political advocacy organizations like the NRA (or the ACLU or Planned Parenthood) need basic business services, like insurance and banking, to operate.
The NRA says that the state, using its regulatory powers over those industries, is threatening financial companies that do business with the NRA.”
This, of course, is a declaration of the obvious, but it has to be said to people who obviously are more desirous of the rule of whim over the rule of law.
Why would the ACLU take this position? That is explained further down:
“Substitute Planned Parenthood or the Communist Party for the NRA, and the point is clear.
If Cuomo can do this to the NRA, then conservative governors could have their financial regulators threaten banks and financial institutions that do business with any other group whose political views the governor opposes.
The First Amendment bars state officials from using their regulatory power to penalize groups merely because they promote disapproved ideas.”
In other words, the American Civil Liberties Union understands, to borrow a line from Martin Niemöller, that if the government comes after one type of political advocacy and we say nothing, the government will come after us soon enough and there will be no one left to speak on our behalf.
The American Civil Liberties Union is fighting for the principle summed up by Voltaire’s biographer, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, that “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
This is in keeping with American values, and we should be pleased to welcome the ACLU to this much of the cause.
About Greg Camp
Greg Camp has taught English composition and literature since 1998 and is the author of six books, including a western, The Willing Spirit, and Each One, Teach One, with Ranjit Singh on gun politics in America. His books can be found on Amazon. He tweets @gregcampnc.
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I also should mention that I have slipped this outfit a few buck now & then. As since they might not be perfect. But they do try to do the right thing most of the time. – Grumpy
Wilson, last seen in Thailand, is now considered a fugitive by US authorities
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Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson — known for his fight with the US government over 3D-printed guns — has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor, according toThe Austin American-Statesman.
The Statesman reports that police filed an arrest warrant for Wilson today in Travis County, Texas, alleging that a girl under 17 years old (the state’s age of consent) said Wilson paid her for sex after meeting on a site called SugarDaddyMeet.com.
The Statesman reports that jail records show Wilson had not been booked as of Wednesday morning, but police had corroborated the story with hotel records and surveillance footage. Wilson did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment.
According to the Statesman, Wilson began corresponding with the girl (whose identity has not been revealed) in August under the name “Sanjuro.”
He then revealed his name and described himself as a “big deal,” and the pair allegedly exchanged nude photos before meeting at an Austin coffee shop on August 15th, then returning to a hotel room.
The girl later told a counselor that she had been paid $500 for sex with a 30-year-old man, and the counselor reported the incident to police, who interviewed the girl in late August and identified Wilson from his account profile pictures.
The affidavit for the arrest warrant states that Wilson is charged with second-degree felony sexual assault.
Steve Dorsey✔@steve_dorsey
A very detailed affidavit for arrest warrant in Travis County, Texas, alleges 3D printed gun blueprints maker Cody Wilson met a 17-year-old girl through http://SugarDaddyMeet.com , and they had sex in an Austin hotel.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the Austin Police Department stated that Wilson’s last known whereabouts were in Taiwan, where he had skipped a flight back to the United States. “We don’t know why he went to Taiwan, but we do know that he was informed that he was being investigated,” said Commander Troy Officer, according to Ars Technica.
Officer also said that the victim was 16 years old, and that detectives who had interviewed the girl found it unlikely that Wilson would have mistaken her for someone over the age of consent. “If someone mistakes their age, it’d be because she’s younger not older,” he said.
Austin police are now cooperating with US Marshals and international partners to arrest Wilson.
Later on Wednesday evening, the US Marshals Service released a “wanted” posted for Wilson, detailing the charge against him and encouraging people to contact the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force with information about his whereabouts, according to reporter Tony Plohetski for the Austin American-Statesman:
Tony Plohetski✔@tplohetski
NOW: U.S. Marshals release “wanted” poster for Cody Wilson, maker of so-called 3D guns.
Wilson, who describes himself as a crypto-anarchist, has fought a years-long battle to distribute blueprints for 3D-printed firearms in an attempt to make American gun regulations unenforceable.
His company Defense Distributed developed a working 3D-printed single-shot pistol called the Liberator in 2013, drawing the attention of the State Department, which ordered him to pull the blueprints offline.
Wilson later sued the government, and the case went to a settlement in mid-2018, granting him the right to distribute printable gun files, which he eventually started doing last month via flash drives.
Wilson has also worked on a cryptocurrency project called Dark Wallet and is the creator of Hatreon, a currently defunct crowdfunding platform that supported “alt-right” white nationalists who were kicked off more mainstream funding sites like Patreon.
Update 9/19 6:00PM ET: Updated with details from press conference.
Update 9/19 8:22PM ET: Updated with details about Wilson now considered a fugitive by the US Marshals Service
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Okay let me get this right. A Man makes something the Government really does not like. So it does its best to stop him. But the Man puts up one Hell of a fight over it. Right so far?
However the Man then does something really stupid. By letting his little head do his some of his thinking, With a 16 year old Hooker no less.
I am also willing to bet that if she was a 17+ “girl”. There would not be a problem here. I also hope that she gave him a hell of a good ride for his $500. But I kind of doubt it. However that is another story for another day.
So call me Cynical, But here is how I see it so far.
Because of this stupidity. The Feds then sees their chance to nail this Old Boy & make him a guest of the State.
But The man, who has been probably tipped off by somebody. Wisely flees the scene by going to Asia. Before they can introduce him to his cellmate called Bubba & tossing the salad.
(You really do not want to know what that means by the way!)
We also will soon find out how much cash the guy has & how quickly it disappears then the G Men are after you!
Bottom Line – This sounds and smells like a huge pile of brown sauce to this old fart.
Anyways, Your comments are welcome by the way! Grumpy
The next time some whining liberal tells you that capital punishment doesn’t prevent murder, feel free to quote this article (once you have done kicking them in the balls, that is):
In March, two men were convicted in Newcastle Crown Court of the murder of a 29-year-old mother of two, Quyen Ngoc Nguyen. In a pre-meditated crime of unimaginable depravity, Stephen Unwin and William McFall robbed, raped and bludgeoned this 5ft-tall nail bar manager.
They dumped her — possibly still alive — in her own car, which they then set alight. They posed for ghoulish selfies at the scene.
Both men were already convicted killers, released as a result of parole board hearings.
McFall, now 51, had been freed after serving 13 years for battering to death with a hammer an 86-year-old woman whose home he had burgled.
Unwin, ten years younger, had been released after serving 14 years of a ‘life sentence’ for stabbing to death a 73-year-old retired pharmacist in the course of a burglary — on Christmas Day, 1998. Unwin had sought to cover up his tracks by setting fire to his victim’s bungalow.
There is no parole board on earth which can know if someone is truly remorseful (pictured: Nick Hardwick, former Parole Board chair) +6
There is no parole board on earth which can know if someone is truly remorseful (pictured: Nick Hardwick, former Parole Board chair)
He was released in 2012, because the parole board had believed his claim to feel ‘deep remorse’.
Yeah, he was remorseful, all right. It bears no reminding that had these two bastards (and the others in the article) been executed, their subsequent victims would still be alive. Prevention at its finest.
Frankly, I think that the parole boards who freed these animals should also face the needle / chair / gallows. This was a basic precept of Hammurabic Law, and I for one regret its passing, in this respect at least.
Remember too that our Liberal Class want us to be more like Europe or Britain, and the modern-day “democratic socialists” have included the abolition of the prison system in their election manifesto.
Communistatis delenda est.
***From Splendid Isolation
Since I am now blessed with a bad back. That and The Gods of the California Lottery have not taken mercy on me. Also the political scene in Southern Africa is a bit hairy for me right now!
‘In God We Trust’ sign offended teachers, so the school district came up with a fix
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Palm Beach County teachers who were offended by an “In God We Trust” sign displayed in front offices prompted the school district on Wednesday to come up with a new way to comply with a recently approved state law.
The School Board agreed to use the state seal, which also says “In God We Trust,” in place of Palm Beach County’s homemade design, which posted the words in bold capital letters. The seal is more subtle and can’t be criticized, board members said.
“Who can be offended by the state seal?” asked board member Karen Brill, who came up with the idea. “It’s one of those stories where employees see something that rubs them the wrong way.”
In March, Gov. Rick Scott signed a lawthat says schools must post the motto in a “conspicuous place.” The measure, passed by the state Legislature, was sponsored by Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville, who runs a Christian ministry.
The law requires “each district school board” to display the motto inside “all of the schools of the district and in each building used by the district school board.”
“In God We Trust” has been the state’s motto since 2006, although it’s been on the state seal since 1868 and on the state flag since 1900, according to the Florida Department of State.
Palm Beach County schools’ Deputy Superintendent Keith Oswald said schools have been given flexibility on where and how to post the motto. It’s typically been placed at the counter of the front office or near the front desk, he said.
Brill said she heard from several teachers who took umbrage at the district’s prominent placement of the motto. She said they felt it violated church-state separation, but didn’t realize it was now a state requirement.
“A few of them were very offended,” she said.
Several Florida school districts are making use of the state emblem to comply, including Lake, Osceola, Seminole and Orange counties.
Palm Beach County School Board member Erica Whitfield said the district should develop a consistent display method.
“We should work toward having it look nice,” she said. “We’ll make it look more professional.”
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This sounds like some Folks have way too much time on their hands.
If I was in charge, I would put them in charge of a In Service that they would have to develop about this “ISSUE”.
Then make them redo it a few dozen times. All the while having to do their regular assignments also at the same time.
Followed up by an official evaluation about their time management skills as an Employee at the District.
Grumpy
or How about this one?
Gary Black faithfully served his country in Vietnam, and he died protecting his family earlier this summer. (Photo: CBS Denver)
A Vietnam War veteran and Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient was laid to rest this weekend after being shot by police defending his grandson from a home intruder.
Richard “Gary” Black, 73, was in his Aurora, Colorado, home around 1:30 a.m. last month when a naked man broke down their front door and began assaulting his grandson. Black shot the intruder, but police shot Black when they arrived at the scene and saw him carrying a handgun and a flashlight.
The incident has been described as one of the most tragic police shootings in the city’s history, according to the Denver Post, and those who were there hailed him as a hero both in the service and at home.
“He was a hero coming out of that war, and he died a hero defending his family,” said Mark Potter, chaplain for American Legion Post 22 in Northglenn, Colorado.
Aurora Police Department Chief Nick Metz, whose officer shot and killed Black, was also in attendance, accompanied by several uniformed officers. Metz hailed Black as a hero for defending his family.
“There’s no doubt in my mind in any shape or form that Mr. Black saved his family’s life that night,” Metz said.
SEE ALSO: Police at Texas Tech Praise Campus Carry: ‘No Longer a Target of Opportunity’ for Mass Killers
The incident began when 26-year-old Dajon Harper left a nearby party and, for reasons that remain unclear, broke down Black’s door and grabbed Black’s grandson, who had been sleeping on the couch, according to the Denver Post. Harper took Black’s grandson to the bathroom and tried to drown him, while Black and the boy’s father attempted to wrestle the boy away.
“I won’t go into the graphic details other than to say the child was violently assaulted,” Metz said.
Black was hit in the head with a vase during the course of the fight, and neither man was able to pull Harper off the boy. Black retrieved a 9mm handgun and shot Harper, but by that time other people from the party had arrived at the house.
Metz told reporters earlier this month that his officers arrived to a “violent” and “chaotic” scene, and it isn’t clear from 911 and dispatch calls whether they had been given a clear description of the intruder or the other individuals at the house.
“The 911 telephone call by Mrs. Black was difficult to understand as large portions are unintelligible,” the Black family said in a statement. “The family acknowledges the APD’s position that the responding officers did not receive a description of the intruders.”
SEE ALSO: WATCH: Suspects, Police Exchange Over 60 Rounds in Insane Shootout
Officers observed Black walk around a corner, turn back, and come towards them. Metz says his officers told Black multiple times to drop his weapon, but he also admitted that Black had suffered hearing impairment during his time in the Army.
“For the next 13 seconds, officers continued to give at least five commands to Mr. Black to drop the gun and to show his hands,” Metz said. “We don’t know why, but for whatever reason Mr. Black did not drop the gun.”
Metz admitted that the officers did not identify themselves before firing, but has continued to defend his officers’ actions, even allowing the officers who shot Black to return to work this week.
“There was a reference that our officers acted recklessly,” Metz said. “I dispute that strongly. They were not reckless. They responded how I would expect them to respond given the limited amount of information they were given.”
Gary Black’s wife, Jeanette Black, invited the Aurora police to her husband’s funeral because she wanted her children and grandchildren to respect law enforcement despite what happened.
“They’re still here to protect all of us,” she said. “They’re still representatives of our city.”