By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 29, 2010
You can only hope that you will be as sharp and intellectually focused as former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens when you’re 90 years old.
In a provocative essay in The New York Review of Books, the former justice, who once supported the death penalty, offers some welcome insight into why he now opposes this ultimate criminal sanction and believes it to be unconstitutional.
As Adam Liptak noted in The Times on Sunday, Justice Stevens had once thought the death penalty could be administered rationally and fairly but has come to the conclusion “that personnel changes on the court, coupled with ‘regrettable judicial activism,’ had created a system of capital punishment that is shot through with racism, skewed toward conviction, infected with politics and tinged with hysteria.”
The egregious problems identified by Justice Stevens (and other prominent Americans who have changed their minds in recent years about capital punishment) have always been the case. The awful evidence has always been right there for all to see, but mostly it has been ignored. The death penalty in the United States has never been anything but an abomination — a grotesque, uncivilized, overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice.
Police and prosecutorial misconduct have been rampant, with evidence of innocence deliberately withheld from defendants being prominent among the abuses. Juries have systematically been shaped — rigged — to heighten the chances of conviction, and thus imposition of the ultimate punishment.
Prosecutors and judges in death penalty cases have been overwhelmingly white and male and their behavior has often — not always, but shockingly often — been unfair, bigoted and cruel. The Death Penalty Information Center has reams of meticulously documented horror stories.
Innocents have undoubtedly been executed. Executions have been upheld in cases in which defense lawyers slept through crucial proceedings. Alcoholic, drug-addicted and incompetent lawyers — as well as lawyers who had been suspended or otherwise disciplined for misconduct — have been assigned to indigent defendants. And it has always been the case that the death penalty machinery is fired up far more often when the victims are white.
I remember reporting on a study several years ago by the Texas Defender Service, which represented indigent death row inmates. It mentioned a Dallas defense lawyer, who, reminiscing in 2000, said: “At one point, with a black-on-black murder, you could get it dismissed if the defendant would pay funeral expenses.” A judge, looking back on his days as a prosecutor in the 1950s, recalled being told by an angry boss: “If you ever put another nigger on a jury, you’re fired.”
Prosecutors cleaned up their language somewhat over the years, but the discrimination has persisted, along with the pernicious idea that white lives are inherently more valuable than black ones. Patricia Lemay, a white juror in a Georgia death penalty case that resulted in an execution, told me in an interview in 2002 that she had been nauseated by the vile racial comments made by other jurors during the deliberations.
Justice Harry Blackmun was 85 years old and near the end of his tenure on the Supreme Court when he declared in 1994 that he could no longer support the imposition of the death penalty. “The problem,” he said, “is that the inevitability of factual, legal and moral error gives us a system that we know must wrongly kill some defendants, a system that fails to deliver the fair, consistent and reliable sentences of death required by the Constitution.”
Justice Blackmun vowed that he would no longer participate in a system “fraught with arbitrariness, discrimination, caprice and mistake.”
In 1990, Justice Thurgood Marshall asserted: “When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery.”
Justices Blackmun and Marshall are gone, but the death penalty is still with us. It is still an abomination. Illinois has tried mightily to deal with a system of capital punishment that had, as The Chicago Tribune described it, “one of the worst records of wrongful capital convictions in the country.”
The sentences of 167 condemned inmates were commuted in 2003. Four others were pardoned and a moratorium on the death penalty has been in effect since 2000. But prosecutors continue mindlessly to seek the death penalty. And the system for trying murder cases remains a mess. As The Tribune wrote in an editorial just last week:
“Lawmakers still haven’t taken adequate steps to ensure that the death penalty is applied evenly across the state, or to guard against wrongful convictions based on errant identifications of witnesses or mistakes at forensic labs. False confessions and prosecutorial missteps are still alarmingly common.”
In the paper’s view, “Illinois must abolish the death penalty.”
And so must the United States.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
New York City Police Photograph Irises of Suspects
By RAY RIVERA and AL BAKER
The New York Police Department has begun photographing the irises of people who are arrested in an effort to prevent escapes as suspects move through the court system, a police official said Monday.
The program was instituted after two embarrassing episodes early this year in which prisoners arrested on serious charges tricked the authorities into freeing them by posing at arraignment as suspects facing minor cases. The occurrences exposed weaknesses in the city’s handling of suspects as they move from police custody into the maze of court systems in the five boroughs.
With the new system, the authorities are using a hand-held scanning device that can check a prisoner’s identity in seconds when the suspect is presented in court, said Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief spokesman.
Officials began photographing the irises of suspects arrested for any reason on Monday at Manhattan Central Booking and expect to expand the program to all five boroughs by early December, Mr. Browne said.
The department has been working on the program for months, Mr. Browne said. But the effort caught many in the city’s legal circles by surprise as news of it began trickling out late last week. It is raising concerns among civil libertarians and privacy advocates, who say the authorities’ cataloging of the new data could put innocent people under permanent suspicion.
“It’s really distressing that the Police Department is once again undertaking a new regime of personal data collection without any public discourse,” said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, “and we don’t know the reason for it, whether this is a necessary program, whether it’s effective to address the concerns that it’s designed to address, and whether in this day and age it’s even cost-effective, not to mention whether there are any protections in place against the misuse of the data that’s collected.”
Steven Banks, attorney in chief of the Legal Aid Society, said his office learned about the program on Friday in a phone call from the mayor’s criminal justice coordinator.
“This is an unnecessary process,” Mr. Banks said. “It’s unauthorized by the statutes and of questionable legality at best. The statutes specifically authorize collecting fingerprints. There has been great legislative debate about the extent to which DNA evidence can be collected, and it is limited to certain types of cases. So the idea that the Police Department can forge ahead and use a totally new technology without any statutory authorization is certainly suspect.”
Mr. Browne said a legal review by the department had concluded that legislative authorization was not necessary.
“Our legal review determined that these are photographs and should be treated the same as mug shots, which are destroyed when arrests are sealed,” he said.
The technology uses high-resolution images to identify unique patterns in the iris, the colored part of the eye. It is considered less intrusive than retinal scanning, which looks at patterns in the blood vessels in the back of the eye and can reveal information about a person’s health, raising privacy concerns.
The department’s collection and use of electronic data have long been controversial. A new state law forced the department to halt electronic storage of the names and addresses of people stopped under the stop-and-frisk program but not charged or arrested.
The iris database has other implications as well, potentially providing the department with a tool in the fight against terrorism. The military has been using similar biometric technology in Iraq and Afghanistan to develop a database of potential insurgents, though Mr. Browne said that the Police Department’s data was not intended for that use and that there had been no coordination with the Defense Department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the program.
Other police agencies and correctional facilities across the country also use iris recognition, though it was unclear on Monday how widespread the practice is.
Marc Rotenberg, the president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which focuses on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues, said that law and policy had developed over time on the collection of fingerprints, and more recently DNA, in the criminal justice system, and that iris scans fell somewhere in between.
“It’s a more accurate form of identification,” Mr. Rotenberg said of the scans, “but at the same time doesn’t raise the same privacy concerns that DNA data has.”
The program will cost the city $500,000 to implement and is being paid for through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Browne said.
In March, a suspect charged in a string of robberies, who had served time in prison for attempted murder, claimed to be another man, who was facing a charge of marijuana possession, as they were about to be arraigned on Staten Island. The ruse worked and the suspect, Freddie Thompson, was released and remained free for 56 hours before he was recaptured. Another suspect, Michael Bautista, who was facing charges of assault and criminal mischief in the Bronx, escaped in the same manner in February and remains at large.
Mr. Browne said he had no statistics on how often suspects had escaped in this manner, but he said the problem was not widespread.
William K. Rashbaum and Karen Zraick contributed reporting.
The New York Police Department has begun photographing the irises of people who are arrested in an effort to prevent escapes as suspects move through the court system, a police official said Monday.
The program was instituted after two embarrassing episodes early this year in which prisoners arrested on serious charges tricked the authorities into freeing them by posing at arraignment as suspects facing minor cases. The occurrences exposed weaknesses in the city’s handling of suspects as they move from police custody into the maze of court systems in the five boroughs.
With the new system, the authorities are using a hand-held scanning device that can check a prisoner’s identity in seconds when the suspect is presented in court, said Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief spokesman.
Officials began photographing the irises of suspects arrested for any reason on Monday at Manhattan Central Booking and expect to expand the program to all five boroughs by early December, Mr. Browne said.
The department has been working on the program for months, Mr. Browne said. But the effort caught many in the city’s legal circles by surprise as news of it began trickling out late last week. It is raising concerns among civil libertarians and privacy advocates, who say the authorities’ cataloging of the new data could put innocent people under permanent suspicion.
“It’s really distressing that the Police Department is once again undertaking a new regime of personal data collection without any public discourse,” said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, “and we don’t know the reason for it, whether this is a necessary program, whether it’s effective to address the concerns that it’s designed to address, and whether in this day and age it’s even cost-effective, not to mention whether there are any protections in place against the misuse of the data that’s collected.”
Steven Banks, attorney in chief of the Legal Aid Society, said his office learned about the program on Friday in a phone call from the mayor’s criminal justice coordinator.
“This is an unnecessary process,” Mr. Banks said. “It’s unauthorized by the statutes and of questionable legality at best. The statutes specifically authorize collecting fingerprints. There has been great legislative debate about the extent to which DNA evidence can be collected, and it is limited to certain types of cases. So the idea that the Police Department can forge ahead and use a totally new technology without any statutory authorization is certainly suspect.”
Mr. Browne said a legal review by the department had concluded that legislative authorization was not necessary.
“Our legal review determined that these are photographs and should be treated the same as mug shots, which are destroyed when arrests are sealed,” he said.
The technology uses high-resolution images to identify unique patterns in the iris, the colored part of the eye. It is considered less intrusive than retinal scanning, which looks at patterns in the blood vessels in the back of the eye and can reveal information about a person’s health, raising privacy concerns.
The department’s collection and use of electronic data have long been controversial. A new state law forced the department to halt electronic storage of the names and addresses of people stopped under the stop-and-frisk program but not charged or arrested.
The iris database has other implications as well, potentially providing the department with a tool in the fight against terrorism. The military has been using similar biometric technology in Iraq and Afghanistan to develop a database of potential insurgents, though Mr. Browne said that the Police Department’s data was not intended for that use and that there had been no coordination with the Defense Department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the program.
Other police agencies and correctional facilities across the country also use iris recognition, though it was unclear on Monday how widespread the practice is.
Marc Rotenberg, the president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which focuses on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues, said that law and policy had developed over time on the collection of fingerprints, and more recently DNA, in the criminal justice system, and that iris scans fell somewhere in between.
“It’s a more accurate form of identification,” Mr. Rotenberg said of the scans, “but at the same time doesn’t raise the same privacy concerns that DNA data has.”
The program will cost the city $500,000 to implement and is being paid for through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Browne said.
In March, a suspect charged in a string of robberies, who had served time in prison for attempted murder, claimed to be another man, who was facing a charge of marijuana possession, as they were about to be arraigned on Staten Island. The ruse worked and the suspect, Freddie Thompson, was released and remained free for 56 hours before he was recaptured. Another suspect, Michael Bautista, who was facing charges of assault and criminal mischief in the Bronx, escaped in the same manner in February and remains at large.
Mr. Browne said he had no statistics on how often suspects had escaped in this manner, but he said the problem was not widespread.
William K. Rashbaum and Karen Zraick contributed reporting.
POLI-MIGRA (ICE) Practices In COOK COUNTY CONTINUE
Village of South Holland Police enforces Immigration Laws and leaves a 2 year old Orphan
COOK COUNTY, IL-Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission/Justice Mission received a phone call in regards to a woman, Susana Chichilla age 24, who was stopped by the South Holland Police on her way to the Walgreen’s pharmacy store to purchase medicine for her 2 year old U.S. Citizen son who is very ill and in need of daily medication.
“Officer P. Williams star#102, who works on the morning shift, is the arresting officer of Susana Chichilla and the cause of the break up of this innocent family. Because of his decision to call Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) against Susana Chichilla, a 2 year old Citizen child is about to become orphan” said Father Landaverde, “This U.S. Citizen child is suffering tremendously for this unjust and inhumane action that this local police officer took, we can not tolerate racial profiling and this kind of attacks to our immigrant families any longer, we denounce as unjust and inhumane the acts of South Holland Police and any law enforcement agency and individuals that collaborate with ICE and tries to enforce unjust and inhumane laws like the ones from our broken immigration system, we will bring our voices and community power to the door steps of the Village of South Holland if there's not an immediate release from custody of Susana Chichilla ” concluded Father Landaverde.
Jose Herrera, organizer for the Immigrant Youth Justice League and the Justice Mission, said “The welcoming message of South Holland made by Mayor, Don A. De Graff, states that the Village was founded by early Dutch settlers and that their history has included a heritage of faith in God with an important emphasis on unity in the family, if this last part is true then why do they take this kind of action against Susana Chichilla? We must lift our voices and denounce all of this. The Village of South Holland is located in the county of cook. County of Cook does not participate in any of the ICE programs, like the Secure Communities or 287(g) programs, which make legal the collaboration of ICE and local law enforcement agencies, WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF SUSANA CHICHILLA” concluded Jose Herrera.
COOK COUNTY, IL-Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission/Justice Mission received a phone call in regards to a woman, Susana Chichilla age 24, who was stopped by the South Holland Police on her way to the Walgreen’s pharmacy store to purchase medicine for her 2 year old U.S. Citizen son who is very ill and in need of daily medication.
“Officer P. Williams star#102, who works on the morning shift, is the arresting officer of Susana Chichilla and the cause of the break up of this innocent family. Because of his decision to call Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) against Susana Chichilla, a 2 year old Citizen child is about to become orphan” said Father Landaverde, “This U.S. Citizen child is suffering tremendously for this unjust and inhumane action that this local police officer took, we can not tolerate racial profiling and this kind of attacks to our immigrant families any longer, we denounce as unjust and inhumane the acts of South Holland Police and any law enforcement agency and individuals that collaborate with ICE and tries to enforce unjust and inhumane laws like the ones from our broken immigration system, we will bring our voices and community power to the door steps of the Village of South Holland if there's not an immediate release from custody of Susana Chichilla ” concluded Father Landaverde.
Jose Herrera, organizer for the Immigrant Youth Justice League and the Justice Mission, said “The welcoming message of South Holland made by Mayor, Don A. De Graff, states that the Village was founded by early Dutch settlers and that their history has included a heritage of faith in God with an important emphasis on unity in the family, if this last part is true then why do they take this kind of action against Susana Chichilla? We must lift our voices and denounce all of this. The Village of South Holland is located in the county of cook. County of Cook does not participate in any of the ICE programs, like the Secure Communities or 287(g) programs, which make legal the collaboration of ICE and local law enforcement agencies, WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF SUSANA CHICHILLA” concluded Jose Herrera.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Judge who did time peddling prison survival skills
BY DAVID OVALLE
Former Miami-Dade County Judge Harvey Shenberg returns to Miami this week to promote his new consulting business, Prison Planning, which helps inmates prepare and cope with their new lives in prison.
For newcomers to the federal pen, mistakes are easy to make: cutting in the chow line, arguing about what's on television, befriending the wrong inmates.
In his shell-shocked early days behind bars, former Miami-Dade County Judge Harvey Shenberg angered a fellow inmate when he casually looked into his cell while walking down the hall. He saw nothing -- but wasn't spared some angry words of advice.
``You might see somebody raping someone, you may see someone getting killed,'' Shenberg said. ``So now you're in the middle of it and witnessed something you didn't want to witness.''
After nearly 11 years in federal prison for his role in the notorious Miami-Dade judicial corruption scandal dubbed Operation Court Broom, Shenberg, 67, is hoping to parlay his mistakes and successes behind bars into a new career as an advice guru and social worker of sorts for inmates and their families.
Shenberg returned to Miami-Dade County last week to start promoting his new consulting business, Prison Planning, and meet with two clients soon headed to prison and a third awaiting trial.
It's the latest twist for someone who staked his career on law and order, first as a Dade prosecutor, then as a 19-year defense attorney, and finally as a county court judge.
But that life came crashed down in embarrassing fashion.
BUSTED
In 1991, federal agents videotaped Shenberg accepting cash for giving a defense attorney the name of a confidential informant who had been marked for murder. Shenberg -- who earned about $90,000 a year and later lost his state pension -- famously told a fellow judge he needed the money to put his son through college.
The investigation netted several other Miami-Dade judges and lawyers. After a 10 ½-month trial, Shenberg was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and extortion.
Today, Shenberg admits: ``I was a crummy criminal.''
But he doesn't shy away from his past. On his new website -- PrisonPlanning.com -- he even displays his prison ID card and a lengthy description of his time in the pen.
Released from a Miami halfway house in February 2008, and having just completed court supervision earlier this year, the idea for the consulting firm came from Shenberg's volunteer work helping inmates with the Aleph Institute, a nonprofit that supports Jewish prisoners.
``I wish I had had someone like me before I went in -- and that's with 20-something years in the criminal justice system. Prison is a whole other world,'' he said.
DIPLOMACY, SMARTS
Shenberg says he survived through a mix of diplomacy and savvy in a ``world inside a world'' segregated by race and internal prison class, where outcast groups like ``cooperators'' and child molesters stuck together.
Mostly, he says, he learned humility.
``All of a sudden you go from being in control of your life to someone controlling your life,'' he recalled. ``You go from telling people what to do to begging people on the outside to send you a magazine, or to help your family out.''
His company, run with his wife from their Arizona condo, is one of a handful of for-profit consulting companies nationwide aimed at walking prisoners and their families through the experience.
Herbert J. Hoelter, executive director and co-founder of the nonprofit National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, said Shenberg's effort will be positive for clients, though probably not too lucrative.
``I think it's helpful. To me, it's not a big for-profit money-maker thing,'' Hoelter said. ``But people need assistance, whether they can afford it or not. Prison is a searing experience.''
For business, Shenberg -- whose mother still lives in Miami -- is soliciting lawyers in Miami-Dade. He says he doesn't expect to rake in the money, but wants to help.
``There is use for his services. A lot of attorneys are ill-equipped to give out the type of information he is giving, or don't have the inclination or the time,'' said Miami defense attorney Jose Quiñon, who represented co-defendant Alfonso Sepe, a Circuit Court judge.
``Maybe [Shenberg] can help some people, and at the same time put some food on the table. He's paid his debt to society.''
POTENTIAL CLIENTS
Shenberg's target clientele: white-collar convicts who will likely be allowed to surrender, rather than being thrown in the slammer straight from the courtroom.
Shenberg offers advice on free videos, but he stresses the benefits of dialogue that books and Web pages can't provide. That may run a couple of hundred bucks for a telephone consultation, or up to $1,500 for a face-to-face meeting.
The advice starts with the practical: Before surrender, get your teeth deep-cleaned by a dentist, make copies of your medical records and, if needed, pack two pairs of glasses. Lockdowns are inevitable, so stock extra food and books in your cell.
There's also the philosophical: Prison isn't fair. Stay under the radar. Don't gripe. Accept that some guards live to make your life hell.
Shenberg thinks he's earned credibility. He spent time at nine facilities, including in Miami and Mississippi, and two short but hellacious stints at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he was locked up 23 out of 24 hours.
When Shenberg first arrived at Miami's federal prison, one inmate marked him for stabbing because he mistakingly thought he was the judge who had sentenced him. The plot fell apart when the inmate learned Shenberg was in fact not his judge.
``Three weeks later, we had a great relationship,'' Shenberg said.
In the Miami penitentiary, Shenberg refused extra protection or to be placed in special housing -- even when a newspaper article about Operation Court Broom circulated among prisoners.
Just as he didn't cooperate with federal agents in Court Broom, he chose not to complain to guards, lest he end up in special housing alienated from the prison populace.
And while some inmates hustled by gambling or washing laundry for food, he was lucky to have family replenishing his commissary account. So he worked resodding sports fields and handing out sports equipment and ceramics supplies. And, as he got closer to release, he began to work on a plan for his new business -- something he hopes his clients will be able to emulate.
``We want people to get something beneficial out of a terrible situation,'' he said.
Former Miami-Dade County Judge Harvey Shenberg returns to Miami this week to promote his new consulting business, Prison Planning, which helps inmates prepare and cope with their new lives in prison.
For newcomers to the federal pen, mistakes are easy to make: cutting in the chow line, arguing about what's on television, befriending the wrong inmates.
In his shell-shocked early days behind bars, former Miami-Dade County Judge Harvey Shenberg angered a fellow inmate when he casually looked into his cell while walking down the hall. He saw nothing -- but wasn't spared some angry words of advice.
``You might see somebody raping someone, you may see someone getting killed,'' Shenberg said. ``So now you're in the middle of it and witnessed something you didn't want to witness.''
After nearly 11 years in federal prison for his role in the notorious Miami-Dade judicial corruption scandal dubbed Operation Court Broom, Shenberg, 67, is hoping to parlay his mistakes and successes behind bars into a new career as an advice guru and social worker of sorts for inmates and their families.
Shenberg returned to Miami-Dade County last week to start promoting his new consulting business, Prison Planning, and meet with two clients soon headed to prison and a third awaiting trial.
It's the latest twist for someone who staked his career on law and order, first as a Dade prosecutor, then as a 19-year defense attorney, and finally as a county court judge.
But that life came crashed down in embarrassing fashion.
BUSTED
In 1991, federal agents videotaped Shenberg accepting cash for giving a defense attorney the name of a confidential informant who had been marked for murder. Shenberg -- who earned about $90,000 a year and later lost his state pension -- famously told a fellow judge he needed the money to put his son through college.
The investigation netted several other Miami-Dade judges and lawyers. After a 10 ½-month trial, Shenberg was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and extortion.
Today, Shenberg admits: ``I was a crummy criminal.''
But he doesn't shy away from his past. On his new website -- PrisonPlanning.com -- he even displays his prison ID card and a lengthy description of his time in the pen.
Released from a Miami halfway house in February 2008, and having just completed court supervision earlier this year, the idea for the consulting firm came from Shenberg's volunteer work helping inmates with the Aleph Institute, a nonprofit that supports Jewish prisoners.
``I wish I had had someone like me before I went in -- and that's with 20-something years in the criminal justice system. Prison is a whole other world,'' he said.
DIPLOMACY, SMARTS
Shenberg says he survived through a mix of diplomacy and savvy in a ``world inside a world'' segregated by race and internal prison class, where outcast groups like ``cooperators'' and child molesters stuck together.
Mostly, he says, he learned humility.
``All of a sudden you go from being in control of your life to someone controlling your life,'' he recalled. ``You go from telling people what to do to begging people on the outside to send you a magazine, or to help your family out.''
His company, run with his wife from their Arizona condo, is one of a handful of for-profit consulting companies nationwide aimed at walking prisoners and their families through the experience.
Herbert J. Hoelter, executive director and co-founder of the nonprofit National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, said Shenberg's effort will be positive for clients, though probably not too lucrative.
``I think it's helpful. To me, it's not a big for-profit money-maker thing,'' Hoelter said. ``But people need assistance, whether they can afford it or not. Prison is a searing experience.''
For business, Shenberg -- whose mother still lives in Miami -- is soliciting lawyers in Miami-Dade. He says he doesn't expect to rake in the money, but wants to help.
``There is use for his services. A lot of attorneys are ill-equipped to give out the type of information he is giving, or don't have the inclination or the time,'' said Miami defense attorney Jose Quiñon, who represented co-defendant Alfonso Sepe, a Circuit Court judge.
``Maybe [Shenberg] can help some people, and at the same time put some food on the table. He's paid his debt to society.''
POTENTIAL CLIENTS
Shenberg's target clientele: white-collar convicts who will likely be allowed to surrender, rather than being thrown in the slammer straight from the courtroom.
Shenberg offers advice on free videos, but he stresses the benefits of dialogue that books and Web pages can't provide. That may run a couple of hundred bucks for a telephone consultation, or up to $1,500 for a face-to-face meeting.
The advice starts with the practical: Before surrender, get your teeth deep-cleaned by a dentist, make copies of your medical records and, if needed, pack two pairs of glasses. Lockdowns are inevitable, so stock extra food and books in your cell.
There's also the philosophical: Prison isn't fair. Stay under the radar. Don't gripe. Accept that some guards live to make your life hell.
Shenberg thinks he's earned credibility. He spent time at nine facilities, including in Miami and Mississippi, and two short but hellacious stints at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he was locked up 23 out of 24 hours.
When Shenberg first arrived at Miami's federal prison, one inmate marked him for stabbing because he mistakingly thought he was the judge who had sentenced him. The plot fell apart when the inmate learned Shenberg was in fact not his judge.
``Three weeks later, we had a great relationship,'' Shenberg said.
In the Miami penitentiary, Shenberg refused extra protection or to be placed in special housing -- even when a newspaper article about Operation Court Broom circulated among prisoners.
Just as he didn't cooperate with federal agents in Court Broom, he chose not to complain to guards, lest he end up in special housing alienated from the prison populace.
And while some inmates hustled by gambling or washing laundry for food, he was lucky to have family replenishing his commissary account. So he worked resodding sports fields and handing out sports equipment and ceramics supplies. And, as he got closer to release, he began to work on a plan for his new business -- something he hopes his clients will be able to emulate.
``We want people to get something beneficial out of a terrible situation,'' he said.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine
By Harriet Baskas
A retired special education teacher on his way to a wedding in Orlando, Fla., said he was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers recently at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
“I was absolutely humiliated, I couldn’t even speak,” said Thomas D. “Tom” Sawyer, 61, of Lansing, Mich.
Sawyer is a bladder cancer survivor who now wears a urostomy bag, which collects his urine from a stoma, or opening in his stomach. “I have to wear special clothes and in order to mount the bag I have to seal a wafer to my stomach and then attach the bag. If the seal is broken, urine can leak all over my body and clothes.”
On Nov. 7, Sawyer said he went through the security scanner at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. “Evidently the scanner picked up on my urostomy bag, because I was chosen for a pat-down procedure.”
Due to his medical condition, Sawyer asked to be screened in private. “One officer looked at another, rolled his eyes and said that they really didn’t have any place to take me,” said Sawyer. “After I said again that I’d like privacy, they took me to an office.”
Sawyer wears pants two sizes too large in order to accommodate the medical equipment he wears. He’d taken off his belt to go through the scanner and once in the office with security personnel, his pants fell down around his ankles. “I had to ask twice if it was OK to pull up my shorts,” said Sawyer, “And every time I tried to tell them about my medical condition, they said they didn’t need to know about that.”
Before starting the enhanced pat-down procedure, a security officer did tell him what they were going to do and how they were going to it, but Sawyer said it wasn’t until they asked him to remove his sweatshirt and saw his urostomy bag that they asked any questions about his medical condition.
“One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.”
The security officer finished the pat-down, tested the gloves for any trace of explosives and then, Sawyer said, “He told me I could go. They never apologized. They never offered to help. They acted like they hadn’t seen what happened. But I know they saw it because I had a wet mark.”
Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer said he had to walk through the airport soaked in urine, board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.
“I am totally appalled by the fact that agents that are performing these pat-downs have so little concern for people with medical conditions,” said Sawyer.
Sawyer completed his trip and had no problems with the security procedures at the Orlando International Airport on his journey back home. He said he plans to file a formal complaint with the TSA.
When he does, said TSA spokesperson Dwayne Baird, “We will review the matter and take appropriate action if necessary.” In the meantime, Baird encourages anyone with a medical condition to read the TSA’s website section on assistive devices and mobility aids.
The website says that travelers with disabilities and medical conditions have “the option of requesting a private screening” and that security officers “will not ask nor require you to remove your prosthetic device, cast, or support brace.”
Sawyer said he's written to his senators, state representatives and the president of the United States. He’s also shared details of the incident online with members of the nonprofit Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, many of whom have offered support and shared their travel experiences.
“I am a good American and I want safety for all passengers as much as the next person," Sawyer said. "But if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war.”
Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network executive director Claire Saxton said that there are hundreds of thousands of people living with ostomies in the United States. “TSA agents need to be trained to listen when someone tells them have a health issue and trained in knowing what an ostomy is. No one living with an ostomy should be afraid of flying because they’re afraid of being humiliated at the checkpoint.”
Eric Lipp, executive director of Open Doors Association, which works with businesses and the disability community, called what happened to Sawyer “unfortunate.”
“But enhanced pat-downs are not a new issue for people with disabilities who travel," Lipp said. "They've always had trouble getting through the security checkpoint."
Still, Lipp said the TSA knows there’s a problem. “This came up during a recent meeting of the agency’s disability advisory board and I expect to see a procedure coming in place shortly that will directly address the pat-down procedures for people with disabilities.”
A retired special education teacher on his way to a wedding in Orlando, Fla., said he was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers recently at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
“I was absolutely humiliated, I couldn’t even speak,” said Thomas D. “Tom” Sawyer, 61, of Lansing, Mich.
Sawyer is a bladder cancer survivor who now wears a urostomy bag, which collects his urine from a stoma, or opening in his stomach. “I have to wear special clothes and in order to mount the bag I have to seal a wafer to my stomach and then attach the bag. If the seal is broken, urine can leak all over my body and clothes.”
On Nov. 7, Sawyer said he went through the security scanner at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. “Evidently the scanner picked up on my urostomy bag, because I was chosen for a pat-down procedure.”
Due to his medical condition, Sawyer asked to be screened in private. “One officer looked at another, rolled his eyes and said that they really didn’t have any place to take me,” said Sawyer. “After I said again that I’d like privacy, they took me to an office.”
Sawyer wears pants two sizes too large in order to accommodate the medical equipment he wears. He’d taken off his belt to go through the scanner and once in the office with security personnel, his pants fell down around his ankles. “I had to ask twice if it was OK to pull up my shorts,” said Sawyer, “And every time I tried to tell them about my medical condition, they said they didn’t need to know about that.”
Before starting the enhanced pat-down procedure, a security officer did tell him what they were going to do and how they were going to it, but Sawyer said it wasn’t until they asked him to remove his sweatshirt and saw his urostomy bag that they asked any questions about his medical condition.
“One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.”
The security officer finished the pat-down, tested the gloves for any trace of explosives and then, Sawyer said, “He told me I could go. They never apologized. They never offered to help. They acted like they hadn’t seen what happened. But I know they saw it because I had a wet mark.”
Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer said he had to walk through the airport soaked in urine, board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.
“I am totally appalled by the fact that agents that are performing these pat-downs have so little concern for people with medical conditions,” said Sawyer.
Sawyer completed his trip and had no problems with the security procedures at the Orlando International Airport on his journey back home. He said he plans to file a formal complaint with the TSA.
When he does, said TSA spokesperson Dwayne Baird, “We will review the matter and take appropriate action if necessary.” In the meantime, Baird encourages anyone with a medical condition to read the TSA’s website section on assistive devices and mobility aids.
The website says that travelers with disabilities and medical conditions have “the option of requesting a private screening” and that security officers “will not ask nor require you to remove your prosthetic device, cast, or support brace.”
Sawyer said he's written to his senators, state representatives and the president of the United States. He’s also shared details of the incident online with members of the nonprofit Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, many of whom have offered support and shared their travel experiences.
“I am a good American and I want safety for all passengers as much as the next person," Sawyer said. "But if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war.”
Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network executive director Claire Saxton said that there are hundreds of thousands of people living with ostomies in the United States. “TSA agents need to be trained to listen when someone tells them have a health issue and trained in knowing what an ostomy is. No one living with an ostomy should be afraid of flying because they’re afraid of being humiliated at the checkpoint.”
Eric Lipp, executive director of Open Doors Association, which works with businesses and the disability community, called what happened to Sawyer “unfortunate.”
“But enhanced pat-downs are not a new issue for people with disabilities who travel," Lipp said. "They've always had trouble getting through the security checkpoint."
Still, Lipp said the TSA knows there’s a problem. “This came up during a recent meeting of the agency’s disability advisory board and I expect to see a procedure coming in place shortly that will directly address the pat-down procedures for people with disabilities.”
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Prosecutors: Burge should spend decades in prison
By Andy Grimm, Tribune reporter
Federal prosecutors will seek at least 24 years in prison for disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge, saying his torture of criminal suspects decades ago shook public confidence in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Such a stiff sentence for Burge's conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice is sure to stir debate at his sentencing Jan. 20. The probation office has recommended that Burge face 15 to 21 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while his lawyers have said they would seek probation, noting that when Burge was convicted when he was 62 and had prostate cancer.
In court papers filed last week, prosecutors disputed the probation office's findings, saying Burge deserved a sentence of about 24 to 30 years under the sentencing guidelines. The government cited the "stain" that Burge's torture of suspects left on the department and the more than $30 million the city has spent on lawyers and payouts to Burge's victims as a result of many lawsuits.
"Defendant's criminal acts have tainted and prejudiced the thousands of hard-working dedicated police officers who have followed in Burge's polluted wake," Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Weisman and April Perry wrote in the filing. "These officers also have faced trying circumstances, and have had to confront society's ills. But unlike the defendant, the majority of these officers did not succumb to the principle that the ends justify the means."
A jury convicted Burge in June on all three counts of obstruction of justice and perjury for lying in a 2003 civil lawsuit when he denied he knew of or took part in torture under his command at the Calumet Area headquarters on the city's South Side.
For years it looked as if Burge would escape criminal charges altogether. He was fired from the Police Department in 1993 for torturing a cop killer, but a four-year investigation by special Cook County prosecutors concluded in 2006 that the statute of limitations on the claims of abuse had long passed. It wasn't until 2008 that federal prosecutors figured out a way to indict him — not for the tortures themselves, but for lying about them.
At Burge's trial, five ex-cons alleged torture by Burge's "Midnight Crew" of detectives in the 1970s and 1980s. According to the testimony, Burge smothered one with a bag, played Russian roulette with another and shocked a third on the genitals with an electrical device the detectives used because it inflicted pain but "left no marks" on the suspect, prosecutors said. The abuse tainted dozens of criminal investigations.
Burge's attorney did not return a call Monday seeking comment. At his trial, his attorneys suggested that the decorated veteran officer was heroic, a notion attacked by prosecutors in their latest filing.
"He was no hero. Rather, the men and women who … honorably and honestly serve the community are the heroes," they wrote. "Perhaps these officers were not promoted through the ranks as quickly as the defendant was, and perhaps they were not present at press conferences promoting their own ill-obtained achievements, but they were, and are, heroes because they serve with honor and integrity."
Federal prosecutors will seek at least 24 years in prison for disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge, saying his torture of criminal suspects decades ago shook public confidence in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Such a stiff sentence for Burge's conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice is sure to stir debate at his sentencing Jan. 20. The probation office has recommended that Burge face 15 to 21 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while his lawyers have said they would seek probation, noting that when Burge was convicted when he was 62 and had prostate cancer.
In court papers filed last week, prosecutors disputed the probation office's findings, saying Burge deserved a sentence of about 24 to 30 years under the sentencing guidelines. The government cited the "stain" that Burge's torture of suspects left on the department and the more than $30 million the city has spent on lawyers and payouts to Burge's victims as a result of many lawsuits.
"Defendant's criminal acts have tainted and prejudiced the thousands of hard-working dedicated police officers who have followed in Burge's polluted wake," Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Weisman and April Perry wrote in the filing. "These officers also have faced trying circumstances, and have had to confront society's ills. But unlike the defendant, the majority of these officers did not succumb to the principle that the ends justify the means."
A jury convicted Burge in June on all three counts of obstruction of justice and perjury for lying in a 2003 civil lawsuit when he denied he knew of or took part in torture under his command at the Calumet Area headquarters on the city's South Side.
For years it looked as if Burge would escape criminal charges altogether. He was fired from the Police Department in 1993 for torturing a cop killer, but a four-year investigation by special Cook County prosecutors concluded in 2006 that the statute of limitations on the claims of abuse had long passed. It wasn't until 2008 that federal prosecutors figured out a way to indict him — not for the tortures themselves, but for lying about them.
At Burge's trial, five ex-cons alleged torture by Burge's "Midnight Crew" of detectives in the 1970s and 1980s. According to the testimony, Burge smothered one with a bag, played Russian roulette with another and shocked a third on the genitals with an electrical device the detectives used because it inflicted pain but "left no marks" on the suspect, prosecutors said. The abuse tainted dozens of criminal investigations.
Burge's attorney did not return a call Monday seeking comment. At his trial, his attorneys suggested that the decorated veteran officer was heroic, a notion attacked by prosecutors in their latest filing.
"He was no hero. Rather, the men and women who … honorably and honestly serve the community are the heroes," they wrote. "Perhaps these officers were not promoted through the ranks as quickly as the defendant was, and perhaps they were not present at press conferences promoting their own ill-obtained achievements, but they were, and are, heroes because they serve with honor and integrity."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Lancaster County Man Dies After Police Use Taser On Him
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. -- A Lancaster County man died after police used a Taser on him early Saturday morning.
Robert Neill Jr., 61, died after he become unresponsive after police used a Taser on him twice and sprayed him with Mace, state police said.
The incident happened at about 4 a.m. Saturday at Neill's home in the 300 block of Marietta Avenue in Mount Joy.
Several police departments assisted, including Mount Joy Borough police, Susquehanna Regional police and state police from Ephrata.
According to police, Neill said that he had been harassed by his neighbors. When officers arrived, they said Neill was combative and aggressive.
That is when officers used a Taser on him and sprayed with Mace him. Neill died on the way to the hospital.
"Police officers acted appropriately and used the proper amount of force to subdue Mr. Neill," said state police Lt. William White.
An autopsy was performed Monday, but state police said they are waiting for toxicology results to determine the cause and manner of Neill's death.
Robert Neill Jr., 61, died after he become unresponsive after police used a Taser on him twice and sprayed him with Mace, state police said.
The incident happened at about 4 a.m. Saturday at Neill's home in the 300 block of Marietta Avenue in Mount Joy.
Several police departments assisted, including Mount Joy Borough police, Susquehanna Regional police and state police from Ephrata.
According to police, Neill said that he had been harassed by his neighbors. When officers arrived, they said Neill was combative and aggressive.
That is when officers used a Taser on him and sprayed with Mace him. Neill died on the way to the hospital.
"Police officers acted appropriately and used the proper amount of force to subdue Mr. Neill," said state police Lt. William White.
An autopsy was performed Monday, but state police said they are waiting for toxicology results to determine the cause and manner of Neill's death.
Monday, November 8, 2010
NSC Study Shows You are More Likely to Killed By a Cop Than a Terrorist
After 9/11, the fear of another attack on U.S. soil cleanly supplanted the fear of having one`s penis chopped off by a vengeful lover in the pantheon of irrational American fears.
While we`re constantly being told that another attack is imminent and that radical Islamic fundamentalists are two steps away from establishing a caliphate in Branson, Missouri, just how close are they? How do the odds of dying in a terrorist attack stack up against the odds of dying in other unfortunate situations?
The following ratios were compiled using data from 2004 National Safety Council Estimates, a report based on data from The National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, 2003 mortality data from the Center for Disease Control was used.
-- You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
-- You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
--You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
-- You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
--You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
--You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
--You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
--You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
SOURCE: The Progressive Review
While we`re constantly being told that another attack is imminent and that radical Islamic fundamentalists are two steps away from establishing a caliphate in Branson, Missouri, just how close are they? How do the odds of dying in a terrorist attack stack up against the odds of dying in other unfortunate situations?
The following ratios were compiled using data from 2004 National Safety Council Estimates, a report based on data from The National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, 2003 mortality data from the Center for Disease Control was used.
-- You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
-- You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
--You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
-- You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
--You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
--You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
--You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
--You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
SOURCE: The Progressive Review
Violence After Sentence in Oakland Killing
By JESSE McKINLEY and MALIA WOLLAN
Published: November 5, 2010
OAKLAND — Protesters vandalized storefronts and clashed with the police here on Friday night after a white former transit police officer was given what they considered to be a light sentence for the killing an unarmed black man. But protests initially seemed less violent than others that have surrounded the controversial case.
The authorities said one officer was hit by a car — perhaps by a police vehicle — and another officer’s gun was stolen and turned on him. That protester was arrested, Police Chief Anthony W. Batts said, and a police spokesman said 152 people had been arrested. “You have a very aggressive crowd,” Chief Batts said.
The demonstrations started after Judge Robert Perry of Superior Court in Los Angeles sentenced the former officer, Johannes Mehserle, to two years in state prison. But the judge dismissed a component of the charges that would have led to more prison time.
With time already served, Mr. Mehserle could be released from prison as early as next year. He was convicted in July of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Oscar Grant III, who was shot while lying face down on New Year’s Day 2009. He had been removed from a Bay Area Rapid Transit train after a fight, and Mr. Mehserle said that he had mistaken his gun for a Taser. He was acquitted of the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
The jury found that Mr. Mehserle was eligible for additional prison time because he had used a gun in the crime. But Judge Perry rejected that finding.
The shooting and subsequent verdict drew an angry reaction from Mr. Grant’s family, who thought Mr. Mehserle should have been convicted of murder, and sparked riots in Oakland.
The crowd on Friday initially assembled for a peaceful rally in front of Oakland City Hall, which had closed early, as had many businesses. But after the rally wrapped up, several hundred of the protesters began to roam downtown Oakland, vandalizing vehicles and businesses.
In Oakland, tensions between the city’s sizable black population and its police force are longstanding, even though the city has a black mayor and police chief. The mayor, Ron Dellums, had pleaded for calm, and police officers were out in force, with days off canceled and police helicopters hovering overhead.
But frustrations seemed present nonetheless. At the rally, Michael Johnson, a 26-year-old graduate student and medical case manager, said the sentence was a part of historic inequality.
“I’m indignant today,” Mr. Johnson said.
Published: November 5, 2010
OAKLAND — Protesters vandalized storefronts and clashed with the police here on Friday night after a white former transit police officer was given what they considered to be a light sentence for the killing an unarmed black man. But protests initially seemed less violent than others that have surrounded the controversial case.
The authorities said one officer was hit by a car — perhaps by a police vehicle — and another officer’s gun was stolen and turned on him. That protester was arrested, Police Chief Anthony W. Batts said, and a police spokesman said 152 people had been arrested. “You have a very aggressive crowd,” Chief Batts said.
The demonstrations started after Judge Robert Perry of Superior Court in Los Angeles sentenced the former officer, Johannes Mehserle, to two years in state prison. But the judge dismissed a component of the charges that would have led to more prison time.
With time already served, Mr. Mehserle could be released from prison as early as next year. He was convicted in July of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Oscar Grant III, who was shot while lying face down on New Year’s Day 2009. He had been removed from a Bay Area Rapid Transit train after a fight, and Mr. Mehserle said that he had mistaken his gun for a Taser. He was acquitted of the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
The jury found that Mr. Mehserle was eligible for additional prison time because he had used a gun in the crime. But Judge Perry rejected that finding.
The shooting and subsequent verdict drew an angry reaction from Mr. Grant’s family, who thought Mr. Mehserle should have been convicted of murder, and sparked riots in Oakland.
The crowd on Friday initially assembled for a peaceful rally in front of Oakland City Hall, which had closed early, as had many businesses. But after the rally wrapped up, several hundred of the protesters began to roam downtown Oakland, vandalizing vehicles and businesses.
In Oakland, tensions between the city’s sizable black population and its police force are longstanding, even though the city has a black mayor and police chief. The mayor, Ron Dellums, had pleaded for calm, and police officers were out in force, with days off canceled and police helicopters hovering overhead.
But frustrations seemed present nonetheless. At the rally, Michael Johnson, a 26-year-old graduate student and medical case manager, said the sentence was a part of historic inequality.
“I’m indignant today,” Mr. Johnson said.
Friday, November 5, 2010
City's 'stop and frisk' policy draws lawsuit
By WENDY RUDERMAN, BARBARA LAKER & CATHERINE LUCEY
Philadelphia Daily News
CITY POLICE have targeted thousands of minority residents and illegally stopped and searched them for no reason under Mayor Nutter's amped-up "stop and frisk" policy, a team of prominent civil-rights attorneys allege in a lawsuit filed yesterday.
The class-action lawsuit - filed in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg - claims that Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey "instituted more aggressive stop-and-frisk practices," and then, "with deliberate indifference," failed to properly train, supervise and discipline officers who routinely violate civil rights.
"These unconstitutional actions have had and continue to have a devastating effect on the lives of many Philadelphians," attorney Paul Messing said. "Beyond that, these police practices have had no real impact on stemming criminal conduct in our city. They just subject innocent people to humiliating and degrading treatment."
The suit was filed on behalf of eight black and Latino men, including state Rep. Jewell Williams, a former Temple University police officer who plans to run for city sheriff in next year's Democratic primary.
Officers handcuffed Williams in March 2009 and placed him into the back seat of a squad car after he inquired about the well-being of two elderly men whom police had detained - then subsequently released - during a car stop in Williams' North Philly neighborhood.
Williams, who was stopped about three car-lengths back, said he emerged from his state-leased Chrysler after he overheard an officer threatening to beat up one of the elderly men. Williams alleged that another officer ordered him to "get back in the f---ing car," even though Williams said he identified himself as a state legislator.
In an interview yesterday, Williams said the nightmarish incident "was like a flashback to the civil-rights era."
"You can command attention and respect without calling a person an 'm-effer,' " Williams said. "When you use 'm-effer' and all kinds of words like that, what comes next is pushing and shoving. . . . Those are words that, in my opinion, were used in slavery days."
When asked how the lawsuit might affect his bid for sheriff, Williams said he hoped that voters would want a sheriff who stands up for their civil rights and wouldn't "turn his head to bad things."
Ramsey declined to comment, citing the open lawsuit. City Solicitor Shelley Smith, however, said Ramsey has beefed up police training and supervision, responded quickly to allegations of abuse and meted out discipline when warranted. Last month, Ramsey added more investigators to the Internal Affairs Bureau.
"The Police Department and Commissioner Ramsey take seriously the need to protect the constitutional rights of citizens," Smith said.
Yesterday afternoon, Nutter said he had not yet reviewed the suit. But he said the "stop and frisk" policy was legal and effective if used correctly. Since taking office in January 2008, Nutter has championed "stop, question and frisk" policing as part of a plan to fight crime and get guns off the street.
Nutter stressed that overall crime, including violent crime, is down and said race is not a factor in who gets searched. He also noted that "stop and frisk" - in which police stop people suspected of criminal activity and pat them down for illegal weapons - was being used before he became mayor.
ACLU attorney Mary Catherine Roper said: "You can't go into a neighborhood as an officer and say, 'This is a high-crime area; everybody is under suspicion.' That's not what our country is about."
Citing Police Department statistics, the lawsuit says that pedestrian stops have jumped dramatically, from 102,319 in 2005 to 253,333 in 2009 - an increase of 148 percent. Of those pedestrians stopped in 2009, about 72 percent were African-American and only 8 percent led to arrests.
"Most of those arrests had nothing to do with the reason they were stopped," Messing said. "The charges were often for disorderly conduct because they complained they were stopped for no reason."
In response to the argument that "stop and frisk" has reduced violent crime, Messing said, "This is a high price to pay - constitutional violations on a massive scale in an effort to find a microscopic amount of criminal activity."
The lawsuit, which names nine officers individually and at least 12 as "John Does," asks the court to bar police from stopping and frisking residents on the basis of race or nationality or without reasonable suspicion. The suit also seeks court-mandated training, supervision and discipline to eliminate the "unconstitutional" policy.
The named plaintiffs in the suit seek unspecified compensatory damages.
Among the plaintiffs are John Cornish and Carl Cutler, both 65, who were detained in the incident connected to state Rep. Williams; Mahari Bailey, a Georgetown-educated lawyer who has been stopped four times since 2008, all allegedly without cause; and Fernando Montero, a Princeton graduate who works as a University of Pennsylvania ethnographer and is working on a book about the Latino community.
Other plaintiffs are Timothy Streaty, 32, who worked several years at a pharmaceutical company; Gregory Blackmon Jr., 21, a Simon Gratz High School graduate who has worked as a carpenter; and Preston Fulton, 21, who, the suit says, has been unlawfully stopped numerous times by officers in North Philadelphia and in one case was pushed against a wall and frisked.
Philadelphia Daily News
CITY POLICE have targeted thousands of minority residents and illegally stopped and searched them for no reason under Mayor Nutter's amped-up "stop and frisk" policy, a team of prominent civil-rights attorneys allege in a lawsuit filed yesterday.
The class-action lawsuit - filed in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg - claims that Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey "instituted more aggressive stop-and-frisk practices," and then, "with deliberate indifference," failed to properly train, supervise and discipline officers who routinely violate civil rights.
"These unconstitutional actions have had and continue to have a devastating effect on the lives of many Philadelphians," attorney Paul Messing said. "Beyond that, these police practices have had no real impact on stemming criminal conduct in our city. They just subject innocent people to humiliating and degrading treatment."
The suit was filed on behalf of eight black and Latino men, including state Rep. Jewell Williams, a former Temple University police officer who plans to run for city sheriff in next year's Democratic primary.
Officers handcuffed Williams in March 2009 and placed him into the back seat of a squad car after he inquired about the well-being of two elderly men whom police had detained - then subsequently released - during a car stop in Williams' North Philly neighborhood.
Williams, who was stopped about three car-lengths back, said he emerged from his state-leased Chrysler after he overheard an officer threatening to beat up one of the elderly men. Williams alleged that another officer ordered him to "get back in the f---ing car," even though Williams said he identified himself as a state legislator.
In an interview yesterday, Williams said the nightmarish incident "was like a flashback to the civil-rights era."
"You can command attention and respect without calling a person an 'm-effer,' " Williams said. "When you use 'm-effer' and all kinds of words like that, what comes next is pushing and shoving. . . . Those are words that, in my opinion, were used in slavery days."
When asked how the lawsuit might affect his bid for sheriff, Williams said he hoped that voters would want a sheriff who stands up for their civil rights and wouldn't "turn his head to bad things."
Ramsey declined to comment, citing the open lawsuit. City Solicitor Shelley Smith, however, said Ramsey has beefed up police training and supervision, responded quickly to allegations of abuse and meted out discipline when warranted. Last month, Ramsey added more investigators to the Internal Affairs Bureau.
"The Police Department and Commissioner Ramsey take seriously the need to protect the constitutional rights of citizens," Smith said.
Yesterday afternoon, Nutter said he had not yet reviewed the suit. But he said the "stop and frisk" policy was legal and effective if used correctly. Since taking office in January 2008, Nutter has championed "stop, question and frisk" policing as part of a plan to fight crime and get guns off the street.
Nutter stressed that overall crime, including violent crime, is down and said race is not a factor in who gets searched. He also noted that "stop and frisk" - in which police stop people suspected of criminal activity and pat them down for illegal weapons - was being used before he became mayor.
ACLU attorney Mary Catherine Roper said: "You can't go into a neighborhood as an officer and say, 'This is a high-crime area; everybody is under suspicion.' That's not what our country is about."
Citing Police Department statistics, the lawsuit says that pedestrian stops have jumped dramatically, from 102,319 in 2005 to 253,333 in 2009 - an increase of 148 percent. Of those pedestrians stopped in 2009, about 72 percent were African-American and only 8 percent led to arrests.
"Most of those arrests had nothing to do with the reason they were stopped," Messing said. "The charges were often for disorderly conduct because they complained they were stopped for no reason."
In response to the argument that "stop and frisk" has reduced violent crime, Messing said, "This is a high price to pay - constitutional violations on a massive scale in an effort to find a microscopic amount of criminal activity."
The lawsuit, which names nine officers individually and at least 12 as "John Does," asks the court to bar police from stopping and frisking residents on the basis of race or nationality or without reasonable suspicion. The suit also seeks court-mandated training, supervision and discipline to eliminate the "unconstitutional" policy.
The named plaintiffs in the suit seek unspecified compensatory damages.
Among the plaintiffs are John Cornish and Carl Cutler, both 65, who were detained in the incident connected to state Rep. Williams; Mahari Bailey, a Georgetown-educated lawyer who has been stopped four times since 2008, all allegedly without cause; and Fernando Montero, a Princeton graduate who works as a University of Pennsylvania ethnographer and is working on a book about the Latino community.
Other plaintiffs are Timothy Streaty, 32, who worked several years at a pharmaceutical company; Gregory Blackmon Jr., 21, a Simon Gratz High School graduate who has worked as a carpenter; and Preston Fulton, 21, who, the suit says, has been unlawfully stopped numerous times by officers in North Philadelphia and in one case was pushed against a wall and frisked.
Feds: Ohio Jail's Stun-Gun use Unconstitutional
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Justice Department says jailers in a central Ohio county regularly break the law and violate inmates' civil rights with excessive stun-gun use.
U.S. officials say Franklin County deputies use stun guns to subdue inmates who aren't acting up and regularly shock inmates who are naked or restrained and for minor rule violations. The county includes Columbus.
The Justice Department's Wednesday filing in U.S. District Court in Columbus also alleges jailers routinely use stun guns on inmates who are disabled, pregnant or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The government wants to join a lawsuit against Franklin County brought last summer by a legal rights group.
U.S. officials say Franklin County deputies use stun guns to subdue inmates who aren't acting up and regularly shock inmates who are naked or restrained and for minor rule violations. The county includes Columbus.
The Justice Department's Wednesday filing in U.S. District Court in Columbus also alleges jailers routinely use stun guns on inmates who are disabled, pregnant or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The government wants to join a lawsuit against Franklin County brought last summer by a legal rights group.
Maricopa County to pay $2 million in shooting by its deputies in post-Katrina duties
by Yvonne Wingett and JJ Hensley - Nov. 3, 2010 12:29 PM
The Arizona Republic
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will pay $2 million to a Louisiana man who claimed deputies working for the Sheriff's Office shot him in the eye while on assignment to aid New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
The Board of Supervisors approved the payment on a 4-0 vote at a Wednesday meeting; Supervisor Fulton Brock was absent for the vote.
Asked why the supervisors decided to settle the case, spokeswoman Cari Gerchick responded, "It was a business decision made to minimize taxpayer expense."
Gerchick referred questions to county Risk Manager Peter Crowley, who said, "It's just one of those cases where we felt it was in the county's best interest to settle."
The Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sheriff's deputies Aaron Brown and Jason Lier were among the members of the Sheriff's Office that flew to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.
According to a complaint filed in federal court, Naquin was driving on a highway outside New Orleans when he crossed paths with Brown and Lier, who were driving an unmarked SUV.
Naquin's truck and the SUV briefly reached an impasse when one of the highway's lanes narrowed. According to the complaint, as the SUV and truck pulled alongside each other, Naquin saw the SUV's passenger-side window roll down and the barrel of a rifle come out, pointed at him.
Naquin did not see Brown or Lier wearing any clothes indicating they were law enforcement, and in the fallout from the hurricane, Naquin assumed the worst and sped off, according to the complaint. Brown and Lier continued to follow Naquin and activated the emergency lights under the grill of their unmarked SUV.
"Because of his experience and, in particular, his rescue work in New Orleans, Plaintiff knew that ordinary people, with no official status, had been using products such as under-the-grill lights for nefarious purposes," according to the court documents.
The deputies eventually turned off their emergency lights and stopped behind Naquin at an intersection, according to the court documents. According to the complaint, Naquin said he felt threatened and got out of his truck, unarmed, with his palms turned upward and asked Lier and Brown, "What do you (expletive) want?"
The passenger pointed a rifle at Naquin, according to the complaint, and shot the Louisiana resident in the left eye.
With a portion of his eyeball in his palm, Naquin asked the deputies why they had shot him, according to the complaint.
Paramedics took Naquin to a hospital where he had surgery, but physicians could not save his eye. Naquin alleges that Lier was the passenger and shooter and that Brown was the driver.
Lier is no longer employed with the Sheriff's Office while Brown remains a deputy.
The Arizona Republic
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will pay $2 million to a Louisiana man who claimed deputies working for the Sheriff's Office shot him in the eye while on assignment to aid New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
The Board of Supervisors approved the payment on a 4-0 vote at a Wednesday meeting; Supervisor Fulton Brock was absent for the vote.
Asked why the supervisors decided to settle the case, spokeswoman Cari Gerchick responded, "It was a business decision made to minimize taxpayer expense."
Gerchick referred questions to county Risk Manager Peter Crowley, who said, "It's just one of those cases where we felt it was in the county's best interest to settle."
The Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sheriff's deputies Aaron Brown and Jason Lier were among the members of the Sheriff's Office that flew to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.
According to a complaint filed in federal court, Naquin was driving on a highway outside New Orleans when he crossed paths with Brown and Lier, who were driving an unmarked SUV.
Naquin's truck and the SUV briefly reached an impasse when one of the highway's lanes narrowed. According to the complaint, as the SUV and truck pulled alongside each other, Naquin saw the SUV's passenger-side window roll down and the barrel of a rifle come out, pointed at him.
Naquin did not see Brown or Lier wearing any clothes indicating they were law enforcement, and in the fallout from the hurricane, Naquin assumed the worst and sped off, according to the complaint. Brown and Lier continued to follow Naquin and activated the emergency lights under the grill of their unmarked SUV.
"Because of his experience and, in particular, his rescue work in New Orleans, Plaintiff knew that ordinary people, with no official status, had been using products such as under-the-grill lights for nefarious purposes," according to the court documents.
The deputies eventually turned off their emergency lights and stopped behind Naquin at an intersection, according to the court documents. According to the complaint, Naquin said he felt threatened and got out of his truck, unarmed, with his palms turned upward and asked Lier and Brown, "What do you (expletive) want?"
The passenger pointed a rifle at Naquin, according to the complaint, and shot the Louisiana resident in the left eye.
With a portion of his eyeball in his palm, Naquin asked the deputies why they had shot him, according to the complaint.
Paramedics took Naquin to a hospital where he had surgery, but physicians could not save his eye. Naquin alleges that Lier was the passenger and shooter and that Brown was the driver.
Lier is no longer employed with the Sheriff's Office while Brown remains a deputy.
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