Black Lives Matter is formally an organization and has a chapter here in Austin, but really #Blacklivesmatter is an amorphous, broad-based movement with decentralized leadership and an enormous opportunity to accomplish concrete goals to improve American policing. Grits supports that effort. However, having worked on these and related issues for more than two decades in a red state, I'm fearful BLM may blow this rare and precious opportunity.Grits has little patience for demagogues blaming Black Lives Matter for criticizing videos of police abuse or the media for showing them. The behavior depicted on the video is the source of people's anger, not the (admittedly enhanced) smart-phone era information delivery system. People didn't need the internet to riot after Rodney King's attackers were acquitted. The Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles didn't even need video in 1965 to riot for six days in response to the roadside beating of a black DWI suspect and…
Black Lives Matter well-positioned to win concessions on police, if ...
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News Scan
KS High Court Upholds Death Sentence: The Kansas Supreme Court upheld on Friday the capital murder conviction and death sentence of a man who gunned down a sheriff during a drug raid over a decade ago. Amy Renee Leiker of the Wichita Eagle reports that the state's high court rejected Scott Cheever's claims that two errors occurred during the guilt-phase of his trial. In January 2005, Cheever fatally shot Greenwood County sheriff Matt Samuels as he attempted to serve an arrest warrant on drug charges. Cheever, 34, was convicted in 2007 of capital murder for Samuels' death, four counts of attempted capital murder for firing at other officers, criminal possession of a firearm and manufacturing methamphetamine, and was sentenced to death. The case prompted law changes, known as the Matt Samuels Act, that made it harder to purchase ingredients used in making meth, including some allergy medications. Cheever's death sentence is…
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The Gang's All Here - I see em in Court!
In cases where multiple defendants are allegedly members of gangs, the Government loves to bring in "expert" witnesses on how gangs operate, hierarchy, etc. It makes for compelling testimony for the jury. But sometimes the Government takes its witnesses a little too far. In United States v. Rios, the Court held that a witness will not be a proper FRE Rule 702 witness where they mix fact with their expert testimony on the particular gang under indictment. In Rios, one of the witnesses testified as the lead investigator, as well as an expert witness on gangs. The witness not only informed the jury about how the particular gang worked, but peppered in his personal observations to support the expert testimony. The Court found that " it is difficult to parse what came from Haglund the expert and what came from Haglund the investigator because there was no clear demarcation between his fact and expert testimony during…
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Crash blocking SB lanes of I15 in Pocatello
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 7/22/2016 - 1:47 pm Please direct questions to the District Office *Update* The southbound lanes of Interstate 15 have been reopened. More information will be released once it is available. KL/AC _________________________________ Idaho State Police is currently investigating a commercial vehicle rollover crash on the southbound lanes of Interstate 15 just south of the Pocatello Creek Road interchange in Pocatello. Both southbound lanes are currently blocked. Motorists are encouraged to avoid the area if possible and use caution if traveling through the area. More details will follow when available. SC/KL -------------
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Multiple Shooting Attacks in Munich
The U.S. has issued an advisory to stay in place in Munich, due to multiple shooting sites, including one outside a McDonalds and another at the Olympia shopping center. Munich police say the suspects are still on the run and are telling everyone... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Coshocton Man Avoids Second OVI Conviction
In Coshocton, Ohio, the skilled Ohio OVI defense attorney Chase Mallory aided a young man after he was pulled over and charged with his second OVI offense in four years. Since the man refused to submit to a breath test, the man was understandably nervous about the repercussions that a second OVI conviction would create [...]The post Coshocton Man Avoids Second OVI Conviction appeared first on Columbus Criminal Attorney.
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The Law and Order Candidate
When was the last time a presidential candidate made law and order the lead theme of his acceptance speech? I can't remember. The reason it has been so long is that we were so successful in bringing down crime rates that the issue dropped off of voters' radar screens. It's back.The Trump campaign has released a helpfully annotated text of the speech. The facts on crime are substantially correct, regardless of what the WaPo fact checkers say. I may have more to say on that later. Here are some key lines.The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.Yup, I've been saying that for some time.We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.Indeed, Political Correctness is the source of an enormous amount of incorrectness.Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration's…
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SEC Announces Settlement with Investment Advisory Firm Regarding Alleged Failure to Disclose Costs to Investors
On July 14, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement of an enforcement action against RiverFront Investment Group (“RiverFront”), an investment advisory firm, for failing to properly prepare clients for transaction costs. At issue is a wrap fee program, in which a subadviser uses a sponsoring brokerage firm to execute their trades on behalf of clients, and the costs of the trades are included in an annual wrap fee paid by the client. The SEC alleges that RiverFront actually used brokers in addition to the wrap program sponsor to execute most of its wrap program trading, resulting in additional costs to the client. Although RiverFront disclosed that some “trading away” from the sponsoring broker could occur, the firm inaccurately described the frequency, and thus the disclosures were materially misleading. In the press release, Sharon Binger, Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office, stated,…
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Sexual orientation discrimination and Oklahoma workers
Sexual orientation discrimination refers to harassment or different treatment based on someone’s perceived or actual gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or heterosexual orientation. Although many companies and certain states have specific policies against sexual orientation discrimination, many LGBT workers say they have been harassed, discriminated against or fired because of their sexual orientation. LGBT workers in Oklahoma About 62,000 LGBT workers in Oklahoma are not explicitly protected from discrimination under state or federal laws, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA Law. In addition, Census data shows that wages for men in same-sex relationships in Oklahoma are 23 percent lower than men in traditional relationships. The organization cites seven cities in Oklahoma that do prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in public sector employment. Those cities are Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Del City, Altus, McAlester, Vinita and Miami. However, no…
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Cheever Follow-Up
Today's News Scan notes the affirmance by the Kansas Supreme Court of the death sentence of Scott Cheever for the murder of Sheriff Matt Samuels in the performance of his duty. This case was decided on remand from the United States Supreme Court. The first time out, the Kansas Supreme Court reversed the conviction. That court found a Fifth Amendment violation in the requirement that Cheever submit to a mental examination when he claimed a "mental disease or defect" defense. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed unanimously in an opinion by Justice Sotomayor. CJLF filed an amicus brief in the case.On the first round, the Kansas Supreme Court considered only the penalty phase issues likely to arise on retrial because the case was going to be retried anyway. On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, they needed to consider in full whether to affirm the penalty.One of the issues was whether the defendant was entitled to an instruction that the…
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Citrus County Deputy Charged with Prostitution, Solicitation
A Citrus County sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged with solicitation and engaging in prostitution, authorities said Wednesday. The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said the 31-year-old man was taken into custody. Authorities said the arrest was in connection with an incident that occurred in Hernando County on July 4. The man has been fired from his job in Citrus County, according to reports. An internal affairs investigation is being conducted. He had been with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office since July 2015. Prostitution is the exchange of sexual favors for a fee and is illegal in the state of Florida. Prostitution charges can result from a plethora of scenarios and carry significant consequences. The state of Florida takes an aggressive stance on prostitution and any related charges, like solicitation, are treated as serious sexual crimes. Solicitation or prostitution is a severe criminal charge that should not be taken lightly. With that said,…
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Blanket Restoration of Felon Voting Overturned
Kent wrote here about Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's blanket order restoring the voting rights of about 200,000 felons in that state. This afternoon, the Virginia Supreme Court nullified McAuliffe's order.Full participation in democracy is, in the abstract, a good thing. And doing what we can to bring back into the system felons who understand the wrongfulness of their behavior and have corrected it is part of that. Restoring the vote for those who continue to believe (and, often, to act) as if law is for other people, and rules are for suckers, is a different matter. That would certainly seem to be more an abuse than a use of this aspect of executive power.At the end of the story linked above, Gov. McAuliffe is reported to have said he would effectively defy any court order contrary to his liking: "I will sign 206,000 orders. They will have their rights back that day."He is welcome to proceed, as far as I'm concerned.…
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Do Black Lives Matter More to Trump?
Heather MacDonald has a post-Trump acceptance speech wrap-up in the City Journal that suggests that The Donald's remarks reflect a stronger interest in preserving black lives than the President, Hillary Clinton, the media or the Black Lives Matter movement itself. "As Trump said: "[Y]oung Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson . . . have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America." Hint to the media: He was referring to black children in those cities, such as the ten children under the age of ten killed in Baltimore last year; the nine-year-old girl fatally shot while doing homework on her mother's bed in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2015; and the nine-year-old boy in Chicago lured into an alley and killed by his father's gang enemies in November 2015, writes MacDonald.
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WaPo Editorial: Trump "Uniquely Unqualfied" to be President
The Washington Post published this incredibly harsh editorial today trashing Donald Trump. The real estate tycoon is uniquely unqualified to serve as president, in experience and temperament. He is mounting a campaign of snarl and sneer, not... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Raising Kaine: Clinton Disappoints With VP Pick, But I'm Still With Her
Hillary Clinton could have chosen a chimpanzee to be her running mate and I would still support her. The stakes in this election are too high. If nothing else, the last few Days of Dystopia, aka the Republican National Convention, have made it clear that Donald J. Trump is intent on harnessing the darkest and most dangerous instincts of disaffected white Americans whose fervent cries of "build the wall," "lock her up" and "all lives matter" were absolutely chilling. It isn't hyperbole to say that this is how fascist regimes get their start -- drumming up fear and hatred, claiming to be the one and only person who can make the country safe and strong, and then promising with nothing more than slogans to make it all happen on the first day in power.Thankfully, because Trump is so remarkably disorganized and erratic -- and women and people of color still…
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*** Final Update *** Crash blocking SB lanes of I15 in Pocatello
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 7/22/2016 6:50 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***** Final Update ***** On Friday, July 22, 2016, at 11:04 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a three-vehicle injury crash on southbound Interstate 15 north of the Clark Street Exit in Pocatello. Rolando Moran, 59, of Pocatello, ID, was driving southbound on Interstate 15 in a 2011 concrete truck. Traffic in the southbound lanes was slowing when Moran collided into the back of two vehicles. The concrete truck rolled onto its side, blocking both southbound lanes of Interstate 15. It is unknown if Moran was wearing a seatbelt. Moran was transported by ground ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center in…
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California Bill Proposes Mandatory Sentence in Wake of Brock Turner Case
In lieu of the national outrage over the seemingly light sentence of Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, the state of California has just proposed a bill which would mandate a minimum sentence of three years for crimes of sexual assault. The legislation, Assembly Bill 2888, was introduced by Democratic Assemblymen Evan Low and Bill Dodd and co-sponsored by Rosen and Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill. Critics warn that while well intended, we forget about prosecutorial discretions and police discretions, which are the main barriers to rape convictions. Brock Turner, 20, spiraled into fame when he was convicted of three felony assault charges: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. His sentence drew national outrage and increased dialogue on what it means to have White privilege, because he was only sentenced to six…
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Hillary Picks Tim Kaine as Running Mate
Hillary Clinton has picked Tim Kaine as her running mate. What a dull, uninspiring, lackluster choice. He seems as exciting as Mike Pence. But, it really didn't matter who she picked. No one will honestly claim they have decided to vote for... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Allahu Akbar, Once Again
When I first saw the CNN coverage of the Munich massacre this afternoon, I noticed that the broadcasters went out of their way, with exactly zero evidence, to suggest that the killer might have been a right wing extremist, not a Jihadist.Tonight's CNN story has this buried after the tenth paragraph:A witness who will only be identified as Lauretta told CNN her son was in a bathroom with a shooter at the restaurant. "That's where he loaded his weapon," she said. "I hear like an alarm and boom, boom, boom... And he's still killing the children. The children were sitting to eat. They can't run." Lauretta said she heard the gunman say, "Allahu Akbar," or God is great. "I know this because I'm Muslim. I hear this and I only cry." Still, at least the network was honest enough to report:Many children were among the casualties. Police said 16 people remain hospitalized.The shooting comes as recent terror attacks have…
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Crash Southbound I-15 near the Arimo Road Exit
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 07/22/2016 9:10 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Friday, July 22, 2016, at approximately 6:39 p.m., Idaho State Police investigate a two-vehicle crash southbound I-15 near the Arimo Road Exit, in Bannock County, ID. Nicholas L. Tuttle, 38, of Castle Dale, UT, was driving a 2006 Mazda southbound on I-15. Dan Cortez, 26, of Brownsville, TX, was driving a 2015 Volvo Semi pulling single trailer also southbound on I-15. Tuttle struck the rear of Cortez's trailer, continued off the right shoulder, through a fence and coming to a stop on Marsh Valley Road. Tuttle was transported by ground ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. Tuttle was not…
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