Free Republic

The case before the Supreme Court on Wednesday sounded like a television movie, a tale of wrongful imprisonment and the slow, inexorable wheels of justice. Prosecutors under pressure to close the case of a cop killer settle on two young African Americans. They fabricate evidence, coerce perjury and bury the investigation of a white suspect.A sympathetic prison barber unearths the investigative records that eventually lead courts to free the convicted men after years behind bars. And the men seek retribution for the prosecutors who framed them. But here's the twist: The prosecutors say that they can't be sued for anything...

The Federal Communications Commission has unveiled the topics it is looking to discuss as it considers revising its media ownership rules, and one area it is looking to explore could have ramifications for future mergers between broadcast and cable companies and newspaper companies. Specifically, the FCC said it will probe whether it could continue to enforce regulations regarding media concentration by industry or should it find an "alternative structure to determine an ownership limit for all media within a relevant market." Cutting through the bureaucratic speak, what the FCC is saying is that currently it regulates broadcast, radio and cable...

Former police association contractor charged with snooping on 'Joe the Plumber' Wednesday, October 14, 2009 11:42 AM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch A former contractor for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police has been charged with rummaging through state computers to retrieve confidential information about "Joe the Plumber." Brett A. Gerke, 52, of 2329 Woodcreek Place on the Far North Side, is charged with attempted unauthorized use of property. Gerke entered a diversion program on Oct. 2, which typically results in the dismissal of a criminal charge. He has not entered a plea. The charge is a first-degree...

Needed: A 'clean line' to determine lawfulness"You don't need to know. You can't know." That's what Kathy Norris, a 60-year-old grandmother of eight, was told when she tried to ask court officials why, the day before, federal agents had subjected her home to a furious search. The agents who spent half a day ransacking Mrs. Norris' longtime home in Spring, Texas, answered no questions while they emptied file cabinets, pulled books off shelves, rifled through drawers and closets, and threw the contents on the floor. The six agents, wearing SWAT gear and carrying weapons, were with - get this- the...

Justice Dept. investigating former Interior Secretary Gale Norton's ties to oil companyWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether former Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton illegally used her position to steer lucrative oil leases to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the company she works for now, officials with both departments confirmed to The Associated Press.

From September 16, 2004 through October 1, 2004, a COK investigator worked undercover in the hanging room of the Perdue Farms slaughter plant in Showell, Maryland. Using a hidden camera, he documented horrible—yet routine—cruelty to animals on a daily basis http://www.cok.net/camp/inv/perdue/ Or the government at work. I don't remember signing a consent form: Some Maryland high school students have found a way to trick the local speed cameras into sending other people tickets http://www.ridelust.com/maryland-teens-expose-weakness-in-speed-cameras/

A former government official facing corruption charges for accepting improper gifts from Jack Abramoff is taking an unusually aggressive approach in fighting the Justice Department’s case. Horace Cooper, a legal commentator and conservative writer who was a senior aide in then-Rep. Dick Armey’s (R-Texas) office, is accusing prosecutors of dozens of mistakes and has invoked the prosecutorial abuse investigation that overturned the conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) in an attempt to undermine the government’s case. Cooper, an attorney himself, pleaded not guilty last week to felony corruption charges, including accepting nearly $15,000 in gifts, tickets to sporting events...

James O'Keefe's foray into filmmaking may cost him a few years in the slammer. O'Keefe and fellow conservative activist/budding investigative journalist Hannah Giles were the ones who dressed up like a pimp and a prostitute, respectively (or not), and went to the offices of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) in D.C. and Baltimore looking for advice on how to buy a house. The resulting video caused quite a commotion and resulted in the firing of four ACORN employees, as well as other repercussions for those who support the organization. In Maryland, it's against the law to...

Insulted in Restroom, Texas Judge Jails Court Attendee, 69, for Contempt Posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago By Martha Neil Angry about a Texas judge's ruling in a custody matter involving his granddaughter, Don Bandelman followed the jurist into a public restroom at the Caldwell County courthouse. Then the 69-year-old called District Judge Jack Robison a fool, reports the American-Statesman. Bandelman says the judge told him to leave, and he did. But then Robison had his bailiffs arrest Bandelman on the courthouse outside the sidewalk and, without any hearing, sentenced him to a 30-day jail term for contempt, the article...

ERICHO, Ark. (AP) -- It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps. The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court.

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne Sheriff Michael A. Savokinas abruptly resigned Tuesday afternoon, ending a 20-month stint in office that often was plagued by controversy and clashes with other county officials. "At this time, my presence seems to be a distraction for my already over-worked staff," Savokinas wrote in a three-page resignation letter to Gov. Ed Rendell. Savokinas, 36, complained about a "witch hunt" and smear campaign "orchestrated by county officials" to drag his "reputation through the mud," and claimed drugs found in his vehicle "were planted as a possible political vendetta." Savokinas added he "can no longer do justice to my...

Not content with the mess they created when the university threw innocent lacrosse team players to the wolves following a manifestly false accusation of group rape, Duke university has now instituted a policy for handling rape charges manifestly unfair to the accused. KC Johnson whose work in defense of the lacrosse team was outstanding, has exposed this outrage as well oin his site, Durham in Wonderland. Three Duke University students were the victims of the highest-profile fraudulent rape claim in modern American history. That fact alone should make the University particularly sensitive to the dangers of false rape allegations, and...

"This used to be America," argued a protester outside a health -care town hall meeting in Reston, Va., after a security officer threatened him with arrest for holding up a sign with a picture critical of Barack Obama. The officer's response? "It ain't no more, OK?" Get the prescription for reclaiming America's heritage of liberty – before the what the officer said is true – Joseph Farah's "Taking America Back," autographed only at the WND SuperStore. A video of the town hall held earlier this week by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., shows an unnamed protester standing on school grounds carrying...

In this video at Representative Jim Moran’s (D-VA) town hall meeting on ObamaCare held at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA, many people were left outside when the school filled to capacity. School security officer Wesley Cheeks, Jr. did not like a protester’s anti-ObamaCare poster which used one of the viral "Joker" graphics. Officer Cheeks told some town hall protesters to put away their signs or he’ll "charge them with trespassing or whatever he wants." Then, when a protester said to Officer Cheeks, "This used to be America!" his response was: “It ain’t no more, OK?” Pro-Obama Cop to...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.

PATERSON, N.J. — Curfews might not be just for kids anymore in one northern New Jersey city. Seeking to curb violence after a spate of deadly summer shootings, Paterson officials are considering an unusual ordinance that would prevent people of all ages from gathering outside in public late at night. The measure could be the nation's first citywide, non-emergency curfew to include adults, several experts said. "We're trying to think outside the box," said Mayor Jose Torres (DEMOCRAT). "This was triggered predominantly by fear among city residents over the shootings that have been occurring this summer."

<p>A Florida teenager could face felony vandalism charges for allegedly gluing posters depicting President Obama as the Joker onto public property, FOXNews.com has learned.</p> <p>Clermont, Fla., Police Capt. Eric Jensen said the state attorney will review evidence to determine whether to charge the unidentified teenager with gluing "dozens" of the posters last week to the city's light poles, public and private buildings, bridge overpasses, road signs and a mailbox.</p>

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A man was arrested and charged with attacking his own daughter with a piece of pizza. Deputies say the 38-year-old father got into an argument with his daughter in Gainesville Friday. The man had asked his daughter to get off her computer. When she would not, he began verbally attacking her, according to deputies. The daughter called 911 when her father threw a piece of pizza that hit her in the back of the neck. The suspect was arrested and charged with felony child abuse. Deputies are not releasing the girl's age or the names of either...

In January, an Onondaga County sheriff's deputy pulled over Audra Harmon, who had two of her kids with her in her minivan. A routine traffic stop escalated quickly. The deputy, Sean Andrews, accused her of talking on her cell phone. She said she could prove him wrong. He said she was speeding. She denied it and got out of the van. He told her to get back in. She did, then he ordered her back out. He yanked her out by the arm, knocked her down with two Taser shots and charged her with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. His...

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Illegal immigrants crossing the Arizona desert in will have to worry about being apprehended by one more law enforcement agency. A posse of 100 volunteers and deputies with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office will be assigned to patrol the desert and main roadways in the southwest area of the county and arrest illegal immigrants, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a news release. The effort is an attempt to slow the tide of illegal immigrants into the county, Arizona's most populous, according to the release. "There are so many illegals trying to make it into the county that it's overwhelming my...

As late as three weeks ago, two months after court records show the state of Maryland agreed to settle a lawsuit with money and words of contrition over the arrest of a musician accused of e-mailing a bomb threat to the airport, he was still in court fighting to get authorities to say they were sorry.

San Diego police Officer Frank White was found not guilty yesterday of criminal charges resulting from the shooting and wounding of a mother and her young son during a road-rage incident last year. A Vista Superior Court jury acquitted White, 29, of a felony count of grossly negligent discharge of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of exhibiting a firearm. White showed little emotion as the verdicts were read about 4 p.m., but after the jury left the courtroom, he bear-hugged his attorney, Rick Pinckard, then his wife, Jacquellyn.

An official responsible for monitoring how federal funds for volunteerism are spent told FOX News he was fired by President Obama for doing his job, and suggested it was payback for investigating the alleged misuse of grant money by the Sacramento mayor, an Obama backer. Gerald Walpin, who until last week was the chief internal watchdog for AmericCorps and other service programs, suggested "political pressure" was behind his ouster. He said he worried the action will have a "chilling effect" on other inspectors general. Obama gave little explanation for the decision, writing in a letter sent Thursday that he no...

George Torres' future looked pretty bleak: The supermarket mogul had been stripped of his riches by government prosecutors, convicted in a massive racketeering case and was awaiting a potential life sentence in federal prison. But in a stunning reversal of fortune Tuesday, the government released its grip on Torres' assets, a judge tossed out the most serious convictions against him, and he was ordered set free -- at least for now. The turnaround came after prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles turned over tape-recorded conversations that contained information that was potentially beneficial to Torres' defense regarding at...

History and social analysis of the Duke lacrosse case, retold in part from original documents; compared and contrasted with the social history of the Scottsboro trials.

Veteran Miami-Dade prosecutor David Ranck faces battery charges after an alleged scuffle with a pizza delivery woman on Saturday during a delivery that went horribly wrong. It's the second report of prosecutors gone wild in the past week. A Broward County prosecutor was arrested late last week for punching a cop in the back of the head during a barroom fight. At least he picked on a man. According to police reports, Ranck and the unidentified woman got into a shouting match when the delivery person couldn't get into the attorney's gated community. After a bit of shouting that woke...

The hearing today turned contentious when District Attorney David Prater asked the judge not to bar Ersland from access to a gun while at the store. He argued Ersland still has a right to defend himself and pharmacy employees if the store is robbed again. He said the restriction either meant Ersland would be fired from his job or crooks now know it is "open season" at the pharmacy if Ersland is there. The district attorney said his position sounds crazy but under the law Ersland has the right to protect himself. At one point, spectators clapped. Defense attorney Irven...

DESTIN - Local defense attorney Robert Scott Whitehead was arrested and faces multiple charges in connection with two motor vehicle accidents in Destin on Saturday night. Whitehead, who is 38, was charged with DUI with property damage and personal injury, refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test and leaving the scene of a traffic crash. This was the second time he has been charged with refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office press release. Investigators say Whitehead, of Furling Lane in Destin, hit a car at the intersection of U.S. Highway...

They say government scientists messed with their minds. Now, veterans of secret psychedelic tests want answers. Their stories are a staple of conspiracy culture: broken men, suffering hallucinations and near-total amnesia, who say they are victims of secret government mind-control experiments. Think Liev Schreiber in The Manchurian Candidate or Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory. Journalists are a favorite target for the paranoid delusions of this population. So is Gordon Erspamer—and the San Francisco lawyer's latest case isn't helping him to fend off the tinfoil-hat crowd. He has filed suit against the CIA and the US Army on behalf of the...

Birmingham police beating video

On a vote that was so close that Farmington Mayor William Standley had to cast the tie breaker, officials of the Four Corners community rejected installing red-light cameras ... There are three municipalities in the state that use or are planning to use red-light cameras to enforce traffic laws: Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe.

Farmington attorney who opposes red-light cameras in Farmington is fighting two tickets he received after his cars were caught on camera zipping through Albuquerque intersections. He contends Albuquerque’s ordinance violates state law and the federal constitution. He says he wasn’t driving but purposely hasn’t asked family members who was.

NASHVILLE — Police could force those accused of running a stop sign or spitting on a sidewalk to provide their fingerprints under legislation up for a final vote today in the Senate. Fingerprints would replace written signatures, which are now required, when law enforcement officers issue citations for violations of traffic laws or city ordinances. Citations are issued in lieu of an arrest. The bill passed the House last week on a 72-17 vote despite concerns raised by Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, about unwarranted intrusions on citizens and possible use of the information for national identification cards. The sponsor of...

A federal jury on Friday acquitted W.R. Grace & Co. and three of its former officials of charges that they knowingly exposed residents of Libby, Mont., to asbestos poisoning associated with a mining operation and conspired to hide it. The verdict brings to an ignominious end one of the most significant criminal prosecutions the government had ever filed against a corporate polluter. The acquittals raise new questions about prosecutorial failings in the Justice Department, which already was reeling from the dismissal of its corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).In Libby, where an estimated 1,200 residents have died or...

Action News 7 | Lincoln Park, Michigan, cop hangs up on girl while father has convulsions. Worth a View. Cop Arrests Girl for Swearing During 911 Call[Video]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Corp., in what could be the automaker's last quarterly update before it descends into bankruptcy, is expected to post a loss on Thursday of almost $7 billion for the first three months of the year. There's not much GM (GM:General Motors Corp can reveal that Wall Street hasn't already heard about the dire state of the domestic auto industry. Sales are testing three-decade lows, cash continues to burn by the billions and the company is suffocating in debt. Instead, investors will be looking for signs as to whether GM can successfully complete its long-term...

Every last man, woman, and infant in this country just gave $25 to Chrysler's unions and an Italian car company. Is the White House going to explain that one? The White House confirmed yesterday that the $8 billion in "bridge loans" the U.S. taxpayer has given to Chrysler over the past six months, including $4 billion in bankruptcy financing, won't be paid back. Taxpayers also won't be getting a big slug of Chrysler stock in exchange. Instead, the wreckage of Chrysler will be divided up among Fiat, Chrysler's unions, and Chrysler's debtholders. Which means that the taxpayers' $8 billion was...

Last Friday, the day after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, I drove past the company’s headquarters on Interstate 75 in Auburn Hills, Mich. As I glanced at the pentagram logo I felt myself tearing up a little bit. Anyone who grew up in the Detroit area, as I did, can’t help but be sad to see a once great company fail. But my sadness turned to anger later when I heard what bankruptcy lawyer Tom Lauria said on a WJR talk show that morning. “One of my clients,” Lauria told host Frank Beckmann, “was directly threatened by the White House and...

To the Stockholders of General Motors Corporation: General Motors Corporation (“we,” “us,” “our” or “GM”) is undertaking a restructuring as part of a plan to achieve and sustain long-term viability. A key element of this plan involves us pursuing transactions in which we would issue GM common stock in satisfaction of certain of our outstanding debt obligations and retiree healthcare obligations. In connection with the foregoing, we are currently in discussions with the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “U.S. Treasury”) regarding the terms of a potential restructuring of our debt obligations owed to the U.S. Treasury, pursuant to which...

Cliff Asness, whose firm manages some $20 billion of assets, has written an open letter blasting President Obama for his attack on the hedge fund industry in the wake of the Chrysler bankruptcy. As you'll recall, hedge funds, which hold approximately $1 billion in Chrysler bonds, refused the government's offer to take approximately thirty cents on the dollar. Obama accused hedge funds of holding out "for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout." These comments have enraged many in the industry but few have spoken out publicly. Asness, whose firm doesn't hold Chrysler bonds, says the industry is genuinely afraid...

Although Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation 10 days earlier, House members Monday again approved a resolution claiming Oklahoma’s sovereignty. Unlike House Joint Resolution 1003, House Concurrent Resolution 1028 does not need the governor’s approval. The House passed the measure 73-22. It now goes to the Senate. "We’re going to get it done one way or the other,” said the resolutions’ author, Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City. "I think our governor is out of step.” House Democrats objected, saying the issue already had been taken up and had been vetoed, but House Speaker Pro Tempore Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, ruled the...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s life has changed in a myriad of ways since she became the Republican vice presidential nominee last August, but one aspect of her newfound fame has been more bracing than the others: Since entering the national spotlight, Palin has been inundated by ethics complaints, most of them filed against her after she agreed to become Sen. John McCain’s running mate. The complaints run the gamut, ranging from the governor’s use of state funds and staff to the workings of her political action committee and even to a jacket she wore to a snow machine race involving...

The real scandal in this case starts with the attempted criminalization of policy differences and legitimate lobbying, and ends up in the wiretapping of Congress and the wrecked careers of Messrs. Rosen, Weissman and Franklin. This smacks of abuse of power, and somebody at Justice should be held to account.

OAKLAND - A grand jury today voted to indict Yusuf Ali Bey IV, the scion of the defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery, for ordering the killings of journalist Chauncey Bailey and two other men in 2007, authorities familiar with the situation said. Prosecutors are likely to bring the case with special circumstances - allowing them to seek the death penalty against Bey IV, 23. He allegedly told two of his followers that in exchange for killing Bailey, he would teach them how to file fraudulent loan applications that could reap hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another man, Antoine Arelus Mackey,...

Communications firms are being asked to record all internet contacts between people as part of a modernisation in UK police surveillance tactics. The home secretary scrapped plans for a database but wants details to be held and organised for security services. The new system would track all e-mails, phone calls and internet use, including visits to social network sites. The Tories said the Home Office had "buckled under Conservative pressure" in deciding against a giant database. Announcing a consultation on a new strategy for communications data and its use in law enforcement, Jacqui Smith said there would be no single...

When she was a 13-year-old student at Safford Middle School in Arizona, Savana Redding was strip-searched by school officials in search of - this is no joke - ibuprofen. Now she is suing the district and the officials for violating her Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. It is not good for Redding that while the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on her case last week, Justice David Souter commented, "My thought process is I would rather have the kid embarrassed by a strip search, if we can't find anything short of that, than to have some other...

Obama administration to release Bush-era detainee photos The pictures show Americans' alleged abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. An ACLU lawyer says they prove that Abu Ghraib 'was not aberrational.' By Peter Wallsten, Julian Barnes and Greg Miller April 23, 2009 Reporting from Washington -- The Obama administration agreed late Thursday to release dozens of photographs depicting alleged abuse by U.S. personnel during the Bush administration of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least 44 pictures will be released on May 28 -- making public for the first time images of what the military investigated as abuse that took...

This video is an inspiration for our constitutional rights. He is a baptist pastor who knows his constitution. I don't blame the border patrol...but they should know the laws better and i've had an incident with a cop lying on his police report and arresting me for the lie so i'm sympathetic to this ....watch the whole 27 minutes its well worth it

Afforess writes "'Proxy servers are an everyday part of Internet surfing. But using one in a crime could soon lead to more time in the clink,' reports the Associated Press. The new federal rules would make the use of proxy servers count as 'sophistication' in a crime, leading to 25% longer jail sentences. Privacy advocates complain this will disincentivize privacy and anonymity online. '[The government is telling people] ... if you take normal steps to protect your privacy, we're going to view you as a more sophisticated criminal,' writes the Center for Democracy and Technology. Others fear this may lead...