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MOBILE, Ala. — A former Alabama judge was cleared Monday of charges accusing him of paddling and sexually abusing male inmates. Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on seven counts after more than a week of testimony. A judge threw out the remaining 14 charges. Defense attorneys had painted the 48-year-old as a prominent civic leader who became a victim of felons lying about him to manipulate the court system. Prosecutors said Thomas brought 11 young male inmates to a private courthouse office and severely paddled their bare bottoms for sexual gratification. Some of the...

State police have refused to release information that might shed light on the response of its Pocono barracks to a February crash off Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, that led to the death of a Taylor man. The agency has failed to provide even basic information on the incident since The Times-Tribune began making inquiries in August. State police have classified the crash a "nontraffic incident," which directly conflicts with a Lackawanna County coroner's report that found 47-year-old Sam Turoni died from injuries suffered in a vehicle crash. A call reporting the crash was only briefly...

ROY -- The same day a 47-year-old Ogden High School teacher was accused of having a sexual relationship with a then 16- or 17-year-old former student, a Roy Jr. High teacher has been accused of the same thing with a former jr. high student. "They're victims. They're preyed upon. They're manipulated. They're not, by societal standards, mature enough to make some of these adult decisions on their own," said Roy police Chief Greg Whinham said. "We've been in this weird world where we're having one a week become the headline in the paper. There's definitely a problem." Ogden police and...

Perhaps the Garden State should switch its nickname to the Barnyard State. A New Jersey judge has dismissed animal cruelty charges against a cop accused of committing a sex act with cows, saying a grand jury had no way of knowing whether the animals were "tormented." Moorestown police officer Robert Melia, who is currently suspended, allegedly stuck his penis in the mouths of five calves in Southampton in 2006. Since New Jersey currently has no law explicitly banning such an act, prosecutors in Burlington county brought animal cruelty charges against Melia, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. "If the cow had...

On Monday, we asked if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could be reformed, citing companion bills in the Senate and House backed by the National Rifle Association that promise to roll back certain restrictions and moderate penalties for minor violations. Yesterday, we examined a campaign created by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Their bottom line: "Boot the BATFE." No doubt many will consider this an unrealistic goal, and deem the likelihood of generating enough support to make it happen remote without revolutionary changes from the way government exerts control now. That doesn't mean it shouldn't...

Tom Brokaw: "It's frightening, frankly."

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...

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...

Gay Cop Profiled Illegal Aliens for Molestation

A jumpy cat caused a distraction, report saysHOLLYWOOD - After a Hollywood police officer rear-ended a car in February and then arrested the driver on drunken driving charges, he and other officers talked about doctoring the report -- it said a jumpy cat created a distraction -- to cover up the crash. The exchange was recorded by a dashboard camera in one of the patrol cars. The officers apparently didn't realize it was on.

Driving and using cell phones - we all know the dangers. But now, new evidence suggests it's not only dangerous, but deadly. Federal officials have long had the evidence that shows drivers on the roads, who are talking on a cell phone, hands free or not, are running the risk of getting involved in a deadly accident. Officials recommend talking on a cell phone while driving should only be done in an emergency. However, this evidence never saw the light of day. A long-term study the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggested to fully assess the threat was never done....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The popular video sharing web site YouTube has again censored a video exposing Planned Parenthood hiding a potential case of sexual abuse of a teenager. The video also shows the Planned Parenthood employee telling a woman posing as a teenager how she can evade the state's parental consent abortion law.The undercover video, taken by Lila Rose of Live Action, shows a staffer at a Birmingham, Alabama Planned Parenthood abortion center telling a woman who appears to be a victim of statutory rape that "we bend the rules."The video has triggered an investigation by the state Attorney...

<p>WHEN AGNES LAWLESS and three friends were inside a Lukoil convenience store in the Northeast at 3 a.m. last August, they'd all but forgotten the fender-bender in which they'd been involved moments earlier.</p> <p>There was little damage, and the other driver had left the scene, near Northeast Philadelphia Airport.</p>

PHOENIX (AP) -- Prosecutors in Arizona won't file charges against five Mesa police officers for their role in flushing a stillborn fetus down a toilet. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office determined a crime wasn't committed last month when an officer flushed the 4-inch fetus down a toilet in a motel room. ~snip~ Officers and Mesa fire personnel responded in June to a Motel 6, where they found a woman had miscarried. One of the officers photographed the fetus, which fire officials reportedly declined to take, then flushed it.

(AP Photo/El Monte Police Department) It all started out with a kick to the head. True, the suspect was not exactly one to elicit sympathy, but that's not the point. A free society cannot tolerate police acting outside the law to administer physical punishment. Except Dean Scoville, "Associate Editor of Police Magazine and a retired patrol supervisor and investigator with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department," disagrees with that: There was a time when post pursuit ass-kickings were obligatory. Cops knew it, suspects knew it, and there are enough old timers on both sides of the fence that will verify the...

Cop taped beating Chicago bartender gets probation By DON BABWIN Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) -- An off-duty Chicago police officer convicted of pummeling a female bartender half his size was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and anger management classes for the videotaped attack that appeared worldwide on the Internet and cable news channels.

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.

Police were called early Sunday to the home Manuel Salvador Morales Jr. shared with his parents because relatives said Morales was threatening himself with knives. Police spokesman Tom Nichols says two officers confronted Morales, who was armed and failed to comply with their commands. No additional details about the confrontation or how Morales was armed were released. Nichols says Officer Albert Riccardi fired two shots at Morales, who was hit twice in the torso and pronounced dead at a hospital.

Tuesday afternoon, April 28, several major homosexual activist figures, including a prominent state employee, led a screaming demonstration to terrorize a downtown Boston church while it was holding a peaceful religious training event inside. Using a bullhorn, they illegally trampled through an adjoining Revolutionary War-era cemetery in order to be directly outside the church's windows. Despite numerous apparent violations of the law, the Boston Police talked with them but refused to make any arrests.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Two FBI workers are accused of using surveillance equipment to spy on teenage girls as they undressed and tried on prom gowns at a charity event at a West Virginia mall. The FBI employees have been charged with conspiracy and committing criminal invasion of privacy. They were working in an FBI satellite control room at the mall when they positioned a camera on temporary changing rooms and zoomed in for at least 90 minutes on girls dressing for the Cinderella Project fashion show, Marion County Prosecutor Pat Wilson said Monday. Gary Sutton Jr., 40, of New Milton...

A decorated ex-cop who claimed he tested positive for cocaine because he ingested the drug during oral sex with his girlfriend can't have his job back, a Manhattan judge has ruled. Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower last month shot down helicopter pilot Jon Goldin's attempt to overturn his April 2008 dismissal from the NYPD. Goldin, a 15-year veteran, tested positive for cocaine in October 2006 in a random drug test using hairs from his arm. Goldin's lawsuit said the cocaine in his system was the product of "passive ingestion" from performing oral sex on girlfriend Coreen McCarthy, who, once he...

Franklin County deputies accused of tampering with inmate's food Tuesday, March 24, 2009 7:40 AM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Two deputies assigned to the Downtown Franklin County jail are being investigated after being accused of tampering with an inmate's food. According to sources at the jail, the deputies fed a sandwich to an inmate after having another inmate touch the sandwich with his penis. Sources also said that the deputies used a cell phone to take pictures of the incident. The Franklin County sheriff's office confirmed that the deputies are being investigated and have been reassigned to the control center, where...

For months, perhaps longer, the Montague County Jail(TX) was "Animal House" meets Mayberry. Inside the small brick building across from the courthouse, inmates had the run of the place, having sex with their jailer girlfriends, bringing in recliners, taking drugs and chatting on cell phones supplied by friends or guards, according to authorities. They also disabled some of the surveillance cameras and made weapons out of nails.,The doors to two groups of cells didn't lock, but apparently no one tried to escape — perhaps because they had everything they needed inside. The jailhouse escapades — some of which date to...

Did an affair between two BART police officers sent to quell a New Year's disturbance at the Fruitvale Station set the stage for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant by their fellow Officer Johannes Mehserle? That's the claim attorney John Burris makes in the wrongful-death lawsuit against the transit agency that he filed on the Grant family's behalf. The family is seeking $50 million, an unlikely amount even given the gravity of the case. But Burris' play doesn't look to be the courtroom - he's angling for a hefty settlement from BART in advance, largely by putting political pressure on...

A uniformed cop accused of raping an East Village woman in her apartment tried to hide from a surveillance camera while using a key to enter her building, sources said yesterday. But what he didn't appear to know was that there was a second camera catching his and his partner's every move before and after the alleged sexual assault, the sources said. The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating a claim that the patrolman raped an intoxicated business executive after the cop and his partner responded to a cabdriver's 911 plea for help with his drunken passenger, the sources said....

SOF EXPOSES BATF CORRUPTION IN IRAQ Posted by SOF Editor on February 18th, 2009 3 Comments Printer-Friendly NEED A DEFINITION FOR OBAMA’S CALL FOR “RESPONSIBILITY�Amid the orderly transfer of power, our new Chief Executive has issued a call for responsibility. As is the case with most of his public statements, his meaning is not clear. However, if he means holding government officials accountable for their actions, a novel and great idea, it is something that we can all embrace. It is particularly true of those officials within agencies with a long and well documented history of abuses of entrusted...

I believe it is long past time to end the War on Drugs. That’s not because I approve of drug use or have any desire to encourage it. But this particular war has already gone on longer than the ones in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, put together, with no end in sight and far less to show for it. I would not only decriminalize drug use, I would give it the same legal status as tobacco and alcohol, and with the same age restrictions. For one thing, this would provide a great source of new tax revenue. Also, it...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former CIA agent rose to the agency's No. 3 rank despite a record of misconduct that stretched over 20 years, prosecutors said, until his career came to an end with his conviction in a bribery scheme. In court papers, prosecutors describe how Kyle "Dusty" Foggo was investigated in the late 1980s for punching a bicyclist in a traffic dispute and for numerous relationships with foreign women that could have compromised security. ... Instead, Foggo is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria after pleading guilty to a single count of fraud as...

"Our policy is pretty clear that they have to drive within the traffic laws" except under those circumstances, said Police Chief David Kunkle, who is meeting with police association officials Thursday to outline the new policy. [snip] So far, the Dallas Police Department has received notice of 103 marked vehicles and six unmarked vehicles running red lights, said Lt. Sally Lannom, who helped draft the new policy. [snip] "I think what they're worrying about is what if it's 2 o'clock in the morning, you're headed to a call but it's not an emergency call," Cpl. Bristo said. "If I roll...

THE family of a 26-year-old Shanghai woman who died in New York last Saturday after being run over by the car of an allegedly intoxicated off-duty police officer was preparing yesterday to fly to the United States to handle funeral arrangements. Feng Guangqun, the father of victim Feng Huang, plans to make the trip with other relatives to claim the body and learn more about the events that led to his daughter's death. He is now waiting for word on when his US visa will be granted. "We want justice," Feng told Shanghai Daily last night. Feng Huang, who graduated...

McALLEN - A former U.S. Border Patrol agent was sentenced in federal court Monday to serve more than seven years in prison for his role in a cocaine smuggling conspiracy. Reynaldo Zuniga, 34, of Harlingen, pleaded guilty in September to using his official vehicle to drive drug traffickers past areas where they were most likely to be caught. Zuniga told investigators he accepted $1,200 to make the drive between the banks of the Rio Grande and an Hidalgo Whataburger at least five times before his arrest June 6, according to court documents. He is at least the fifth local Border...

When Robert Dynes departed as president of the University of California, we hoped his pattern of outlandish compensation for his staff and others would depart with him. It didn't. It merely took another form, which became public in April when UC Berkeley Police Chief Victoria Harrison retired with a lump-sum package of $2.1 million and was immediately rehired as UC Berkeley police chief with higher pay than she had earned before her retirement. At the least, Harrison's rehiring broke the UC regents' rules, which limit retirees to one year of work and no more than 19 hours a week. It...

<p>McALLEN — Two South Texas Border Patrol agents appeared in federal court today on charges alleging they helped drug traffickers move their product across the U.S.-Mexico border.</p> <p>A grand jury in Houston returned sealed indictments Monday against Leonel Morales, 30, of the Border Patrol's Laredo sector and Salomon Ruiz, 34, of the Rio Grande Valley sector.</p>

Brownsville police arrested a Texas state trooper on Saturday morning as he aledgely was finishing a drug deal, Brownsville Police Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique said on Monday. Jesus Rafael Larrazolo, 35, a four-year veteran of the Texas Department of Public Safety, was arrested by police at 10 a.m. in the parking lot of Best Buy as he was loading his car with more than 60 pounds of cocaine after having purchased the drugs in front of police, Manrrique said. A group of detectives from the Special Investigations Unit were conducting routine surveillance in the Pablo Kisel area, when they noticed suspicious...

Morehouse College’s chief of police, Vernon Worthy, has been charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and pointing a gun at someone after a hunting confrontation in Middle Georgia.

BLOOMFIELD — With nothing but time on their hands, three men and three women lodged at the Greene County Jail apparently figured out how to travel from one jail cell to another through the ceiling and engaged in late-night card games, drinking and sex while the rest of the prisoners slept. All six have been charged with escape, a felony, for leaving their cell blocks without permission or knowledge of the jail staff. Bond in each case was set at $10,000. An Oct. 8 search of cell block F1, which houses women, and F2, where men are incarcerated, revealed letters...

Dozens of federal air marshals charged with protecting the public from airplane terrorists have themselves been accused of criminal wrongdoing, including 18 who were charged with felonies. The tally comes from an investigation by the investigative journalism group ProPublica. Its story says marshals have been accused of aiding a human trafficking ring, smuggling drugs and money, trying to hire a hitman and trying to smuggle explosives from Afghanistan. "Since 9/11, air marshals have taken bribes, committed bank fraud, hired an escort while on layover and doctored hotel receipts to pad expenses, records show,” the story reports. They have also “used...

ANTIOCH, CA (KGO) -- The city of Antioch and its police department have been slapped with a federal lawsuit by a San Francisco police detective who got Tasered in her home.One of the officers who raided the San Francisco Police detective's home was wearing a microphone, so it was all recorded.

Last week Mike Sandvick, head of the Milwaukee Police Department's five-man Special Investigative Unit, was told by superiors not to send anyone to polling places on Election Day. He was also told his unit -- which wrote the book on how fraud could subvert the vote in his hometown -- would be disbanded. "We know what to look for," he told me, "and that scares some people." In disgust, Mr. Sandvick plans to retire. (A police spokeswoman claims the unit isn't being disbanded and that any changes to the unit "aren't significant.") In February, Mr. Sandvick's unit released a 67-page...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that aren't buildings as their addresses. U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus also ruled that provisional ballots can't be invalidated because of poll worker errors. Monday's ruling resolved the final two pieces of a settlement between the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The coalition agreed to drop a constitutional challenge to Ohio's voter identification law until after the Nov. 4 election. In return, Brunner and the coalition agreed on procedures...

An unintentionally hilarious assertion was made by Alaska State Senator Hollis French on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show Friday night. Maddow and French were discussing the so-called Troopergate scandal and Gov. Sarah Palin's alleged grudge in firing former Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan for not reopening an investigation of a state trooper who went through a nasty divorce with Palin's sister. Hollis, a Democrat who led the state legislature's investigation into Palin's actions in firing Monegan last July, cited "severe logical fallacies" in claims made by Palin and her husband Todd, including the Palins' request for reduced security despite...

Keovongsa Siharath was arrested in Henry County on charges he punched his stepfather. Jeffrey Churchill was charged with assault in an altercation with a woman in a mall parking lot. All three are now officers with the Atlanta Police Department. More than one-third of recent Atlanta Police Academy graduates have been arrested or cited for a crime, according to a review of their job applications. The arrests ranged from minor offenses such as shoplifting to violent charges including assault. More than one-third of the officers had been rejected by other law enforcement agencies, and more than half of the recruits...

You can say one thing about the Yes on 4 TV ad: It's sure to spark some strong reactions. The campaign to pass an abortion parental notification law aired an ad last night with a young man bragging about impregnating underage girls and then taking them to get secret abortions. The ad features a scruffy looking 20-something, wearing a white t-shirt and fleece jacket, talking straight into the camera about how, "I go out with some teenage girls." "OK, so I get a couple of them pregnant. What is the big deal? I can just take her to get an...

WASHINGTON - The ATF lost 76 weapons and hundreds of laptops over five years, the Justice Department reported Wednesday, blaming carelessness and sloppy record-keeping. ... "It is especially troubling that that ATF's rate of loss for weapons was nearly double that of the FBI and DEA, and that ATF did not even know whether most of its lost, stolen, or missing laptop computers contained sensitive or classified information," he added. ... Compared to weapons loss rates for the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF misplaced almost twice as many guns. ... The Justice Department's report can be found at:...

Patrol fires 12 troopers in cheating case Thursday, September 11, 2008 3:21 AM FROM THE (CANTON) REPOSITORY CANTON -- Twelve officers accused of cheating on a certification test for a device used to gather evidence against intoxicated drivers have been fired from the State Highway Patrol. Patrol spokesman Lt. Tony Bradshaw said it's the first time in the law-enforcement agency's 75-year history that so many officers have been let go at once. The patrol said the three sergeants and eight troopers from the Canton post and one Wooster trooper cheated on a certification exam for administering breath tests to determine...

Santa Clara, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Details have emerged from documents in a California appeals court case that a Planned Parenthood abortion business referred for an abortion on a sexually-abused teenager without telling authorities about the abuse. The case prompts pro-life advocates to say parental notification is needed.According to court documents, a Santa Clara County sexual predator impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter and forced her to have a late-term abortion.The man then continued to molest her for another seven months until the child's mother discovered the abuse and contacted police.Despite two visits to Planned Parenthood and a surgical abortion at San...

Sacramento, CA -- Details have emerged from documents in a California appeals court case that a Planned Parenthood abortion business referred for an abortion on a sexually-abused teenager without telling authorities about the abuse. The case prompts pro-life advocates to say parental notification is needed. According to court documents, a Santa Clara County sexual predator impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter and forced her to have a late-term abortion.

On Aug. 14, at around 3 p.m. my wife stepped out of Target in El Centro. I stayed in Target to throw away the trash because we ate in the “Food Ave.” When I walked outside, my wife informed me that a guy in a four-door, silver-colored car sped down the parking lot and somewhat yielded as my daughter was crossing the parking lot intersection. As soon as the driver saw enough room to squeeze by the curve and my daughter, he accelerated fast enough to make the tires skid causing a burning rubber noise (also scared my daughter). He...

Mayor of Maryland town, his dogs dead, still waiting for apology Cops in Prince George's County, Md., have a proud tradition to maintain. In May, a former county officer was sentenced to 45 years in prison for shooting two furniture delivery men at his home last year, one of them fatally. (He claims they attacked him.) In June, a suspect jailed in the death of a local police officer was found strangled in his cell. Authorities have no idea how that could have happened. It's unlikely Mayor Cheye Calvo of Berwyn Heights, Md., was thinking of his county's behaviorally challenged...