Civil Unrest, Police Responses, Media Suppression

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Vaguely related: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/...as-5848823.php

At least it looks like the law is being applied to the officer as it would to "just us" proles:

Ex-CHP officer charged in theft of women’s phone photos - Houston Chronicle

[kladner]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

At least it looks like the law is being applied to the officer as it would to "just us" proles:

Ex-CHP officer charged in theft of women’s phone photos - Houston Chronicle

Maybe the difference is that this case concerns nasty, naughty, sexy stuff, instead of just another boring old killing.

[Xyzzy]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...istol-whipped/

[kladner]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...istol-whipped/

Disgusting cowards. How brave for two big fat guys to bash a skinny 16 year old. One of them hits him in the face after he is handcuffed. The third cop who strolls up should also be charged, unless he reported the brutality. Otherwise, he is at least an accomplice or accessory.

Unfortunately, it is depressingly easy to guess that they will be acquitted.

[ewmayer]

Why Innocent People Plead Guilty | NY Review of Books

The criminal justice system in the United States today bears little relationship to what the Founding Fathers contemplated, what the movies and television portray, or what the average American believes.

To the Founding Fathers, the critical element in the system was the jury trial, which served not only as a truth-seeking mechanism and a means of achieving fairness, but also as a shield against tyranny. As Thomas Jefferson famously said, “I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

The Sixth Amendment guarantees that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” The Constitution further guarantees that at the trial, the accused will have the assistance of counsel, who can confront and cross-examine his accusers and present evidence on the accused’s behalf. He may be convicted only if an impartial jury of his peers is unanimously of the view that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and so states, publicly, in its verdict.

The drama inherent in these guarantees is regularly portrayed in movies and television programs as an open battle played out in public before a judge and jury. But this is all a mirage. In actuality, our criminal justice system is almost exclusively a system of plea bargaining, negotiated behind closed doors and with no judicial oversight. The outcome is very largely determined by the prosecutor alone.

If the author's name seems familiar, perhaps it's because he has featured in several MET-thread stories the past few years, as one of the few judges pushing back against the wrist-slap "no admission of wrongdoing" settlements the DOJ has made a habit of arranging with the criminal rackets known as the TBTF banks and corrupt mortgage servicers.

[LaurV]

[Brian-E]

Thanks for the video link LaurV, it's well worth watching. Very funny, very eye opening.

[chappy]

http://www.wlky.com/national/police-...nrest/29893776

I would like to point out that Michael Brown and now this woman are the only fatalities in this entire ordeal.

I was talking to my aunt yesterday at the first of the family gatherings for T-day. And she was concerned by how close I lived to the "Whole mess going on." Yes, I live close to it. Very close to the courthouse where the grand jury is sitting. No, I haven't been bothered, or worried, or even inconvenienced by the protesters.

Have I been concerned by the whole thing? Yes, the over-reaction by the local police, the media hype, the hyperbole, the drawing of artificial boundaries of race and humanity, and now tens of thousands of untrained and overly worried idiots buying guns for 'protection' that they have no idea how to handle properly. These things worry me.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by chappy

http://www.wlky.com/national/police-...nrest/29893776

I would like to point out that Michael Brown and now this woman are the only fatalities in this entire ordeal.

.....

Have I been concerned by the whole thing? Yes, the over-reaction by the local police, the media hype, the hyperbole, the drawing of artificial boundaries of race and humanity, and now tens of thousands of untrained and overly worried idiots buying guns for 'protection' that they have no idea how to handle properly. These things worry me.

Well, at least she won't feel threatened by "those people" anymore.

[garo]

Belated acknowledgement to Ernst for posting that superb article by Jed Rakoff. If you haven't read it, please do.

Also, a cross-post from the Gaza thread. Some clear parallels here.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/...-and-gasoline/

According to the first police statement, the 22-year old Arab, Kheir a-Din Hamdan, attacked the police with a knife. In self defense, they had no choice but to shoot and kill him.
As so often with police reports, this was a pack of lies.
Unfortunately (for the police), the incident was recorded by security cameras. The pictures clearly showed Hamdan approaching a police car and beating on its windows with something, possibly a knife. When he saw that this had no effect, Hamdan turned around and started to walk away.
At that moment, the policemen got out of the car and immediately started to shoot at the back of Hamdan, who was hit and fell to the ground. The officers surrounded him and, after some hesitation, obviously a consultation between them, started to drag the wounded youngster on the ground towards the patrol car, as if he were a sack of potatoes. They dumped him on the floor of the car and drove away (to a hospital, it appears), with their feet on or near the dying man.

[chappy]

In case you are interested in the events in Ferguson Missouri tonight. Grand Jury announcement at 8:00 pm Central Time ( GMT -6 )

http://www.reddit.com/live/tdrph3y49ftn/

Reddit feed

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/st-lou...police-scanner

St. Louis County Scanner feed, +Ferguson PD, +State Patrol, +riot channels.