Courthouse News Service – by June Williams

YAKIMA, Wash. (CN) – Benton County, Wash. runs a “modern-day debtors’ prison” where poor people who can’t afford fines are sent to jail or put on work crews, a class action claims in state court.

Benton County, pop. 176,000, is in south central Washington along the Columbia River, whose twists and turns form the southern, eastern and northern borders of the county. Only 6,000 people live in the county seat, Prosser; the largest cities are Kennewick, pop. 76,000, and Richland, with 48,000.   Continue reading “‘Debtors’ Prison’ Challenged in Washington”

KKTV 11

Pueblo County High School was on lockdown for almost two hours after authorities say a student was apprehended wearing a trench coat and gas mask.

The lockdown was lifted around 10:30 a.m.

A spokesperson with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office says the girl was not carrying any weapons, and told staff at the school that her outfit was a Halloween costume.   Continue reading “Student Wearing Gas Mask, Trench Coat Facing Expulsion”

The Advocate – by ELLYN COUVILLION

An Ascension Parish man hunting squirrels on his property Monday shot down a neighbor’s drone that had been flying over his home for several months, making his wife feel as though she was being watched.

Aaron Hernandez, the owner of the drone, which was outfitted with a camera, said Tuesday he was flying his $1,200 remote-controlled quadcopter, which he got as a Christmas present last year, at his father’s home in a rural area off La. 936 early Monday evening when his neighbor shot it, disabling it at first, leaving it hovering in the sky.   Continue reading “Ascension Parish resident shoots down neighbor’s drone, says wife felt like it was watching her”

CNN – by Jay Parini

How many more lives have to be ruined by guns before we finally take them away? And how often do we have to listen to crazy people (including members of the Supreme Court) telling us that the Second Amendment grants every American citizen the right to carry a weapon?

I’m tired of hearing about this “well-regulated militia” that is so necessary for American freedom.   Continue reading “Jay Parini: Let’s get rid of guns in this country, once and for all”

The Free Thought Project – by Andrew Emett

Kansas City, MO — After getting arrested and tased over a simple parking ticket, a store clerk has filed a lawsuit against the officer who used excessive force against him. Although the officer claimed that the clerk stood in a threatening position before he was forced to deploy his Taser, recently released dashcam video revealed that the officer lied and had no reason to lawfully detain the clerk.   Continue reading “Dashcam Refutes Cop’s Story of “Fearing for His Life,” Shows Him Taser Man for Parking Ticket”

MassPrivateI

According to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) report, airport X-ray body scanners are safe.

Excerpts from the report:

“Machines that use advanced X-ray imaging technology to screen airport passengers comply with radiation exposure limits set by the American National Standards Institute/Health Physics Society.”    Continue reading “DHS uses an allegedly unbiased report to justify using X-ray body scanners”

The Charlotte Observer – by Steve Harrison

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and Charlotte City Council are discussing whether to create “public safety zones,” city areas where people with past arrests would be prohibited from entering.

Under the controversial proposal, Chief Kerr Putney could designate a high-crime area as a safety zone in response to crimes such as drug sales or discharging guns that were committed on public property.   Continue reading “CMPD considers no-go areas for criminals”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

On October 3–two days after a gunman killed 10 at the gun free facilities on the Umpqua Community College campus–the New York Daily News called for the U.S. State Department to designate the National Rifle Association (NRA) a “terrorist organization.”

They based this request on their belief that national security faces a greater threat from armed citizens than from “foreign terrorists,” and they singled out the NRA as the bulwark preserving citizens’ right to keep and bear arms. They suggested, “The NRA should take its rightful place on the State Department list of terrorist organizations, because its influence is more of an immediate threat to the lives of our citizens than foreign terrorists.”   Continue reading “New York Daily News: State Dept Must Designate the NRA a Terrorist Organization”

MassPrivateI

The mayor of Stockton,California was briefly detained and had two of his laptops and a cell phone confiscated by homeland security agents at the San Francisco International Airport earlier this week after returning from a trip to China.

“A few minutes later, DHS agents confiscated all my electronic devices including my personal cell phone. Unfortunately, they were not willing or able to produce a search warrant or any court documents suggesting they had a legal right to take my property. In addition, they were persistent about requiring my passwords for all devices,” Mayor Anthony Silva said.    Continue reading “DHS/TSA demand mayor turn over his passwords and says he has “no right for a lawyer to be present””

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

After years of not giving a damn and letting the public do its job for it, the FBI is apparently ready to get serious about collecting stats on “police-involved shootings.” In a statement released along with the FBI’s 2014 Crime Report (tl;dr: most crime down again), FBI director James Comey says the agency will be doing… something… to ensure more comprehensive reporting of citizens killed by police.   Continue reading “FBI Director Says Agency Will Track Police-Involved Killings Better By Not Changing Any Of Its Current Methods”

CBS Los Angeles

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — A Valencia woman has sued the city of Carlsbad and several of its officers over allegations that she was pinned to the ground and punched by police in 2013.

Cindy Hahn said the incident on July 31 – a day she calls the worst one of her life – was caught on cellphone video.

The footage Hahn alleges captured her on the ground with one officer on top of her and a second officer repeatedly hitting her in the head.   Continue reading “Valencia Woman Files Suit Alleging She Was Punched By Police In Front Of Her Kids”

Bozeman Daily Chronicle – by Troy Carter

Gov. Steve Bullock surprised a Republican lawmaker Thursday by signing a bill that limits what state and local police forces can take from the Pentagon’s warehouses of surplus military equipment.

Though it passed with bipartisan support, Rep. Nicholas Schwaderer, R-Superior, was shocked when the Chronicle contacted him with the news that Bullock had signed HB 330. He had worried Bullock would appease law enforcement groups who opposed the measure by issuing a veto.

Continue reading “Montana Governor Bullock signs anti-police militarization bill”

KHOU 11 News – by Jeremy Rogalski

HOUSTON — Special Agent Marc Delpit with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms faces an aggravated assault charge for allegedly beating a man and threatening a high school football crowd at gunpoint.

Houston Police spokesman Kese Smith said the incident took place around 8 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of St. Thomas High School during halftime of the varsity football game between St. Thomas and Angleton high schools.   Continue reading “ATF agent faces charges for high school football game assault”

The Rundown Live – by Kristan T. Harris

Dixon police are checking to see if local vehicles are left unlocked under a new program called “Gotcha!”

A Reddit user posted an image of a ticket he received reminding him to lock up his vehicle by local Illinois authorities and claimed that the “local police department unlawfully” entered his “unlocked vehicle to prove a point.”   Continue reading “Police Enter Unlocked Vehicles to Remind You to Lock Up Under New “Gotcha!” Program”

Gasconade County Republican – by Dave Marner

A federal civil rights violation case against a former deputy sheriff, Sheriff Randy Esphorst, and Gasconade County was filed Monday along with a motion to allow the victim’s case to proceed under the pseudonym “Jane Doe.”  

Martin Rainey, a former sheriff’s deputy who was indicted by a Gasconade County grand jury this summer in connection with alleged sexual assaults of two underage females, is named as a defendant in the “motion for leave to proceed under pseudonym” filed Sept. 28 in the U.S. Eastern District Court by Thomas E. Schwartz with Holloran and Schwartz, LLP, St. Louis. The case has been assigned to Eastern Division Judge Audrey G. Fleissig.   Continue reading “Alleged rape victim seeks $825,000 in damages from former deputy, Sheriff, Gasconade County”

MassPrivateI

Cable companies are spying on your mortgage, car and student loans, etc.

According to Bloomberg Business:

“Using data from cable set-top boxes that track TV viewing, credit cards and other sources, media companies including Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, Time Warner Inc.’s Turner and Viacom Inc. are trying to compete with Web giants like Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. and help marketers target their messages to the right audience.” Continue reading “Your television and cable box box are spying on EVERY purchase you’ve ever made”

MassPrivateI

According to Papers Please:

Documents released by Amtrak suggest that since 2012, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has had direct access to Amtrak’s reservation system, possibly including access to reservations for Amtrak passengers traveling entirely within the USA.   Continue reading “US Customs is collecting the personal information of every Amtrak passenger”

Free Beacon – by Elizabeth Harrington

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a system that can predict the “psychological status” of users with smartphones and hope to private companies to bring the invention to the market.

The technology appeared on a list of NIH inventions published in the Federal Register that are now available to be licensed by private companies. The government allows companies to license inventions resulting from federal research in order to expedite their arrival on the marketplace.   Continue reading “Feds Developed App That Predicts ‘Psychological Status’ of Americans”