Washington’s Blog

Is America Still a Nation of Laws?

The Department of Justice claimed that it:

reviewed the [Senate intelligence] committee’s full report [on torture] and did not find any new information that they had not previously considered in reaching their determination [not to prosecute anyone for torture].

Continue reading “Department of Justice Refuses to Even READ Torture Report”

635666845359722433-thirdWLTX 19

Columbia, SC (WLTX) — Richland County deputies will take place in training exercises along with the 3rd Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The late-night and pre-dawn exercises will run from Friday May 8 through Friday, May 15.

Military and sheriff’s department vehicles will be traveling in the Lower Richland County community near Eastover and Hopkins, in Elgin near Screaming Eagle Road, and North Richland County in the Monticello Road area. The sheriff’s department says people in those areas may also hear ordinance being set off or shots being fired. They say those will be simulations or blanks and do not pose a risk to the community.   Continue reading “Special Forces, Deputies Plan Week Long Exercises”

Featured photo - Mexican Authorities Implicated in Violence, But U.S. Security Aid Still FlowsThe Intercept – by CORA CURRIER AND JESSE FRANZBLAU

The case of 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa teachers college, who were kidnapped last September from the Mexican city of Iguala and have not been seen since, has caused an international outcry and rocked the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto. The Mexican government has sought to portray the Iguala case as the work of local government officials and their gangster accomplices, but as The Intercept reported this week, evidence implicating authorities in the disappearances has led to a concentration of popular anger in a single phrase: fue el estado. “It was the state.”   Continue reading “Mexican Authorities Implicated In Violence, But U.S. Security Aid Still Flows”

Intellihub – by Shepard Ambellas

LIVINGSTON, Tex. (INTELLIHUB) — Pictures sent to Intellihub by a reader reveal that military Humvees are indeed being shipped to the recently closed Walmart store, via 18 wheeler, for possible future use. The closed store(s) are possibly being used in the upcoming JADE HELM 15 exercise as speculated early on by conspiracy theorists.   Continue reading “Military vehicles are being shipped to a closed Texas Walmart ahead of Jade Helm”

A memorial to Michael Brown, near the spot he was shot dead by officer Darren Wilson, on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo. A grand jury did not indict Wilson for the killing, sparking national protests.Sac Bee – by ALEXEI KOSEFF

Grand juries would be prohibited from investigating police shootings and cases where an individual dies from excessive force during an arrest under a bill passed Thursday by the California state Senate.

Protests sprouted up nationwide last fall after grand juries in Missouri and New York declined to indict white police officers who had killed unarmed black men during confrontations. The system, in which a jury of citizens weighs the evidence to decide whether to bring charges, came under fire for its secrecy.   Continue reading “California senators approve ban on grand jury investigations into police deaths”

Washington’s Blog

And Obama Is Arguably More Hostile Towards The Press Than Any President In History

The Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all other presidents combined.

This administration has also obtained much longer jail sentences against whistleblowers than previous presidents.   Continue reading “Obama Has Sentenced Whistleblowers to 31 Times the Jail Time of All Prior U.S. Presidents COMBINED”

MassPrivateI

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Sunday that the United States is facing a new era in which a lone-wolf terrorist could “strike at any moment.”

Keeping the American public in fear is what It’s all about. We can’t have DHS/police budgets dry up right Mr. Johnson?    Continue reading “DHS latest attempt to keep the public in fear, claim lone-wolf attacks could happen any day now”

The Hacker News – by Mohit Kumar

USBkill — A new program that once activated, will instantly disable the laptop or computer if there is any activity on USB port.

Hey Wait, don’t compare USBkill with the USB Killer stick that destroy sensitive components of a computer when plugged-in.   Continue reading “USBKill — Code That Kills Computers Before Law Enforcement Examine It”

WAND 17

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Police officials have announced that the Federal Aviation Administration has authorized the use of drones by the ISP to conduct unmanned aircraft system missions throughout the state.

Officials say drones will be used to enhance the documentation of traffic crash scenes and crime scenes.  Authorities say the ISP has developed this program over the last two years in order to ensure safety and compliance with FAA and statutory requirements.   Continue reading “FAA approves Illinois State Police unmanned aircraft program”

Brandy Hamilton during the traffic stop (Image: KHOU-TV)Forbes – by Jacob Sullum

Last week the Texas House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill that requires police officers to obtain a warrant before probing the anuses and vaginas of motorists during traffic stops. The fact that the bill was deemed necessary speaks volumes about the way the war on drugs has eroded our Fourth Amendment rights and encouraged cops to inflict outrageous indignities on people they suspect of violating pharmacological taboos.

How often do Texas cops decide to perform body cavity searches on people they pull over for routine traffic offenses? More often than you might think. Looking for the case that gave rise to this bill, I immediately found three cases, all involving young women suspected of marijuana possession.   Continue reading “The War On Drugs Now Features Roadside Sexual Assaults By Cops”

jeff shipley.jpgDes Moines Register – by Jeff Shipley

“You’re just making this stuff up.”

So responded Iowa State Rep. Clel Baudler, chairman of the Public Safety Committee and member of the Government Oversight Committee.

In April, I had traveled to Des Moines to testify regarding civil asset forfeiture. Baudler’s reaction to a law-abiding citizen attempting to state facts and express concerns speaks volumes on the growing rift between citizens and law enforcement.   Continue reading “Civil forfeiture: You can’t make this stuff up”

Strong and WalkerWNCN – by Dane Huffman

RALEIGH, N.C. – More than a dozen law enforcement officers, including 11 in North Carolina, have been arrested in a government sting that included the FBI, the government announced Thursday.

Thomas Walker, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, said multiple people were arrested Thursday morning in a major sting of cocaine and heroin operations. Those arrested include five current members of the Northampton County sheriff’s office. They were charged with trafficking cocaine and heroin up and down the I-95 corridor.   Continue reading “NC officers arrested in major drug bust”

South Florida Sun-Sentinel – by Brian Ballou

A U.S. district judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Pembroke Pines man against a veteran police officer who shot him in the abdomen nearly five years ago while he was in the throes of a convulsion.

Abel Martinez was experiencing a seizure for the first time in his life inside his southeast Pembroke Pines home on June 10, 2010, and was acting erratically when Officer Kevin King arrived. Martinez lunged at the officer and King shot him. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg ruled that King’s use of force was reasonable under the circumstances.   Continue reading “Judge dismisses excessive-force lawsuit against veteran officer”

Courthouse News – by ELIZABETH WARMERDAM

FRESNO, Calif. (CN) – A first-grade teacher locked a special-education student in a makeshift cage where she sat in a soiled diaper with dried feces on her body, her mother says in Federal Court.

Ledelldra Brooks filed suit against Fresno Unified School District, teacher Theresa MonPere, and administrators Christie Yang and Ron Bohigian on behalf of her daughter, A.J., who was 7 years old at the time of the alleged mistreatment.   Continue reading “School Caged Special-Needs Girl, Mom Says”

Business Wire

PLEASANTON, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IntegenX announced today that the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) Crime Laboratory is using Rapid DNA technology to test DNA from qualifying arrestees for upload to the national DNA database. This capability streamlines the current process of DNA profile hit-matching against crime scene evidence, to keep communities safer and exonerate innocent suspects. Samples taken from the arrestees were analyzed using the RapidHIT system, which generated a full DNA profile in under two hours that was subsequently uploaded to the National DNA Index System (NDIS). NDIS is the highest level of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which is managed by the FBI and enables the exchange and comparison of forensic DNA evidence from violent crime investigations across the US.   Continue reading “Arizona Department of Public Safety is First NDIS Lab to Upload DNA Profiles to National Database Utilizing Rapid DNA”

MassPrivateI

A Southern Connecticut State University student named Steve Abbagnaro of Durham is developing technology for DHS through his company, Queralt Inc.

“Started in January 2011 with private funding from the Department of Homeland Security, a multi-national industrial gas company and private shareholders, Queralt has grown from developing elementary sensor solutions to offering the leading cloud-based platform for powering intelligent real-time actions based on multiple sensory and data inputs.” Continue reading “DHS is working on an RFID biometric ID badge that knows when you go the bathroom”

A young man in handcuffsThe Guardian – by Ed Pilkington

The idea that police officers should use handcuffs and leg shackles to control an unruly individual is hardly unusual in the US, where fondness for the use of metal restraints runs through the criminal justice system.

What is unusual is when the individual in question is five years old, and the arrest takes place in an elementary school.   Continue reading “New York state police handcuff and shackle ‘combative’ five-year-old”

The New American – by Raven Clabough

The California state assembly is considering a bill that would permit on-the-spot drug testing using “drug breathalyzers.” Assembly Bill 1356 was introduced by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, who cites the increasing use of marijuana as a cause for concern.

The drug tests are capable of detecting amphetamines and cocaine as well.   Continue reading “California Bill Proposes “Drug Breathalyzers” for Police”