Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

Association for Psychological Science

Evidence from some wrongful-conviction cases suggests that suspects can be questioned in ways that lead them to falsely believe in and confess to committing crimes they didn’t actually commit. New research provides lab-based evidence for this phenomenon, showing that innocent adult participants can be convinced, over the course of a few hours, that they had perpetrated crimes as serious as assault with a weapon in their teenage years.

The research, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, indicates that the participants came to internalize the stories they were told, providing rich and detailed descriptions of events that never actually took place.   Continue reading “People Can Be Convinced They Committed a Crime That Never Happened”

Reuters – by Susan Cornwell

Several U.S. Republican senators proposed legislation on Tuesday that would place a moratorium on the release of most of the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying they posed too much danger to the United States and its allies.

“It’s clear that we need a ‘time out’ so that we do not re-confront the terrorists that we had captured and are currently in Guantanamo,” said Senator Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire.   Continue reading “U.S. Republicans want moratorium on release of most Guantanamo prisoners”

The Washington Post – by Greg Miller

An internal CIA panel concluded in a report released Wednesday that agency employees should not be punished for their roles in secretly searching computers used by Senate investigators, a move that was denounced by lawmakers last year as an assault on congressional oversight and a potential breach of the Constitution.

Rejecting the findings of previous inquiries into the matter, the CIA review group found that the agency employees’ actions were “reasonable in light of their responsibilities to manage an unprecedented computer system” set up for Senate aides involved in a multiyear probe of the CIA’s treatment of terrorism suspects.   Continue reading “CIA finds no wrongdoing in agency’s search of computers used by Senate investigators”

The Guardian – by Carol Rose and Kade Crockford

If the Olympics come to Boston – and the US Olympic Committee, having chosen it as their contender to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, hopes they will – the government will likely treat it as a National Security Special Event. That means the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police would fall under the authority of the US Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, which would be in charge of security operations. All people within the NSSE “security” zone – possibly the entire Boston metro area and beyond – could lose a host of constitutional rights, including the right to protest on public land, and the right to not be searched or questioned absent any reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.   Continue reading “Boston is the US candidate to host the 2024 Olympics. Prepare to have your rights violated”

The Daily Caller – by Chuck Ross

A Houston-area man is being hailed as a hero after he stopped an armed robbery with a gun of his own.

The incident occurred Saturday at K&S Seafood when two armed men barged into the store near closing time.

“All of a sudden my wife ran back panicking,” K&S owner Koy Sam told KHOU.   Continue reading “‘Amazing’ Armed Customer Thwarts Armed Robbery, Inspires Woman To Obtain Concealed Carry Permit”

I’m confused, are they claiming anyone who distrusts law enforcement has a mental illness?

USA Today – by Kevin Johnson

WASHINGTON — Police officials offered an unapologetic defense of law enforcement in America Tuesday, telling a White House panel that flagging public trust is largely due to powerful social forces — extreme poverty, untreated mental illness and lack of resources — beyond their control that often fuel tense encounters with the public.    Continue reading “Police say social problems fuel tensions with public”

ABC News

A police officer secretly recorded his actions and conversations for about 15 years because his supervisor red-flagged him for repeatedly using force and getting a high number of citizen complaints, according to public records obtained by an Ohio newspaper.

The Akron officer, Donald Schismenos, resigned in 2013, more than two years after thousands of hours of his video and audio were found on a police computer. He used a pen camera and a dashboard camera, and the recordings included his interactions with the public and his supervisors.   Continue reading “Cop Says He Secretly Recorded to Protect Himself”

Courthouse News – by Cameron Langford

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (CN) – Undocumented immigrants’ cooperation with police is vital for public safety, 27 police chiefs from Los Angeles to Boston say in a friend of the court brief supporting President Barack Obama’s directive to ease deportations.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association, a group of police chiefs and sheriffs representing the nation’s largest cities, and 27 law enforcement officials filed an amici curiae brief Monday in Federal Court.   Continue reading “Police Chiefs’ Friend of Court Brief Backs Obama on Immigration”

The Free Thought Project – by Casandra Rules

Bakersfield, CA– North Beardsley Elementary in Bakersfield, California, is facing backlash after the principal, Aimee Williamson, who happens to be the wife of the Bakersfield police chief, decided to celebrate the pseudo holiday of Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on January 9th.  The biggest problem is that this hits far too close to home for one student.

Outspoken activist Alicia Moore was horrified when her seven year old daughter returned home from school on Thursday upset about her class assignment that day, as her older brother’s father was brutally beaten to death by 15 Bakersfield police officers in 2005.   Continue reading “School Activity Praising Police Outrages Mother Whose Son’s Father Was Murdered by 15 Cops”

NJ.com – by Ted Sherman

NEWARK — The 42-year-old Vietnam-era OH-58A Bell Kiowa helicopter, a U.S. Army hand-me-down, came at a very good price. It was free.

So the Newark Police Department took two—one to operate and the other for spare parts.

And that’s when the bills started to fly.   Continue reading “How a free Army helicopter cost Newark police more than $2M”

Wall Street Journal – by LAURA MECKLER and KRISTINA PETERSON

Late last year, Republicans decided to fund the Homeland Security department only through February in hopes of using the agency’s funding as a lever to force change on immigration once the GOP controlled both houses of Congress. But the bill will need 60 votes to clear the Senate, meaning at least six Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents would have to vote yes.   Continue reading “Bill to Defund Homeland Security Unlikely to Pass Senate”

KHQ 6 News

POST FALLS, Idaho – Post Falls Chief of Police Scott Haug says he was very surprised when an arrest warrant landed on his desk earlier this week. The warrant was for a “failure to appear,” not uncommon. But the perpetrator was a nine year old boy.

Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh, who issued the arrest warrant, was not able to comment because the case involves someone younger than 18 years old. However, Haug says the warrant was issued because it was the second time the 9 year old missed his day in court.   Continue reading “Idaho Prosecutor Issues Warrant for 9-Year-Old Accused of Stealing Pack of Gum”

Alaska Dispatch News – by Patrick McGeehan, The New York Times

NEW YORK — New York state’s requirement that children be vaccinated before attending public school does not violate their constitutional rights, a federal appeals court in Manhattan said on Wednesday.

In affirming the requirement’s constitutionality, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld a previous ruling by a federal judge that students exempted from the requirement for religious reasons can be barred from school when another child has a disease preventable by a vaccine.   Continue reading “State Vaccine Requirement Is Lawful, Appeals Court Says”

Penn Live – by John Luciew

A traffic stop in Indiana, Pa., has turned into a federal lawsuit for an unspecified sum. This, after a 23-year-old woman claims a veteran police detective wrongly arrested her, beat her with his flashlight and kicked her during a traffic stop.

According to the Associated Press, it all began when Karissa Nikole Smith was driving her father’s car with an expired registration after going to an evening Mass.

The AP writes:

The lawsuit, first reported the Indiana Gazette, contends Indiana Borough Detective Scott Schuller, a 20-year veteran, falsely claimed the car’s license plate light wasn’t working properly as a pretense to make the stop. The suit says the officer dragged Smith, then 23, from the car when she tried to phone her father after she was pulled over Nov. 1, 2013.   Continue reading “Pa. woman who says she was wrongly arrested, beaten by cop during traffic stop files federal lawsuit”

AlterNet – by Shaun King

This past New Year’s Day, Matthew Ojibade, 22, of Savannah, Georgia,s uffered a manic episode resulting from his ongoing struggles with bipolar disorder. His girlfriend called police to help intervene and take him to the hospital. When they arrived, she gave the police his prescription medication, which was noted in the police report, and requested again that he be taken to the hospital.     Continue reading “Savannah Man Dies In Restraining Chair While In Police Custody”