Unequal protection under the law

On Thursday, the House ethics committee recommended that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) be censured for failing to pay taxes on income he received from a vacation villa in the Dominican Republic. A slap on the wrist, and he gets to stay in office.

Contrast that with the case of Wesley Snipes. The actor was convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns. He has just been sentenced to three years in prison. That's three years of his life taken away for not turning in a form that in essence violates the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against self-incrimination.

There should be equal protection under the law, which means everyone, including Hollywood actors and 20-term congressmen, should be treated the same. But, as Orwell pointed out, some are considered more equal than others.

Seattle officer's kicking of suspect prompts call for federal civil-rights review

(Seattle Times) - The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington said it will seek a federal civil-rights investigation of the Seattle Police Department, citing a newly released video of an officer kicking an African-American teen during an arrest, and other "unnecessarily violent confrontations" with minorities.

Executive Director Kathleen Taylor said Thursday the ACLU will send a request letter next week to the U.S. Justice Department, along with documentation of the incidents.

"These repeated incidents over the last 18 months, which have continued without forceful intervention by the Seattle Police Department, the mayor, or Seattle's other elected officials, leads the ACLU to call on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether there is a pattern and practice of civil-rights violations by the Seattle Police Department in violation of the Constitution and federal law," the organization said in a written statement.

(Full story)

County settles with family of boy paralyzed by speeding police officer

(Washington Examiner) - Montgomery County will pay $400,000 to the family of a Clarksburg boy who was paralyzed by an off-duty police officer driving more than 25 miles per hour over the speed limit.

With the boy never expected to walk again, the family is bracing for millions of dollars more in medical costs -- while the officer involved in the crash remains a member of the county's police force.

In April 2008, off-duty Officer Jason Cokinos struck 12-year-old Luis Jovel Jr. with his police cruiser as the boy crossed the street in front of his home on Stringtown Road. In a follow-up report, police determined that Cokinos was driving 56 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone and concluded that the boy would not have been hit if the officer were traveling at the speed limit.

(Full story)

Another unarmed man shot and killed by Oakland cops

On New Year's Day in 2009, Oakland BART cop Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an unarmed man who was lying face-down on the ground. Mehserle received two years in prison, including time already served, for involuntary manslaughter. That slap-on-the-wrist sentence has apparently sent Oakland police the message that it is now open season on unarmed civilians...

Soldier ordered to delete videos of Fort Hood shooting

(World) - A soldier who recorded the terror of last year's deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas using his cell phone was ordered by an officer to delete both videos, a military court heard Friday.

Under cross examination, Pfc. Lance Aviles told an Article 32 hearing that his noncommissioned officer ordered him to destroy the two videos on Nov. 5, the same day Major Nidal Hasan unleashed a volley of bullets inside a processing center at the Texas Army post.

(Full story)

Theft of gold necklaces a sign of the dollar's decline?

Not too long ago, we were reading about people stealing copper tubing and copper wiring from homes and businesses. Now, police in St. Paul, Minnesota, are warning of a rash of gold necklace thefts. There have been at least 11 instances in the past three months in which thieves snatched necklaces right off the victims' necks.

You see, even criminals are realizing just how dismal the dollar's future is. Thank you, Federal Reserve!

Defend your family, go to jail

Long Island resident George Grier feared for the safety of his family when a street gang gathered in his driveway and began yelling threats. In an effort to scare off the intruders he fired his rifle into the ground. (Full story)

Grier knew that the local police department used "ShotSpotter" technology and that the shooting would summon those who are supposed to protect and serve innocent civilians. So, naturally, Grier was later arrested and charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree, a class D felony. According to New York law, "A person is guilty of reckless endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person."

Cops continually get away with reckless endangerment, assault, and even murder, and when they do happen to get in trouble for their actions they have every resource of the state running to their defense. Mundane civilians, on the other hand, are left to fend for themselves -- and even when they try to exercise their right of self-defense they invariably get punished.

Environmentalism taken to it's logical conclusion

James Lee, the now-deceased gunman who took hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters earlier today, could rightly be called an environmentalist wacko. On his web page he called for the cable channel to save the planet and "stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants."

In Lee's twisted mind the problem was overpopulation. Too many humans equals global warming and, well, every other environmental disaster. The solution, therefore, is to eliminate the cause. That is radical environmentalism taken to it's logical conclusion, which explains why most environmentalists are pro-abortion.

Newlywed arrested after rushing wife to hospital

(AOL News) - When a newlywed cancer survivor with a heart condition started showing stroke symptoms, her husband knew he needed to get her to the hospital immediately. Now, the new groom faces a felony charge from an encounter with a police officer he says delayed his wife's access to treatment.

Just married last week, Eric and Aline Wright of Chattanooga, Tenn., both medical professionals at Erlanger Medical Center, were enjoying what was supposed to be their honeymoon when Aline's speech became slurred and her face began to droop on Wednesday. During the ride to the hospital, Eric says he stopped at two red lights but ran them both. After passing through the second red light, a police cruiser pulled behind the couple's vehicle, following it with lights and sirens on to the hospital.

(Full story)

Girl punched by cop apologizes

A jaywalking incident in Seattle that resulted in a costumed tax-feeder sucker punching a teenage girl has been resolved. The girl has apologized to the cop, apparently for bruising the poor man's fragile ego.

So let's review: A 19-year-old girl gets attacked for the (non-)crime of jaywalking, her friend tries to defend her, the attacker hauls off and slugs the 17-year-old in the face, and then she has to apologize to him. What bothers me is that most Americans will automatically side with the cop, praising him for "just doing his job." Personally, I would hope that any man in the position of having to arrest young girls for simply crossing the street in the middle of the block would do some serious soul-searching and consider doing something productive for a living.

Police Brutality in Seattle

From the video description:

The altercation took place on Martin Luther King Junior Way South in Seattle. The tape begins as the officer appears to be trying to arrest one of the girls for jaywalking.

Both girls, ages 19 and 17, were eventually cuffed and booked on suspicion of obstructing an officer. The one who was punched was checked out by medics and deemed to be OK.

When congressmen attack

5 officers indicted in Katrina killing

NEW ORLEANS, La. (NY Times) - A federal grand jury charged five police officers Friday in connection with the shooting death of a civilian in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

An 11-count indictment against the officers revealed a sequence of events that led to the body of Henry Glover, 31, being found burned in an abandoned car.

The killing occurred Sept. 2, 2005, four days into the flooding of the city, in the Algiers neighborhood on the west bank of the Mississippi River, according to the indictment. David Warren, a police officer at the time, was charged with shooting Mr. Glover with an assault rifle.

(Full story)

NY court rules in favor of man killed by police

NEW YORK (AP) - The mother of a man killed by police a decade ago during a drug raid was awarded nearly $3 million on Thursday by a Bronx appeals court.

Malcolm Ferguson, 23, was shot in the head by a narcotics officer in 2000. Police said he was a drug suspect who struggled when they stopped him. Prosecutors called the shooting an accident and did not charge the officer.

(Full story)

Seattle cops stomp on innocent detainee

SEATTLE, Wash. (KIRO TV) - Internal affairs detectives have launched a review after seeing a racially charged videotape of two Seattle police officers stomping on an innocent detainee.

KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne received the footage from a freelance photographer.

(Full story, video)

Chicago lawmakers: Call In the National Guard

CHICAGO (AP) - Two lawmakers who believe violence has become so rampant in Chicago that the Illinois National Guard must be called in to help made a public plea to Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday to deploy troops.

A recent surge in violent crime, including a night last week that saw seven people killed and 18 wounded -- mostly by gunfire -- prompted the request from Chicago Democratic Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford. They were joined by Willie Williams, whose son was shot and killed in 2006.

(Full story)

Federal air marshal charged with rape

(Seattle Times) - A federal air marshal is being held in jail on $250,000 bail on a charge he raped an escort at gunpoint in a SeaTac hotel while wearing his badge.

According to documents charging Lecheton "Omar" Settles, 30, of Herndon, Va., with first-degree rape, he threatened to use his position as a law-enforcement officer and his government-issued firearm to commit the rape.

(Full story)

Guard recruiter faces child exploitation charges

Casper Star Tribune - Martin Frank of Casper, Wyoming, faces up to 24 years in prison after being charged Wednesday with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

Frank is a recruiter in the Casper area with the Wyoming National Guard, according to Deidre Forster, public affairs officer with the National Guard in Cheyenne.

(Full story)