LAPD officer used Taser on handcuffed woman - then lied about it (video not released to public?)

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LATimes

A Los Angeles police officer shocked a handcuffed woman with a Taser stun gun while joking with other officers at the scene, according to interviews and law enforcement records, adding to a series of controversial use-of-force incidents at the LAPD.

Officer Jorge Santander then appeared to lie about the December 2010 incident repeatedly in written reports. The three other LAPD officers who witnessed Santander stun the woman all corroborated his version of events when first questioned and failed to tell supervisors that one officer had recorded a video of the encounter, the records show.

The video shows Santander firing the Taser without warning and later displaying a Superman logo he wore on his chest beneath his uniform, according to the records. Off camera, another officer is heard laughing and singing.

The details of the case were outlined in a memo written by a prosecutor in the Los Angeles County district attorney's office that was obtained by The Times. Police officials confirmed that Police Chief Charlie Beck is seeking to have Santander and the three others fired. All four have been suspended since shortly after the incident.

The D.A.'s office concluded last year that the video and other evidence were not conclusive enough to prove that Santander had committed any crimes, according to the prosecutor's memo. Prosecutors also declined to charge the woman.

This marks the fourth time in the last few months that cases have come to light in which LAPD officers are accused of using force on suspects who had been restrained.

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ACLU Encourages Governor and Attorney General to Assist Innocent Man Still in Prison and Reform 21-Day Rule

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ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia sent a letter to Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli encouraging them to take action to assist an innocent Hampton man in gaining his freedom and to reform the state’s 21-day rule.

“No person in Virginia should be deprived of liberty for crimes he or she did not commit nor held any longer than necessary once known to be innocent,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Gastañaga.  “This is another unfortunate example of the problems stemming from Virginia’s 21-day rule.  Wrongfully convicted individuals need a quicker process to have their convictions overturned and gain their freedom.”

Despite the recantation of the victim, and agreement by all involved parties – defense counsel, prosecutors and the court—that Jonathan Montgomery is an innocent man, Montgomery remains in prison.  Montgomery is sitting in prison for a crime he did not commit because evidence of his innocence was not discovered until more than 21 days after his conviction.  Under Virginia law, a convicted person has just 21 days to return to the circuit court to have the conviction vacated.  After 21 days, the individual must appeal to the higher courts for a “writ of actual innocence.”  The only other course of action is to appeal to the Governor for a pardon.

According to media reports, both the Governor and Attorney General have said they intend to help Mr. Montgomery win his freedom by using their authority to either expedite the filing of and decision on a “writ of actual innocence” or granting a pardon.  The ACLU is encouraged by the Governor and Attorney General’s willingness to take action to quickly grant Mr. Montgomery his freedom. 

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Family Insists Latino War Veteran Was Wrongfully Killed By Palm Springs Police

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From [HERE] The body of a San Jose marine who was shot by police in Palm Springs just over a week ago has returned home Sunday. Family of 22-year-old U.S. Marine Cpl. Allan Devillena gathered to watch as the young man's flag-draped coffin was taken into a Fremont mortuary. Some held signs that said, "Justice for AJ Allan DeVillena II"

Devillena was shot and killed in the early morning on Nov. 10 after a confrontation with Palm Springs police took a deadly turn. Palm Springs police said they had no choice but to fire on Devillena, who they said had refused multiple orders to stop the car he was driving-- instead using his car to to hit one officer and drag another. Police also said they had found stolen ATM card and identification card in the car Devillena was driving.

Devillena's family told NBC Bay Area that they believe the Palm Springs police may not be telling the whole story about the events leading up to the shooting and are calling on the Marines to step in and take over the investigation into Devillena's death.

"We're not confident with just the Palm Springs Police doing the investigation. we're not confident with their district attorney doing the investigation," said Devillena's father Allan Devillena, Sr.

Devillena's family also said he had recently returned from Afghanistan and was weeks away from finishing his service with the Marines.

"This is a young man who signed up served this country. He went to Afghanistan, came back untouched, was safe in Afghanistan-- came back to get killed, Devillena Sr. said.

Marchers Remember Kenneth Chamberlain - fmr. Black Marine Killed by White Plains Police Officer who yelled n*****

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Greeenburgh

Family, friends, community leaders and those seeking justice for Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. marched on the White Plains Police Department on Saturday one year after he was killed.

With the anniversary of the death of Chamberlain on Monday, the White Plains/Greenburgh branch of the NAACP organized the march demanding justice for the man shot and killed in his home by White Plains Police.

Leroy Gadsen, chairman of Criminal Justice for the New York State Conference of NAACP Branches, said that the marchers are not seeking a handout, but justice. Gadsen and the marchers asked for accountability from Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore who didn't indict any of the police officers involved in Chamberlain's death.

"We are asking if justice applies to African-Americans," Gadsen said. "Kenneth Chamberlain was as patriotic as one could get. He survived Vietnam but did not survive the White Plains Police Department."

Chamberlain, 68, was shot by Officer Anthony Carelli after police responded to a medical alert from Life Aid that Chamberlain accidentally triggered in the early morning of Nov. 19. During an hourlong standoff at his apartment, Chamberlain refused to open his door to allow police to verify his condition.

Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., the victim's son, said that it took five months for Mayor Tom Roach to offer "condolences" to the Chamberlain family adding that it was only through an email and he hasn"t heard from the mayor or anybody in the city government since.

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McNegro Marco Rubio takes message to Iowa

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Politico 

And so it begins again.

Thirty-eight months before the next presidential vote is cast, Marco Rubio on Saturday night became the first of the potential 2016 contestants to swoop in to this first caucus state and test the GOP’s new rallying cry to broaden its appeal.

Seven hundred people turned out to see the Florida senator at the annual birthday fundraiser bash for GOP Gov. Terry Branstad. Rubio had the spotlight all to himself — he said he was merely here to help the governor mark his 66th birthday, but no one believed it for a minute.

The appearance of the Republican Party’s most prominent Latino face in Iowa — a state President Barack Obama won by six points on Election Day — was no casual drop-by after the drubbing Mitt Romney took among Hispanics nationally.

Republicans are looking to Rubio to help guide the party out of the past in which its base is aging, white men and into the future when it can appeal to young, female and more diverse voters, most crucially Latinos. And the first-term Florida senator is happy to help light the way.

Taking a page out of the Democrats’ playbook on Saturday, the Florida senator wove his personal story into direct appeal to the middle class. “Our workers are not making as much as they made in the same jobs 25 years ago,” he said. “My father was a bartender. My mother was a maid at hotel. They were able to provide for us a standard of living. …”

(PHOTOS: Who’s talking about Hillary 2016?)

To jump-start the country, he spoke of lower taxes, fewer government regulations on businesses, job training and a stronger nuclear family.
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Anonymous leaks personal information of 5,000 Israeli officials

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Rt.com

Internet hacktivist group Anonymous has declared cyberwar on Israel, posting personal data of five thousand Israeli officials online.

­The group used their Anonpaste.me site to address a message to the Israeli government before linking to the page with names, ID numbers and personal emails of 5,000 officials. 

The message said: "It has come to our attention that the Israeli government has ignored repeated warnings about the abuse of human rights, shutting down the internet in Israel and mistreating its own citizens and those of its neighboring countries." 

Anonymous attacks Israeli government websites

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Citizensfor LegitGov

Hacker collective Anonymous appear to have joined forces with Palestinian combatants and has attacked several Israeli government sites in what it terms Operation Israel. A press release posted on the Anonymous affliated Anonpaste website deplores what the hacking group says is "the barbaric, brutal and despicable treatment of Palestinian people in the so-called Occupied Territories by the Israeli Defence Force". The hackers threaten Israel that it must not shut down the Internet or it "will know the full and unbridled wrath of Anonymous."

Israeli Activist says Long-term peace was within reach before Israeli attack

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Rt.com

Israel has chosen to attack Gaza in order to avoid reaching a longer-term peace settlement that was being negotiated with the help of Hamas’ military leader Ahmen Jabari, who was assassinated in an Israeli attack Wednesday, says Israeli activist.

Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin spoke to RT confirming that Ahmen Jabari was involved in peace settlement negotiations with Israel and was due to send Hamas’ version of a peace draft to Baskin on Wednesday evening before he was killed.

RT: So you're saying that a draft of a permanent truce agreement already existed. What went wrong then?

Gershon Baskin: It was initially drafted 8 months ago. It was presented to the Israelis, Hamas, Egyptian intelligence and the UN for deliberation. Both Israelis and Hamas decided not to agree. Over the last months the ceasefires got shorter and shorter and the intensity of the fighting increased. And I decided together with my counterpart in Hamas, we were instrumental in negotiating a prisoner exchange deal that led to freedom of Gilad Shaid, the Israeli soldier held in captivity by Mr. Jabari, we decided to push forward. My Hamas counterpart wrote a new version of the draft and he was presenting it to Hamas leaders. In fact on Wednesday morning he was presenting it to Ahmed Jabari himself. I was supposed to receive later that evening the copy of the draft in Arabic for me to deliver to the Israelis who were waiting for it along with Egyptian intelligence.

RT: Why do you think Israel approved the assassination of the Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari?

GB: There is a legitimate argument within the Israeli security assessment on whether or not making a truce with Hamas strengthens Hamas at a time when we know Ahmed Jabari and his colleagues are not peace activists. They don’t want peace with Israel they are committed to Israel’s destruction. For tactical reasons they had decided that a ceasefire was in their interests because each round of violence brings about the death of 10 and 25 combatants in Gaza and they didn’t see any value when no real damage was happening to Israel from their rockets attacks. So they wanted to at least have a time-out, where they could reconsider new moves. Some Israelis thought that by having a truce with them would strengthen them. There were people who believed that what we need to do is systematically weaken Hamas, so they would fall out of power. And there are those that believe we need to create deterrents strong enough that Hamas won’t attack Israel. The rocket attacks on the civilian population in Israel are intolerable and they needed to take action. I believe personally that we tried everything, we have assassinated leaders, we assassinated military commanders, we have put on an economic siege, we have bombed them, and we have tried everything except a dialogue, except an attempt to reach an understanding with mechanisms for verification and for compliance with the involvement of Egyptian military intelligence. I think it has a chance to work. But now we have to postpone it for some time.

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Mapping Segregation in Westchester (NY)

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Propublica

It is one of the most common arguments used to justify federal inaction in pushing communities that get government housing dollars to become more racially diverse: Class, not race, determines where people live, the argument goes. African Americans and Latinos are poorer than white Americans, and therefore, cannot afford to live in whiter, wealthier areas.

ProPublica evaluated race and income data for Westchester County – the affluent New York City suburb under a federal desegregation order – to determine whether income alone accounts for the high degree of racial segregation experienced by African Americans there.

In one half of the split map, we show the current distribution of African Americans in Westchester. In the other, we show the expected distribution of African Americans if black households lived in areas with white households of the same income.

The differences are striking. If income were the only determinant, and black residents settled wherever they could afford, Westchester would look dramatically different. Areas such as Yonkers and Mount Vernon where African Americans are heavily concentrated would be a lot less black. More affluent places such as Eastchester, Scarsdale and Bronxville, now overwhelmingly white, would be significantly more diverse -- even if the county did not build a single unit of affordable housing.

 

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ACLU files class action lawsuit over NJ mandatory immigrant detention

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ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a class action lawsuit [complaint, PDF; press release] Thursday on behalf of New Jersey immigrants challenging mandatory detention procedures. The policy in question is 8 USC § 1226(c) [text], which mandates the detention of noncitizens during deportation proceedings, and such noncitizens are not entitled to a bond hearing, even if they pose no danger or flight risk. In its complaint, the ACLU claims that many of the individuals detained under the law ultimately do not qualify for deportation, and argues that the mandatory detention in unconstitutional. The complaint demands:

In light of the significant constitutional issues presented by such detention, 8 USC § 1226(c) should be read not to authorize the mandatory detention of individuals who have a substantial challenge to deportability or inadmissibility. It should also be read to require the opportunity for a constitutionally adequate hearing to determine whether an individual is properly subject to mandatory detention. This hearing should include adequate notice; require that the government bear the burden of establishing prima facie deportability or inadmissibility on a ground that triggers mandatory detention; provide the detainee the opportunity to demonstrate that he has a substantial challenge to deportability or inadmissibility on those grounds; and require that a contemporaneous record of proceedings be made and maintained so that the determination is amenable to meaningful review.

Although the Supreme Court in 2003 determined mandatory detentions to be constitutional in Demore v. Kim [opinion], the ACLU has said that the situation in the case at hand is sufficiently distinct to merit the court's consideration.
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NYPD Stop-And-Frisks Drop, But 87 Percent Stopped Were Black Or Latino

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ThinkProgress

In the first nine months of 2012, the NYPD stopped almost 400,000 New Yorkers in its aggressive stop-and-frisk program, or 1,400 every day. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, this number actually represents a 30 percent drop compared to 2011, though police continue to disproportionately target minorities with equally poor results:

The latest stop-and-frisk report shows that the NYPD stopped and interrogated New Yorkers 105,988 times between July 1 and Sept. 30. About 84 percent of those encounters did not result in arrests or tickets. About 87 percent of those stopped were black or Latino. Whites were around 10 percent of people stopped.

NYPD uses vague criteria, often stopping people for displaying “furtive movement,” and overwhelmingly targets young black and Latino men. For example, although they account for 4.7 percent of NYC’s population, young black and Latino men accounted for 41.6 percent of the stops in 2011. And the program has failed to get guns off the streets. Homicides have dropped 20.5 percent to a record low, but police rarely find a gun.

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Cory Booker says Hurricane Sandy has delayed decision on NJ governor run

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theGrio 

Newark mayor Cory Booker is one of the Democratic Party’s biggest rising national stars and there are hopes that he will challenge New Jersey’s incumbent governor Chris Christie when he runs for re-election in 2013.

But Hurricane Sandy has apparently put any Booker campaign announcements on hold for the time being.

“The reality is Sandy has pushed my timeline back,” Booker said on his monthly radio program on WBGO.

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, Booker “plans to decide whether to challenge Christie — who has indicated he plans to seek re-election — by mid-December, leaving plenty of time for other potential Democratic candidates to mount a campaign.”

Christie and Booker appear to have a cordial, even friendly, public working relationship so a hard fought campaign for the governorship should certainly be fascinating for political pundits and fans of both popular politicians.

Member Of 'Central Park Five' Talks Justice

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NPR.org

The DOC NYC film festival wraps up with The Central Park Five. The film recounts the notorious rape case of the Central Park jogger and the five young men wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for her rape. Host Michel Martin speaks with Raymond Santana, one of the convicted men.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We want to go back to a story that fascinated and appalled New Yorkers and many people around the country more than 20 years ago, and here is where it's probably a good idea to tell you that this conversation is going to have some sensitive material in it that might not be appropriate for everybody.

Here is a clip of some news footage about the case from when it all started in 1989.

(SOUNDBITE OF NEWS BROADCASTS)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: In New York City this morning, a jogger is fighting for her life after a brutal attack in Central Park.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Viciously battered and unconscious, wearing only a jogging bra, her hands tied over her mouth.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: The suspects are 14 and 15-year-olds who blazed a nighttime trail of terror.

MARTIN: Five black and Latino teenagers, later called the Central Park Five, were charged with raping the young white woman and beating her so badly, she nearly died. There was no credible DNA or eyewitness evidence tying them to the crime. There were numerous inaccuracies and inconsistencies in their statements about virtually every important aspect of the crime and those statements were all delivered after hours of interrogations without their parents or lawyers present. Despite all that, they were all convicted and served their entire sentences before the real assailant stepped forward to admit to the crime.

Now a new documentary featured at the DOC New York City Film Festival tells the painful story. The film was written and produced by the well-known documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, along with his daughter Sarah, who's also written a book about the case.

And joining us now is one of the young men featured in the documentary, Raymond Santana, one of the Central Park Five, and he's with us now.

Welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.

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Obama Promises Immigration Reform Push in January

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ColorLines

The drive to pass comprehensive immigration reform went into high gear yesterday when President Obama said he expects a bill will be introduced by January. The comments at the President's first press conference since his re-election come amid a flurry of bipartisan support for an immigration overhaul.

"My expectation is that we get a bill introduced and we begin the process in Congress very soon after my inauguration," he said, adding that he is "very confident that we can get immigration reform done."

Last week and over the weekend, a number of leading Republicans in Congress said they were ready to support an immigration reform bill. Last Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner told ABC's Diane Sawyer, "This issue has been around far too long." And on Sunday, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham told CBS's "Face the Nation," that the GOP's approach to immigration has "has built a wall between the Republican Party and Hispanic community."

In addition to a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants, Republicans and President Obama agree that any immigration reform package must include additional immigration enforcement on the border and require those applying for papers to learn English and pay penalties. It would also impose penalties on companies that hire undocumented workers.

Obama added that a immigration reform bill would provide protections for young undocumented immigrations who entered the country as children.

 

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Texas Governor Wants Welfare, Unemployment Applicants to Drug Test

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ColorLines

Texas Governor Rick Perry this week threw his weight behind a bill to require all welfare and unemployment applicants to submit to a drug test. The bill, SB 11, was filed on Monday by Republican state Senator Jane Nelson. It deem those who fail a drug test ineligible for assistance for up to a year.

The Texas bill takes the drug testing regime a to new extremes. Not only will a failed test lead to loss of benefits, it also requires the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to report mothers and fathers who fail tests to Child Protective Services.

As I reported earlier this year, dozens of state legislatures considered similar bills in the last two legislative sessions and in several states they became law.

Welfare drug testing bills don't have a particularly rosy history.

In Florida, a welfare drug testing bill was blocked by a U.S. district court on constitutional grounds. The court said the bill violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. The case is still proceeding through the courts. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta heard arguments in the ACLU's challenge of the law on November 1st. The court has yet to issue a decision.

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Anonymous hacker group attacks Israeli websites

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BBC

Hacking group Anonymous has launched a series of cyber attacks against websites in Israel.

Data bombardments briefly knocked some sites offline and led to others being defaced with pro-Palestinian messages.

The OpIsrael campaign was launched by the hacking collective in retaliation for attacks on Gaza.

The cyber attacks come as the Israeli army updates its web campaign adding "achievements" and "badges" for regular visitors.

Propaganda war

Anonymous said it had launched the OpIsrael campaign following threats by the Israeli government to cut all Gaza's telecommunication links. This, said the group in a statement posted to the AnonRelations website, "crossed a line in the sand".

"We are ANONYMOUS and NO ONE shuts down the Internet on our watch," it said.

The group warned the Israeli government not to cut off telecom and web links and urged it to end military operations in Gaza. If the attacks did not end, Israel would feel the group's "full and unbridled wrath".

Hours after the statement was launched, Anonymous posted a list of 87 sites it claimed had been defaced or attacked as part of OpIsrael. Many of the sites had their homepages replaced with messages in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.

Anonymous also produced a package of information for people in Gaza detailing alternative ways for them to communicate if net and other telecommunication links were cut.

At the same time as the Anonymous attacks were being carried out, the Israeli Defence Force re-started tools on its blog that reward people for repeat visits and interacting with the site.

Called IDF Ranks, the tools add a "game" element to the blog and reward repeat visitors with points. When visitors have amassed enough points they get a virtual military rank.

A visitor who goes to the site 10 times gets a "consistent" badge and someone who does lots of searches gets rewarded with the "research officer" rank.

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White Party (GOP) After ‘Gifts’ Comment: Get Off The Stage, Mitt, 'you are ruining our undercover Negro Outreach/Genocide Plans'

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TPM

The Republican critics of Mitt Romney have had enough of their party’s failed presidential nominee. After Romney told donors his loss last week was due to “gifts” President Obama and the Democrats bestowed on women and minorities, Republicans are essentially coming together in a collective “go away, Mitt.”

On a conference call with top donors Wednesday, Romney doubled down on the “47 percent” remarks that dogged the final months of his presidential bid. Romney told some of the people who financed his campaign he lost because the key voting blocs that voted for Obama did so because Obama gave them free stuff.

“With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift,” to younger voters, Romney said on the call according to the New York Times. “Free contraceptives were very big with young, college-aged women.” Romney said made similar points about African Americans and Hispanic voters.

For conservatives and Republicans trying to make the GOP friendlier to those groups, Romney’s comments have not been well-received. To say the least.

“Romney’s theory isn’t just wrong, it’s pernicious,” wrote Daily Caller conservative columnist Matt Lewis. “Here’s hoping he finally rides off into the political sunset.”

Many of Romney’s most vocal critics after “gifts” have been tough on Romney before. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jinal (R) initially backed Rick Perry in the presidential primary before getting on Team Romney in the general. Perhaps with his own presidential ambitions on his mind, Jindal excoriated Romney Wednesday for his “absolutely wrong” remarks.

Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist who helmed Hispanic outreach for John McCain in 2008 and worked for Jon Huntsman in 2012, was also critical of Romney through the campaign for his failure to engage minority communities. She took to her Twitter feed after “gifts” to tie the remarks to his broader shortcomings as a candidate.

“Livid at Romney saying Obama won b/c offered minorities ‘gifts,”’ she wrote. “As if he didn’t alienate Hispanics enuf while running! Look in mirror, Mitt.”