A Northwestern University professor and journalism students who spent three years investigating the case of a man convicted in the 1978 killing of a security guard believe they have evidence that shows prosecutors put the wrong man behind bars. But in the quest to prove his innocence, they may have to defend themselves, too.
Crystel Strelioff sentenced on four counts of felony child abduction.
The father said Crystel was sentenced to the maximum of three years on each count, but they run concurrently and in Illinois, where she is serving time, prisoners can be released after 50% of the sentence is served. Because the child abductor already served about six months of her sentence, she may be released in a year.
This case is shameful. The mother tricked protective parent organizations such as Justice for Children into spending their time and other resources on a sham case. The father underwent extensive testing voluntarily and the children did not give convincing accounts of any abuse by the father, according to court documents. Worse, the children seemed to the evaluators to have been coached, meaning they suffered verbal and emotional sexual abuse by the people who coached them.http://www.examiner.com/x-14600-LA-Family-Courts-Examiner~y2009m11d7-Crystel-Strelioff-... more
In a landmark case, twenty-three Americans, mostly CIA operatives, have been convicted in Italy for kidnapping a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan in 2003. They were all tried in absentia after the United States refused to hand them over. The convictions turn them into international fugitives who risk arrest abroad. The case marks the first time any American has been convicted for taking part in a so-called “extraordinary rendition.” We go to Rome to speak with the Italian prosecutor who brought the case, Armando Spataro, and get comment from international law and human rights attorney Scott Horton. [includes rush transcript]http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/5/italian_prosecutor_in_case_against_cia
In a... more
This is awesome!! We need campaign finance reform NOW!!! Our reps need to represent us and not just corporate interests!! We need to take our government back!! Of the people, by the people, for the people, right? Until then, make them wear sponsor patches!!!This is awesome!! We need campaign finance reform NOW!!! Our reps need to represent... more
A trial is underway in Eugene, Oregon where a man says that he was insame when he sexually assaulted a 10 year old girl. With all the talk about women being treated differently than men when they commit crimes against children, I thought this was a good case to talk about.
Lets say we compare this case to the mother in Vermont who recently was found naked and bashing her 6month old male child against the concrete sidewalk.
Do you think there is a difference in these two cases? After you read the story, tell me if you think this man was insane when he did what he did? Was the woman who bashed her baby's head in crazy? Why would one be crazy and the other not?http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/22190954-41/story.csp... more
The UN will no doubt be opening a commission on "Islamophobia" among bears forthwith. No doubt this bear's den is now dar al-Islam, and must be reclaimed for the umma at all costs. "Bear kills militants in Kashmir," by Altaf Hussain for BBC News, November 3:
A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.
Two other militants escaped, one of them badly wounded, after the attack in Kulgam district, south of Srinagar.
The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked.
It is thought to be the first such incident since Muslim separatists took up arms against Indian rule in 1989.
Bodies found
The militants had made their hideout in a cave which was actually the bear's den, said police officer Farooq Ahmed.
The dead have been identified as Mohammad Amin alias Qaiser, and Bashir Ahmed alias Saifullah....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8339549.stm
The UN will no doubt be... more
According to a United States Department of Justice report, one out every five homes will experience a break in or invasion. Keep a step ahead of the criminals by getting information directly from the experts in these top 20 home security bloggers.
Every so often seems that Italy can wake up from its heavy slumber. These days the story of Stefano Cucchi led to a general awareness on a basic principle in a state of law: that a person should not die in jail without reason. Images of the murder of Camorra in Naples have shown to all the mundane simplicity with which mafia kills in the street in broad daylight. http://inaltreparole.net/en/resistance/risvegliitalia301009.htmlEvery so often seems that Italy can wake up from its heavy slumber. These days the... more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed thousands of juvenile convictions issued by a judge charged in a corruption scandal, saying that none of the young offenders got a fair hearing.
The high court on Thursday threw out more than five years' worth of juvenile cases heard by disgraced former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is charged with accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youths to private detention centers.
The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, which represents some of the youths, said the court's order covers as many as 6,500 cases. The justices barred any possibility of retrial in all but a fraction of them.
-More at the linkhttp://www.timesargus.com/article/20091030/NEWS01/910300316/1002/NEWS01
The... more
(CNN) -- Lavinia Masters was 13. She winced as the doctor swabbed her vagina for possible evidence. She watched as he put her underwear and purple nightgown into plastic bags, careful not to disturb any fibers or hairs.
It was a hot July night in 1985, and the Texas sixth-grader had been sexually assaulted by an unknown suspect.
This process -- collecting evidence for a rape kit -- lasted several hours and was "devastating." But just as difficult, says Masters, was the 20-year wait for that evidence to yield results.
Her rape kit sat idle until 2005, when the Dallas Police Department re-opened her case, as part of a new initiative to solve old crimes.
DNA testing had not been available when Masters was assaulted. But in 2005, police said they discovered the DNA in her kit matched DNA samples from a man who was already serving time in prison for unrelated crimes, including sexual assault.
But the suspect could not be prosecuted in Masters' case because the statute of limitations had run out.
CNN usually does not identify victims of sexual assaults. But Masters, now 38, decided to let her name be known to shed light on the issue of backlogged rape kits.
Government officials say many police departments and crime labs across the country are inadequately funded and overwhelmed, leaving many rape kits untested. Rape victims' advocates say leaving the kits untested suggests law enforcement agencies aren't prioritizing rape cases.
You could probably forge a good, absurdist, dark comedy out of a government where racial identity can be declared and reversed by official decree, and white parents whose child’s skin is, because of a genetic quirk, darker than theirs struggle to get their kid designated Caucasian. I can imagine Terry Gilliam going to town on something like that, or maybe even Kevin Smith in a more thoughtful mode. But this isn’t absurdist comedy, this was South Africa in the throes of apartheid, and the story told in Anthony Fabian’s debut feature, SKIN, turns out to have been all too real.
The actual person, Sandra Laing, suffered through a kind of industrial-strength crisis of identity, with her parents determined to ensure that her privileges be protected via that all-important white designation, and her own growing awareness that, whatever the government stamped on a piece of paper, she would have no shortage of difficulty in finding a place in so divided a society. Director Fabian shot the film in South Africa, and brought together a strong cast, including Sophie Okonedo as Sandra and Sam Neill and Alice Krige as her parents. The result is quite moving — a human and unusual perspective on the insanity of institutionalized racism.
Anthony Fabian and I got a chance to talk about his motivation for taking on this project, and how the dictates of apartheid could twist the motives of even the best-intentioned of parents. Click on the link to hear the interview.
The death of Stefano Cucchi, 31, killed in prison in Rome in a beating for which we don't know the culprits, and perhaps we'll never know, it is unfortunately just the latest in a long series. The best known are the stories of Marcello Lonzi, Aldo Bianzino, Niki April Gatti, Manuel Eliantonio. People arrested for crimes of minimal severity, no criminal record or with a small one, murdered or "suicided" in prison and nobody knows by whom, how, why. http://inaltreparole.net/en/news/morticarcere291009.htmlThe death of Stefano Cucchi, 31, killed in prison in Rome in a beating for which we... more
Vigilantes posted torture video to YouTube after dispensing justice to burglars. More and more Mexicans are turning to such lynch mobs as crime spirals out of control.
In more extreme cases, alleged kidnappers, car thieves and drug dealers have been abducted and murdered and had their corpses dumped in public places along with threatening notes.Vigilantes posted torture video to YouTube after dispensing justice to burglars. More... more
“Lars von Trier doesn’t like to fly.” “Lars von Trier isn’t going to talk to a lot of press.” Yeah, yeah; yadda-yadda. But just because he isn’t talking to us doesn’t mean we can’t talk about him, particularly about his childhood. I have it on good authority that he refused to eat his sandwiches until the crusts were cut off, and he slept with a night light until he was fifteen.
Seriously, though, I came out of ANTICHRIST — von Trier’s latest film which has been freaking out audiences from Cannes forward — aching to delve further into it. And with the director (did you know he got atomic wedgies every day after gym?) unavailable, I decided to carry on the conversation with a couple of people who could provide some intriguing perspectives on the film: Monika Treut, director of SEDUCTION: THE CRUEL WOMAN, GENDERNAUTS, and GHOSTED; and Steve Biodrowski, editor of Cinefantastique Online.
You can click on the link above to hear the discussion. And Lars, next time, we really want to get your insights directly. We promise we won’t mention how you were subjected to swirlies on a weekly basis.“Lars von Trier doesn’t like to fly.” “Lars von Trier isn’t going to talk to... more
The Appeal Court in Milan had confirmed the first grade sentence of four years and six month for the English lawyer David Mills. He lied to help premier Silvio Berlusconi.The Appeal Court in Milan had confirmed the first grade sentence of four years and six... more
How in the world do folks survive this ? This isn't a few hour oops. Average time these folks have wrongly spent in prison is 12 YEARS !
Someone needs to investigate judges, prosecutors, juries. There is something horribly wrong in America when this can happen to innocent people. What the hell was the jury thinking ?
Listen, we need to put anyone who wrongly convicts another human being to prison to the same term they sentenced. And serve it in its entirety.
TWELVE YEARS !How in the world do folks survive this ? This isn't a few hour oops. Average time... more
For many individuals who have been convicted of a crime, probation officers are probably the bane of their existence: the people who keep them from leaving the city or state, checking up on them nearly every day.For many individuals who have been convicted of a crime, probation officers are... more
"Jeffry M. Picower, a prominent philanthropist accused of reaping about $7 billion in profit from Bernard L. Madoff’s vast Ponzi scheme, was found dead on Sunday afternoon in a swimming pool at his mansion in Palm Beach, Fla."
How do these crooks stay out of jail? This man should have been found dead in his prison cell, not his swimming pool. I do not see how stealing money from people and giving that stolen money away makes a person a philanthropist."Jeffry M. Picower, a prominent philanthropist accused of reaping about $7 billion in... more
http://www.facebook.com/FallOfTheRepublic
Fall Of The Republic documents how an offshore corporate cartel is bankrupting the US economy by design. Leaders are now declaring that world government has arrived and that the dollar will be replaced by a new global currency.
President Obama has brazenly violated Article 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution by seating himself at the head of United Nations' Security Council, thus becoming the first US president to chair the world body.
A scientific dictatorship is in its final stages of completion, and laws protecting basic human rights are being abolished worldwide; an iron curtain of high-tech tyranny is now descending over the planet.
A worldwide regime controlled by an unelected corporate elite is implementing a planetary carbon tax system that will dominate all human activity and establish a system of neo-feudal slavery.
The image makers have carefully packaged Obama as the world's savior; he is the Trojan Horse manufactured to pacify the people just long enough for the globalists to complete their master plan.
This film reveals the architecture of the New World Order and what the power elite have in store for humanity. More importantly it communicates how We The People can retake control of our government, turn the criminal tide and bring the tyrants to justice.
Another federal agency has been brought into Congressman Vern Buchanan’s investigation into fixing the gaps in the federal database entry of offenders' DNA that prevented local authorities from getting a DNA match on accused serial home invader and rapist Delmer Smith III.
Smith is accused of committing a series of violent home invasions in Sarasota in which women were beaten and raped in their homes. He is also a suspect in seven other similar attacks in Manatee and Sarasota, including the beating death of a Sarasota woman in her home.
On Thursday, Buchanan, R-Sarasota, met FBI officials in order to search for answers in eliminating a DNA backlog of more than 290,000 samples of federal convicts that have not been entered into the system.
Smith’s DNA was among that backlog throughout the four months Sarasota authorities say the ex-federal prisoner committed the series of home invasion attacks. Sarasota County Sheriff’s detectives had DNA from four home invasions but obtained no match from federal databases.
It was only after a bar fight that resulted in Smith’s arrest, that his federal record became apparent. Local authorities asked for entry of his DNA into the federal system after finding property stolen from several of the home invasions.Another federal agency has been brought into Congressman Vern Buchanan’s... more
