tagged w/ court corruption
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 4) - Mary Winkler, the woman convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2006 shooting death of her minister husband, has taken custody of her three daughters, one of her lawyers said Monday.
Rachael Putnam, a custody attorney, said the former minister's wife picked the girls up Friday from the slain man's parents, Dan and Diane Winkler.
"She is absolutely overjoyed," Putnam said. The lawyer said the children will live with Winkler at her home near McMinnville, about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.
Winkler, 34, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter last year for shooting her husband, 31-year-old Church of Christ minister Matthew Winkler, at their Selmer home in March 2006.
Sentenced to three years in prison, she received probation for most of it, spending only 12 days in jail after her sentencing and two months in a mental health facility before being released.
The children -- ages 11, 9 and 3 -- had previously been living with their grandparents and had court-ordered visits with their mother.
"It should be seen as a sign that the family is healing," Putnam said of the custody arrangement. "It's a good thing for everyone."
Putnam said a court order giving Winkler custody has not been completed, but she said the custody case between the grandparents and Winkler will eventually be concluded.
An attorney representing Dan and Diane Winkler did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.
The arrangement was reached in time for the girls to start the school year with their mother, Putnam said, and they will continue to have visits with their grandparents.
The grandparents had tried to stop the supervised visits with Winkler, but the state's Court of Appeals upheld the order by a county judge. The Tennessee Supreme Court also rejected the grandparents' appeal.
Winkler was tried for murder after her husband was found slain by shotgun blast to the back, but a jury found her guilty of voluntary manslaughter after she testified about suffering from years of physical and emotional abuse by her husband.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 4) - Mary Winkler, the woman convicted of voluntary... more
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Report: US may have taped Gitmo interviews Tue Aug 5, 12:39 AM ET
The State Department advised representatives of foreign governments that their interviews with their citizens being held at Guantanamo Bay would be recorded, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Shortly after the 2002 opening of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. began allowing delegations from other countries to interrogate terrorism suspects being held there.
In cables sent to the foreign countries, the State Department wrote, "The United States will video tape and sound record the interviews between representatives of your government and the detainee(s) named above." The Post acquired the cables through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman, told the Post it was not "standard operating procedure" to record such interrogations. "If videotapes were made, they were likely used for translators to transcribe and/or for intelligence officers to clarify their notes after the fact," Gordon said.
George Brent Mickum IV, a Washington lawyer who has represented some of the Guantanamo Bay detainees, told the Post, ""There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these tapes did in fact exist."
Last month, lawyers for Canadian-born terrorism suspect Omar Khadr released videotapes of their client being interrogated by Canadian intelligence agents at Guantanamo in 2003. Gordon, the Pentagon spokesman, said the video was made by U.S. authorities and turned over to Khadr's defense team
Report: US may have taped Gitmo interviews Tue Aug 5, 12:39 AM ET
The State... more
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The Department of Homeland Security more popularly known as the Department of Homeland Enslavement has now come out and stated that they have the authority to confiscate people’s personal property including laptops, electronic devices and even paperwork at the border without any probable cause. They also claim that they can hold those items for an unspecified period of time. All of this they claim is justified under the guise of fighting terrorists. It doesn’t matter that thousands of illegal aliens are entering the country from Mexico unchecked. No, instead the Department of Homeland Security thinks its more effective stealing the property of U.S. citizens to keep us safe from terrorists. Any member of the Department of Homeland Security that takes the property of a U.S. citizen without a warrant should immediately be charged with theft. Of course, in this insane world we live in, that will never happen and the people who conduct this activity will probably be given some sort of freedom medal. This is just another case of the government taking a big dump on the Fourth Amendment which at this point is non-existent.
Before getting into the policies themselves, here is the text of the Fourth Amendment.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The government cannot search and seize an individual’s property unless they obtain a court order that can only be issued based upon probable cause. Keep that in mind, as we analyze the Department of Homeland Security’s policies.
The following is taken from a Washington Post piece covering these policies:
Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This policy is obviously illegal as it is not in accordance with the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, which makes this policy null and void. What's really insane, is that they claim they have the authority to share the data on these electronic devices with anyone they want for any specific purpose. It is bad enough that these clowns say that they can take laptops and electronic devices without any probable cause, but they also claim that they can take people’s papers including books, pamphlets and written materials. The insanity of this is unparalleled.
Also from the Washington Post report:
The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' "
How can the Department of Homeland Security declare that they have these powers when it is clearly not in accordance with the Constitution? There needs to be an investigation into the criminals that drafted these policies. They should start the investigation at the very top with the Skeletor look-a-like Michael Chertoff who as head of the agency has willingly implemented all sorts of illegal policies and programs under the guise of this phony terror war.
Again from the Washington Post report:
The Department of Homeland Security more popularly known as the Department of Homeland... more
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When stealing from the nation's children is not enough the often unsupervised and unaudited government employees resort to stealing directly from the coffers that are designed to help our nation's elderly and most needy.
The WFTV.COM Website covering Channel 9 in Florida reported on December 7, 2007 that 3 Women Charged With Stealing Public Assistance Money From DCF. Most importantly, the occurrences of fraud going on in both the welfare system and the child support enforcement system are not isolated issues but widespread problems of government waste and lack of accountability. "There has been a failure to proect the taxpayer from abuse, fraud, and embezzelement with most of the programs in our welfare system" states Lary Holland, author of this blog.
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A state Department of Children and Families employee and two other women have been charged with stealing more than $1.5 million in state assistance money."
Just a couple of weeks ago another State worker was accused of taking child support money on this same blog. Notwithstanding the outstanding amounts of fraud occurring in just the welfare system, there have been a continual number of issues mounting with the child support enforcement program.
When stealing from the nation's children is not enough the often unsupervised and... more
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This is a brief preview of an incomplete documentary about the abuses of America's Justice system. Your donations are needed to complete the documentary which will include mind blowing evidence of case accounts.
Your donations will also serve as proof:
1. to Justice workers, that we Americans know what they're up to,
2. to broadcasters, that this is a big enough concern to us that we, the American public will not allow the press to be punished by the courts for airing the truth, and
3. to politicians that we want them to do what we put them in their positions of power for; to look out for the best interests of the American people.This is a brief preview of an incomplete documentary about the abuses of... more
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