Man wins acquittal after introducing evidence of steroid-popping cop’s MySpace missives about the joys of beating suspects and planting evidence.
States consider ending death penalty. But not out of concerns about executing the innocent, or because the system is flawed. Because it’s too expensive.
Neocon idiot Frank Gaffney tries to tie Oklahoma City bombing to Saddam Hussein. Yesterday.
I missed it when it came out, but the Washington City Paper had a good piece back in January on the three-year anniversary of the death of Sal Culosi. I’m hoping to write an update on his parents’ lawsuit here in a few weeks.
Here’s a helpful overview of the cool stuff offered by Google Labs.
Former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper has a good piece on police brutality up at the Huffington Post.
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on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 10:14 am by Radley Balko
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TheAgitator.com
Stamper writes,
“Apart from the question of why in the world they’d do it with today’s omnipresent cameras rolling, why do certain cops resort to excessive force?”
But we shouldn’t put aside the question of why they do it-it’s real simple-no one will hold them accountable, there are simply no consequences when they do it so they do it because they can get away with it. The only people who possibly could reign in our police are our elected representatives-and they are too afraid of being seen as anti-law and order or something. And so we live with the consequences of their cowardice. The two biggest issues facing this country are over-regulation and our out of control police, and neither issue was ever even acknowledged during this last election year.
Wow – first here. Quick comments:
1. A hat tip wouldn’t hurt :)
2. I’ve often argued for ending the death penalty based on cost alone. If you can’t win people over on other arguments, then the fact that it costs the state more to execute someone than house them for life is pretty compelling.
3. Norm Stamper has a good article. But, sigh, weasel words. When we quit referring to assault as “excessive force” we might start getting somewhere. We also need to address the pantywaist pussyboy culture where someone looking at a cop cross-eyed hurts his feelings and sends him to the hospital. This is one of the few cases where zero-tolerance might be useful: “Yes, you can say she assaulted you and you need to go to the hospital for being hit by a shoe kicked by a 15-year-old girl. That’s fine. Unfortunately, if we go this route, you automatically lose your job since our police force doesn’t tolerate pussies. Your choice.”
Norm Stamper’s been stepping up and doing good things. This is pretty potent-
‘But law enforcement, for the most part, doesn’t pick bad apples. It makes them…’
Next: Saddam Hussein’s role in the Kennedy assassination(s).
“Next: Saddam Hussein’s role in the Kennedy assassination(s).”
ROFL Brilliant!!!
http://www.bodybuilders.com/vaughan_ettienne.htm
Yeah, this guy ain’t cycling steroids! Oh no, those steroids were… uh… prescribed by a doctor! Yeah, everyone will believe that.
Yeah, this guy’s not completely narcissistic. Not at all!
Hey, Frank Gaffney! The OK City bombing was directly related to the fubar ops at Waco. And, I never once saw Hussein at the Waco Taco Bell off I-35 in spite of his known love for the Burrito Supreme (TM).
Today marks the 133 consecutive year (since 1876) that cops have assaulted people, gotten away with it, been considered heroes, and had their asses kissed by the state and politicians. But I AM SURE we’re on the cusp of real change here with maybe one or two more civilian review boards.
#6: WTF! This must be the same doctor who prescribes Barry Bonds vitamins.
But, seriously, when someone is obviously taking that much juice, do you really want him to be on the street with a gun and a badge.
Hadn’t heard this one: “Veteran prosecutor Robert Horan, in explaining shortly after the shooting why he wouldn’t pursue an indictment against the officer, said Bullock was tired from working an organized deer hunt in the morning before he killed Culosi.”
Wow. Just…wow. Negligent? Nothing?!
I hope I get Horan as the prosecutor if I ever…you know…need to “defend” myself (remember “He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. Talk to my lawyer.”).
And let’s remember this was over gambling (legal in many forms) which arbitrarily was made illegal for Mr. Culosi. How many people (and dogs) have to die for shit that should never be illegal…like gambling, pot, taxes…let alone should never justify the use of lethal force?
Fuck. The. State.
States consider ending death penalty. But not out of concerns about executing the innocent, or because the system is flawed. Because it’s too expensive.
Truth be told, it was that very reason that initially led me to reconsider my pro-death penalty position. Granted I was a naive junior high kid at the time, but I never really considered that the courts could screw up something as significant as taking a life. However, one of my justifications for supporting the death penalty was that we shouldn’t use taxpayer dollars to keep our worst criminals alive, so when I found out it was actually more expensive to kill them, it led me to re-think my position. Roughly ten years later, I was meeting with a prisoner on Death Row as a student intern with the Center on Wrongful Convictions. I’m fairly certain I would’ve eventually come around to my current thinking based solely on moral grounds, but nonetheless I’m proof that there’s power in pragmatic arguments.
The Third Terrorist, by Janya Davis is an excellent book on the unanswered questions about the Oklahoma City bombing. I don’t believe Sadam ordered the attack, but I don’t believe the government told us the truth about it either. Of course the government rarely tells the truth about anything.
Thanks for reminding us about Sal Culosi, Balko. I became familiar with the case here, from reading his parents’ posts in this comments section.
http://www.justiceforsal.com/
What I don’t understand is why is spending $500,000 more for the death penalty a big deal, It looks like cost shifting to me. Would not a life sentence, for a 20 year old, result in an (at $40,000/yr) expense of up to, as much as, $2,000,000, if he were in prison for sixty years? Where is the savings? Well, I guess it would be spreading out the payments!
Don’t get me wrong. If even one innocent man is put to death, it is wrong. But, no more wrong than a life sentence for him, either! Thing is, if I was, wrongly, convicted to a life sentence, my life would, likely, be very short!
But, I don’t see the economics of this article.
@ClubMedSux:
While I agree with you completely, I fear that the natural reaction of the Scalia-types will simply be: “Well, make it cheaper then! Get rid of all those useless appeals! The Constitution only grants you a right to a fair trial! It doesn’t explicitly say you have the right to appeals or anything! One trial and then a gunshot to the head!”
I have no faith in the rationality of a vast majority of the American public.
Thank you Radley…for remembering our Salvatore…in this third year…of his loss to us. We love and miss him…so.
FC still…not surprisingly…since it has been my perception…from the beginning of our nightmare…in reaction to us…has the same unconscionable approach…they have displayed from the start.
We are still in the process…of seeking justice…in behalf of our son…our family…and hopefully…the residents of our county.
If we leave unchallenged…those who must be held accountable… for the unjust…and unwarranted use of force…resulting in the unnecessary loss of a life…the chances of it happening again…to some other family…are not lessened.
These so called “isolated” incidents…are all too frequent…changes are needed. “Common sense” is what has been “isolated”…as proven by the tragic results…we read of so often…on this site.
I will keep the faith…praying…and continuing forward…I have a promise to keep…to my son.
http://www.justiceforsal.com
I don’t have the numbers, but my gut feeling is that the difference in cost between life imprisonment and execution is nothing compared to the cost of investigating/arresting/trying/jailing millions of low-level drug offenders, gang members, prostitutes, etc.
But how would the cops justify all their expensive toys? And how would contractors persuade state governments to spend money to build expensive new prisons to hold all the people arrested?
/snark
Howard Dean should thank Gaffney for further perpetuating ever negative stereotype about Republicans. He has done the Democrats a great service in their efforts to maintain power.
In the first story about a rogue cop.
~
In fact, Mr. Waters, on parole from a burglary conviction when he was arrested, beat the most serious charge, the felony possession of a 9 millimeter Beretta and a bagful of ammunition. He was convicted of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.
~
Is this some kind of joke?
Either the guy was guilty of a crime or he wasn’t. The idea of finding the officer in breach but still finding the defendant guilty of ‘resisting arrest’ is as abhorrent as having a ’slut’ charge that you find victims of rape guilty of in order to shame them publically in a courtroom.
God bless you, Mrs. C.
Bernard # 19
It is a joke, in a sick sort of way. On us.
But if you are genuinely surprised at hearing about this kind of nonsense, then I think you must be very new to this website.
Norm Stamper: “It comes down to this: real cops, those with a conscience, those who honor the law, must step up and take control of the cop culture”
Right on, Norm. When Frank Serpico was testifying about corruption in the NYPD, he said that the atmosphere did not yet exist where the corrupt police officer fears the ethical officer. Alas, we still have a long way to go. It should be the corrupt officers, the overly agressive SWAT cops, the shady narcs, and the sadistic “street justice” enthusiasts that are ostracized, harrassed and ultimately hounded out of the department, not the whistleblowers. Change will come only when informed citizens and honorable officers pulverize the blue wall.
And regarding the deputy from Washington State. When the teenage girl called you a “fat pig,” why did you think it was a good idea to turn around and act like a “fat pig.” Several years of employment in protective services have taught me that is it the job of the officer to be the adult, and to let the other person be the bigger asshole.
Anybody with 3 broken ribs was legitimately resisting, period. They cannot be guilty of same.
Aresen, I’m all too familiar with cops getting the benefit of the doubt come what may. The worrying thing here is that even when the cop’s behaviour is so egregious and the evidence so public that, for once, his word isn’t taken as gospel, the ‘resisting’ charge is still applied.
It’s hard to believe that results like this aren’t grounds for declaring resisting arrest laws unconstitutional.
States consider ending death penalty. But not out of concerns about executing the innocent, or because the system is flawed. Because it’s too expensive.
Good. That is the only reliable and lasting way to change government behavior. If you depend on the good nature of those in power, then once a less than ethical person gets into a position of power, the bad behavior of government will return.
The Third Terrorist, by Janya Davis is an excellent book on the unanswered questions about the Oklahoma City bombing. I don’t believe Sadam ordered the attack, but I don’t believe the government told us the truth about it either. Of course the government rarely tells the truth about anything.
Fully agree on this.
Mr. Balko apparently learned his conspiracy-theory-dealing-with technique from young master David “Weigs” Weigel who teaches that you must focus on the kookiest theories and then the plausible conspiracy theories (anthrax anyone?) just go away of their own accord.
about the Gaffney remark.
I’ve actually heard some noises from the far right about the Oklahoma City bombing. I think that the reason is that for some members of the ultra Christian right, it’s difficult to accept that the culprit in the case could be good, old fashioned American fascism, born out of and nurtured by right-wing Christian extremists.
Its the same syndrome that makes the Christian right blame atheism for the Holocaust: they are afraid to face the fact that Christianity is clearly implicated in the Holocaust.
There was an Iraq connection to the OKC bombing, though not the connection Gaffney’s selling. I wonder when we’ll start seeing the Timmy McVeighs hatched from ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’.
Lloyd | March 15th, 2009 at 7:46 am
There was an Iraq connection to the OKC bombing, though not the connection Gaffney’s selling. I wonder when we’ll start seeing the Timmy McVeighs hatched from ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’.
Actually, Lloyd I believe we will be seeing them pretty soon. I read somewhere that ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ is referred to also as the ‘McVeigh Finishing School.’
There was of course more people than McVeigh and Nichols in on the OKC bombing, and they were far right Bircher militia types who saw black helicopters and U.N. conspiracies behind the bar codes on street signs. They probably financed the operation, and gave materiel and comfort support for the operation. I expect to see a lot of them re-organize and see those black helicopters again. You all ready have loons trying to prove that Obama’s birth certificate is a fake. Should be an interesting next four or eight years for the people who watch these sort of groups.