Hot dog shop in Chicago.

RIP, Ken Ober.

Loved Remote Control growing up.

My crime column this week is almost uplifting. At least not as much of a downer as usual.

Here’s the tease from Hit & Run:

Earlier this month, Wayne County, Michigan Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny threw out the murder conviction of Dwayne Provience, who had been convicted for a 2000 drug-related murder in downtown Detroit. One of Provience’s attorneys was Nick Cheolas, a third-year law student at the University of Michigan who took an interest in the school’s Innocence Clinic after watching his own family’s five-year battle against local police and prosecutors.

Reason Senior Editor Radley Balko explains how the paths of two very different families crossed in a Detroit courtroom that morning to cheer Provience’s release from prison.

Nick actually came to me about a year ago with his family’s story. I’ve been meaning to write about it for some time. But seeing his name mentioned in an ABC News article about Provience’s release gave it a nice hook.

This is pretty funny.

This pretty much sums up my own feelings about Ayn Rand.

Two people in dark clothes follow you for several blocks. It’s after midnight. You look back several times at them. They say nothing, but they continue to follow. What to do? Well, don’t even think about menacingly gripping that pocket knife you’re carrying to scare them off. They could be undercover cops conducting a training exercise.

A Kensington man was found guilty of criminal threatening for holding an open pocket knife at his side while asking two people who were walking behind him at midnight, “Why are you following me?”

The pair walking behind Dustin Almon, 28, of 27 Wild Rose Lane, were state Liquor Enforcement cops, both in plain clothes without any indicators that they were members of law enforcement, according to testimony during a Thursday Portsmouth District Court trial. Both were also carrying concealed handguns and Tasers, they testified.

One of them, Officer Anthony Cattabriga, said he was walking behind Almon on Chapel Street on Nov. 8, 2008, when Almon turned around three times to look at him and a new officer he was training. It was dark and Almon was twenty feet away when he displayed a knife with a two-inch blade the third time he turned around, said Cattabriga.

“He pointed it down by his side,” the liquor officer testified, while demonstrating with Almon’s seized pocket knife.

When he responded by yelling “police,” Almon folded the knife, clipped it to his belt and complied with all subsequent police orders, Cattabriga testified.

Almon was initially arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, but the charge was later upgraded to criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

“I feared for my safety,” Cattabriga said from a District Court witness stand.

In summary, Almon was 20 feet away, holding only a pocket knife, which he immediately gave up when he realized the two officers were police. Cattabriga was with another officer, both were carrying both handguns and tasers, and they were following Almon. But it was Officer Cattabriga who apparently feared for his safety.

Thanks to William Anderson for sending along the story.

CORRECTION: As indicated in the headline, this happened in New Hampshire, not Maine.

Homer, Alaska. Five-second shutter delay.

(Shot with a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR.)

Via the comments, the Charleston Gazette documents the ease with which West Virginia police officer Matthew Leavitt was able to continue to find work in law enforcement despite a long trail of misconduct. It’s worth excerpting at length.

November 2000-June 2001:

Leavitt is employed at South Central Regional Jail.

June 25, 2001:

Leavitt is arrested for driving under the influence.

December 2001-December 2004:

Leavitt is in the U.S. Army. While there, he is disciplined for drinking on duty.

March 2005:

Leavitt is employed as a Cedar Grove Police officer.

January 2006:

Leavitt’s certificate of completion of West Virginia State Police Basic Training is signed.

April 2006:

Leavitt is charged with battery by Charleston police for a bar fight.

June 2006:

Leavitt leaves the Cedar Grove department and is hired by the Madison Police Department.

July 13, 2006:

Leavitt goes to Elsie Keffer’s house in Madison at 7:45 a.m. and harasses her, her boyfriend and her daughter, according to Madison Police records subpoenaed in the Reynolds’ civil suit.

August 2006:

Leavitt resigns the Madison Police Department.

October 2006:

Leavitt is hired by the Smithers Police Department.

Nov. 6, 2006:

Leavitt is hired by the Mount Hope Police Department.

Nov. 24, 2006:

Leavitt leaves the Mount Hope department.

Nov. 29, 2006:

Leavitt is hired by the Gauley Bridge Police Department.

In his employee file, provided to the Gazette by Reynolds’ attorney Mike Clifford, there is a paper where Gauley Bridge Chief L.S. Whipkey and Mayor Damon Runyon kept notes from interviews with Leavitt’s references.

Madison Chief C. Burgess said, “he would love to have him back” and that he “gets along well with other people.” Smithers and Cedar Grove police chiefs also recommended Leavitt to Whipkey.

December 2006:

Hutchinson is hired by Smithers.

January 2007:

Leavitt is terminated by Gauley Bridge for sleeping on duty.

January 2007:

Leavitt is hired by Montgomery.

September 2007:

Hutchinson and Leavitt allegedly assault Roderick and Lakisha White after responding to an incident at their home, according to a lawsuit filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

“[Leavitt] threatened to ‘blow my fat black ass away,’” Lakisha White told the Gazette. “He said, ‘Bitch, I own you. I own the streets of Montgomery.’”

December 2007:

Hutchinson receives certificate of completion of West Virginia State Police Basic Training.

February 2008:

Leavitt leaves the Smithers Police Department. (During Leavitt’s tenure at Smithers, he worked for other departments concurrently, a common practice among small-town officers.)

March 2008:

Leavitt, recently hired by Cedar Grove, along with another Cedar Grove officer and a Kanawha County sheriff’s deputy, allegedly sexually assaults Patricia O’Scha on a hill across from Riverside High School, according to a suit filed by O’Scha in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

The three allegedly told her that if she would have sex with them, she wouldn’t have to go to jail. O’Scha said that while she was alone with Leavitt at the Montgomery police station, he implied she should have sex with him or give him oral sex, according to the complaint. Just when he stopped working for Cedar Grove is unclear.

March 2008:

Hutchinson resigns from Smithers and is hired in Montgomery.

August 2008:

Leavitt allegedly handcuffs Gregory Lee Payne and drives him to a wide spot in the road just before Interstate 64 near Cabin Creek. There he chokes and hits Payne, then leaves him by the side of the road, according to a lawsuit filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

Aug. 23, 2008:

Leavitt allegedly assaults 17-year-old Sherkiri Terrell. She alleges that after he pushed her head against a wall, he slammed her cell phone to the ground. As the two struggled, she says she put the phone down her pants. She alleges that when it began to ring, he put his hands down her pants to get the phone, according to Terrell.

Aug. 27, 2008:

Joey Carr knocks over a soda machine in Montgomery. Leavitt stops him, takes him to the police station and assaults him. When Leavitt pepper sprays him at close range, Carr says he tries to run away.

“He grabs me and throws me down, kicks me in the stomach and Maces me again,” Carr told the Gazette previously. “When he handcuffs me, he throws me against the car and told me to ‘Quit screaming like a little bitch.’”

Sept. 26, 2008:

Leavitt and Hutchinson assault Twan and Lauren Reynolds. Leavitt hits Twan over the head with a blackjack, kicks him in the back and sprays his eyes with pepper spray at close range.

He also uses a racial epithet and licks Lauren Reynolds on the neck during an interrogation, saying, “Little whore, you like it like that.” Their 4-year-old daughter witnesses much of the assault.

Sept. 27, 2008:

Montgomery officials suspend Leavitt and fire Hutchinson for the incident.

Sept. 29, 2008:

Montgomery police start an internal investigation into the Reynolds beating.

Oct. 1, 2008:

Hutchinson is employed as a Glasgow police officer.

Oct. 21, 2008:

Hutchinson’s last day as a Glasgow police officer.

April 2009:

Leavitt is terminated by Montgomery Police.

April 2009:

Hutchinson is employed by Chesapeake Police, where he is still an officer.

June 10, 2009:

Leavitt is indicted on federal civil rights violations for beating Twan Reynolds and falsely charging his wife, Lauren Reynolds, with a DUI.

July 6, 2009:

Leavitt pleads guilty to two misdemeanor civil rights violations in federal court. During the sentencing Oct. 22, Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin said Leavitt remains defiant.

“He has stated that he only pleaded guilty because he feared that due to, quote, ‘idiots,’ unquote, on the jury, it was the, quote, ‘smarter thing to plead guilty,’ unquote,” Goodwin said. “He stated he wants the Court to know, quote, ‘I stand by my actions that day.’”

The paper documents a number of other officers in the state who have been fired from the job for misconduct or physical abuse, only to find work at another department within a relatively short period of time (including Leavitt’s partner the night of the assault on Twan and Lauren Reynolds).

I appreciate intelligent dissent. I’ll never delete a comment or ban anyone for disagreeing with me. And I welcome people who came to this site because of their interest in civil liberties and criminal justice issues.

But I’ve about had it with the drive-by ad hominem attacks on my motivation, character, principles, etc. on posts related to the economy, Obama, health care, or other fiscal and big government issues. This is a libertarian blog. I’m pretty clear about that.

Disagree, argue, and discuss all you like. But before you throw out the usual Fox News, Bush apologist, libertarians-are-just-Republicans-who-smoke-pot tripe, browse my archives from the beginning of this blog until, say, the end of 2008. You’ll see I was plenty hard on the right, and got more critical of them as the Bush administration wore on. Browse the comments, and you’ll also see your trollish mirror images on the right, posting the same sorts of cheap attacks you’re posting now.

I banned the most abusive of them, and I’ll ban the most abusive of you.

“You ever watch that TV series ‘Mad Men?’ If I keep watching this program, will I ever find a happy person? Great television. Good drama. But . . the way women were treated is appalling, and only occasionally funny to me.”

–Bill Clinton, who makes Roger Sterling look like Alan Alda.

Obligatory disclaimer: I like Bill Clinton. I think he’s probably the best president of my lifetime (which admittedly isn’t saying much). But come on. Coming from him, this quote is hilarious. Especially the “only occasionally funny to me” part.

“For nearly 5 years, I supplied Mr. Spitzer with high priced escorts while he was both Attorney General and Governor. For this crime, I served four months on Rikers Island, had all of my assets confiscated and am now considered a sex offender on 5 years probation. Mr. Spitzer broke both state and federal laws and walked away free.”

— Kristin Davis. Oh, and Spitzer just spoke on an “ethics” panel at Harvard.

Obligatory libertarian disclaimer: I don’t think Spitzer should have been prosecuted for frequenting prostitutes, violating the Mann Act, or structuring his bank withdrawals. I don’t think Kristin Davis should have been prosecuted, either.

But given that while as attorney general Spitzer regularly prosecuted suppliers of prostitutes and structurers of bank transactions, I don’t feel particularly sorry for him.

I also think it’s more than absurd to have him speak at an ethics conference.

I remember when using your spoon as a pudding catapult in the school cafeteria at worst earned you a trip to the principal’s office. Possibly detention.

Now? It triggers a full-fledged police action, followed by arrest, booking, and eight hours in the pokey for the teen and pre-teen tater tot tossers.

The food fight here started the way such bouts do in school lunchrooms most anywhere: an apple was tossed, a cookie turned into a torpedo, and an orange plunked someone in the head. Within minutes, dozens of middle-school students had joined in the ruckus, and spattered adults were ducking for cover.

By the end of the day, 25 of the students, ages 11 to 15, had been rounded up, arrested, taken from school and put in jail. A spokesman for the Chicago police said the charges were reckless conduct, a misdemeanor…

“My children have to appear in court,” Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail, said Tuesday. “They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.”

“They’re all scared,” Ms. Russell said of the two dozen arrested students. “You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn’t had a food fight?”

If you’ve ever asked a lefty friend why, if he’s so fond of higher taxes and bigger government, he doesn’t pay the government above and beyond what he owes in taxes, Reuters tracks down the place where you can tell your friend to send a check. Parkersburg, West Virginia is home to the Bureau of Public Debt, where a “couple thousand” workers’ jobs exist thanks to the federal government continuing to spend more than it collects.

Surprisingly, the office collected more than $3 million in voluntary contributions last year. Not so surprising is how it came to be located in West Virginia:

Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell said having the public debt office there meant a couple thousand good-paying jobs, helping to insulate the city from the heavy manufacturing job losses suffered in nearby Ohio and surrounding areas.

He credits Senator Robert Byrd, who was elected to an unprecedented ninth term in 2006, with bringing the debt office to Parkersburg more than 30 years ago.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Parkersburg will be facing a rash of unemployment anytime soon.

“I Am the Resurrection,” by the Stone Roses.

Girdwood, Alaska.

(Shot with a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR.)

Jeremy Lott catches the Washington Post columnist flipping on the use of the Senate filibuster.

Writing in the American Prospect after the Republicans cleaned up in the 2002 off-year elections, Meyerson predicted that the nation would “suffer” under united Republican rule. He worried about “all the right-wing judicial appointments that will be ratified, for the Supreme Court on down, now that the Republicans control the Senate” and about the “lack of scrutiny” that the Bush administration could expect “now that the Democrats control no committees.”

“Only the filibuster,” he warned, “now stands between the nation and the unchecked rule of the most right-wing xenophobic and belligerent administration in the nation’s history.”

And now?

In his column yesterday in the Washington Post, he praised the House of Representatives for passing Pelosicare and damned the Senate as “Dithering Heights” for its refusal to ram the bill through tomorrow.

“A catastrophic change has overtaken the Senate in recent years,” he wrote. Because of the filibuster, “the Senate has become a body that shuns debate, avoids legislative give-and-take, proceeds glacially and produces next to nothing.”

Why just “earlier this month” — that is, November — “Senate Republicans blocked consideration of an extension of unemployment insurance.” And when they “finally let it come to a vote” — all of several days later, by his account — “the measure passed 98 to 0.”

Meyerson earns a strong 8.5 out of 10 on the completely arbitrary Hackery Index. Well done, Harold!

Prior installments of HackWatch here.

Noticed this earlier today while researching an article.

Kinda’ sad.

More over at Hit & Run.

H.R. 57 jazz club, Washington, D.C.

So as I mentioned, over the weekend I spoke at a conference in Philadelphia hosted by Students for Liberty, the really impressive, rapidly growing national affiliation of libertarian-minded college students.

One of the other speakers was Bob Bowdon, the occasional “reporter” for the Onion News Network (where he goes by the character name Brian Scott) and host of a forthcoming talk show on PBS.

Bowdon was speaking to promote The Cartel, a serious documentary he produced exposing some jaw-dropping corruption in the New Jersey public school system. New Jersey spends more education dollars per pupil than any other state, which Bowdon says made the state ideal for a documentary showing how much of that money goes to waste—and how little it buys in terms of actual education.

Here’s a trailer:

A couple years ago, Reason published a dizzying illustrated flow chart showing how difficult it is to fire a public school teacher across the river in New York City. Have a look here.

There’s something in my eye.

Both of them.