Constitutionality of 'Jessica's Law' questioned

Treating sex predators differently from other violent offenders may violate equal protection guarantees, the California Supreme Court says.

By Maura Dolan

January 29, 2010

The California Supreme Court ruled 5 to 2 Thursday that a 2006 ballot initiative that permitted the state to lock up sexually violent predators indefinitely may violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection.

The ruling, written by Justice Carlos R. Moreno, did not strike down the measure, Proposition 83, also known as "Jessica's Law."

Instead, the court said a fact-finding hearing must be held to determine whether valid reasons exist for treating sex predators differently from others subject to civil confinement, such as mentally disordered offenders.

Proposition 83 increased penalties for repeat sex offenders, prohibited them from living near schools and parks, and changed the law to permit their indefinite confinement to mental institutions, instead of two years with the possibility of extensions.

Richard McKee, a convicted child molester, challenged his confinement on several constitutional grounds, but the court found that only his equal protection argument had merit.

The majority said the state must provide "some justification" for creating greater obstacles for sex predators to win their freedom than for severely mentally disordered offenders who commit crimes but serve their terms in mental institutions.

Sexual predators must be shown to "bear a substantially greater risk to society, and that therefore imposing on them a greater burden before they can be released from commitment is needed to protect society," Moreno wrote.

The majority said the state can provide its justifications in a hearing before a trial judge.

Justice Ming W. Chin, joined by Justice Marvin R. Baxter, dissented.

"Whether sexually violent predators present a distinct danger warranting unique remedies is for society to determine, not a trial judge," Chin wrote.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sexpredator29-2010jan29,0,1624892,print.story

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Manson family member Bruce Davis is recommended for parole in 1969 killings of musician and ranch hand

Former Manson family member Bruce Davis, who was convicted in the 1969 killings of musician Gary Hinman and ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea, was recommended for parole today.

A two-member Board of Prison Terms panel recommended Davis, 67, for release following his 26th parole hearing at the California Men's Colony at San Luis Obispo, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Davis has been in prison since April 21, 1972.

Corrections officials will now take the decision under review to make sure there were no legal or factual errors. If the decision still stands after 120 days, the case will then be forwarded to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor has 30 days to review the board's decision. He can reject it, take no action or modify the decision by adding a parole condition or changing the date of release.

Davis, one of the lesser-known followers of cult leader Charles Manson, was convicted in 1972 of the Manson-dictated murders of Hinman and Shea, whom Manson suspected of being a police informer.

Davis was not involved in the infamous Manson family murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/mansion-family-member-recommended-for-parole-in-1969-killing-of-musician-ranch-hand.html

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Mexican national extradited to U.S. in death of Border Patrol agent

A 24-year-old Mexican national has been extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on charges of drug smuggling and second-degree murder for allegedly running over a Border Patrol agent in the Imperial Valley in 2008, the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego announced today.

Jesus Navarro Montes has been taken to Houston and will be moved to the jurisdiction of the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of California, which covers San Diego and Imperial counties.

Navarro Montes has been indicted in the Jan. 19, 2008, death of agent Luis Aguilar. Aguilar was on patrol in the Imperial Sand Dunes area of Imperial County when he was struck and killed by a sport utility vehicle driven by Navarro Montes, according to the indictment.

Aguilar, a six-year Border Patrol veteran, was trying to stop the vehicle, which he believed was attempting to smuggle drugs into the U.S., officials said.

If convicted, Navarro Montes could be sentenced to 40 years on the narcotics charge and life in prison on the murder charge, prosecutors said.

Navarro Montes was first arrested by Mexican authorities near Mexicali but released in June 2008, sparking a protest from U.S. officials. He was rearrested six months later by Mexican law enforcement near the resort town of Zihuatanejo, with assistance from the FBI and U.S. marshal's office.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Man wanted in sexual assaults in Orange and San Diego counties is arrested in Austria

A man suspected of sexually assaulting three women in Southern California and then fleeing the country was arrested in Austria based on an international DNA search, authorities announced today.

Ali Achekzai, 32, formerly of Ladera Ranch, was one of the Orange County district attorney's “10 most wanted” fugitives.

Authorities believe Achekzai fled to Canada around the time he was tied -- by DNA evidence, witness accounts and a photo lineup -- to two rapes in San Diego and Orange counties.

He is believed to have traveled to several countries -- including Afghanistan, Germany, Canada, Austria and England -- and to have used at least six aliases.

Late last year, when a young detective with the Tustin Police Department was asked to pick up the case, Achekzai's DNA profile was sent to Interpol to see if it matched anything in that agency's international database, which authorities said covered nearly two dozen countries.

The search was done in December "on a hunch" that the suspect might have committed similar crimes while abroad, said Tustin police Det. Ryan Coe.

Interpol matched Achekzai's DNA to a sample taken when he was arrested in a rape under a different name in Austria in April 2009. The charges in that case had been dismissed.

Achekzai was arrested Jan. 26 at a hotel in the Austrian town of Neukirchen am Grossvenediger and was expected to be extradited to Orange County.

He is accused of raping a 21-year-old woman he followed home from a Laguna Beach night club in January 2004.

In May 2004, authorities said, Achekzai raped and beat a 21-year-old woman he met at a San Diego nightclub after they drove to a local park with a group of friends.

He is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman in October 2002 after she fell asleep in a limousine on the way home from a Laguna Beach nightclub.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of more than 53 years in prison.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Marijuana legalization backers hand in initiative petitions

Supporters of legalized marijuana announced today that they have gathered about 700,000 signatures for their initiative, virtually guaranteeing voters will see it on the November ballot.

They plan to turn in the petitions today to elections officials in some of the state's major counties, including Los Angeles. Supporters need 433,971 valid signatures to qualify the measure.

The measure's main proponent, Richard Lee, a highly successful Oakland marijuana entrepreneur, bankrolled a professional signature-gathering effort that was bolstered by volunteers from the state's hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries.

“This is a historic first step toward ending cannabis prohibition,” Lee said. “I've always believed that cannabis should be taxed and regulated and that our current laws aren't working.”

The initiative, known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, would make it legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and grow plants in an area no larger than 25 square feet for personal use. It would also allow cities and counties to permit marijuana to be grown and sold, and to impose taxes on marijuana production and sales.

Lee's firm, one of the state's most successful marijuana businesses, has spent more than $1 million on the measure and hired professional consultants to run the campaign. Lee owns half a dozen mostly pot-related businesses in Oakland, including Coffeeshop Blue Sky, a medical marijuana dispensary, and Oaksterdam University, which offers classes on marijuana.

Polls have shown growing support nationwide for legalization. In California, a majority favors it. A Field Poll taken last April found that 56% of voters in the state and 60% in Los Angeles County want to make pot legal and tax it. That margin, though, is not enough to assure victory.

The political climate has turned conservative in this non-presidential election year. Some prominent marijuana legalization advocates have questioned whether 2010 was the right year to test whether Californians would again break new ground on drug legalization, as they did in 1996 when they approved marijuana for medical use.

If passed, the initiative would put the state in conflict with federal law. The Obama administration last year announced it would not prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries that adhere to California's laws, but it has adamantly opposed efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/marijuana-legalization-backers-california-initiative-petitions.html#more

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From the Wall Street Journal

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U.N. Official Met Taliban in January 

KABUL -- The United Nations' top representative to Afghanistan met with Taliban officials earlier this month, amid heightened efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the eight-year-old conflict, a U.N. official said Friday.

The official declined to say how high-level the Taliban officials were. He said the Afghan government was informed of the meeting, which took place earlier this month after the U.N. representative, Kai Eide, addressed the U.N. Security Council in New York on Jan. 6.

Mr. Eide returned to Kabul via Dubai. The meeting was first reported by the Reuters news agency.

Western backers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have been pushing for the Afghan government to lay out a program that would welcome back Taliban fighters who want to lay down their arms. But Afghan and NATO officials do not want to seem overeager to pursue a deal, fearing that some insurgents spy it as a sign of weakness. They are also wary of upstaging Mr. Karzai.

At a summit of international backers in London Mr. Karzai invited moderate Taliban to peace talks, and said he would reach out to "disenchanted brothers who are not part of al Qaeda."

A U.N. official close to the matter said that the U.N. informed Mr. Karzai of Mr. Eide's meeting earlier this month with Taliban officials. The U.N. office in Kabul declined to give any details.

"The special representative will never comment on any meeting of this sort," said Dan McNorton, spokesman for the U.N. in Kabul. "It is the Afghanistan government who are and will lead all efforts to bring peace and stability to this country. As always, the U.N. stands ready to assist in this process in any way that we can."

Speaking from London, Masoum Stanakzai, adviser to Mr. Karzai for reconciliation with the Taliban, said he never heard about any meeting between Mr. Eide and Taliban representatives.

"Nobody from the U.N. side has told us anything about it," he said.

Senior U.S. officials in London said they weren't informed of Mr. Eide's meeting with Taliban representatives either. Mr. Eide has had a testy relationship with Washington's point man on Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, according to U.S. officials.

The State Department says it supports efforts to "rehabilitate" Taliban members. Stiil, Washington has set a "red line" on seeking to reconcile with militants tied to al Qaeda and international terrorism.

Mr. Eide, who is stepping down from his post in March, has had a tumultuous tenure as the U.N.'s special representative to Afghanistan. Last summer he clashed with his deputy, U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith, over the U.N.'s handling of the Afghan presidential elections.

In his address to the Security Council earlier this month, Mr. Eide blasted the administration's Afghan policy, warning that an excessive reliance on a military solution risked failure in Afghanistan. He called for increased investment in Afghanistan's civilian institutions, its military and its economy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703389004575032470152533294.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop #

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Obama Takes Job-Growth Pitch on Tour

President and Cabinet Members Talk Employment in Context of High-Speed Rail Grants, 'Green' Energy and Bank Bailout

TAMPA, Fla.—Several cabinet members fanned out along with President Barack Obama to take his State of the Union jobs pitch on the road Thursday in a bid to underscore how the administration is trying to tackle stubbornly high unemployment, one of its biggest political vulnerabilities.

Appearing here with Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Obama announced $8 billion of grants for high-speed rail corridors. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, meanwhile, donned a pair of goggles and toured a Honeywell Inc. factory in Minneapolis.

Together, the two developments spotlighted the administration's juggling act as the president calls for more spending to boost employment, while endorsing fiscal discipline to tame a record federal budget deficit.

Thursday's event in Tampa was the first joint political appearance of Messrs. Obama and Biden since last February, when they went to Colorado to sign the economic-stimulus bill into law. This week, Mr. Obama has been trying to recapture that sense of momentum amid a worsening political environment. "I make no apology for trying to fix stuff that's hard," he told a boisterous crowd. "The easiest way to keep your poll numbers high is to say nothing and do nothing that offends anybody."

On Friday, the president will be in Baltimore, unveiling details of a proposed tax credit for small businesses that hire new employees or boost their payroll with pay raises. He will be in another key swing state, New Hampshire, on Tuesday.

In Minneapolis, Mr. Geithner met local business leaders to discuss ways to spur employment, particularly as they relate to "green energy." It was the first such tour for Mr. Geithner, who has spent most of his first year in Washington dealing with the financial-sector rescue and taking heat from lawmakers on that front. Administration officials said Mr. Geithner is likely to undertake more of these trips, to highlight the administration's job-growth agenda and dispel the image of the Treasury secretary as too close to Wall Street.

It was clear Mr. Geithner was happy to be away from the capital, where a day earlier he was grilled by a congressional committee probing the bailout of insurance giant American International Group Inc.

"It is great to be in this state and to get out of Washington," Mr. Geithner said. "I've been spending a lot of time with financial engineers, and today I got to spend some time with some real engineers."

Washington was nonetheless on the minds of the people he met. During a tour of Standard Heating & Air Conditioning, company President Roger Ferrara said his firm's ability to thrive depends on his customers' ability to get loans to start or expand their businesses. Many of Standard's customers are either unable to access credit or are seeing their borrowing costs rise, a company official said.

"We just have to make sure there are bankers out there who are meeting our customers' needs," Mr. Ferrara told Mr. Geithner. The Treasury secretary nodded vigorously and said "this is why these things are so terrible," while adding that he believes things are getting better for small businesses.

The trip was meant to convey Mr. Geithner's commitment to improving the employment picture. At one point, a Treasury staffer asked Ron Bloom, the administration's manufacturing czar, to move so cameras could get a better shot of Mr. Geithneras he toured the Honeywell facility.

Much of the jobs effort is already becoming embroiled in the politics of the 2010 mid-term elections. In Tampa, Florida's Republican governor, Charlie Crist, who is seeking his state's open Senate seat, greeted Mr. Obama with a lingering handshake at MacDill Air Force Base. Mr. Crist's conservative challenger for the GOP nomination, Marco Rubio, denounced the rail plan and has harnessed anti-Obama sentiment by accusing Mr. Crist of being too cozy with the administration.

The White House promoted the multibillion-dollar rail grants as the biggest infrastructure investment since President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched the interstate highway system in the 1950s. The funds are aimed at 13 rail corridors, with money going to 31 states that will be involved in the projects. None of the money doled out Thursday required Congress's approval. The grants, including $1.25 billion for Florida, come from last year's $787 billion stimulus act.

Democrats and Republicans have accused each other of playing politics with the deficit. Republicans scoffed at Mr. Obama's professions of deficit concern in light of his continued willingness to spend federal dollars.

"The president was right last night when he said we should not leave Americans with a 'mountain of debt,' " said Sen. Lamar Alexander. The Tennessee Republican said the president should veto Congress's proposed increase of the debt ceiling.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575031413560016330.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_3 #

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Utilities, Refineries and Banks Are Victims of Cyber Attacks, Report Says

WASHINGTON—Companies that run key public infrastructure assets like electric utilities, oil refineries and banks are regularly victims of the kind of cyber attacks that recently penetrated Google Inc., according to a new report by a former top homeland security official.

Cyber attacks are often coupled with extortion demands, according to the report commissioned by the computer antivirus company McAfee, which found that 20% of the 601 companies and government agencies surveyed said they had been a victim of such an attack within the past two years.

It wasn't clear whether any companies actually paid extortion demands.

Stewart Baker, a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency, led a team that surveyed executives at companies responsible for critical infrastructure. One hundred executives were American, and 20 to 50 participated from each of 13 other countries, including China, Russia, and the U.K.

The report was funded by the antivirus company, but Mr. Baker said his team at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank had a "free hand" in constructing the survey and report.

Among the executives surveyed, 54% said their company had been the subject of infiltration, according to the survey, and two thirds of those companies said the attacks had harmed company operations.

"That suggests it's a form of attack that's rife in critical infrastructure," Mr. Baker said in an interview. "I'm astonished at how pervasive it is."

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Chinese and Russian cyberspies had infiltrated computer systems controlling the U.S. power grid and other U.S. infrastructure. Chinese and Russian officials denied any government involvement in the attacks.

The survey results suggest extortion attempts have expanded beyond their traditional targets -- financial institutions, said Tom Kellermann, a former World Bank cybersecurity official.

The survey found that rates of extortion were highest in the oil and gas sector, where 31% of executives reported their companies had been victimized by such a scheme, followed by 27% for electric utilities. Mr. Baker said the extortion rates across industries were much higher than he'd expected.

Extortion plots were most common in India, the Middle East, and China and were least prevalent in the U.S. and the U.K. Part of the growth of extortion schemes is because organized crime, in general, has moved to the Internet, a former law enforcement official said.

Over three quarters of executives who oversee computerized control systems said that those systems were connected to the Internet, and nearly half of them said that connection posed "an unresolved security issue."

Among the different infrastructure sectors, oil and gas had the highest levels of victimization, with 71% reporting they experienced a "stealthy infiltration." The Christian Science Monitor reported earlier this week that three U.S. oil and gas companies--ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon--had been victimized in 2008. A former law enforcement official confirmed an attack on Exxon, but said it only targeted the company's administrative network. All three companies said they wouldn't comment on security matters.

Meanwhile, the survey suggested that the financial sector, which is often commended for having the strongest computer security in the private sector, isn't as safe as advertised.

One in five executives in the financial sector said they had experienced cyber attacks carrying extortion threats. Meanwhile, 59% of financial service executives said they had experienced a common penetration attack in the past couple years.

The measure that would do the most to secure cyberspace in the U.S., said Tata Communications security chief Adam Rice, is for the U.S. government to direct the top Internet providers to provide the government with data about Internet traffic to analyze and create a "blacklist" of bad actors.

The government could then direct the providers to block those actors from the Internet, he said. That direction would have to be coupled with funding, and any large Internet provider would require legal protections. Mr. Rice participated in the survey and said he was speaking for himself not his company. Indian-owned Tata provides Internet service in the U.S.

Some U.S. intelligence officials have advocated a similar approach, but it's met with political resistance over concerns about the government playing a role in policing the Internet.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575030873858657384.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5 #

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Cellphone Curbs May Not Decrease Car Crashes

WASHINGTON—Laws that forbid motorists from using hand-held phones or texting while driving don't appear to result in a significant decrease in vehicle crashes, according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute expected to be released Friday.

The study, expected to be released at a conference in Washington, D.C., Friday, comes amid stepped-up efforts by federal highway-safety regulators to ban texting while driving and curb other forms of driver distraction. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood earlier this week announced rules to forbid commercial truck and bus drivers from text messaging while driving. Mr. LaHood has said he would ban all texting while driving if he could.

The HLDI, a research organization sponsored by the insurance industry, studied data on monthly collision claims in four states that banned the use of hand-held phones by motorists before and after the bans went into effect. The HLDI also compared collision data from states that enacted bans on driving while texting or phoning to accident claims in states that didn't enact such bans.

In New York, HLDI said its researchers found that collision claims decreased compared to other states, but the decrease began before the state's ban on hand-held phoning took effect.

The HLDI data don't show whether drivers involved in accidents were using cellphones at the time. But the HLDI said in a statement "reductions in observed phone use following bans are so substantial and estimated effects of phone use on crash risk are so large that reductions in aggregate crashes would be expected."

Adrian Lund, president of the HLDI and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said in a statement that the finding "doesn't augur well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving."

Auto makers and mobile-phone makers have expressed support for efforts to curb text messaging by drivers. Auto makers are concerned that federal regulators could go beyond banning the use of hand-held messaging devices, and seek to curb the use of other communications or display technology that could be distracting to drivers—such as on board Internet connections, three-dimensional display screens or voice-activated communications and navigations systems.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575031572761080024.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5 #

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From Fox News

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White House Considers Moving 9/11 Trial Out of New York City

By Major Garrett

FOXNews.com

Senior administration officials confirm alternate trial locations are being sought because Congress is almost sure to deny President Obama the funds necessary to proceed with its original plan FILE - In this March 1, 2003 file picture, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan. An Obama administration official said Friday Nov. 13, 2009 that accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court. (AP Photo/File)

Bowing to intense and deepening bipartisan opposition to conducting the criminal trials for the 9/11 hijackers in the heart of New York City, the Obama White House has begun discussing alternate locations with the Justice Department, senior administration officials told Fox News.

The White House denied a New York Daily News report that it ordered the Department of Justice to find a new location for the trials, which are sure to attract massive publicity and require intense security preparations wherever they are held.

However, senior administration officials confirm alternate trial locations are being sought because Congress is almost sure to deny President Obama the funds necessary to conduct the trials, as originally planned, in the federal courthouse mere blocks away from the Twin Towers, the epicenter of the 9/11 attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 civilians.

"The discussions are under way in case the option of holding the trials in New York City is foreclosed upon at either the state or the federal level," an Obama administration official said.

Up to now, the Obama administration has stood by Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to move the suspects, including self-professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to New York to be tried in federal court rather than before a military commission, as many Republicans have demanded.

"President Obama is still committed to trying Mohammed and four other terrorist detainees in federal court," spokesman Bill Burton told the Daily News on Thursday. "He agrees with the attorney general's opinion that ... (the detainees) can be litigated successfully and securely in the United States of America, just like others have."

The news that officials are considering a new venue comes as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who initially was open to the idea of holding the trials in the city, says he'd be "very happy" if the White House reconsidered. Security has been an issue, as well as cost, estimated at $200 million a year.

The discussions on alternate trial locations suggest the New York City trial plan is all but dead. Congressional and Democratic sources tell Fox News taht White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has told lawmakers the administration will stand down if the House and Senate, as appears likely, deny funds for 9/11 trials in the Big Apple.

Rep. Peter King of New York, ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, has introduced legislation to block funds for a 9/11 trial in New York City.

House Minority Leader John Boehner said Wednesday the Obama administration doesn't have the votes to proceed.

"There is not going to be a trial in New York, I guarantee it. There is no appetite for the trials in Congress," Boehner said.

More than half a dozen senators have forged a bipartisan coalition against funding 9/11 trials there.

No timetable has been set for resolving the impasse. Military charges against Mohammed and his co-defendants have been dropped. Criminal charges are pending resolution of a final trial site.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/28/white-house-considers-moving-trial-new-york-city/

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Criminals in Haiti 'Raping Quake Survivors'

Friday , January 29, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — 

Bandits in Haiti are preying on vulnerable earthquake survivors, even raping women, in makeshift camps which were set up in the capital of Port-au-Prince after the disaster.

"With the blackout that's befallen the Haitian capital, bandits are taking advantage to harass and rape women and young girls under the tents," Haiti's national police chief Mario Andresol said yesterday.

"We have more than 7,000 detainees in the streets who escaped from the National Penitentiary the evening of the earthquake... It took us five years to apprehend them. Today they are running wild."

Rachelle Dolce, who is living at a large makeshift camp on the Petionville Club Golf Course, said she thought a rape had occurred outside her tent the previous night. She said she heard men making noise and a woman struggling.

"I heard a fight outside, and I saw panties on the ground," she said. "I started to shout a lot, and they left."

Figures for the number of crimes were not available but women's organizations have already detailed a number of cases and alerted the United Nations mission in Haiti, Andresol said.

Continue reading at the Times of London

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,584223,00.html

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Angry Mass. Parents Demand Action on Bullying After Girl's Suicide

January 28, 2010

Parents in South Hadley, Mass., gathered at the town's high school Wednesday night to voice their concerns and anger about school bullying following the suicide of a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly tormented by bullies, the Boston Herald reported.

At the school committee meeting, the first since Phoebe Prince's death on Jan. 14, parents told school officials they want to see more done to protect their children from bullying, the paper reported.

One parent, who attended the school nearly two decades ago, said he had experienced bullying when he was a student, the Boston Herald reported.

"It's been 17 years," Matthew Bail told the school committee. "And now we have a fatality."

Some parents said their children had been harassed, and in some cases assaulted, by classmates often.

"Until somebody stands up and admits there has been a failure -- a complete failure -- we have nowhere to go," Luke T. Gelinas told the paper. Gelinas claimed his son had been "hit in the gut" after he became friends with a student who was often bullied.

Friends and school officials told MyFoxBoston.com that Prince, 15, had been picked on since moving to Massachusetts from Ireland last fall. School bullies reportedly taunted the teen through text messages, Facebook and other social networking sites.

South Hadley High School superintendent Gus Sayer said two students have been disciplined in connection with the incident, BostonHerald.com reported.

"There's still an investigation going on, which may lead to disciplinary action against other students," Sayer said.

One parent argued that school officials need to be held responsible for not taking action to curb the constant bullying that he claims occurs frequently, TheBostonChannel.com reported.

"Wouldn't we all agree that not only have you not been successful, that you have failed?" that parent said, according to the Web site.

Prince's parents have not commented to the media because prosecutors are mulling whether to file criminal charges, TheBostonChannel.com reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,584187,00.html

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From MSNBC

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Analysis: Do blacks want to transcend race?

Five little words — "I forgot he was black" — have exposed a contradiction in the idea of a post-racial nation.

The comment came from MSNBC host Chris Matthews after President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech Wednesday.

"He is post-racial, by all appearances," the liberal host said on the air. "I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. You know, he's gone a long way to become a leader of this country, and past so much history, in just a year or two. I mean, it's something we don't even think about."

Matthews meant it as praise, but it caused a rapid furor, with many calling the quote a troubling sign that blackness is viewed — perhaps unconsciously — as a handicap that still needs to be overcome.

Apparently, Matthews forgot to ask black people if they WANT to be de-raced.

"As a black American I want people to remember who I am and where I come from without attaching assumptions about deficiency to it," said Dr. Imani Perry, a professor at Princeton's Center for African American Studies.

Although she thought Matthews was well-intentioned, she found his statement troubling, because "it suggests that if he had remembered Obama's blackness, that awareness would be a barrier to seeing him as a competent or able leader."

"The ideal is to be able to see and acknowledge everything that person is, including the history that he or she comes from, as well as his or her competencies and qualities, and respect all of those things," Perry said.

That's a very different vision of "transcending race" — a consistent theme of Obama's political history — than one in which race has disappeared altogether.

"It's important for us to remember that everyone has a race," Blair L.M. Kelley, an associate professor of history at North Carolina State University. "When you say we're going to transcend race, are white people called on to transcend their whiteness?"

"When (black people) transcend it, what do we become? Do we become white?" she asked. "Why would we have to stop being our race in order to solve a problem?"

'I thought I was saying something wonderful'

Matthews didn't get that far down the post-racial road on Wednesday night. But his comments instantly exploded online, especially on Twitter. Ninety minutes later, he clarified his comments on the air.

"I'm very proud I did it and I hope I said it the right way," Matthews said, noting that he grew up in the racially fraught 1960s.

Video: Matthews clarifies his appreciation of Obama's post-racialism

"I walked into the room tonight, you could feel (racial tension) wasn't there tonight and that takes leadership on his part, to get us beyond those divisions, really national leadership," Matthews said. "I felt it wonderfully tonight, almost like an epiphany. I think he's done something wonderful. I think he's taken us beyond black and white in our politics."

On Thursday, Matthews told theGrio that he has no regrets over making the remark .

"I thought I was saying something wonderful and positive about America."

"One million times I'd say the same thing again and again," he added.

Plenty of people supported Matthews on Thursday, saying his sentiments, although poorly worded, reflected the view that all Americans are now equal.

But for many blacks, it was hard to forget the word "forgot."

Judged on merits, not race

Kevin Jackson, a black conservative and author of "The BIG Black Lie," hews to the same philosophy as the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck — that people should be judged on their merits, not their color.

Yet Jackson does not want his blackness to be forgotten.

"Absolutely not," he said. "Because we have an amazing history."

He pointed out that if Don Imus had made the same comment as Matthews, "everybody on God's green earth would be out to hang him by his you-know-what."

Sophia Nelson, a black attorney, former lobbyist and founder of PoliticalIntersection.com, which focuses on politics, race and gender, said she has been offended by people calling her articulate and intelligent: "That's saying that people who look like me normally aren't those things."

She said Matthews' comment showed the same unconscious bias as those by Vice President Joe Biden when he was still a senator that Obama was "clean" and "articulate," and Sen. Harry Reid's saying that Obama was more electable because he was light-skinned and lacking a "Negro dialect."

"Matthews was saying exactly what he meant," Nelson said. "He forgot he was black because he's so articulate and so compelling."

Another common interpretation of Matthews' comment was that if he forgot Obama was black during his speech, it must be part of his thinking the other 23 hours of the day.

Which is not necessarily a bad thing, said Kelley, the North Carolina State professor.

"Obama is forcing people to see blackness," she said, "in a way they haven't had to in the past."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35132893/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity/print/1/displaymode/1098/

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Justice openly disagrees with Obama in speech

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito didn't like hearing President Barack Obama publicly criticize the high court's ruling removing corporate campaign spending limits — and he didn't try to hide it.

Alito made a dismissive face, shook his head repeatedly and appeared to mouth the words "not true" or possibly "simply not true" when Obama assailed the decision Wednesday night in his State of the Union address.

The president had taken the unusual step of publicly scolding the high court, with some of its members in robes seated before him in the House. "With all due deference to the separation of powers," he said, the court last week "reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections."

It is unclear which part of Obama's statement about the ruling caused Alito's disagreement. There is disagreement among experts about whether the decision, as Obama claimed, would open unlimited campaign spending in U.S. elections to foreign businesses.

A reliable conservative appointed to the court by Republican President George W. Bush, Alito was in the majority in the 5-4 ruling.

Justices usually do not show any reaction at all to a president's statements during a State of the Union address. Alito has not made any public comment on his reaction Wednesday night.

White House reacts
White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton on Thursday defended the president's statement.

"One of the great things about our democracy is that powerful members of the government at high levels can disagree in public and private," Burton told reporters traveling with Obama to Tampa, Fla. "This is one of those cases. But the president is not less committed to seeing this reform."

Vice President Joe Biden also sided with Obama, calling the ruling "dead wrong" and saying "we have to correct it."

"The president didn't question the integrity of the court. He questioned the judgment of it," the vice president told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Senate Democratic leaders sitting immediately behind Alito and other members of the high court rose and clapped loudly in their direction, with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., leaning slightly forward with the most enthusiastic applause.

On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., echoed the president's criticism of the decision made by the court and slammed Alito for displaying his disagreement.

"There were days when judges stayed out of politics," he told NBC News. "It would be nice to go back to those days."

Republican John Cornyn, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, argued that Alito must have had an "irresistible impulse" to react to the president's open criticism of the decision.

"I don't think the president should have done what he did in trying to call out the Supreme Court for doing its job," Cornyn said. "They are the final word on the meaning of the United States Constitution, even when we don't like the outcome."

The court did upend a 100-year trend that had imposed greater limitations on corporate political activity. Specifically, the court, in a 5-4 decision, said corporations and unions could spend freely from their treasuries to run political ads for or against specific candidates.

In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said the court's majority "would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans."

Obama said corporations can "spend without limit in our elections." However, corporations and unions are still prohibited from contributing directly to politicians.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35117174/ns/politics-white_house/print/1/displaymode/1098/

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Obama pleads for civility, cooperation

TAMPA, Fla. - Trying to bury a year of polarization, President Barack Obama on Thursday escalated his appeal for politicians and voters alike to settle differences without tearing each other apart. His plea: "Let's start thinking of each other as Americans first."

Obama made sure to weave that message throughout his stop in Florida, one otherwise intended to promote his economic agenda by announcing $8 billion in high-speed rail awards.

Coming one day after his State of the Union address, and one day before meeting with House Republican leaders with whom he continues to battle, Obama's emphasis on civility was a nod to political reality. He needs Republicans more than ever to get his agenda passed, and he is getting saddled with more public blame for the partisanship he promised to change.

"Nothing that human beings do will be perfect," Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, said as he capped a town hall at the University of Tampa, where he was received with boisterous support.

"But we shouldn't sort of assume that the other side is either heartless or doesn't care about sick people or is some socialist/communist who's trying to take over the health care system," the president said. "We start getting into these caricatures. They're so damaging."

‘Off the sidelines'

Just how far to go in working with Republicans has been an evolving calculation for the White House. Obama ended up muscling through a giant economic stimulus plan with little help from the opposition party and was poised to do the same on major health care legislation until Democrats lost the super-majority they need — 60 votes — to overcome delays in the Senate.

Obama takes responsibility, but not blame.

He still casts Republicans as a party of "no" and calls that their political strategy.

"I want the Republicans off the sidelines. I want them to work with us to solve problems," Obama said. And then he added: "I don't want an attitude 'If Obama loses, then we win.' I mean, that can't be a platform. ... All of us should be rooting for each other."

Party divisions arise less over goals — the main one for both parties is jobs — then how to achieve them. Those policy discussions are even more difficult in this midterm election year, when leaders weigh what's better: working together or targeting the other for defeat.

Obama's challenge is to pull together enough unity to get results this year on weighty items — economic growth, Wall Street regulation, energy and the embattled health care. A Gallup Poll has found him to be the most politically polarizing president in recent history.

He has also acknowledged a problem in connecting with people, one that left them with a "remoteness and detachment" as he pursued a policy agenda meant to help the middle class. In turn, Obama has focused his rhetoric lately on making clear he is out fighting for people.

Speaking to House Republicans

Following up on his State of the Union pledge to work with the GOP, Obama will address House Republicans Friday in Baltimore, where lawmakers are holding their annual retreat. He'll also tour a small business in the same city and announce a new job-creation proposal.

The proposal would give companies a $5,000 tax credit for each net new worker they hire in 2010. Businesses that increase wages or hours for their existing workers in 2010 would be reimbursed for the extra Social Security payroll taxes they would pay.

No company could reap more than $500,000 from the combined benefits, one of several features meant to tailor the program more to small businesses than to large corporations. Startup companies could receive half that amount. Existing companies could not close down and then reopen under a new name and receive any benefits, White House officials said Thursday.

The program, which would need congressional approval, would end on Dec. 31, and would carry an estimated cost of $33 billion. Administration officials proposed funding it with money repaid to the government from the 2008-09 bank bailout program.

The Social Security system would not lose any revenue under the plan, administration officials said.

The House rejected a similar proposal last month, although Senate Democrats have warmed to the idea lately. House Republicans, meanwhile, hinted they would have questions about the effectiveness of Obama's plan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35135905/ns/politics-white_house/print/1/displaymode/1098/

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From the White House

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Caring for Caregivers

This week the Middle Class Task Force unveiled a series of initiatives in the President's FY 11 budget that are aimed at helping families with soaring child care costs, balancing work with caring for elderly relatives or people with disabilities, paying for college, and saving for retirement.  These are costs that – along with health care – have risen dramatically for families at a time when their incomes haven't.   Some people call this "squeeze" because of the pressure these costs put on family budgets.  But for many families it just seems like it is impossible to get ahead.

This is particularly true for the so-called "sandwich generation" – people who are caring for children (or grandchildren or adult children who are struggling financially) and their parents.   The Vice President often speaks very personally about his experience caring for his parents and in-laws.  And almost all of us know someone who has juggled caring for a parent or relative who can't get along completely on their own.  Millions of Americans provide unpaid care to aging relatives – including approximately 23 million caregivers with jobs and 12 million who are also caring for their own children.   That's why the Middle Class Task Force's "squeeze" initiative includes help for family caregivers. 

These caregivers play a vital role in helping seniors stay in their communities or at home.  But too often they don't have the support they need to balance caregiving with work and family responsibilities.  As Elinor Ginzler of AARP put it:

"AARP is grateful that the Middle Class Task Force has drawn attention  to an issue that is deeply important to our members—the critical role of family caregivers and what we should be doing to help them.  Approximately 65 million Americans provide care to a loved one, giving more than $375 billion worth of unpaid care each year—often at their own financial and emotional expense.  Increasing support to these invaluable individuals would be an important step to help those who do so much to help others."

The nearly $103 million investment proposed by the Middle Class Task Force will support more respite care, counseling, training, referrals, and adult day care.  As Sandy Markwood, CEO of National Association for Area Agencies on Aging explained:

"Vice President Biden's Middle Class Task Force's recommendation to increase funding for the National Family Caregiver Support Program and Lifespan Respite, along with strengthening supportive services through Title III-B of the Older Americans Act, represents a huge investment in community-based programs that support the independence of older Americans and their caregivers. These funds will enable them to access and get the critical services that they need while avoiding unnecessary and more expensive institutional care or spending down to Medicaid.  We applaud the work that has been done by the Administration that serves to strengthen long term living options through home and community-based services."

The extra funding proposed by the Task Force will allow nearly 200,000 additional caregivers to be served and 3 million more hours of respite care to be provided.  It adds funding to programs that provide transportation help, adult day care, and in-home services including aides to help bathe and cook.  Some have said these things are modest.  And, to some extent, they are. But sometimes it is these small things that add up to make all the difference.

Eric Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alzheimer's Foundation is well aware of the vital help these services give families:

"Family caregivers who struggle each day with practical and financial challenges have been anxiously waiting for this issue to be brought to the national stage and for relief in their own homes and communities. For these families, assistance at any level can help delay nursing home placement and enhance caregiver well being. The proposed initiatives represent a welcome change in direction, from minimal or flatlined funding to amounts that will make a difference for hundreds of thousands of American families."

And here's what Gail Hunt, CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving who represents family caregivers said:

"The National Alliance for Caregiving is proud to support the Middle Class Task Force and their efforts to support family caregivers. This is a wonderful addition to the National Family Caregiver Support Program and it is a perfect way to recognize these caregivers who on average spend 18 hours a week providing care.  The funding for transportation, adult day care and other services under Title III b will also help family caregivers by assisting the older adult they are caring for. We are grateful to the Middle Class Task Force for bringing much needed public awareness to the family caregiver."

The caregiver initiative won't magically alleviate all the strain on caregivers and their families – but it is an important first step toward providing more support for families and caregivers and the vital services they are performing.

Terrell McSweeny is Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/28/caring-caregivers

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A Zero-Tolerance Approach to Health Care Fraud

If a friend or family member gets robbed, you would want to see the perpetrator brought to justice. The same is true for catching criminals who steal money from American taxpayers and businesses. This exact scenario is playing out in the form of health care fraud. Criminals are stealing billions of dollars from American taxpayers, the federal government, and corporations – and it is unacceptable. At a time when many families are scraping together every last dollar to pay their medical bills, fraud, waste, and abuse in our health care system are unacceptable.

This administration is taking a zero-tolerance approach to health care fraud. Yet this is not a job for just one agency or one law enforcement team. It requires a coordinated effort from the public and private sectors. Today, Attorney General Eric Holder and I convened a first-ever National Summit on Health Care Fraud , bringing together the public and private sectors to identify and discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud in our health care system.

Participants at today's summit include government officials; prosecutors and investigators; state law enforcement; private sector health plans and insurers; and representatives of consumers and providers to discuss and find innovative ways to detect, prevent and deter fraud.

Today's Summit builds upon the work accomplished by HEAT, the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team. This initiative was launched last May and is led by Attorney General Holder and myself. Through this initiative, we've been able to employ better enforcement tools. We've significantly expanded our Medicare Fraud Strike Forces to operate in 7 major cities across the country.

Since 2007, the Strike Forces have charged more than 500 defendants for health care fraud crimes resulting in more than $1 billion in fraudulent billing. Over 200 defendants have been sentenced to prison, with sentences ranging from two months to 30 years. Added up, we've done more to fight health care fraud in 2009 than in any other year. But we're not done fighting. Building on the investments the President made in fraud fighting in last year's budget, he will request $1.7 billion in his budget to support programs to fight fraud..

Through our collective efforts, we will defeat health care fraud; we will protect American consumers and businesses by tracking down the criminals and holding them accountable, and we'll put the brakes on future fraudulent activity.

For more information, visit our website at www.StopMedicareFraud.gov .

Kathleen Sebelius is Secretary of Health and Human Services

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/28/a-zero-tolerance-approach-health-care-fraud

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From the Department of Justice

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Good afternoon. My name is Tom Perrelli, and I am the Associate Attorney General of the United States. As the third ranking official at the Department of Justice, my responsibilities include overseeing our grant making programs for state, local and tribal law enforcement. That includes the Office on Violence Against Women, which administers critical funding to victim service providers and programs across the country.

I am honored to stand here with Senators Crapo, Whitehouse and Lieberman to shine a spotlight on the critical issue of teen dating violence. For the first time, this crime is being commemorated as "National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month," instead of a week. This is no small feat, and I commend these Senators and their colleagues for its unanimous passage earlier this week. Finally, teen dating violence is being given parity among the other three crimes authorized as part of the Violence Against Women Act – or VAWA. And while I stand here in the hope that one day we will put an end to all four crimes – sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and teen dating violence – the Department will use the month of February to raise awareness regarding teen dating violence and to provide opportunities for schools and communities to protect young people.

Violence against women and children is an issue I personally care deeply about, and it is one of the many areas where I believe that we are at a critical point to make a real and significant difference. This September marked t he 15 year anniversary of President Clinton signing VAWA into law. We at the Department have embarked on a year's worth of activities meant to raise public awareness, to make sure that survivors everywhere know that they have a place – and a voice – in this administration, and to build toward a future where teen dating violence, domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking are eradicated.

But this year cannot just be an anniversary – it must be a call to action, and that is how we at the Department are viewing it. We want to use this year to recommit ourselves to ending violence against women. Our government and this Department have a responsibility to speak out and act on issues of violence against women. This administration has committed itself to thinking outside the box – to bringing in new ideas, and new coalitions, to bring about change. It's time to examine what we've done right, and more critically, what we've done wrong. Far too many communities in the United States are affected by this issue. We are committed to working with federal, state, local and tribal partners to ensure that all communities – particularly those that have been chronically neglected – are given the resources and support they need.

Violence against women is the seed to so many other forms of violence, and continues to have devastating effects on entire communities. And teen dating violence affects our most vulnerable – our young children – many of whom do not know how to identify, prevent or report incidences of teen dating violence. We know that a child who feels threatened cannot thrive at school or at home. How can we encourage our children to strive for the best, when they are afraid of who will be at their locker when they get out of class, or what might be waiting for them as they walk home after school?

Recently, the Attorney General and Secretary Arne Duncan sponsored a conversation with the Boston teenagers and others from different parts of the country who work on promoting healthy relationships in their own communities. These kids were so impressive. In response to a question "why should this be a top priority?," one student explained, "You guys would be amazed at how much this stuff is intertwined," adding that kids can't do well in school when their outside lives are unhealthy. Work on the social and emotional parts of a child's life, she said, and academic success can follow.

We must do better – and we must do this work together. We must involve our federal, state, local and tribal partners as well as individual communities. Communities must be involved in addressing the needs of our young people and holding offenders accountable. It cannot be the work of the Department of Justice alone, or the criminal justice system, or state government. Each community must take an active role in defining their response to stalking.

We at the Department share a vision where men, women, boys, girls and communities can live in a world without the fear of violence. Today, we take another step towards raising awareness and the profile of teen dating violence. If we're going to do this, we are going to have to do it together. Thank you for taking yet another step in that commitment today.

http://www.justice.gov/asg/speeches/2010/asg-speech-100128.html

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