~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Los Angeles Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Appeals court overturns murder convictions of alleged L.A. serial killer

Bobby Joe Maxwell, dubbed the 'Skid Row Stabber' and convicted in 1984 of two murders, should get a new trial or be freed because the prosecution's chief witness was an 'infamous' jailhouse informant and a habitual liar.

by Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer

December 1, 2010

A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned the 1984 murder convictions of an alleged serial killer dubbed the "Skid Row Stabber," calling the government's chief witness an "infamous" jailhouse informant and a habitual liar.

Bobby Joe Maxwell, who has spent more than 30 years behind bars, should be given a new trial or set free, the court ruled. Maxwell was convicted of two of 10 murders attributed to the Skid Row Stabber in 1978 and 1979.

The prosecution relied heavily on the testimony of Sidney Storch, one of a notorious cadre of snitches used by Los Angeles authorities in dozens of murder cases in the 1970s and '80s. At Maxwell's trial, Storch told jurors that the defendant had confessed to the killings when they shared a cell in Los Angeles County Jail.

Storch, a career criminal, testified for the prosecution in at least half a dozen trials and received reduced sentences and other considerations for helping secure convictions. He was said by other jailhouse snitches to have taught them the art of "booking" fellow inmates in exchange for lighter sentences and other favors.

"Storch perjured himself multiple times at Maxwell's trial and employed a signature method to 'book' fellow inmates," a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in ordering a new trial. "Storch also had a chronic pattern of dishonesty that both predated and followed Maxwell's trial."

Maxwell, 60, has spent more than half his life behind bars since his 1979 arrest in connection with the downtown killings. Cast by the prosecution as a Satan worshipper who killed to deliver souls to the devil, Maxwell was charged with 10 murders. But his jury acquitted him of three and deadlocked over the other five. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Maxwell's many appeals were denied until the California Supreme Court ordered Los Angeles County Superior Court to review whether Storch had given false testimony. After a two-year evidentiary hearing, the court acknowledged that Storch had become "an established liar" but said that he had given reliable testimony in Maxwell's case.

The 9th Circuit panel, composed of appointees of Presidents Carter, Clinton and George W. Bush, unanimously disagreed. The judges said Storch had "a long and public history of dishonesty," and reliance on his testimony undermined confidence that Maxwell had a fair trial.

Aside from Storch's claim to have heard Maxwell's confession to each of the 10 killings, the conviction was based on evidence of a palm print on a skid row bench that matched Maxwell's and a Bic lighter that jurors were told had been taken from one of the victims.

Three homeless men who had seen the man who stabbed one of the victims testified that the killer was a large black man with a Spanish or Caribbean accent, and that he had introduced himself as "Luther." None of the three had been able to identify Maxwell in a police lineup.

The appeals panel said it was unreasonable for the trial court to believe that Storch testified truthfully, given his reputation and involvement in numerous cases in which his testimony proved to be untrue. Storch was subpoenaed by a grand jury in 1988 as part of a federal probe of informant abuse but died in a New York jail before he could testify, the appeals court noted.

A new trial is in order, the judges said, because Storch was the "make-or-break witness," his testimony was the centerpiece of the government's case, and nearly all other evidence against Maxwell was circumstantial.

Supreme Court precedent requires prosecutors to disclose any benefits that are given to a government informant, the appeals panel noted. The trial court wasn't informed about the considerations granted Storch for aiding in Maxwell's conviction.

"Evidence that Storch had already secured a plea agreement and came forward to testify at Maxwell's trial for the sole purpose of working a new and better deal would have directly impeached Storch's testimony for why he came forward," the court said.

Maxwell's attorney, Verna Wefald, got the news of his reprieve after landing from a cross-country flight Tuesday night and expressed both relief and the need to be patient.

"We still have a ways to go," the Pasadena lawyer said of the potential for the state to appeal the 9th Circuit ruling to a larger panel of appellate judges or to the U.S. Supreme Court. "But it's been a long time coming."

Wefald said she arrived in Los Angeles too late to call Maxwell at the California State Prison at Lancaster and wasn't sure if he knew about the ruling that could eventually set him free.

The office of Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown had no comment on the ruling, spokesman Jim Finefrock said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-skid-row-stabber-20101201,0,3698889,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. announces new Iran sanctions

The U.S. move against Iran's shipping lines comes as Tehran and the West set a date for talks on the nation's nuclear program. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran will not budge on its rights.

by Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times

November 30, 2010

Reporting from Beirut

On the same day that Iran and the West agreed to meet next week for talks on Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. announced a set of fresh sanctions on the Islamic Republic's shipping lines, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said defiantly that his nation would not budge "one iota" on giving up what he described as its rights.

It was perhaps an inauspicious launch to the first set of talks between Iran and world powers over its controversial nuclear program in 14 months.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili agreed Tuesday to hold talks in Geneva on Dec. 6-7 in an attempt to jump-start stalled negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, an announcement said. But within hours, Ahmadinejad, repeating a common mantra, said in a speech broadcast on TV that Iran "would not allow anybody to take one iota" of his nation's rights.

Late Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department cited five Iranian corporate officials and 10 businesses as having ties to either Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines or Bank Mellat, which the U.S. had previously blacklisted, alleging they support Iran's nuclear and military programs.

The companies included a Malaysian-based firm and what the U.S. described as eight front companies for Iran's state-owned shipping firm. The U.S. also named and described a group of Iranian officials with ties to the entities. United Nations, U.S. and European regulations bar dealings with any company linked to Iran's nuclear or weapons program.

"As long as Iran uses front companies, cut-outs and other forms of deception to hide its illicit activities, we intend to expose this conduct and thereby counteract Iran's attempts to evade U.S. and international sanctions," U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey said in a news release.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-nuclear-20101201,0,1083270,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Bomb factory' house in Escondido area to be burned down

The house just outside Escondido where massive amounts of explosive materials were found has been declared a public hazard and will be burned down, San Diego County officials told area residents Tuesday night.

A nearby stretch of Interstate 15 will be closed during the process, and some nearby residents will be evacauted, officials said.

The house, dubbed the "bomb factory" house by officials, was found to contain amounts of materials of the kind used by terroristbomb makers worldwide, as well as blasting caps, homemade grenades, and small-arms weapons.

The resident of the house, George Jakubec, a 54-year-old Serbian emigre, has been charged with 26 counts of possession of bombmaking materials and two counts of bank robbery. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail in lieu of $5 million bail.

The county has invoked its legal authority to declare a public emergency and to seize the house as a threat to public safety, a county lawyer explained to a town hall meeting of residents called by officials.

Bomb experts last week declared the one-story stucco house on Via Scott to be too dangerous to re-enter. On two occasions, they had entered the cluttered house and gathered evidence.

Sheriff Bill Gore said at the meeting that burning the house is the only safe way to rid the neighborhood of the explosive materials.

The materials include pentaerythritol tentanitrate (PETN), which is used by Al Qaeda terrorists and is the material that federal officials hope to discover through the new full-body screening and patdown procedures being used on airline passengers.

None of the charges against Jakubec involve the sale or use of explosives, and no motive for his alleged actions has been announced. His estranged wife suggested that he is mentally unstable.

The fire could be set between Dec. 8 and Dec. 10 but could be delayed depending on weather conditions, officials said. Safety barriers will be erected, some residents may be asked to leave and others to remain in their homes during the fire.

Jakubec was renting the home along the leafy, dead-end street. The owner of the home, who did not attend the town hall meeting, is discussing compensation with his insurance company, officials said.

Police must have reasonable grounds for using Tasers, 9th Circuit rules

The court found that a Coronado police officer used excessive force when he used a stun gun on an unarmed motorist in 2005. The ruling could have implications for use-of-force policies across the West.

by Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times

December 1, 2010

A Coronado, Calif., police officer used excessive force when he shot a Taser dart at a young driver who was stopped for a seat belt violation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Carl Bryan, then 21, fell to the asphalt after being struck by the dart, breaking four teeth and suffering facial cuts. He later sued the Coronado Police Department and Officer Brian MacPherson.

The excessive-force ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could have consequences for police use-of-force policies across the West, legal experts predicted. Two other lawsuits over Taser incidents are still pending before the appeals court, including a case in which a pregnant woman in Seattle was subjected to the device in a routine traffic stop.

Police must have reasonable grounds for using a Taser on a suspect, the appeals panel said, noting that Bryan was wearing only boxer shorts and tennis shoes and was clearly unarmed. Bryan was standing about 20 feet away with his back to MacPherson when he was hit.

"I think police departments will have to tailor their use-of-force policies to the Bryan decision from now on," said Steven E. Boehmer, the El Cajon, Calif., attorney who represented MacPherson.

The appeals panel, while deeming the Taser use excessive and unjustified, said the officer nonetheless deserved immunity from prosecution because the circumstances in which the weapon could be reasonably deployed weren't clearly defined at the time.

Because of the immunity grant, Coronado, in San Diego County, won't appeal the excessive-force ruling, Boehmer said, and would work with police to establish guidelines for use of the weapon.

Bryan, who now lives in Europe, where he assists his tennis-champion cousins Bob and Mike Bryan, still has state court actions in which he hopes to recover damages, said his attorney, Julia Yoo.

Bryan had been stopped at a seat belt enforcement roadblock at the Coronado Bridge after spending hours on the morning of July 24, 2005, driving between Camarillo and Los Angeles to fetch his keys that had been accidentally taken by a cousin's girlfriend. On the drive home from Camarillo to Coronado, Bryan had been cited for speeding and was agitated when he was stopped a second time by MacPherson, according to court records.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-court-tasers-20101201,0,5624786,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supreme Court appears unswayed by California's prison arguments

Justices sound ready to force the state to release more than 40,000 inmates to ease overcrowding.

by David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau

December 1, 2010

Reporting from Washington

California's bid to block a court order requiring the release or transfer of more than 40,000 inmates seemed in jeopardy Tuesday, with the U.S. Supreme Court sounding ready to force the state to significantly reduce its prison population.

During heated oral arguments, a slim majority of the justices sided with advocates who said the state had not provided humane care for sick and mentally ill prisoners. Despite decades of lawsuits and promises from the governor, the justices said, the state has not reduced the severe crowding related to the problem.

Some justices, however, said they feared a mass release would lead to a surge in crime.

"If I were a citizen of California, I would be concerned about the release of 40,000 prisoners," said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., noting that the forced release of prisoners elsewhere has led to an increase in rapes, robberies and assaults.

"I guarantee you that there is going to be more crime and people are going to die on the streets of California," said Carter G. Phillips, the attorney for the state.

Since 1990, California has faced lawsuits contending that its prisons are not providing adequate care for sick or suicidal inmates and that severe crowding is the main cause of the problem. Two years ago, a three-judge panel ruled that reducing the prison population was the only solution.

At issue before the high court is whether to uphold or reverse that ruling.

Phillips argued that the state should be given more time to reduce crowding through early release, transfer to other facilities and construction of prisons. California has about 148,000 inmates, he said, down from 165,000 two years ago.

"In the course of the last three or four years … there has been significant movement in the right direction," he said.

But when Phillips said it was "extraordinarily premature" for three judges in California to order the state to sharply reduce its number of prisoners, he ran into a buzz saw of pointed questions.

"How much longer do we have to wait? Another 20 years?" Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked.

"I don't see how you wait for an option that doesn't exist," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, saying state officials had repeatedly promised to make changes but not followed through.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer said the state had admitted it violated the Constitution by not providing decent care for its inmates. Photos from California's prisons "are pretty horrendous," he said.

When the state's attorney argued that the prisons weren't as bad as the critics said, Justice Elena Kagan said the judges who had heard the evidence disagreed. "You are asking us to re-find the facts," she said. "These judges have been involved in these cases since the beginning."

As usual, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is likely to hold the deciding vote on the closely divided court.

As a Californian who hails from Sacramento, he has a special interest in the case. And he too said he thought the members of the special three-judge panel were right to order a remedy to the prison crowding.

"At some point, the court [in California] has to say, 'You have been given enough time.... The constitutional violation still exists. It's now time for a remedy,'" Kennedy said. "That's what it did, and that seems to me … a perfectly reasonable decision."

If the panel's order takes effect, the state will have to reduce the prison population to 137% of capacity within two years.

Five of the high court justices, including Kennedy, seemed to agree that the panel was right to order a change. But Kennedy also said he wasn't entirely convinced its remedy was exactly right.

He suggested several times that the judges may have gone too far in setting the specific target of 137% of capacity. Kagan also wondered whether the state should be given more time — perhaps five years rather than two — to meet the goal.

The court's more conservative justices said they shared Alito's fear that releasing prisoners would lead to an increase in crime. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the release order could be overturned on those grounds

Donald Specter, a lawyer representing the inmates, tried to reassure the court that the state could safely release "low risk" inmates without endangering public safety.

Alito wasn't convinced. "If this order goes into effect, we will see.... The people of California will see," he said.

It's likely to be several months before the court hands down a decision in the case, Schwarzenegger vs. Plata.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-prisons-20101201,0,3029759,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Multiple murder suspect had benefited from three-strikes leniency

After several nonviolent third strikes, John Wesley Ewell didn't get life in prison as he could have. Now, he's accused of killing four people in the South Bay.

by Richard Winton and Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times

December 1, 2010

To hear him tell his story, John Wesley Ewell was the victim of an overly harsh criminal justice system.

The South Los Angeles hairstylist complained to journalists over the last decade about the unfairness of the state's tough three-strikes law, saying he lived in fear that even a small offense would land him back in prison for life.

He even appeared on the "The Montel Williams Show" to argue the case against three strikes. A caption that flashed on the screen when Ewell spoke read: "Afraid to leave his house because he has 2 'Strikes.'"

But Ewell is now charged with murdering four people in a series of home invasion robberies that terrorized the South Bay this fall. On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty during a brief appearance at the Airport Courthouse.

Far from embodying the severity of the justice system, Ewell benefited from its lenience over the last 16 years, according to a Times review of court records and interviews.

Ewell has a lengthy criminal history that includes two robbery convictions from the 1980s. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office decided on four occasions against seeking to use the full weight of the three-strikes law when he was charged with new crimes.

And this year, after Ewell was arrested three times for allegedly stealing from Home Depot stores, a judge agreed to delay sending Ewell to prison so he could take care of some medical problems.

It was during that delay, authorities say, that Ewell robbed three homes and killed the victims.

"He should have been in prison a long time ago," said Leamon "Kelly" Turnage, whose parents were among the victims. "It is a shock to me that no one is willing to take responsibility for letting this killer go."

Ewell's case is likely to fuel more debate about the practice of many California prosecutors to seek less than the maximum sentence for some three-strikers.

Under the law, offenders with two previous convictions for serious or violent crimes can be sentenced to prison for 25 years to life if they are convicted of another felony, no matter how minor. But most prosecutors use discretion in deciding when to seek life terms. Since 2000, the L.A. County district attorney's office has generally prohibited prosecutors from seeking possible life sentences when a defendant's third strike is not serious or violent.

Prosecutors repeatedly exercised this discretion in Ewell's favor.

Critics argue that the district attorney's policy fails to adequately protect society. The law, they say, deliberately counted minor crimes as third strikes to put away repeat offenders before they hurt other victims.

Prosecutors say it is unfair to suggest that they — or anyone else — could have predicted that Ewell would turn to such violence. At 53, he appeared to be little more than a petty thief and hardly fit the profile of a killer.

"I really don't think anybody could pretend to anticipate that … this guy would suddenly go from stealing things from Home Depot to murdering old people," said Los Angeles County Head Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lynch.

The district attorney's policy has won widespread support as a just way of dealing with minor offenders who might have serious criminal pasts. Although a handful of criminals have benefited from the policy only to later commit violent crimes, the vast majority of offenders prosecuted under the policy have not gone on to kill or carry out other serious crimes.

Detectives describe Ewell as a man who led a double life. Residents of his Harbor Gateway community of Los Angeles knew him as a friendly handyman willing to help others. But investigators said he was a career criminal whose offenses stretched over more than 30 years.

In 1985, Ewell was convicted of helping to rob a jogger after she had checked her bank balance at an ATM. Nearly four years later, Ewell, who had a cocaine habit in the 1980s, was one of several people found guilty of robbing a motorist parked in an alley, court records show.

"Don't move if you don't want to be hurt," he allegedly told the victim before binding the man's hands and taking his wallet, watch and truck.

In 1994, California adopted the three-strikes law. Ewell's two robbery convictions each counted as a strike under the new law. Later that year, Ewell deposited a stolen check for $28,000 into his bank account. He was charged with check forgery, a potential third strike.

The L.A. County district attorney's office could have sought a 25-years-to-life prison sentence for Ewell. But in return for his pleading guilty, prosecutors instead agreed to a reduced sentence of seven years in prison.

While Ewell was incarcerated, his wife, Carmen, joined Families to Amend California's Three Strikes, a group that seeks to reform the law. Later, she became the organization's state treasurer.

The group has focused attention on scores of prisoners who are serving potential life sentences under the law for minor drug possession or petty thefts. It has sought several changes to the law, including a requirement that an offense be violent or serious to count as a third strike.

In 1999, Carmen Ewell complained to The Times about the law. Without it, her husband would have served substantially less time behind bars for his nonviolent forgery conviction.

"I think it's an injustice," she said.

When Ewell was released from prison in 2002, he also became an active member of the organization.

In 2004, he attended a news conference in support of a ballot measure that would have amended the law. Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Fix Three Strikes," he said he lived in fear that he might commit a small crime and end up permanently incarcerated.

Two years later, he was one of several guests to appear on a 2006 episode of "The Montel Williams Show" that highlighted opponents' criticisms of three strikes. On the show, Ewell was identified as "John." But sheriff's detectives and a neighbor confirmed that the guest was Ewell.

In his brief appearance, Ewell spoke mostly about his forgery conviction, saying he had deposited a bad check his cousin had given him. Court records show he told a different story at the time of the offense, telling a probation officer that a woman outside the bank had asked him to deposit the check for her in return for a cut of the money.

Having dodged a third-strike conviction in the mid-1990s, Ewell spent years out of trouble. But earlier this year, he was charged with second-degree commercial burglary and petty theft. He was accused of switching an electronic price tag from a cheap pry bar with one from an expensive Dyson vacuum cleaner at a Huntington Park Home Depot before taking the vacuum cleaner through the self-checkout line with the wrong tag.

Prosecutors filed felony charges but did not seek a possible life sentence under the three-strikes law, the second time the office had used its discretion not to count a new charge against Ewell as a third strike. He was allowed to remain free on $20,000 bail.

The decision conformed with the office's policy of not seeking life terms for people accused of minor crimes.

Months later, Ewell was accused of stealing from another Home Depot, and charged again. Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric J. Perrodin agreed to let Ewell remain free on bail, according to a transcript of a July 26 court hearing.

"You are getting a break," Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz told Ewell. "Because I would remand you on the spot if Mr. Perrodin said, 'Put him in.'"

On Sept. 14, Ewell pleaded no contest in the first of his theft cases in return for a 32-month prison sentence.

Superior Court Judge Lori Ann Fournier agreed to postpone sentencing, citing medical issues that Ewell needed to take care of. Sheriff's officials said he underwent eye surgery.

Ten days after the court hearing, authorities say, the killings began.

On the same day Ewell entered his plea in a Norwalk court, he was charged in Los Angeles with a third case of shoplifting from a Home Depot. The prosecution marked the fourth time in 16 years that the district attorney's office filed felony charges against Ewell but did not pursue the case as a third strike.

At an Oct. 4 court hearing, Perrodin, the prosecutor, again did not object to Ewell remaining free on bail, according to a hearing transcript.

The prosecutor, who also serves as mayor of Compton, did not return calls seeking comment. A court spokeswoman said judges are ethically prohibited from commenting on pending cases.

By then, Hanna Morcos had been killed in his Hawthorne home. The body of the 80-year-old victim, who had been tied up, was found Sept. 24 by his wife, who had been asleep in the house at the time of the assault. He had succumbed to a heart attack.

The killings continued.

On Oct. 13, two doors down from Ewell's Hoover Street home in the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles, Denice Roberts, 53, was on the phone when a visitor came to her door. The person on the phone with Roberts heard her call the visitor "brother John" before hanging up, detectives said. Roberts' body was discovered by her husband when he returned home that afternoon.

On Oct. 22, Leamon Turnage, 69, and his wife, Robyn, 57, were found strangled in their Hawthorne home.

Ewell was arrested a day later after he allegedly tried to use the Turnages' ATM card to buy gasoline from a local Shell station. Detectives say he had pawned items that had been stolen from all the victims' homes.

In the back of his car detectives found a Bible and a newspaper from earlier this year with a story about the arrest of the alleged Grim Sleeper serial killer, whom authorities accuse of murdering 10 women in South L.A. since the 1980s.

"This is so awful," said Diana Seif, granddaughter of one of the recent home invasion robbery victims. "I don't understand why they were so lenient to him over and over again."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-12-1-home-invasions-20101201,0,5112943.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDITORIAL

Him, unlicensed; me, unlucky

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has said he opposes allowing illegal immigrants to obtain licenses. But part of his job is to make the roads safer.

December 1, 2010

I pulled my car over and stepped out into the night. The trunk and bumper were crushed and torn, but the car was drivable and there were no injuries. The driver who rear-ended me was a pleasant young man whose pickup had suffered less damage. I asked for his license and insurance documents. He offered a card showing that the truck was owned and insured by his brother. Thanks, but can I also see your license? I don't have a license, he replied. Instead, he handed me his matricula consular, identification issued by the Mexican consulate.

A CHP officer arrived and took a report. Jorge, an illegal immigrant, had several previous citations for driving without a license, the officer told me. He would impound the truck and take Jorge to the station, since he couldn't be left on this rural road in Laguna Canyon. The insurance looked valid, the officer said, but it was a fly-by-night company; there might be trouble collecting from it.

It's a common Southern California story — collisions with drivers who have no license because their illegal immigration status prohibits them from receiving one. This wasn't the case until 1994. Before then, the state had its own "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Applicants for a license had to be insured, but they weren't required to offer proof of legal residency.

The new get-tough-on-immigrants law didn't result in people returning to their native countries. Rather, it led to a boom in the number of unlicensed drivers. For the past several years, legislation has been offered to allow licenses for illegal immigrants, and each year, the legislation has been vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — even when it called for licenses to be clearly labeled with the driver's immigration status.

I'm not exactly sorry that Jorge got into so much trouble. He deserves to face the consequences of his actions, which included breaking the law every time he drove. Yet the truck was insured. He pulled over and explained the situation honestly instead of driving off. He was trying to do the right thing, except for the right thing he couldn't do — get a license. That would require learning how to drive properly and passing a test. His history also makes it harder for his brother to buy insurance from a more reputable company. How is this protecting everyone else on the road?

Jerry Brown, our newly elected governor, has said he opposes allowing illegal immigrants to obtain licenses because it is part of a "piecemeal" approach to federal immigration reform. Piecemeal or no, it's the state's job — his new job — to make the roads safer. That would happen if all drivers were properly trained and licensed.

-- Karin Klein

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-license-20101201,0,6398584,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OPINION

A time for clemency

Kevin Cooper was sentenced to death. But there are enough flaws in his case that the governor should step in to save him.

by Alan M. Dershowitz and David B. Rivkin Jr.

December 1, 2010

"The state of California may be about to execute an innocent man." That is the warning of Judge William Fletcher of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 101-page dissent from the court's decision to uphold the murder conviction of Kevin Cooper. Although the courts lack the power to grant clemency, the governor has the responsibility to do so when justice requires it. Now Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is duty-bound to use that power to save a possibly innocent man from death.

Support or oppose the death penalty — each of us differs on the issue — Cooper's case is chilling. In 1985, he was convicted of murdering Doug and Peggy Ryen, their daughter, Jessica, and their houseguest, Christopher Hughes, in Chino Hills. Eight-year-old Joshua Ryen, found badly wounded, survived. The police arrested Cooper, who had escaped from a minimum-security prison two days earlier and was hiding in an empty house next door to the Ryens'.

Cooper's behavior was suspicious, and he's no angel, but too many of the facts allegedly linking Cooper to the murders just don't add up. First, Joshua Ryen told police that the murderers were three white men — Cooper is black — and repeatedly stated that Cooper was not among the killers. The night of the murders, a white man was spotted driving what was probably the Ryens' station wagon, which had been stolen. And the injuries to the victims suggested multiple weapons, not just one.

Several key pieces of evidence pointing to other killers were blatantly mishandled by law enforcement authorities. For example, shortly after she learned of the murders, a local woman named Diana Roper suspected that her white boyfriend was involved. She informed the Sheriff's Department that her boyfriend had left blood-spattered coveralls at her home the night of the murders, and she gave them to the department. Regrettably, the prosecution declined to test the clothing, and a sheriff's deputy tossed them in a dumpster before the defense knew they even existed. That deputy later testified that he acted of his own accord in destroying the coveralls, but a police report discovered after Cooper's trial showed that a superior had approved the destruction in advance.

Roper also told police that she had purchased for her boyfriend a tan Fruit of the Loom T-shirt, and such a shirt was recovered near the Ryen house. It wasn't introduced at the original trial; years later, during the appeals process, forensic testing indicated that Cooper's blood might have been planted on it. It was also years later that Cooper's counsel found out that a sheriff's deputy had discovered a blood-spattered blue shirt near the Ryen home the day after the murders. Like the coveralls, it went missing and was never tested.

Fletcher and four other 9th Circuit judges who also wrote opinions favorable to Cooper's appeal concluded that the original prosecutor's chief forensic witness, Daniel Gregonis, falsified evidence. The blood allegedly proving that Cooper's DNA was found at the crime scene came from a non-secure vial containing more than one person's DNA. (In a recent case, a state court judge granted relief to another falsely convicted man after determining that Gregonis manufactured evidence against him.)

The record of contorted and abused facts in the case notwithstanding, Cooper was convicted in state court and his conviction affirmed.

Still, even those who believe that Cooper must have been involved should support clemency. Clemency doesn't require a pardon. Schwarzenegger has the discretion to take lesser steps, taking into account the myriad errors, inconsistencies and injustices in Cooper's prosecution and conviction. The governor could reduce Cooper's sentence to life without parole, which, under California law — except in the extremely rare case where new evidence exonerates a prisoner — really lasts a lifetime.

There is another reason that even death penalty supporters should be in favor of clemency for Cooper. As Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote in a 1993 death penalty case, "Executive clemency has provided the 'fail-safe' in our criminal justice system." A credible chance for clemency, particularly when there are serious problems with the investigation and prosecution of the underlying offense, is essential to maintain public confidence and support for a system of justice that includes the death penalty. It's a safety valve, precluding further polarization in our political and judicial battles about the death penalty.

As Justice Felix Frankfurter explained in a long-ago death penalty case, "Perfection may not be demanded of law, but the capacity to counteract inevitable, though rare, frailties is the mark of a civilized legal mechanism."

Ultimately, that capacity lies with the executive branch, not the judiciary, which has the duty only of deciding whether a man was convicted pursuant to the law. Kevin Cooper probably was not convicted in a lawful manner, but today the courts can do no more than alert the executive that a grave injustice may have been done. In that respect, Fletcher's dissent could not possibly be clearer.

Schwarzenegger now bears the responsibility to see that justice is not irreparably perverted by putting Cooper to death. We ask the governor to commute Cooper's sentence to lifetime imprisonment without a chance for parole. All citizens, no matter where they stand on the death penalty, should demand no less.

Alan M. Dershowitz is a professor of law at Harvard University. David B. Rivkin Jr. is a partner in the Washington office of Baker Hostetler and served in the Justice Department and the White House counsel's office under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rivkin-deathpenalty-20101201,2,6766358,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the New York Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abuses Found at Mexican Institutions for Disabled

MEXICO CITY — Ten years ago, a human rights group released a scathing, groundbreaking report on abusive, decrepit conditions in Mexican institutions for the mentally and physically disabled, moving the country to promise change and to take the lead in writing international agreements to protect the disabled.

But in a new report released Tuesday, the group, Disability Rights International, working with a Mexican human rights organization, said a yearlong investigation revealed “atrocious and abusive conditions” that included lobotomies performed without consent, children missing from orphanages, widespread filth and squalor, and a lack of medical care.

At one institution here in the capital, which a reporter visited with investigators from the groups, men walked around half-naked, feces littered a yard, bedsheets were missing, the smell of urine permeated a day room, bathroom faucets malfunctioned and patients lay sprawled on several patches of grass.

At another institution here, CAIS Villa Mujeres, elderly women sat tied to wheelchairs, staff members hustled to clean soiled floors as investigators moved through, and patients and their caretakers could not fully explain how or why they were institutionalized.

A trembling blind woman said she had been raped by a staff member — who officials said was dismissed during a criminal investigation — and would feel safer on the streets. “I don't have any hope,” she said. “I don't have a nickel to get out of this place.”

Eric Rosenthal, director of Disability Rights International, based in Washington, said: “I have witnessed abuses as atrocious as these in the psychiatric facilities and orphanages of some other countries. But only in Mexico have I encountered a system so lacking in protections that children literally disappear and adults remain nameless.”

The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, which helped compile the report, said the “human rights violations being perpetrated against children with disabilities in Mexico are every bit as serious as any this organization has documented over the last 20 years.”

Mr. Rosenthal said the conditions were particularly galling because Mexico, in response to the earlier report, had championed human rights for the disabled and helped write international standards.

Along with 94 other nations, Mexico ratified the 2006 agreement it is now accused of violating, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Mexico's first report on its progress toward abiding by the agreement is due this year.

Dr. Carlos Campillo Serrano, the director of psychiatric care for Mexico's Health Ministry, said he hoped that the report would help generate momentum to improve conditions. “We are attentive to its recommendations,” he said.

The budget for mental health has increased to about 2.2 percent of all health spending, from 1.5 percent in 2006, he said, “but the big problem is how we spend the money.”

Among the problems is the lack of trained personnel. Dr. Campillo, who worked with Disability Rights International to give the group access to the hospitals, agreed with the report's conclusion that there was no community support that would allow many families to care for disabled relatives at home.

As a start, Dr. Campillo said that the government had included mental health coverage in its basic public health care coverage and that the government was studying new legislation to govern treatment. But the problems in Mexico are deep-rooted and difficult to resolve, he said.

Like the earlier report, this one found many of those in the institutions did not need to be there, but as “abandonados” lacked family members or community-based programs to care for them.

The investigators visited 20 psychiatric wards, orphanages, shelters and other public institutions around the country, housing thousands of people, from August 2009 to September 2010, interviewing patients and administrators and reviewing records when possible.

At three psychiatric hospitals, investigators found that staff members relied on extensive use of psychotropic drugs in place of other forms of treatment for aggression and other behavioral problems.

Two hospitals, Fraternidad sin Fronteras and Hospital La Salud Tlazo Lteotl, reported sending particularly aggressive patients for lobotomies, the surgical separation of the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain. The procedure fell into disrepute internationally in the 1950s because it frequently caused irreversible brain damage. But it remains legal in Mexico.

A man at La Salud who had undergone a lobotomy sat slumped in a wheelchair, his speech slow and slurred, the report said.

“The director said that the man had been aggressive in the past, but since the surgery, he was entirely passive,” it said.

At orphanages, the team found that children were unaccounted for and interviewed residents who had said they had grown up in the facilities, though officials had no record of the names they came in with or arrival date.

Human rights officials and unnamed government officials told them there was no registry or tracking system for children placed in public or private institutions, leaving them prey to human traffickers.

“Due to a failure to provide oversight, children have literally disappeared from institutions,” the report said. “Some of these children may have been subject to sex trafficking and forced labor.”

Mr. Rosenthal said he was stunned to find some of the same people this year as he found 10 years ago in similar conditions.

In one case, an article in The New York Times Magazine in 2000 on his work included a picture of a woman whose entire upper body was tied in restraints. This year, he found the same woman in the same facility lashed to a wheelchair.

Administrators complained of a lack of funds to provide basic treatment and materials like soap and clothing.

“Donors help us,” said an administrator at the Villa Mujeres shelter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the conditions. “But we are the last link. There is no political impact for not helping the abandonados.”

Another administrator, at the sprawling Samuel Ramírez Moreno hospital in Mexico City, said the budget had been cut 40 percent this year, causing “a delay in response to problems and urgent care.” Some patients are given low-cost, outdated versions of medicine that cause excessive tremors and other side effects.

The report recommends a host of changes, including a shift toward more community-based services; establishing a foster care system for children with disabilities, and more independent oversight of the system.

José Ángel Valencia, an advocate for the mentally ill in Mexico who worked on the report, said the country was slow to adopt changes in part because of a stigma and misunderstanding of people with disabilities.

“People have prejudices and think you are dangerous or do not know how to deal with you,” said Mr. Valencia, who has been treated for bipolar disorder. “But slowly Mexico is recognizing us, and it is changing here.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/world/americas/01mexico.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Attacks on Immigrants on the Rise in Greece

ATHENS — A wave of violent attacks against immigrants by suspected right-wing extremists has put Muslims and the police on alert in rundown parts of Athens with burgeoning migrant populations.

Immigrants have been beaten and stabbed near central squares, and several makeshift mosques have been burned and vandalized. In the most grievous attack, at the end of October, the assailants locked the door of a basement prayer site and hurled firebombs through the windows, seriously wounding four worshipers.

“The attacks are constant — I've never seen anything like this,” said Naim Elghandour, who moved to Athens from Egypt in the 1970s and now heads the Muslim Association of Greece . “I used to be treated like an equal. Now I'm getting death threats.”

Tensions in neglected, crime-ridden parts of Athens with growing immigrant communities have been mounting over the past two years. Highlighting expanding public discontent, the extreme right-wing group Chrysi Avgi, or “Golden Dawn,” won its first ever seat on the Athens City Council in local elections three weeks ago. The group mustered strong support in working-class neighborhoods in the capital and elsewhere in Greece by describing migrants as a drain on the economy, which is reeling from a debt crisis, and calling for immediate deportations.

The Greek news media linked the group to the violence after a spray-painted cross merged with a circle — a symbol used by extreme rightists worldwide — was found on the wall of a firebombed prayer site. But the police have not confirmed a connection, saying no arrests have been made. The group did not respond to requests for comment.

Thanassis Kokkalakis, a police spokesman, said the problem was complex. He said that while “extremist elements” were believed to be behind certain attacks, there was also violence between migrants of different ethnic origins, muggings of Greeks by poverty-stricken foreigners and clashes between extreme rightists and left-wing protesters.

“All this chaos stems from a constantly growing population of immigrants in these areas,” said Mr. Kokkalakis, noting that about 150 migrants arrived in Athens daily despite the mobilization of European Union guards in early November at Greece's land border with Turkey. “The upheaval has fueled aggravation among residents, which is being exploited by extremist groups.”

The residents of the problem areas are divided: Some want dialogue and better policing, while others are taking matters into their own hands. Elderly and middle-aged residents often sit in local squares during the daytime, shouting abusive statements at migrants when they go by. Small gangs of teenagers stalk the neighborhoods by night, but it remains unclear if they are locals or visiting extremists.

The police have stepped up patrols following reports of attacks by vigilantes who, locals say, are as young as 14. “I saw three kids bashing an Afghan man with wooden poles until blood ran down his face,” said Muhammad, the Syrian manager of a convenience store in Aghios Panteleimonas, once a lively neighborhood, now a no-go zone. Like other migrants living in the area, he would not give his surname for fear of reprisals.

The exact number of attacks remains unclear. “The victims are usually too scared to go to police,” said Thanassis Kourkoulas, a spokesman for Deport Racism, a group that offers targeted migrants advice and support.

Others say this reflects a general trend in Europe. “Hate crimes against Muslims are underreported and underrecorded,” said Taskin Soykan, who advises the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on combating racial intolerance.

The attacks in Greece mirror similar incidents in other European countries, including Switzerland, where a referendum last November led to a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques, and in France and Italy, where the authorities have deported Roma residents and immigrants.

“The difference in Italy is that most of the attacks were in the provinces, while in Greece they are in the heart of the capital, which is potentially far more explosive,” Liz Fekete of the Institute of Race Relations in London said. “The common factor is the formation of vigilante groups, egged on by the far right.”

Angry protesters, including some thought to be right-wing extremists, had to be restrained by the police last month when thousands of Muslims congregated in several Athens squares for a religious festival. At one site, officers fired tear gas to disperse a small group of demonstrators, who continued their protest from the balconies of apartment complexes, pelting worshipers with eggs and playing loud music to disturb the prayers.

The day after the protests, government officials said a stalled project to build an official mosque was back on track. Athens is the only capital of the original 15 E.U. member states to lack a state-approved mosque.

Although the country's influential Orthodox Church has given its support to the project, opinion polls show that half of Athens's five million residents oppose the creation of a mosque to serve the capital's Muslim community, which numbers about 500,000.

“A large mosque with minarets in the city center will be a provocation,” said Dimitrios Pipikios, the head of a residents' group in Aghios Panteleimonas, where Chrysi Avgi drew 20 percent of the vote in recent elections.

Mr. Pipikios said the only way to ease tensions was to deport immigrants. “There is no room for us all,” he said, adding that extreme rightists were patrolling the area “because the police are not doing their job.”

Other residents said they felt intimidated. “The situation is totally out of control,” said Maria Kanellopoulou, who wants not deportations but the better social integration of immigrants.

The local authorities are determined to tackle the problem, said a spokesman for Giorgos Kaminis, the newly elected mayor of Athens.

“Chasing immigrants away from city squares is an established technique of extreme rightists, and we are seeking advice on how to deal with it,” said the spokesman, Takis Kampilis, who has approached the municipal authorities in Germany, who have averted similar campaigns by neo-Nazis. The new mayor is also planning to improve health care and housing for migrants and organize street markets where they can legitimately sell wares rather than touting illegally on street corners.

Ms. Fekete said increasing integration would help, but to stamp out extreme violence, local and central governments must condemn it in strong terms. “If the authorities do not speak out, public tolerance of the violence will grow,” she said. “This is a wake-up call.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/world/europe/01greece.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terror Cases Strain Ties With Some Who Can Help

PORTLAND, Ore. — The arrest in a plot to bomb a popular Christmas tree-lighting ceremony here has renewed focus on the crucial but often fragile relationship that many Muslim communities have with federal law enforcement agencies.

Many Muslim leaders nationwide say they are committed to working with the authorities to fight terrorist threats and applauded the work in Portland. But some say cases like the one in Oregon, in which undercover agents said they helped a teenager plan the attack, risk undermining the trust of Muslim communities that federal agents say is essential to doing their jobs.

The failed Portland plot is one of several recent cases, from California to Washington, D.C., in which undercover agents helped suspects pursue terrorist plans. Some Muslims say the government appears to be enabling and even sensationalizing threats that can lead to backlashes against Muslim communities.

On Sunday, a mosque in Corvallis, Ore., was firebombed. It had been attended by the Portland suspect, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a naturalized American citizen from Somalia.

“Unlike the so-called plot at Pioneer Square, that was a real terrorist attack, against a house of worship,” said a man who attends the Islamic Center of Portland and Masjed As-Saber, another mosque where Mr. Mohamud worshiped.

“What the F.B.I. did can be seen in Corvallis,” the man said, one of several people who spoke with a reporter but refused to give their names out of concern that they would bring negative attention to the mosque.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. defended the Oregon investigation and others this week as part of what he called a “forward-leaning way” that law enforcement is “trying to find people who are bound and determined to harm Americans and American interests around the world.”

Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said law enforcement was going too far.

“ ‘Forward-leaning' seems to be basically if someone has not crossed the bridge, we will push them forward, we will tip them over the edge,” he said. “And that is not how a government should be treating its citizens.”

“My worry would be that the F.B.I. is pushing to a point where it becomes difficult to trust the F.B.I.,” said Mr. Ayloush, who added that he was a graduate of an F.B.I. Citizens' Academy. “When people start doubting, then they might feel like, ‘Well, maybe it might make things worse if I call,' and we don't want this.”

Amid the tension, Muslim leaders say their communities are doing more than ever to help in investigations — a fact they say is overlooked by many Americans.

A November report by the Muslim Public Affairs Council said Muslim communities had helped law enforcement agencies foil almost 4 of every 10 Qaeda-related terrorism plots since the Sept. 11 attacks. The report is based on information the group draws from news media accounts, affidavits, academic studies and other sources.

“There is an enormous countertrend that has emerged within the last few years,” said Alejandro Beutel, the author of the report. “People are saying: ‘This is a serious issue, and we are dealing with this. We are not tolerating this.' ”

Even as federal law enforcement officials have been criticized, they say their investigations have been strengthened by their outreach efforts and good relations with Muslims, including here in Oregon.

Leaders of mosques, including those attended by Mr. Mohamud, regularly attend meetings with law enforcement officials. And Mr. Mohamud's father, Osman Barre, provided information before his son's arrest about his increasing radicalization, officials have said.

Dwight C. Holton, the United States attorney for Oregon, said he would travel to Washington next week to meet with Mr. Holder to discuss Oregon's participation in a new Justice Department program called Enhanced Muslim Community Outreach.

“The minute I heard about this program, I signed Oregon up,” Mr. Holton said, adding that the meeting was scheduled before Mr. Mohamud's arrest. “It's so important to do this outreach, and this program will allow us to do even more work, to do more face-to-face meetings with not just the community leaders but with members of the community.”

The events in Oregon have put many Muslims in unexpected and uncomfortable roles.

Shahriar Ahmed is a jovial 55-year-old engineer and a self-described member of a group of “nerdy folks” with postgraduate degrees living in suburban Portland. He is also the president of his local mosque, Bilal Masjid, with skills that he said leaned more toward fund-raising than faith-building.

“I'm not a theologian by trade,” said Mr. Ahmed, who knows only enough Arabic to get through his prayers. “I'm just good at begging for money.”

But with the arrest of Mr. Mohamud and then the fire in Corvallis, Mr. Ahmed has been fielding questions on topics ranging from Islam in general to how the aftermath could affect worshipers at his mosque. For him, the broader questions are not necessarily the most pressing.

“My 11-year-old son started crying in the back of the car,” Mr. Ahmed said, recalling a conversation about the fire. “I could not make him stop. He was saying: ‘Is our mosque going to get burned? Is our mosque going to get burned?' ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/us/01trust.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. Takes Over Airline Passenger Checks

WASHINGTON — Nearly a decade after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government has as of this week completed taking over the task of matching the names of airline passengers against the terror watch list.

Officials say the change, announced Tuesday by the Transportation Security Administration, should reduce false matches, while also making it somewhat harder for terrorists to carry out an attack.

Previously, airlines have been responsible for comparing passenger names with terror watch lists, to identify passengers who must submit to more detailed screening, or the smaller number actually on a “no fly” list who are forbidden to board a plane.

Now, under a program called Secure Flight, the federal government will start making the checks that had been done by 127 international air carriers. In June it took over the watch-list checks from about 60 airlines that provide domestic flights in the United States.

The T.S.A. administrator, John S. Pistole, said the change would allow the authorities to track airline reservations for flights headed to the United States or within its borders, typically soon after a ticket is purchased. Hypothetically, Mr. Pistole said, this would allow them to detect when several people whose names are on the watch list book tickets to fly on the same day or to the same city.

As a result, in addition to making sure these passengers get extra scrutiny, including a pat-down at the security checkpoint, security officials could make sure that an air marshal is assigned to the flight.

“It is another layer, an intelligence-based layer of security,” Mr. Pistole said. “We have to try to do the most we can before people get to the airport.”

Under Secure Flight, about 99 percent of passengers are cleared to print boarding passes at home or at a self-serve kiosk, without being subject automatically to secondary screening.

As first conceived, the federal takeover of the watch-list checks was going to include broader background checks like examining the credit records of passengers to try to develop profiles of possible terrorists, even if they were not on the official watch list. But civil liberties groups objected, resulting in the scaling down of the ambitions for the program and contributing to delays in starting it.

As part of Secure Flight, passengers must provide their date of birth, sex and full legal name — information that must match the identification they present at the airport. Officials hope this requirement will reduce the number of false matches, which lead to intense scrutiny of passengers with similar names.

Intelligence officials still must identify possible terrorists, and add them to watch lists, before they take flights, a task that the American authorities have not always proved capable of handling. Last December, for example, a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane, a flight he was allowed to board because he had not been added to a watch lists despite warnings that he might be a threat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/us/01tsa.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Google News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rosa Parks sparks Civil Rights Movement

by Andrew Glass

December 1, 2010

On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks, an African-American, was arrested and charged with violating a Montgomery, Ala., ordinance that required her to relinquish her bus seat to a white passenger. Her act of defiance sparked a yearlong bus boycott in the segregated city. It helped inspire a crusade that led Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, bars discrimination in public accommodations.

Parks's status as an iconic figure in the civil rights movement began when she was seated in the first row of the rear, which was set aside for blacks. Because the front of the bus was full, the driver demanded that she give up her seat to a white rider. Her failure to do so resulted in a $10 fine, plus an additional $4 in court costs. In 1956, the Supreme Court found the ordinance unconstitutional.

At the time, Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, served as secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She said that she took her action as a private citizen, however, because she was “tired of giving in.”

After her arrest, the Montgomery department store where she worked fired her. Eventually, Parks moved to Detroit, where she found a similar job. From 1965 to 1988, she was a receptionist for Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

On Sept. 9, 1996, President Bill Clinton presented Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the executive branch's highest honor. In 1997, she received a Congressional Gold Medal.

After Parks died on Oct. 24, 2005, her body lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where some 50,000 people viewed the casket. She remains the only nongovernmental American to receive this tribute.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45738.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warrants reveal N.C. girl found dead may have been raped

Report: Zahra Baker was dismembered

(Video on site)

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 1, 2010

(CNN) - Police are investigating reports that Zahra Baker, the 10-year-old disabled girl who was killed in North Carolina, may have been raped prior to her death, according to police search warrants that were unsealed Tuesday.

The girl's stepmother, Elisa Baker, reported Zahra missing on October 9. Police announced that they found the girl's remains on November 11. She had been dismembered.

Search warrants obtained by the Hickory, North Carolina, police released Tuesday, give the first glimpse into the grisly events that could have led to the death of the freckled-face girl, who lost part of her left leg at age 5 to cancer.

According to one of the search warrants, a tipster told police that Zahra had been at a North Carolina home with two men and one of the men said "he had done something very bad and needed to leave town."

One of the men was associated with Zahra's stepmother but was not Zahra's father, the tipster said.

The tipster also told police that Zahra had been raped by both men and that she had blood on her private area and legs, the search warrant said. The tipster told police that he got the information about the alleged rape from a friend who was told about it from his sister.

Police went to the home to see if they could confirm the fourth-hand information and found a mattress at the side of the house that "had a large dark stain in the middle," the search warrant said.

The tipster said the men did not admit to killing the girl but did say that they "might have hit her in the head," the search warrant said.

Police were also told by an attorney for Elisa Baker that the girl was dismembered.

In one search warrant, dated October 27, police say they were looking for "latex gloves used while the body of Zahra Baker was dismembered." They also were searching for "white trash bags used to store body parts," the warrant said.

In that warrant, police were seeking to search the Hickory home that Zahra lived in with her stepmother and father Adam Troy Baker.

No one has been charged in the girl's death.

Elisa Baker has been arrested on an obstruction charge after police said she admitted to writing a fake ransom note found at the family's home in Hickory.

Besides an obstruction of justice charge for the ransom note, she is accused of writing worthless checks. Police have said she has been cooperating with investigators, including going with them to a search site.

Adam Troy Baker was arrested in late October in nearby Catawba County on eight charges: five counts of writing bad checks and three counts of failing to appear in court. Authorities said the charges were unrelated to Zahra's disappearance, and he was later released on bail.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/01/north.carolina.dead.girl/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dad charged as hope fades for finding missing brothers

by Gina Damron and Eric D. Lawrence

Free Press Staff Writers

A hopeful search for three young brothers from Morenci has turned ominous.

Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said Tuesday morning that, based on information provided by their father, police "do not anticipate a positive outcome" in the search that has been under way since Friday.

Tuesday afternoon, the boys' father, John Skelton, 39, was arrested by FBI agents on three counts of parental kidnapping. He is being held at the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo under a suicide watch, pending an extradition hearing expected this week so he can be brought back to Lenawee County.

Fire officials and volunteers were expected to head out again this morning to continue looking for the three boys: Andrew Skelton, 9; Alexander Skelton, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5. Some residents are planning to decorate a park in Morenci with Christmas lights and dedicate it to the Skelton boys.

When asked Tuesday about the boys' mother, Tanya Skelton, 44, Weeks was frank:

"Imagine your worst nightmare come true. How would you respond?"

Missing boys: Dad's poem, friends, family provide glimpses into troubled relationship

John Skelton tells the readers of his MySpace page that there are a lot of good people who can't have children.

He advises pregnant women contemplating abortion to "choose adoption before abortion or abandonment. Give others their dream."

Skelton, who turned 39 last month, suggests visitors check out a video of White Lion's "When the Children Cry." And he posted a poem he wrote while on one of his trucker trips called "The Dumpster," about an abandoned child:

"I'm cold and alone in this metal room/With plastic bags and a worn out broom/Nobody hears my call for you/Come back mommy 'cause I need you ... It's my dying breath and I see a glow/It's an Angel from Heaven/And he's taking me home."

On Tuesday, Skelton was taken to the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo after his arrest on three counts of parental kidnapping in the disappearance last week of his three sons, Andrew, 9; Alexander, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5. An extradition hearing could happen as early as today to return him to Michigan for arraignment on the charges.

Searchers were to continue looking for the boys this morning. On Tuesday, volunteers and fire officials scoured areas of northwest Ohio as well as parts of Michigan, including a gravel pit near Morenci; the Hillcrest Country Club in Montpelier, Ohio; parks; the sides of busy roadways, and other areas.

A Florida town waits, too

Skelton, who last logged onto his MySpace account on Nov. 6, lists his orientation as straight, his religion as "Christian-other" and says he was a 1990 graduate of Duncan U. Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Fla. Nicknamed Bones, he likes Heath Ledger's "A Knight's Tale" and loves woodworking and motorcycles.

The page shows pictures of him and his wife, Tanya Skelton, 44, with whom he is now going through a bitter divorce, aboard a motorcycle.

Skelton grew up in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., a community of more than 20,000 where his family and friends still live, said Hillary Golden, 37, who grew up with Skelton.

Like Morenci, it's the kind of community where everyone is friends and everyone knows each other. "It's a very close-knit community," she told the Free Press. "If you got in trouble, your mom knew before you got home."

Golden said Skelton graduated from Fletcher High just one year ahead of her.

Skelton and his two oldest sons stayed with Golden when he brought them to Florida for a visit in September, she said.

Golden said Skelton and his sons stayed at her place for about a week because she was the only one of his friends and family members who had room.

Linda Ford, John Skelton's sister, told the Free Press on Tuesday that Tanya Skelton was so upset about the trip that she went to Florida. She and John Skelton drove back separately to Michigan, each with one son in their vehicles.

It was that visit without her permission that apparently led Tanya Skelton to file for divorce and begin child custody proceedings, Ford said and court records confirm.

Golden acknowledged that Skelton's wife was not happy that he brought the boys to Florida, but said that Skelton's family hadn't seen his sons since they were young.

"The boys had a great time when they were here," Golden said, adding that the boys were affectionate with their father.

She said she is very concerned about the boys' disappearance, but she is hopeful.

"Those boys are amazing little boys," Golden said. "I can't imagine anyone anywhere wanting to cause them any harm."

A tumultuous relationship

John and Tanya Skelton's relationship had become tumultuous in recent months.

On Monday, a Lenawee County Circuit Court judge granted a motion by Tanya Skelton for exclusive parenting time with the boys because John Skelton claims he turned the brothers over to a woman named Joann Taylor so they would not see his attempted suicide, according to court records.

When Tanya Skelton filed for divorce, she cited her husband's decision to leave for Florida with two of their sons without permission. John Skelton, meanwhile, raised the issue that his wife is a registered sex offender. Court documents say she had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy in the summer of 1998. She served time on a reduced charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The judge in the divorce case ruled then that the couple share custody of the children.

Records show both Tanya and John Skelton have children from prior marriages and were both divorced when they met. Tanya has two daughters in their 20s. From his previous marriage to Michelle McNeese, now of Texas, John has a 17-year-old daughter and was paying child support.

In January, court records show John Skelton was ordered to pay more than $3,400 in past-due child support. A document in February said he was to pay $314 a month, but listed his financial situation as "unemployed & 3 more biological children in the household."

Tanya and John Skelton have had money trouble in the past, and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in January 2003. That case was closed in November of that year.

On Nov. 4 of this year, the Skelton home in Morenci was listed as a foreclosure, according to Lenawee County online property records.

Friends and family have said John Skelton has worked as a long-haul truck driver, was once in the military and had lived in Alaska. Air Force records officials could not be reached Tuesday to confirm Skelton's service.

http://www.freep.com/article/20101201/NEWS06/12010429/1318/Dad-charged-as-hope-fades-for-finding-three-brothers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Investigation Underway At Idaho 'Gladiator School' Prison After Snitching Inmate Is Beaten Into A Coma As Guards Do Nothing

(Videos on site)

BOISE, IDAHO — The surveillance video from the overhead cameras shows Hanni Elabed being beaten by a fellow inmate in an Idaho prison, managing to bang on a prison guard station window, pleading for help. Behind the glass, correctional officers look on, but no one intervenes when Elabed was knocked unconscious.

No one steps into the cellblock when the attacker sits down to rest, and no one stops him when he resumes the beating.

Footage raises ire of critics

Videos of the attack obtained by The Associated Press show officers watching the beating for several minutes. The footage is a key piece of evidence for critics who claim the privately run Idaho Correctional Center uses inmate-on-inmate violence to force prisoners to snitch on their cellmates or risk being moved to extremely violent units.

Lawsuits from inmates contend the company that runs the prison, the Corrections Corporation of America, denies prisoners medical treatment as a way of covering up the assaults. They have dubbed the Idaho lockup "gladiator school" because it is so violent.

The AP initially sought a copy of the videos from state court, but Idaho 4th District Judge Patrick Owen denied that request. The AP decided to publish the videos after a person familiar with the case verified their authenticity.

Videos show brutal beating, prison upset with video release

The videos show at least three guards watching as Elabed was stomped on a dozen times. At no time during the recorded sequence did anyone try to pull away James Haver, a short, slight man.

About two minutes after Haver stopped the beating of his own accord, the metal cellblock door was unlocked. Haver was handcuffed and Elabed was examined for signs of life. He bled inside his skull and would spend three days in a coma.

http://www.thisis50.com/profiles/blog/show?id=784568%3ABlogPost%3A22660430&commentId=784568%3AComment%3A22664184&xg_source=activity

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Toledo Blade

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tanya and John Skelton exchanged correspondence on his Facebook profile around Sept. 30, during a time when the couple were going through a bitter divorce and custody battle.

Skelton boys' father's postings on Facebook tell of love for his family Wife's forgiveness sought by Claudia Boyd-Barrett The Toledo Blade December 1, 2010 MORENCI, Mich. -- Weeks before John Skelton attempted suicide and his three young sons went missing, the father from Morenci posted an emotional letter to his ex-wife online in which he indicated he loved her and their children and wanted the family to be together again. The correspondence, which Mr. Skelton posted on his Facebook profile on Oct. 16, includes a brief but similarly emotional reply from his ex-wife, Tanya Skelton, and comments of encouragement from several friends.

It appears to have been written about Sept. 30 as the couple struggled through a bitter divorce and custody battle.

Ms. Skelton filed for the divorce on Sept. 13, after her husband took two of their three boys to Florida without her knowledge. A judge later granted her full custody of the children, but Ms. Skelton subsequently agreed to allow her husband visitation rights.

In the Facebook posting, Mr. Skelton asked for his wife's forgiveness and called for a discussion of their past "mistakes" so they could overcome resentment they felt toward each other. He told Ms. Skelton that he loved her and wanted to be "the best husband and father in the world."

He attempted to explain why he took the children to Florida, saying that he believed she would follow them down there.

"Never in a million years did I think we would have divorce papers and be split up. I also never thought you would come down and take my rights from me," he wrote on Facebook. "I want nothing more than to grow old with you and raise our children together to be outstanding citizens we are proud of. We make a good team and a lot of people see it. You make me want to be a better man."

The father also talked about his love for the couple's three sons -- Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5 -- who were last seen alive on Thanksgiving Day playing in the yard of their father's Morenci home.

The Skelton boys, Alexander and Tanner in front, and Andrew in back, have not been seen since Thanksgiving Day when the brothers were at their father's home in Morenci, Mich.

Mr. Skelton described on Facebook how he cried when all three sons were born, and when he gave Andrew his first bath. "I knew this was the life I wanted and you were the person I wanted to stroll hand in hand through life with," Mr. Skelton wrote on Facebook. "I thought after watching Andrew being born, I wouldn't cry when I saw Alex arrive. How wrong i was. His arrival made me cry too. Tanner was something of a surprise to both of us. We always wished for a little girl but you had your mind set on Alex being the last ... surprise ... we had our third bundle of joy." In her Facebook reply, Ms. Skelton said she loved her husband too and that she cried on reading his posting, indicating she had sent him one too, although it is no longer included in the posting. "John, we both have made horrible mistakes. I hope & pray when you read my letter that you realize how much I love you too," Ms. Skelton wrote. "Hopefully tomorrow I will have someone that WE can talk to, to help us sort all this out ... I LOVE YOU!!!" Mr. Skelton's sister Lucinda Ford said Tuesday that her brother became depressed following divorce proceedings with Ms. Skelton. She claimed Ms. Skelton threatened to not let him see the children. Neither Ms. Skelton nor other family members could be reached for comment Tuesday. Ms. Ford said her brother's desperation peaked the day before Thanksgiving after an alleged confrontation with Ms. Skelton, in which she allegedly told him he could no longer see his children. However, the boys were with Mr. Skelton on Thanksgiving Day when they were last seen. Despite her brother's arrest Tuesday afternoon and statements by law enforcement that the boys were likely dead, Ms. Ford said she still believed they are alive and that her brother hid them somewhere. She said she had spoken with Mr. Skelton earlier in the day and he told her the children were in a safe place but would not say where they were.

"He is not a monster. He is a good father," Ms. Ford said. "The children are his life; he loves those boys."

Speaking from her home in Jacksonville, Fla., Ms. Ford said the couple's relationship troubles began two years ago after Mr. Skelton lost his job as a long-haul truck driver. She said the couple had planned to move to Florida, where Mr. Skelton felt he would have more success finding work, but she said Ms. Skelton changed her mind at the last minute.

Among the postings on Mr. Skelton's Facebook page Tuesday was a commentary dated Nov. 21, in which the father described how his kids had called 9-1-1 the previous night while they were in the house with him. Mr. Skelton said the children called 9-1-1 because he was upstairs on the phone and the boys mistakenly believed they were home alone. Official police records concerning the call could not be accessed Tuesday.

The Rev. Donna Galloway, pastor at the Morenci United Methodist Church which the Skelton family attended, said Tuesday she and other community members are also holding out hope that the three boys will be found safe.

"There is always hope. If we lost hope, if we gave up on hope, then we should close the doors and forget everything," Ms. Galloway said. "Hope is born of the love that we have and that love is what lights that candle of hope and there is an awful lot of love in this community for these boys."

http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20101201/NEWS16/11300393/0/RSS10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the DEA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Narcotics Task Force Announces Marijuana Seizures

Numbers for 2010 are Released

NOV 30 -- (San Diego) This afternoon, the DEA San Diego Field Division's Narcotics Task Force (NTF) along with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and Health Advocates Rejecting Marijuana, (HARM) announce the total amount of illegal marijuana plants seized in San Diego County in 2010.

During calendar year 2010, NTF and our law enforcement partners seized over 378,243 marijuana plants from 165 separate grow locations – 89 outdoor sites and 76 indoor locations. At these locations, the investigators seized trafficker assets valued at approximately $ 700,000.00 dollars. 118 subjects were arrested in connection with these operations. Of additional significance is the fact that over 294,175 of these plants were removed from our public lands. That includes both U.S. Forest Service lands and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. DEA/NTF will continue to intensify their efforts in this area and work with our National Guard, BLM, and US Forest Service partners and to halt the extensive environmental damage that these grows cause and to ensure that our public lands remain safe.

“DEA/NTF has a dedicated team, led by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, whose purpose is solely to conduct marijuana eradication operations in San Diego County,” says DEA San Diego Special Agent in Charge Ralph W. Partridge. DEA/NTF and all our local, state and federal law enforcement partners are dedicated to keeping this dangerous drug off the streets of San Diego”.

For further information about marijuana cultivation, please refer to www.dea.gov

.