Prosecutor Removes Himself from the Heather Ellis Case

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 ~ Updated 1:25 PM

Heather Ellis is shown alongside her mother, Hester Ellis, outside the Justice Center at Bloomfield last month following her pre-trial hearing in a case that has gained national attention. At right is Ellis' attorney, Timothy Hunsaker from the St. Louis firm of Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers and Glass. Also pictured (at left) is an unidentified member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
(Staff photo by Noreen Hyslop)

A motion filed in a Dunklin County courtroom brings a new twist to the case against Heather Ellis, a case that has garnered national media attention.

Ellis, an African-American woman from Kennett, is charged in connection with an incident at the Kennett Walmart in 2007 during which she was arrested and charged with two counts of the Class C felony assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of the Class B misdemeanor peace disturbance and one count of the Class A misdemeanor resisting arrest. Ellis was charged as a result of a scuffle that broke out in a checkout line at the store, following Ellis being accused by associates employed by Walmart of cutting in line.

The motion in question, filed by Ellis' attorney on November 2, involves Ellis' legal representation requesting Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Sokoloff to recuse himself from the case.

Click to read.

Houston Chronicle: Parents sue over Prairie View student's death

By CINDY HORSWELL

Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 3, 2009, 8:10PM

A 20-year-old Phi Beta Sigma pledge at Prairie View A&M University underwent systematic hazing — including a strict bread-and-water diet, paddling and mandatory rigorous exercises — that intensified until it culminated in his death, a lawsuit filed by his parents states.
Donnie Wade II, a biology major studying to become a doctor, died Oct. 20 following a pre-dawn exercise session with a group of his pledge brothers, investigators said.

While the autopsy is not yet complete, Wade's mother, Katrina, blames hazing for taking her only son from her.

“I will not rest until I am sure no other families will go through what we have,” she said.
Her husband, Wade I, is an associate pastor of the Dallas-area Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship.

$97 million

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Friday in Dallas County, seeks as much as $97 million in damages from the national fraternity based in Washington, D.C., the pledge trainer, Marvin Jackson, and Prairie View A&M.


Prairie View's spokeswoman Sheleah Hughes said the university is continuing its probe into the incident and could not comment on the lawsuit.


Similarly, Phi Beta Sigma did not return phone calls. But in a recent Web site posting, the organization stated: “Hazing does not represent the tradition and principles of the 95-year history of our fraternity” and expressed its condolences to Wade's parents.


The parents hired a private investigator, who took statements that led to the filing of the lawsuit, said the family‘s attorney, Kevin Kelley of Dallas.


The suit states that the younger Wade paid his $900 initiation fee and was given his acceptance letter from the Dangerous Delta Theta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, as were nine other pledges.

To continue reading the article follow the link below:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6701675.html



"I have family from Dallas, TX who knew the family of the slain student and went to the funeral this past weekend. When are these fraternities and sororities going to learn that this type of stuff (e.g. Hazing) is not beneficially. You don't have enough insurance to cover for the loss of life and also you could go to jail for murder for a long time just to replicate what happened to you when you pledged. People better start waking up...." Syreeta L. McNeal, CPA, JD

Credit Repair: Things You Need to Know

By Jamal C. Wright, Esq.

In my field of Bankruptcy, I get more inquiries about how to improve credit reports than any other legal issue. More often than not, I get approached when the issue becomes critical. The debtor has come to a point in their life where they wish to purchase a house, a car or an education. But if you know what I know about credit reporting agencies (CRA’s) and their practices, then you wouldn’t approach me at all. In fact, I don’t want you to approach me about cleaning your credit report. No lawyer does. We will get to why in a moment. Here’s my chance to tell you a little bit about what I know. Let’s break it down to 3 basic points:

• (1) Tiiiiime… aint on my side, no it’s not!
  

There is no quick fix to your credit report. People ask me all the time if I could do something, immediately, to bring their FICO scores up twenty points. Nope. Your Fico score is concocted from a secret algorithm that only the people at Fair-Isaac Corporation know. Their secret is as protected as the ingredients to Coca Cola. However, it is public knowledge that this score is derived from the credit history told about you, by the “big 3” credit reporting agencies. So to change your score, you must change history, so to speak. This takes time. People should give themselves 3-9 months after they have begun work on their reports to look for a significant change in their FICO score.

• (2) One web site: AnnualCreditReport.com

Not FreeCreditReport.com. This site is credit report improvement central. This site is one that the three CRA’s are forced to maintain by federal law. It’s the only site you should waste time on, despite the lack of a catchy jingle. In the site’s own words, they admit:

“AnnualCreditReport.com provides consumers with the secure means to request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act).”

They also give you a free report whenever you have been turned down for credit or a job, etc… I always say that nobody should EVER have to pay for a credit report.

What CRA’s do not admit so readily, is that the same federal law requires them to be 100% correct in everything they report. This means if they say you owe someone $100 and you really owe $101, they MUST investigate and MUST either correct it or erase it within 30 days of becoming aware of the inaccuracy, or else. It’s very hard to maintain 100% correct trade lines, since what you actually owe a creditor, can change from moment to moment. That’s the rub and it works in your favor, because frequently we find that CRA’s just erase the trade line, hence the saying, “clean one’s credit.” Who will bring the inaccuracies to their attention? You. Your attorney could do it, but the credit lobby in Congress made it so that when attorneys get involved in the process the CRA’s actually have MORE than thirty days to investigate. How do you bring it to their attention? You dispute them.

• (3) The CRA Dispute
  

When you go to AnnualCreditReport.com, you will be getting the most recent version of your report from the “Big 3.” You will also be able to start your dispute process. The reports will contain a confirmation number. This number will allow you back into the system for the next 30 days on the individual CRA websites, to dispute trade lines. The hardest thing about starting this process is finding the actual “dispute” page on each of the three CRA sites. They aren’t exactly in plain view.

After reviewing your reports and identifying the most “questionable” trade lines, go online and dispute them by clicking a few buttons. The process is amazingly simple for you. Not exactly the same for them. The CRA will take your dispute, go back to the original creditor and ask them to prove their claim. If the creditor can’t dig paper proof of the exact claim within thirty days (and unless they are Bank of America, they rarely can), the tradeline MUST be erased, or “cleaned.” As for your other negative tradelines, wash, rinse, repeat. There are twists and turns, but if you are consistent, you can wipe virtually all “inaccuracies” off of your report, thus enhancing your FICO score.

Legal Disclaimer: This site provides information about the law designed to keep readers informed of pertinent legal matters affecting the African-American community. But legal information is not the same as legal advice -- the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer in your specific location if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.

Black News: NNPA Covers the Heather Ellis Case

By Pharoh Martin NNPA National Correspondent
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 8:53 AM CST

(NNPA) - Because of a trip to Walmart three years ago, Heather Ellis is now fighting for her life. The 24-year-old former college student is facing felony charges that could get her up to 15 years in prison after being arrested for an incident that stemmed from her cutting a line at a Walmart in Kennet, Missouri.

The case is garnering national attention because of the racial underpinnings and perceived multiple injustices involved. It goes to trial Nov. 18. On November 16, the Your Black World Coalition, NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union, National Action Network, and Southern Christian Leadership Conference plan to converge on the small town of Kennett to protest and heighten the publicity.
Here’s what happened: On Jan. 6, 2007, Ellis and her cousin were sent on a midnight run to Walmart by her parents to pick up some items. With her cousin already standing in line near the register, Ellis tried to join him at the front of the line. That's when the clerk accused Ellis of cutting in front of other customers.

Customers behind objected and verbally accosted the then 21-year-old, according to Ellis' father Rev. Nathanial Ellis in an interview with the NNPA News Service. One White customer physically pushed the former college student. Ellis tried to explain that she was joining her cousin who was already in line and told the lady not to push her again. She was subsequently pushed again. The cashier would later refuse to ring Ellis up even after everybody else in line went through.

“The cashier stalled my daughter long enough for the night manager to come up,” Rev. Ellis explained. “My daughter paid with cash but she asked my daughter for an I.D. [Heather] said that she didn't need an ID because she paid with cash.”

Click to read.

Michael Baisden Signs on to Support the Heather Ellis Case

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Just when you thought black celebrities didn't care anymore, the "Bad Boy of Radio,"Michael Baisden announced today that he is going to give $5,000 to the legal defense fund of the family of Heather Ellis, a 24-year old black female college student who faces 15-years in prison after cutting in line at a Walmart.

Click to read.

The Heather Ellis Case: One that We Should All Be Concerned About

Dr. Wilmer Leon, Howard University

One of the things that make America unique is its Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights. In its original form, the Constitution did not include a list of basic civil liberties or guarantees to the individual. Many prominent Americans, including Thomas Jefferson insisted that a list of fundamental protections be included to restrain the national government from tampering with the fundamental rights and civil liberties of its citizens. The intent of the framers of the Constitution was to level the playing field. They felt it necessary to restrain the very powerful government, prosecutors, and police from arbitrary and capricious action against the less powerful individual. Over time these protections have been passed down to the state level.

The case of Heather Ellis is a perfect present day example of why individual American citizens need to be protected from over zealous capricious prosecutors and police. For a young woman to be facing up to fifteen years in prison for trespassing, disturbing the peace, and two felony counts of assaulting a police officer, all for allegedly cutting a check-out line at a Wal-Mart is unconscionable.

Click to read.

Black News: Judge Herman Thomas Acquitted of All Charges

A former Alabama judge was cleared Monday of charges that he spanked and sexually abused male inmates.

Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on seven counts after more than a week of testimony. Judge Claud Neilson threw out the remaining 14 charges.

Thomas wept and hugged his wife and supporters after the judge threw out the remaining charges. He left court without comment. As he left, one supporter threw her hands in the air and shouted, "Thank you Jesus." Other supporters gathered in a circle to pray.

Defense attorneys had painted the 48-year-old as a prominent civic leader who became a victim of felons who lied about him to manipulate the court system.

Click to read.

Black News: Rally to be held in Kennett, Missouri in Support of Heather Ellis

To join the Your Black World Coalition, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com.

From Dr Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

To the Your Black World family:

When the children of my assistant Shauntay (Justin and Journi) brought the case of Heather Ellis to me, I was in disbelief.  I was shocked that in 2009, a young college student, with no criminal record, could face 15 years in prison for cutting line at Walmart.  I was even more appalled by the threats from the KKK and allegations by local leaders that the town went as far as blacking out the local news coverage during the minutes that the family held a press conference in support of their daughter.  We sent information about the case to CNN and other media outlets, and they covered it (along with BET, Essence, ABC News and others), but I don't feel this is enough.  We've decided that we aren't going to take this sitting down, and we hope you won't either

In honor of Justin and Journi, the two young visionaries who convinced me to take on this issue, we've created the "Journey for Justice," set to take place in Kennett, Missouri on Monday, November 16 at 11 am.  On that day, we are going to meet at the Walmart where the incident took place (1500 1st St., Kennett, MO) and march to the steps of the courthouse(Square 200 Slicer St.).  You can find out more information about the case and rally on the site www.TheHeatherEllisCase.com.  Given that the prosecutor in the case (Stephen Sokoloff) has asked for a change of venue (to Bloomfield, MO - a town with less than 20 black people), some of the details of the rally might change (I have no doubt that they are scheming to make this as difficult as possible).  But I can guarantee you this: On November 16, we are heading down there to fight against the madness occurring in this county, no matter what the cost.

Click to read.

Your Black News: Media Matters Discusses the Heather Ellis Case

Racial injustice rears its ugly head again, this time in rural Missouri, where heavy-handed prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff is threatening to impose a lengthy prison sentence on a woman after an altercation at a local Wal-Mart almost three years ago.

In January 2007, 20-year-old Heather Ellis, then a student at Xavier University, and her cousin David went to a Wal-Mart in Kennett, Missouri, near the Tennessee border, in an area commonly known as the Missouri Bootheel.  Kennett, in rural and conservative Dunklin County, which boasts that it seceded from the Union during the Civil War, is overwhelmingly white.

At the check-out line, the pair split up in order to find the shortest line.  When Ellis left her line to join her cousin at a shorter line, customers complained and a store employee accused her of cutting, at which point an argument ensued and a manager notified a security guard, an off-duty Kennett Police officer.  The situation escalated from there:

In the Ellis version, she was shoved by another customer, had her items pushed aside by the clerk and then was short-changed when she finally was checked out. The police affidavit contends, at numerous times, Ellis became belligerent, loud, abusive and cursing when she was told to leave by the store's assistant manager. Summoned by a frantic phone call from her son, as the pair walked out to the parking lot, [Ellis' aunt] Blackmon says she arrived in time to witness her niece being brutalized by police during attempts to place her in a squad car.

[...]

Ellis was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer. Yet, curiously after being described in the police affidavit as "completely out of control" during her arrest, she was released to the custody of her parents to receive medical attention only 45 minutes after being jailed. However, her arrest triggered a whole series of problems. Although she returned to school in Louisiana, two months later, an attorney hired by the family tried to talk Heather into taking a plea deal offered by powerful Dunklin County Prosecutor, Stephen Sokoloff.

 

Click to read.

15 Years in Prison for Cutting Line – Pretrial Has Begun

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Heather Ellis is a college student facing15 years in prison for cutting line at Walmart - visit www.SaveHeatherEllis.com for more details on the national protest to be held in Kennett, MO on November 14.

According to the family, the prosecutor in the case, Stephen Sokoloff, has asked for the trial to be moved to Bloomfield, MO, a town with less than 20 African Americans in it.

Heather Ellis Has a Pre-Trial – 10/25/09

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Heather Ellis is a college student facing15 years in prison for cutting line at Walmart - visit www.SaveHeatherEllis.com for more details on the national protest to be held in Kennett, MO on November 14.

Black News: Was Megan Williams Lying About Lying?

CHARLESTON, W.Va. —  A woman imprisoned for her role in the 2007 kidnapping and torture of a black woman by seven white men and women said Friday the victim wasn't telling the truth when she denied this week that the attack occurred.

Frankie Brewster told WCHS-TV in Charleston that multiple crimes were committed against Megan Williams during the attack in West Virginia's rural Logan County, about 50 miles south of Charleston.

An attorney representing Williams said Wednesday that she is now recanting statements incriminating Brewster, her son Bobby and five others. All seven pleaded guilty and six are serving lengthy prison terms.

Brian Abraham, the Logan County prosecutor in 2007, also has dismissed Williams' new story, saying the convictions were based on the defendants' own statements and physical evidence rather than what Williams said.

Williams originally said her captors, including boyfriend Bobby Brewster, beat her, raped her, forced her to drink urine and eat feces, poured hot wax on her and taunted her with racial slurs in a trailer in Logan County. Williams was rescued after a passer-by heard cries from the shed where she was kept and an anonymous caller tipped off sheriff's deputies.

Brewster is rejecting Williams' new version of events.

"It did happen," Brewster said during the interview at the Lakin Correctional Center, where she is serving 10 to 25 years. "All of us participated."

Click to read.

Black Lawyer Tells Juan Williams to “Go Back to the Porch”

I have no idea why FOX News political commentator Juan Williams is defendingRush Limbaugh, perhaps the most divisive, hateful person in American media today. I'm not sure why Williams is letting FOX News use him in the same way Armstrong Williams has always trotted out to defend conservative issues. (It's hard out there for a journalist.)
However, I do know that he does not deserve to be told to "go back to the porch," as radio talk show host Warren Ballentine said during a debate about Limbaugh last week.
The comments were made by Ballentine during a discussion with Williams on the 'O'Reilly Factor' about Limbaugh being dropped from a bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams football team. Williams and Ballentine disagreed about whether the 'Barack the Magic Negro' song that Rush Limbaugh played was "racial."
BILL O'REILLY: The reason that Limbaugh is not going to be able to buy in to the NFL is because a bunch of made-up stuff became legend, and he got hammered.
WARREN BALLANTINE: Okay, we won't look at the made-up stuff. Let's look at him playing 'Barack the Magic Negro,' and we're going to say that's just funny, that's just a joke, that's not racial either. It is racial to real black people.

 

Click to read.

Black News: Man Shoots Boy for Sleeping with His Daughter

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

I have daughters and I love them all. They are all at "that age," between 16 and 20, where they tend to love the boys that you want to beat down the most. Every time I hear them express their undying love for Lil Wayne, I can only think about him having 3 women pregnant at the same time. When I see a Chris Brown poster in their room, I remind them that Chris was accused of having boxing practice on Rihanna's face.

But as a father, you can't protect your daughters from themselves. Some things they have to learn on their own. And if sleeping with a pants-saggin, "purple stuff dranking," gold grill wearing, 10,000 tattoo having buffoon is the way they need to learn their lessons, you just kinda have to deal with it.I empathize with Wade Edwards, the man accused of shooting a boy for sleeping with his step daughter. Wade shot the boy four times, aiming for the "relevant zone" with each bullet. But while I can understand Wade's anger, I do not, for one second, condone his actions.

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Protestors Planned to Support Black Student’s Arrest

Kennett, MO. – Heather Ellis, a young college student out of Kennett, MO is now facing 15 years in prison if she is sentenced after being accused of cutting line at a local Walmart. Her case has gotten the attention of the nation, and has been the subject of extensive online protests.

Heather was in a Walmart store 3 years ago with her cousin. The two split up to find the shortest line. Since her cousin was in the shorter line, Heather joined him. That’s when the clerk accused Heather of cutting in front of the other customers. An argument ensued, leading to the manager and security guard being called, and finally the police.

The incident left Ellis, an honor student on her way to medical school, charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing and two counts of assaulting a police officer. After Heather refused to sign a plea agreement, Stephen Sokoloff, the town’s prosecutor, filed felony charges against Heather.

 

Click to read.

Black News: Boy Gets Burned Alive by His Classmates

Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 5:23 am
By: Denise Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com

A black Missouri teen, who last month was doused with gasoline and set afire by two white schoolmates, now faces charges himself as he recovers from burns over most of his body.

Walter Currie Jr., a 15-year-old in Poplar Bluff, Mo., was burned on June 13 after an exchange with two teens with whom he reportedly had a previous altercation.

The youth who allegedly doused him with the gasoline and lit the fuel has been charged with assault as a juvenile, Currie’s parents said. 
On July 6, several weeks after the incident, authorities gave Currie and his parents notice that he is being charged in connection with another incident where a teen related to the youth who set him afire was hit in the face, said Winonia Currie, Walter’s mother.

“All of a sudden, they decided to charge him with something that happened on June 10, but Walter said he didn’t have anything to do with it,” she said.

Because all of the people involved are juveniles, court officials in Butler County, Missouri said they can give only limited details on the incidents and cannot discuss names.

“I can tell you that there are charges against everyone involved,” Lesi Smith, chief juvenile officer for Butler County, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Click to read.

Your Black News: Tom Joyner Gets Great Uncles Pardoned for Murder

from TheGrio.com 

Nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner holds up the signed pardon given to him from Samuel Glover, right, director of the South Carolina Dept. of Pardon, Probation and Parole, as Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., third from the right, smiles after a hearing Wednesday Oct. 14, 2009, in Columbia, S.C. A posthumous pardon was given to Joyners' great-uncles Thomas and Meeks Griffin, who were wrongly sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran.

(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Two great-uncles of syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran, were unanimously pardoned Wednesday by South Carolina.

Officials believe the men are the first in the state to be posthumously pardoned in a capital murder case.

Black landowners Thomas and Meeks Griffin were executed 94 years ago after a jury convicted them of killing 73-year-old John Lewis, a wealthy white veteran living in Blackstock, a Chester County town 40 miles north of Columbia. Two other black men were also put to death for the crime.

"This won't bring them back, but this will bring closure. I hope now that they rest in peace," Joyner said. "This is a good day."

Joyner, who lives in Dallas, and his attorney made a presentation to the state parole and probation board on Wednesday, then left the room while the board voted. Family members who flew in for the hearing included his wife and sons, of Dallas, and brother and his family, from Jackson, Miss.

Though he talks to roughly 8 million listeners on the radio daily, Joyner said facing the seven board members "scared me to death." When he was told how they voted, he said he waved his hands and hugged family members in a flood of relief and joy. He also called in to his radio show.

Joyner learned about his uncles' fate two years ago during filming of the PBS documentary "African American Lives 2," which traced his lineage and 11 others' through the research of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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Dr. Boyce: KKK, Walmart, 15 Years in Prison – The Heather Ellis Story

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

I mentioned the story before about Heather Ellis, the young woman who was threatened by the KKK after protesting about her arrest that took place in a Walmart store. The story was quite interesting in that Ellis now faces 15 years in prison for effectively cutting line at a Walmart. The unfortunate events occurred when Ellis was shopping with a cousin in Kennett, Missouri.

Heather and her cousin went to separate lines and when her cousin found the shorter line, Heather joined him. Ellis was then accused of cutting line by the person checking out customers, which led to an altercation. When Ellis was asked to leave the store, she argued with the managers, which led to the police being called. Ellis was eventually charged with disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer.

Click to read.

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Dr Boyce Watkins: What We can Learn from Dr. King’s Kids

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Martin Luther King is rolling in his grave. Yes, I said it. So sue me.

Well, you might actually do that if you were one of Martin Luther King's children. In fact, yesterday Martin Luther King III and Rev. Bernice King - who were suing their brother Dexter for mismanaging the funds in their parents' estates - avoided a jury trial and settled their longstanding feud. The three children had been the only shareholders in King Inc, the corporation created to control their father's valuable legacy. Dexter is still the president and CEO of the estate, and had been, until late last night, its administrator.

Martin and Bernice had accused Dexter of wrongfully taking money from the family, alleging that he took "substantial funds" out of their mother's estate and "wrongfully appropriated" money from their father's. I am not sure what the difference between "wrongfully appropriating" money and good old fashioned stealing is, assuming that there is one, but perhaps I am not wealthy enough to know the distinction. Of course Dexter denied the accusations.

Click to read on MSNBC’s TheGrio.com

Your Black News: Obama Getting Chewed up by Comedians

"That's pretty amazing, winning the Nobel Peace Prize," Jay Leno said Friday night of President Barack Obama's latest accolade. "Ironically, his biggest accomplishment as president so far ... winning the Nobel Peace Prize."

That joke may be indicative of the TV comedy world sharpening its arrows a bit more when the current occupant of the White House is the target, The New York Times reports.

President Barack Obama Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

The Times quotes Bob Lichter, who has tracked themes in late-night humor for 21 years, as saying "it will be telling to see how the comedians treat" the president's winning the peace prize: Is there now a caricature taking hold of a man more celebrated than accomplished?

Lichter, of George Mason University's Center for Media and Public Affairs, said it was too soon to tell whether the Oct. 3 Saturday Night Live skit suggesting that Obama has accomplished nothing is a "harbinger" or not. "The danger is that Mr. Obama is going to be defined by inaction and not living up to expectations," he said.

Click to read.

 

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Dr Boyce: Woman Faces 15-Years for Jumping Line at Walmart

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

In case you haven’t heard, there is a young woman in Kennett, Missouri who has gone through one of our worst nightmares.  Three years ago, Heather Ellis was in a local Walmart shopping with her cousin.  The two cousins decided to go in separate directions to find the shortest line.  After seeing that her cousin’s line was shorter, Heather went to join him.  That’s when things got strange.

Heather was accused of cutting line and the security guard was notified.  According to Heather, she and her cousin repeatedly informed the guard that they were together, but that didn’t seem to matter.  The police affidavit claims that Ellis was loud, belligerent and cursing when she was told to leave the store. 

After police arrived, Ellis was taken to jail in front of her family.  Her aunt, Lily Blackmon, arrived on the scene after receiving a call from her son about the incident.  According to Blackmon, her niece’s head was being slammed against the police car and the officer only said “she cursed,” when asked why she was being treated so harshly.

Ellis was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer.  The young college student was then offered a plea bargain from Dunklin County Prosecutor, Stephen Sokoloff.  The felony counts were reduced to one misdemeanor of disturbing the peace.  However, Heather’s aunt believes that the offer was made so the family would not sue the police department.

Heather refused to take the plea deal, since she says she’d be lying if she admitted to committing a crime that day.  Eleven months after the incident, the misdemeanor was surprisingly dropped.  While this might seem to be good news, it wasn’t.  The misdemeanors have been replaced by felony assault charges, carrying a maximum sentence of 15-years in prison.

Heather believes that the pending felonies have cost her two jobs and the chance to get into medical school.  She still refuses to sign the plea deal.  Either way, she has a reason to fight, and I want to fight with her.   Heather’s case speaks to all of us: most of us have jumped the line at Walmart to be with a relative, and most of us know what it’s like to experience police abuse of authority.   No matter how much cursing Heather might have done that day, she doesn’t deserve to go to prison.  Also, if the prosecutor can reduce major felonies to one tiny misdemeanor, he could have dropped all the charges and let this woman go on with her education.

 

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of The Your Black World Coalition.  To follow Dr Boyce on Twitter, please click here.

What Neo-Conservatives Can Learn from Obama’s Nobel Moment

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Howard University 

With a decision that has shocked many around the world, on Friday October 9, 2009 the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that President Barak Hussein Obama is the 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace. This announcement not only recognizes extraordinary accomplishments but also brings with it extraordinary expectations.

In 1895 Alfred Nobel bequeathed the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes. His intent was to award a prize to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." This year the Nobel Committee determined that President Obama, “…for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples… Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.”

What President Obama has demonstrated on the world stage is that by themselves ideologies are not rational. They tend to focus on and confuse the imagery of the “should be” and “ought to be” with the practical “is.” Without people who are able to inject pragmatism and tie logic and reason to an ideology, it can take an institution, group or country down some very perilous roads. This is why ideologues (people who profess ideologies) make terrible politicians and ideology can make for very bad public and foreign policy. Ideologues are so focused on the “should be” that they fail to take into account the practical applications of the “how.”

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At the top of the Corporate Ladder, the Only Color that Matters is GREEN

by Fenorris Pearson 

Despite a growing number of women and minorities in the workplace, the directors of corporate boards remain mostly white and male, according to a new report on Fortune 100 companies. Women and minorities together account for less than a third of the directors on more than 60 percent of the boards examined, according to the report. African Americans represent 7% of all corporate board members.

In spite of these grim statistics, there is a great deal of hope for the possibility of women and minorities sitting in positions of authority. The more you perform and the higher you go up the corporate ladder, the less color matters. The truth is that corporations are seeking individuals who can enhance the bottom line. A good corporate manager doesn’t care if you are black or white, as long as you deliver the green.

Click to read.

The Financial Times: Obama under fire over falling dollar

By Edward Luce and Krishna Guha in Washington
The Financial Times (FT.com)

The sharp fall in the US dollar is giving ammunition to the critics of the Obama administration and fuelling broader concerns about the erosion of America’s reserve currency status.

Republican politicians have highlighted the dollar’s slide as evidence of waning US power. On Wednesday, Sarah Palin, the Republican former vice-presidential candidate, added her voice to those who have expressed concern over the consequences of rising US indebtedness and dependence on foreign oil.

“We can see the effect of this in the price of gold, which hit a record high today in response to fears about the weakened dollar,” she wrote on her Facebook site.

Most economists attribute the recent surge in the gold price to the actions of a few speculative investors hedging against inflation fears in the US. And they point out that the far deeper US bond markets show no sign of concern over inflation. Indeed, analysts say that the dollar’s slide stems more from investors’ growing appetite for risk and the prospects of interest rate rises elsewhere.

Over the past six months, the dollar has fallen 11.5 per cent on a trade weighted basis.
Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary said this weekend that the US will do “everything necessary” to maintain confidence in its currency. “It is very important to the United States that we continue to have a strong dollar,” he said. “We recognise that the dollar’s important role in the system conveys special burdens and responsibilities on us and we are going to do everything necessary to make sure we sustain confidence.”

However, angst about the dollar extends beyond conservative political circles. Last week, Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, warned that recent warnings from the Chinese and other major US creditors over US indebtedness could worsen in coming months.

To Read More, follow link below:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08ca4832-b36a-11de-ae8d-00144feab49a.html

ACORN embezzlement was $5 million, La. attorney general says

By Robert Travis Scott

Nola.com
October 06, 2009, 5:46AM

Louisiana's attorney general has broadened the scope of an investigation of ACORN to include a possible embezzlement of $5 million a decade ago within the community organization, five times more than previously reported.

ACORN Chief Executive Officer Bertha Lewis said the new reported amount is "completely false."

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has been conducting an investigation of ACORN since June. He issued subpoenas in August seeking documents related to former ACORN International President Wade Rathke and his brother Dale Rathke, who kept the group's books. Those subpoenas were focused on possible ACORN violations for non-payment of employee withholding taxes, obstructing justice and violating the Employee Retirement Security Act. No charges have been made.

The attorney general had inquired in June into an alleged embezzlement within ACORN that happened 10 years ago. The group last year dealt with an internal dispute and a lawsuit involving accusations that Dale Rathke made nearly $1 million in improper credit card charges in 1999 and 2000. The brother and a donor repaid the money.

To continue reading, follow link below:

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/acorn_embezzlement_was_5_milli.html

Shocking Legal News: Judge Accused of Sexually Abusing Inmates

Judge Herman Thomas

The trial of a former US judge accused of having sex with male inmates in exchange for leniency is set to start in Mobile, Alabama.

Herman Thomas, 48, denies the charges, which include sodomy, kidnapping, extortion, sex abuse and assault.

Up to 15 current and former prisoners are set to testify against him at the jury trial.

He was once the Democratic Party's choice to be the first black federal judge in south Alabama.

Mr Thomas resigned as a judge in 2007 following allegations that he spanked inmates in his private office at the county courthouse with a paddle.

 

Click to read.

Visit Your Black World for the latest in Black News!

Eric Holder Visits Chicago to Discuss School Violence

Chicago will get a double dose of Obama Cabinet members next week in the wake of a brutal fatal beating of a Fenger High School honor student.

Attorney General Eric Holder will visit Chicago on Thursday to discuss youth and school violence. The new date contradicts first reports from the White House that the trip will be Wednesday.

Hannah August, a Holder spokeswoman, disclosed the new date today, saying final arrangements still are being made for his visit. It’s expected Holder will meet with school officials, students and community residents.
“I would anticipate him talking about not just violence in Chicago, but at a national level,” she said.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks in Chicago on Wednesday at an education grant conference. He also plans to speak about school violence.

 

Click to read

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Did ACORN heed legal advice given on June 19, 2008? Apparently not...

Per Big Government.com
EXCLUSIVE: ACORN Legal Memo Confirms Depths of Troubles

by Matthew Vadum

“But whether you try to implement some or all of these recommendations, there must be someone committed to follow-up. There must be a review mechanism, and a means of holding people accountable after any final decisions are made. If you do not make some hard choices now and ensure they are carried out, they almost certainly will be made for you.”

–Elizabeth Kingsley of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg Eisenberg LLP, in a prophetic legal memo to ACORN dated June 19, 2008, the day before ACORN’s national board ousted ACORN founder organizer Wade Rathke


ACORN’s lawyer warned ACORN 15 months ago to begin fixing its massive internal problems or face certain catastrophe. It chose to do nothing.

The advice from Elizabeth Kingsley of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg Eisenberg LLP came in the form of an eerily prophetic legal memo to ACORN dated June 19, 2008, the day before ACORN’s national board fired disgraced founder Wade Rathke.

To read the full memo, please view the following link below:
http://biggovernment.com/2009/10/01/exclusive-acorn-legal-memo-confirms-depths-of-troubles/

The memo is a kind of Holy Grail for ACORN researchers. One source of mine keeps a copy in a safety deposit box. I’ve lost track of how many people have asked me over the last year if I knew how to get ahold of it. One source told me that there are many people who would “kill” to gain possession of it. This is a bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but not much.

Having read this categorically damning memo, I now understand what all the fuss is about.

Full story on the ACORN memo is at American Spectator, here.

Dr. Wilmer Leon’s Quick Remarks on the Possible Sale of Ebony Magazine

 

In this challenging time for print media, the historic jewel of African American periodicals, Ebony (like so many of our ancestors) is on the auction block. What was once a staple in so many African American homes is now struggling for its survival as many question its relevance.

During segregation Ebony and Jet magazines were key sources of information for the African American community about the community. With integration, too many of us left our communities, churches, and culture behind in order to assimilate into the dominant culture. With that, for too many, Ebony no longer reflects the community they live in; aspire to live in or a lifestyle that they see as relevant.

I have always felt that Ebony needed to incorporate more relevant political/economic/business information, analysis, and content to appeal to the growing African American middle and upper class. Life style and entertainment is great but that needs to be supplemented with the relevant information to maintain that life style. It's a difficult mix to maintain but necessary.

Selling Ebony/Jet does not mean that those magazines will cease to exist but with ownership comes control. The sale of Ebony/Jet goes back to the question of who will be left to define and interpret the issues that are relevant to the African American community and who will control its imagery. I don't know that Viacom has that mission or interest.

John H. Johnson said that Ebony was founded to "project all dimensions of the Black personality in a world saturated with stereotypes. We wanted to give Blacks a new sense of somebodiness, a new sense of self-respect. We wanted to tell them who they were and what they could do. We believed then--and we believe now--that Blacks needed positive images to fulfill their potentialities." The world continues to be saturated with those stereotypes and the community still needs positive images in order to fulfill its potential.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the host of the Sirius/XM Satellite Show “On with Leon.”  To contact Dr. Leon for media requests or speaking engagements, please click here.

Michael is not “The Man of Steele”

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Not to be outdone, in response to America electing its first African-American President, on January 30, 2009, the Republican National Committee (RNC) elected Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, as its chairman. It was a long and painful process, but on the sixth and final ballot, for the first time in its history, the Republican Party elected an African-American to manage its affairs.

    During his acceptance speech, Chairman Steele said, "To Americans who believe in the future of this country. To those who stand in difference with us, it's time for something completely different, and we're gonna bring it to them. We're gonna bring this party to every corner, every boardroom, every neighborhood, every community and we're gonna say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of this, we want you to work with us, and for those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over."

    These were very powerful and encouraging words, especially coming from an intelligent African-American man who was speaking to a political party dominated by white men who are not used to African-Americans speaking to them so forcefully and directly. To bring forth "something completely different"; to take the party to "friend and foe alike," to "knock over" decades of neoconservative ideology and racism would take a Superman. Unfortunately, these encouraging and powerful words ring hollow when compared to the reality of Chairman Steele's actions. Michael is no Superman. He's not "The Man of Steele."

Click to read.

Brother Writes a Book for Ex-Cons and Starting a Business

In the first book published by her New York-based Resilience Multimedia, Sheila Rule delivers much-needed information to a segment of society that has long been ignored: the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated. In 'Think Outside The Cell: An Entrepreneur's Guide for the Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated' by Joseph Robinson, readers learn vital information, including how to overcome obstacles that convicted felons face while trying to reenter society and find work.
Rule, who worked at The New York Times for 30 years before her recent retirement, was spurred to start her publishing company after writing to the incarcerated as a volunteer for the Riverside Church Prison Ministry. With funding from the Ford Foundation, she plans to publish next year the 'Think Outside the Cell' book series featuring real-life stories by the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and their families. Rule takes time to talk about the book with AOL Black Voices.
AOL Black Voices: How did you come up with the idea for the book?
Sheila Rule: Joe's book has been published amid renewed efforts to help the formerly incarcerated-who are disproportionately black and Latino-successfully reenter society. But Joe believes that the reentry programs being developed, while commendable, too often focus on finding jobs in a nation where, according to a Princeton University study, it is easier for a white person with a felony conviction to get a job than for a black person who has never been arrested. Joe believes that "Think Outside the Cell" presents a largely unexplored option-entrepreneurship-that can help give men and women leaving prison a realistic second chance

 

Click to read.

Obama Addresses the Congressional Black Caucus Convention

President BarackObama on Saturday resumed his push to overhaul the health care system, telling a Congressional Black Caucus conference that there comes a time when "the cup of endurance runs over."

"We have been waiting for health reform since the days of Teddy Roosevelt. We've been waiting since the days of Harry Truman," he said in remarks at the caucus foundation's annual dinner. "We've been waiting since Johnson and Nixon and Clinton."

"We cannot wait any longer," Obama said.

Obama spent the past week largely focused on global and economic issues in meetings with world leaders in New York and Pittsburgh.

At the G-20 economic summit that wrapped up Friday in Pennsylvania, Obama told a story about an unnamed foreign leader who privately told the president he didn't understand the at-times contentious debate over changing the health care system.

"He says, 'We don't understand it. You're trying to make sure everybody has health care and they're putting a Hitler mustache on you. That doesn't make sense to me,'" Obama said, quoting the world leader he declined to identify.

 

Click here to read.

Dr Boyce Watkins: G20 Needs Our Attention

Uncle Ben from Spiderman made the most prophetic statement of the entire film series in his dying days (I almost cried, but don't tell anybody): "With great power comes great responsibility." Most of us understood what Uncle Ben was trying to say, and that includes Barack Obama.

Uncle Ben should have been the keynote speaker at the latest G-20 Summit, taking place this week in Pittsburgh,PA. The G-20 Summit is a gathering of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the world's 19 wealthiest countries, plus the European Union. These countries encompass 85 percent of the world's gross domestic product, so they would probably meet Uncle Ben's qualification for "great power," at least when it comes to money.

The G-20 Summit's primary objective is to achieve broad cooperation on the preservation of international financial stability. The motivations of the group, created in 1999, are seemingly noble and make perfect sense in light of the fact that the global economy has reached an unprecedented level of integration. If large nations do not work together, the world's financial system will be subject to alarming amounts of volatility.

Not everyone can see the vision behind G-20 ambitions. Usually, the gatherings of the G-20 are as out of control as a frat party, as protesters have made a game out of disrupting the meetings as much as they possibly can. To prepare for this year's economic fiesta, the city of Pittsburgh has brought in 4,000 police, 2,000 National Guard troops and 11 Coast Guard vessels.

Police, in an overwhelming show of force, declared Thursday's march illegal almost as soon as it began, firing rubber bullets and canisters of pepper spray and smoke after small bands of anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling huge metal trash bins, throwing rocks and breaking windows. As of Friday morning, reports said nearly 70 people had been arrested and police were bracing for scattered protests around downtown.

President Obama, being the conflicted capitalist/black man/ex-community organizer that he is, made some telling comments about the demonstrators.

Click to read more on MSNBC’s TheGrio.com.

Chris Chestnut Gives Advice on Property Insurance

Most of us know very little about the ins and outs of property insurance. Christopher Chestnut is not in that category. As a prominent attorney out of Florida, Mr. Chestnut has taken on multi-million dollar cases and handled some of the most complex lawsuits imaginable. As one of the leading young black attorneys in America, Chestnut has been recognized by President Obama for his outstanding accomplishments.

I spoke to Chris this week about Property Insurance and what it can do to make your life a little simpler. Here is what he had to say:

1) If you rent, make sure you have renter's insurance. Also, make sure your landlord has homeowner's insurance, since renter's insurance only includes the contents that are INSIDE the house

2) Check your landlord's insurance regarding injuries on your rented property. Most people are unaware of the fact that the homeowner is liable in the event that someone is injured on their property. Even if the children across the street climb the fence to get into your yard, you are liable if one of them gets hurt. Find out how your landlord's homeowner's insurance would cover you if someone has an accident.

Click to read more.

ACORN mounts legal challenge

LOS ANGELES — Millicent Hill says God put her in her stucco home on East 92nd Street, but she believes she would have lost the house without ACORN.

Hill's home is a center of after-school activity for kids in the Watts neighborhood in gritty South-Central Los Angeles. Children in her church-supported program can avoid the street, get a snack, work on a computer or get a hug.

LAST WEEK: House votes to defund ACORN

When "Mama" Hill, as she's known, faced foreclosure, ACORN members showed up at a public auction to protest, prompting the lender to cancel the sale. ACORN then found a buyer who rents it back to Hill. "I wouldn't be here without ACORN, and all of the kids would have to go somewhere else," says Hill, 69. "And they've got nowhere else to go."

Here and in other states, ACORN focuses on helping people with housing issues, supporting changes to health care and immigration policies, and registering voters.

ACORN — which has received about $53 million in federal funds since 1994 — has long been a target of conservatives because of its ties to Democrats. Attacks increased after its aggressive voter-registration and get-out-the-vote efforts for President Obama last year. Now, videos showing ACORN workers giving advice to conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute are raising questions about its tactics and finances — and whether it can survive.

Click to read.

Did This Man Murder His Children?

Florida authorities were searching Sunday for a 33-year-old man after his wife and five children were found dead in their Naples home.

 

 

The bodies of Guerline Damas, 32; Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months, were discovered Saturday, Rambosk said.

Authorities have been unable to locate Mesac Damas, who possibly left the country Friday morning and may be in Haiti, Capt. Chris Roberts of the Collier County sheriff's department said Sunday at a news conference.

"We don't see at this point any indication of an individual out in the neighborhoods committing additional crimes or homicides, but certainly we will look at every opportunity," Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said at an earlier news conference.

There had been a "handful" of domestic disturbance calls to police since 2000 involving the Damas couple, with the latest resulting in the arrest of Mesac Damas in January, Roberts said. Mesac Damas pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor battery against Guerline Damas in June, and Roberts said he does not think Mesac Damas served any jail time for the crime.

Click to read.

President Hits a Sunday Media Tour

 

President Obama says that despite signs of economic recovery, the country will not see large-scale job growth until next year. In a wide-ranging interview broadcast today on CNN's "State of the Union," Obama said reversing job losses from the recession will come at the end of the recovery period, not the start. full story

Marc Lamont Hill Debates Ann Coulter

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill debates Ann Coulter on Fox News about Obama’s appearances in national media.  Click here to watch!

The Legal Implications of ACORN’s Scandal

by Errol Louis – New York Daily News

Employees from ACORN allegedly advised people posing as prostitutes and pimps how to cheat on taxes.

 

The videos shot and distributed by a pair of right-wing pranksters to discredit ACORNhad all the elements of a good political hit job: sleaze, sensationalism, sleight-of-hand.

James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles went from one ACORN community office to another posing as a pimp and his whore, pretending to seek help securing low-income housing and/or tax help to set up a brothel using underage illegal immigrants.

Not one ACORN outlet actually completed or filed illegal paperwork, but the video stunt worked like a charm anyway.

A few ACORN workers - out of a staff of 600 - gave the undercover filmmakers advice about ways to further their lurid prostitution scheme.

That is all it took. A full-scale witch hunt is underway against ACORN - and that means normal standards of proof, evidence and rationality get tossed out the window.

Biased and/or naive news producers and editors rushed one-minute excerpts of O'Keefe and Giles' heavily edited videos onto national television without a thought, even when the pair refused to release the full tapes or answer questions on the air about how they were created.

Click to read.

Judge allows Jackson estate challenge

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

AP Entertainment Writer

Fri Sep 18, 7:40 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – A judge has ruled that Michael Jackson's mother can challenge the men currently administering her son's estate without losing her substantial stake.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff's ruling, released Friday, clears the way for Katherine Jackson to challenge whether attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain are best-suited to handle the singer's estate, which has been estimated to be worth more than $500 million.

Attorneys for Katherine Jackson had asked Beckloff to decide whether she could challenge the administrators without invoking a "no contest" clause that would cause her to lose her 40 percent share of the singer's estate.

Beckloff ruled that such a challenge would not be a cause for Katherine Jackson to be disinherited. Most of Katherine Jackson's arguments for why the motion should be approved have been sealed, but Beckloff noted in his ruling that they raised several issues, including whether Michael Jackson was under "undue influence" when he signed his 2002 will.

Her attorneys did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Friday. Katherine Jackson could argue that the men are unfit to serve, or that her son was under undue influence.
Attorneys for Branca and McClain did not challenge Katherine Jackson's petition for a ruling. If her attorneys opt to formally challenge the authority of one or both of the men, then Beckloff will convene a hearing and hear testimony.

Branca and McClain already have brokered several deals that have earned the singer's estate tens of millions of dollars. Katherine Jackson's attorneys have not objected to most of them, although they raised concerns about a deal involving concert promoter AEG Live for a memorabilia exhibit.

Beckloff ruled over Katherine Jackson's objections that the exhibit of her son's items — including some of his possessions from Neverland Ranch — could go forward.

It was revealed this week that Katherine Jackson is receiving more than $26,000 per month from her son's estate, as well as another $60,000 per month to care for her three grandchildren. Michael Jackson designated his mother as his choice to care for his children, who range in ages from 7 to 12.

Beckloff granted her permanent guardianship of the children in early August.
The money is being used to pay for a variety of living expenses and for staff to take care of the children.

While Jackson's music has sold briskly since his June 25 death and a movie based on his final concert rehearsals is due to be released in October, Jackson died heavily in debt. A former hairdresser and law firm filed creditor's claims against the singer's estate this week, totaling more $243,000.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090918/ap_en_mu/us_jackson_estate

Dr Wilmer Leon and Dr. Pearl Ford Discuss the Politics Behind Obama’s Healthcare Plan

Listen up as Dr. Wilmer Leon speaks with Dr. Pearl Ford about President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Plan.  Click here to listen to the latest exciting episode!

Insane Killer On the Loose: Why Was He on a Field Trip Anyway?

A legally insane killer was on the loose in the state of Washington on Saturday, two days after he escaped during a field trip to a county fair, authorities said.

Phillip Paul was able to elude a massive manhunt in Spokane County, Washington, after escaping on Thursday, a spokesman for the sheriff's department said.

Though Paul had been confined in a mental institution because of a murder confession, he was allowed to be part of a trip to a county fair Thursday.

Paul, 47, escaped from the fair around noon, which launched the massive manhunt and brought criticism from many, including state government officials. Sheriff's officials told CNN affiliate KREM-TV that Paul also escaped briefly in 1991 and assaulted a law enforcement officer.

A review has been launched on the incident along with the policy that allows patients to take trips, said Susan Dreyfus, secretary of the state's Department of Social and Health Services.

Dreyfus said she was concerned about Paul's escape and another recent brief escape by a patient at a different local mental facility.

"These incidents, separate and coincidental, have raised serious questions about the security readiness of our two state psychiatric hospitals," Dreyfus said.

Click to read.

Tavis Smiley Under a Microscope

Did Tavis Smiley help Wells Fargo herd black people into subprime loans? Yes, according to information contained in a lawsuit filed recently by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The suit alleges that Smiley was the hook used to draw in potential customers for subprime mortgages.
You might be familiar with the "Wealth Building" seminars that Wells Fargo conducted beginning in the year 2000. Smiley was the headline speaker at these events, held in Baltimore; Chicago; Richmond, Va.; and San Francisco. The seminars were advertised aggressively in black media and aimed directly at black communities. They were a huge success. Often, standing room only audiences would hear Smiley speak about how he mostly disliked banks while strongly urging attendees to invest in real estate as a sound strategy to build wealth. ...

Click to read.

Christopher Metzler, JD: Is the Obama Presidency in Trouble?

By Christopher Metzler

President Obama’s presidency is in peril for two primary reasons. The first, his inability to be a transformational leader to an American public hungry for it is of his own making. The second, the thinly veiled demonstration of racism unskillfully disguised as “concern for country” is both to be expected and not of his own making. 

First, President Obama came into to office promising “change that we can believe in.” However, on the signature issue of change, health care reform, he has not led; choosing instead to send a litany of mixed messages as to whether  he would turn the Byzantine labyrinth that is the American health care system on its head. A transformational leader takes bold, decisive, innovative action if he or she believes that it is right for the country. Thus far, on health care, the President has not demonstrated transformational leadership; he has pledged fidelity to the status quo.

Click to read more.

ObamaCare: Is it Constitutional?

Washington Post Commentary: Illegal Health Reform

By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey

Saturday, August 22, 2009

President Obama has called for a serious and reasoned debate about his plans to overhaul the health-care system. Any such debate must include the question of whether it is constitutional for the federal government to adopt and implement the president's proposals. Consider one element known as the "individual mandate," which would require every American to have health insurance, if not through an employer then by individual purchase. This requirement would particularly affect young adults, who often choose to save the expense and go without coverage. Without the young to subsidize the old, a comprehensive national health system will not work. But can Congress require every American to buy health insurance?

In short, no. The Constitution assigns only limited, enumerated powers to Congress and none, including the power to regulate interstate commerce or to impose taxes, would support a federal mandate requiring anyone who is otherwise without health insurance to buy it.

Although the Supreme Court has interpreted Congress's commerce power expansively, this type of mandate would not pass muster even under the most aggressive commerce clause cases. In Wickard v. Filburn (1942), the court upheld a federal law regulating the national wheat markets. The law was drawn so broadly that wheat grown for consumption on individual farms also was regulated. Even though this rule reached purely local (rather than interstate) activity, the court reasoned that the consumption of homegrown wheat by individual farms would, in the aggregate, have a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce, and so was within Congress's reach.

The court reaffirmed this rationale in 2005 in Gonzales v. Raich, when it validated Congress's authority to regulate the home cultivation of marijuana for personal use. In doing so, however, the justices emphasized that -- as in the wheat case -- "the activities regulated by the [Controlled Substances Act] are quintessentially economic." That simply would not be true with regard to an individual health insurance mandate.

The otherwise uninsured would be required to buy coverage, not because they were even tangentially engaged in the "production, distribution or consumption of commodities," but for no other reason than that people without health insurance exist. The federal government does not have the power to regulate Americans simply because they are there. Significantly, in two key cases, United States v. Lopez (1995) and United States v. Morrison (2000), the Supreme Court specifically rejected the proposition that the commerce clause allowed Congress to regulate noneconomic activities merely because, through a chain of causal effects, they might have an economic impact. These decisions reflect judicial recognition that the commerce clause is not infinitely elastic and that, by enumerating its powers, the framers denied Congress the type of general police power that is freely exercised by the states.

This leaves mandate supporters with few palatable options. Congress could attempt to condition some federal benefit on the acquisition of insurance. States, for example, usually condition issuance of a car registration on proof of automobile insurance, or on a sizable payment into an uninsured motorist fund. Even this, however, cannot achieve universal health coverage. No federal program or entitlement applies to the entire population, and it is difficult to conceive of a "benefit" that some part of the population would not choose to eschew.

To continue reading, following the link below:

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103033.html

The President Gets Tough with Wall Street

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

The president recently gave an interesting address to Wall Street on the anniversary of the start of the financial crisis which began last year (and also got him elected). One year ago, the fall of Lehman Brothers left the nation scrambling to find ways to secure critical liquidity to a financial market that was on the brink of devastation.
In his speech, the president wasn't nice. He received applause from the audience only one time, so they don't like him as much as black people do. What's also clear is that he's not President Bush: Wall Street doesn't want Barack Obama to be president, but he is exactly what they need right now.Our banking system is ranked 108th in the world in terms of stability, behind Tanzania. What's even more frightening is that while being incredibly reckless, our banking system is the most powerful in the world, driving the strongest economy on earth. We can't afford to be silly or irresponsible.
The president focused his conversation around three key adjustments:

Click to read more.

NFL Star Merriman Arrested for Choking Tila Tequila

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Chargers star outside linebacker Shawne Merriman was arrested Sunday and accused of choking and restraining his girlfriend, reality TV star Tila Tequila, as she tried to leave his suburban home.

Tequila, 27, signed a citizen's arrest warrant, charging Merriman with battery and false imprisonment, San Diego County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Steadman said.

Both are felonies.

Deputies responded about 3:45 a.m. to Merriman's house in Poway, north of San Diego, after a woman called to say she was choked by the player and thrown to the ground when she tried to leave, Sheriff's Department spokesman Jan Caldwell said at a news conference.
Merriman's attorney, Todd Macaluso, disputed Tequila's story and said he's confident Merriman won't be charged by the District Attorney's Office.

"There was absolutely no wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Merriman," Macaluso told The Associated Press by phone. "He essentially was doing what was appropriate under the circumstances in trying to protect the safety of Miss Tequila. There were numerous eyewitnesses that will support his version of the events that transpired at his home."

To read more, view link below:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,547200,00.html

OBAMA PRESSURED BY BLACKS OVER GAY MARRIAGE

By Leland C. Abraham, Esq.

Groups calling themselves the Coalition against Gay Marriage have sent a letter to President Barack Obama warning him that he may lose a significant percentage of his black supporters if he endorses marriage between same sex couples. The coalition includes the veteran civil rights group Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), concerned pastors and other religious organizations. The group seems to be particularly worried about President Obama’s intentions concerning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

DOMA was a federal law that was enacted in 1996. There are two main portions of the law. The first part states that no state in the union shall treat a relationship between parties of the same-sex as a marriage. See 1 U.S.C. §7 and 28 U.S.C. §1738C. The Second part states that the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. At the time of its passing, it was feared that Hawaii would allow same-sex marriages by either legislation or judicial recognition. At the time, there was a fear that if same sex couples were married in Hawaii, those marriages would be recognized in the various states of the union. Currently there are three states, Vermont, Massachusetts and Iowa, that recognize same sex marriage. There are three other states, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire that have passed but not implemented legislation to join the list. Some 28 states have enacted amendments to their state constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage and another twenty states have enacted statutory DOMAs.

President Obama’s political platform included full repeal of DOMA. This engendered support for him in the Gay and Lesbian community. However, on June 12, 2009, the Department of Justice issued a brief in which it defended the constitutionality of DOMA in the case Smelt v. United States of America. This signaled a departure from the campaign promise of the Obama administration. While the administration has taken this stance on DOMA, the administration has been pressured by many gay rights groups to repeal the measure.

The question remains how effective the coalition can be. Most major civil rights organizations either support the gay rights agenda or have remained officially neutral. While opponents to DOMA argue that the measure violates the Due Process clause and the Equal Protection clause of the constitution, supporters argue that DOMA is constitutionally sound and that it is a legitimate exercise of Congressional power under the Full Faith and Credit Clause and that is does not violate either the Due Process clause or the Equal Protection clause of the US Constitution. Challenges to DOMAs constitutionality have made its way to the US Supreme Court. So far, the Court has refused to hear those challenges.

So far, President Obama has not softened the administration’s stance on DOMA. If the administration does relent on its current view of DOMA, it will be interesting to see how the coalition will voice its opposition.

Legal Disclaimer: This site provides information about the law designed to keep readers informed of pertinent legal matters affecting the African-American community. But legal information is not the same as legal advice -- the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer in your specific location if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.

Black Business Law Scholar Accuses University of Memphis of Tokenism – Is this a Nation-wide Problem?

An Open Letter to the Shelby County Legislative Delegation
With Regards to the 1960's Style of Black Tokenism
Practiced at the University of   Memphis Under
Joyce Raines and Ralph Faudree

To the Legislative Delegation:

This letter is addressed to you as representatives of the taxpayers of the state of Tennessee who contribute a substantial portion of the operating budget of the University of Memphis,  as trustees of state businesses who donate substantial funds to the University, and as  guardians of our students who pay tuition to the University. This letter  concerns  the operation of the University under the current President Shirley Raines and Provost Ralph Faudree, particularly with regards to none foreign born black faculty and graduate students at the University of Memphis.

While most major universities are aggressively trying to recruit, retain,  and promote qualified black faculty and graduate students, the University of Memphis,  under this  current administration, appears to operate under a 1960s form of tokenism, of marginalization, and of benign neglect of  those black  faculty members who have not been hand-picked by the administration for success, positions,  promotion, and salary, as well as an apparent lack of interest in black Phd candidates.

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Fenorris Pearson, The Consummate Executive

 

Special to YourBlackWorld.com 

When asked why he decided to go against the grain, and not be just another business executive climbing the corporate ladder without a value system, Fenorris Pearson responds, “It’s the way I was taught, and I want my sons to understand how to really play the game at the top.”

Pearson is an entrepreneur, innovator and human capital expert, and currently serves as CEO of Global Consumer Innovation, Inc. As former As Vice-President of Global Consumer Innovation and Global Capability Group for Dell, Fenorris managed over 400 employees globally located in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Through his vast corporate knowledge and experience, Pearson is reshaping the face of corporate America through teaching executives leadership development, enhancement, and skill capability. This philosophy is known as The Consummate Executive.

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AP: Chris Brown sentenced in Rihanna assault case

AP, Aug 25, 2009 6:19 pm PDT

A judge on Tuesday sentenced Chris Brown to five years' probation, six months' community labor for the beating of Rihanna and ordered the R&B singer to stay away from his former girlfriend for the next five years.Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg told Brown that he could be sent to state prison if he violated any terms of his sentence, including an order to stay 100 yards away from Rihanna unless they're attending music industry events.

A probation report prepared for Tuesday's sentencing describes two previous violent incidents. The first happened about three months before the February beating while the couple was traveling in Europe; Rihanna slapped Brown during an argument, and he shoved her into a wall. In the second instance, Brown allegedly broke the front and passenger side windows on a Range Rover they were driving while visiting Barbados, Rihanna 's home country. Neither attack was reported, the probation report states.
Brown will serve his sentence in his home state — Virginia — and his community labor will be overseen by the police chief in Richmond.

The judge said she wanted to ensure that Brown, 20, performs physical labor instead of community service, such as mentoring young people. He will also undergo a year of domestic violence counseling.

To read more, follow link: http://new.music.yahoo.com/chris-brown/news/chris-brown-sentenced-in-rihanna-assault-case--61987985

Shocker: Autopsy Says Michael Jackson’s Doctor Killed Him

Singer Michael Jackson had lethal levels of the drug propofol in his blood when he died, according to court documents.

A search warrant filed in court showed toxicology reports found propofol in Michael Jackson's body.

Los Angeles' coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran reached that preliminary conclusion after reviewing toxicology results carried out on Jackson's blood, according to an affidavit.

The drug Diprivan, known by its generic name propofol, is administered intravenously in operating rooms as a general anesthetic, the manufacturer AstraZeneca told CNN.

A source close to the investigation told CNN that Dr. Conrad Murray is believed to have administered the drug to Jackson within 24 hours of his death on June 25.

Investigators have searched Murray's home and clinics for evidence related to the anesthetic propofol, according to documents filed in court.

The drug works as a depressant on the central nervous system.

"It works on your brain," said Dr. Zeev Kain, the chair of the anesthesiology department at the University of California --Irvine. "It basically puts the entire brain to sleep."

 

 

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Career Advice: Playing the Game at the Top

 

by Fenorris Pearson

How is the game played at the top? How do you get there and, once there, how do you stay put? And how, in these trying times where jobs are hard to come by and competition is stiffer than ever, can you ever hope to achieve such lofty goals? These are not questions to ask at the end of a career but at the beginning; these are thoughts to have not upon reflection during your retirement dinner but before deciding to ask for that promotion, leapfrog to another successful company or capitalize on the success you’ve already experienced.

Before starting my own business I was Vice-President of Global Consumer Innovation for Dell, Inc., the 35^th largest corporation on the Fortune 100 list. Prior to joining Dell, Inc., I was Vice-President of Global Organizational Development for Motorola, Inc. Motorola, Inc. is a Fortune 50 global company with revenues over $40 billion. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on my journey to corporate success, it’s this: The rules are different at the top.

Actually, the rules are very different at the top; there is little slack and even less room for errors. Smart people like to work with smart people and don’t suffer fools gladly. When cutting edge technology, name players, new products and billions of dollars are on the line, there is no room for sleepwalkers, jokers or phoning it in. Top performers get to the top by bringing their A-game every time, but now even that isn’t enough.

Today, more than ever, with layoffs a predictable morning headline and gold-standard companies like Circuit City, Steak & Ale, Linens and Things and Sharper Image shutting their doors in 2008, if you’re not firing on all cylinders, you won’t get in the door, let alone into that corner office. Regardless of the tight economy, or perhaps, because of it, companies are still hiring; but only the best. Companies are still promoting but, again, only the best. If you are looking for that entry-level job you can have it; if you have already been working in corporate and want that big promotion you can get it – but not by coasting into position. Rewards come quickly and are still great, but you will have to come fully prepared to work at the top of your game; every day, every time. How?

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TWO TEEN BEATS AN OLD MAN

BALTIMORE, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Two teenagers and an adult were charged in the beating of a 76-year-old black man in Baltimore, an incident police said has racial overtones.

Charged as adults were Emmanuel Miller, 16, and Zachary Watson, 17, who, along with Calvin Lockner, 28, face charges of attempted murder, assault and harassing a person because of race or religion, CNN reported Friday.

The victim, James Privott, was in critical condition Thursday, but making progress, a Baltimore police spokeswoman said. Doctors told police he sustained a possible fractured eye orbital bone and had serious head trauma, court documents said.

Technorati Tags: teens,jail,baltimore,black gossip

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The Problem with Our Post-Racial America

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

In 1903 W.E.B. DuBois wrote in The Souls of Black Folk, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line, --the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.” In 1968 the Kerner Commission determined "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—-separate and unequal."

In 21^st Century so-called “post racial” America the problem is still race. African American’s like Derryl Jenkins are still being brutalized by the police in north Minneapolis, MN; shot in the back of the head while handcuffed like Oscar Grant in Oakland, CA; and mistaken for perpetrators and killed by fellow officers like Officer Omar Edwards in New York City.

Many questions still need to be answered about these latest tragedies. What leads these officers to perceive people of color as a threat? Why do the police feel the need to use excessive force first and ask questions later? This takes me to the continual discussion about racism (white supremacy), its perceptions, and emotional responses that people of color deal with all too often.

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Troy Davis Gets a Little Help

The United States Supreme Court has granted Troy Davis' request to postpone his execution in yet another attempt to clear his name and prove his innocence.

Davis is an inmate that was sentenced to death after the 1989 murder of a Savannah, GA police officer. Since his incarceration, Davis has gained international support behind his claims of innocence.

Justice John Paul Stevens ordered a federal judge to "receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at trial clearly establishes petitioner's innocence."

Among the supporters of the motion were Justices Ruth Bader and Stephen Breyer. The newest member of the high court Sonia Sotomayor, however, did not participate in the petition. "Brother" Clarence Thomas did however and was one of two judges that dissented their reasons for not taking another look at the case and going ahead and killing Davis.

In the last year or so, Davis' case has been quite turbulent, even being granted a stay of execution just two hours before he was to be put to death.

Despite the execution delay, Davis will continue to sit on death row, reports CNN.

Davis insists that he is innocent of the charges brought upon him in the murder of Officer Mark MacPhail. Witnesses claimed they saw Davis, then 19, and two other men harassing a homeless man in a Burger King parking lot when officer MacPhail arrived to the help the man. Witnesses identified Davis as the shooter claiming he shot MacPhail twice and fled on foot.

Since the 1991 conviction, however, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimonies. In addition to the witnesses reneging, no physical evidence was ever presented to the trial jury or court.

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How do you Sue Saddam?

In this episode of “On with Leon", Dr. Wilmer Leon speaks with the man who successfully sued Saddam Heussein. Click here to listen!

At What Point is Michael Vick Rehabilitated?

by Dr. Wilmer Leon

www.WilmerLeon.com

On December 10, 2007 suspended Atlanta Falcon’s quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for his role in a dog fighting ring. He was also found to have been involved in killing pit bulls that did not demonstrate sufficient fighting prowess.

Michael Vick, once one of the highest paid players in the NFL with a 10 year $130 million contract that provided him with an $11.4 million salary in 2006 and $6 million salary in 2007 made 12 cents an hour in his job at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. He filed for bankruptcy; claiming assets of $16 million and liabilities of $20.4 million. Vick is on the hook for judgments of $2.4 million to the Royal Bank of Canada and $1.1 million to Wachovia Bank, both because of loan defaults, and $4.5 million for a sports agent who sued him and won.

On July 20, 2009, after serving 18 months of his 23 month sentence, Michael Vick was released from Leavenworth Federal Prison. After having served his time, on August 13, 2009 signed a two year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Obama’s Lawyers Go Nuts over This Ad

The posters went up last week, 14 in Union Station. On each of the large displays, a thought bubble rises up from a picture of a beautiful 8-year-old: "President Obama's daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don't I?"

A Washington nonprofit that advocates nutrition-policy reform paid $20,000 to get its message across and carefully maneuvered Metro's tangle of regulations to display its posters. Metro gave it a go -- but the White House did not, according to the group. Within 24 hours of the signs' appearance, the White House asked thePhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to take down the ads, which feature Jasmine Messiah, a vegetarian who attends a Miami-Dade County public school that, she says, offers no vegetarian or vegan lunch options.

 

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Time to Shut Down some Prisons

• (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

by Rev. Al Sharpton

As the battle lines for health care reform are being drawn - and redrawn - a silent segment of the population is strategically left out of the conversation. It's a group of individuals who have been deemed enemies of society, and cast away behind iron bars to fend for themselves. In California's 33 prisons, healthcare is so inadequate that one unnecessary death takes place per week, as inmates are often stacked in triple bunk beds in hallways and gymnasiums. With nearly twice the number of prisoners than they were designed to hold, California prisons will have to reduce at least 40,000 prisoners in the next two years - and it's about time.

Federal judges just released a 184-page order demanding that California's inmate population be reduced by 27%, and gave the state 45 days to come up with a plan. In what they termed an "unconstitutional prison healthcare system", the three-judge panel concluded that disease was spreading rampantly and prisoner-on-prisoner violence was all but unavoidable. Forced to close a $26 billion dollar budget gap, California will now have to look at mechanisms to reducing its extensive prison spending, which in 2007 topped out at nearly $10 billion (approximately $49,000 for each inmate).

Whether it's for pure economic reasons or for an actual concern over the well being of prisoners, California will hopefully serve as an example for a reversal of the ever-growing prison industrial complex. A system that unfairly profiles and detains minorities, American jails produce a vicious cycle of recidivism and community breakdown. Last year, the Pew Center on the States released a scathing report stating that one in every 100 American adults was in jail, and that an astonishing one in 15 black adults was behind bars. According to government reports in 2007, there were three times as many blacks in jail than in college dorms, with Latinos not far behind at 2.7 times more behind bars than in secondary schooling.

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Can you get 2 years in prison for making the wrong song? This guy did

A Florida rapper is sentenced to two years in prison for a song called 'Kill Me a Cop' that he produced as a teenager.

Authorities say 20-year-old Antavio Johnson raps about killing two Lakeland, Fla., police officers in the tune, which cops found on MySpace while surfing for gang-related activity.

Johnson pleaded no contest to two counts ofcorruption by threat of a public servant and was sentenced to two years in prison last month. He was already in jail on a cocaine charge at the time. ...

Singing about killing a cop was not Johnson's first mistake. Pleading guilty and not hiring a lawyer were. Just ask Ice Cube and N.W.A., who sang '%#@* tha Police' as a form of police protest more than 20 years ago.

Back in 1988, N.W.A had everyone from the FBI to the Secret Service breathing down its neck and lawsuits galore. If someone could have figured out a way to charge the group with a crime, lock 'em up and throw away the key, I'm sure it would've happened.

 

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The Legal Benefits of Changing Our Drug Policy

by Dr. Byron Price, Texas Southern University

On his website, President Obama offers us a “seat at the table,” which is the equivalent of citizens offering policy prescriptions to his administration. This unprecedented effort to increase citizen participation in the policy making process has the added benefit of simultaneously empowering citizens in a way that our government has not done and has to be what the campaign meant by “change we can believe in.” The criticism of whom he has appointed misses the mark concerning what I believe his change mantra signifies. Since the president appears to be open to unsolicited advice, I offer the following criminal justice recommendations and justification for these suggestions.
President Obama and the 111th Congress should consider ending drug prohibition.
“Consider the consequences of drug prohibition today: 500,000 people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails for nonviolent drug-law violations; 1.8 million drug arrests last year; tens of billions of taxpayer dollars expended annually to fund a drug war that 76% of Americans say has failed; millions now marked for life as former drug felons; many thousands dying each year from drug overdoses that have more to do with prohibitionist policies than the drugs themselves, and tens of thousands more needlessly infected with AIDS and Hepatitis C because those same policies undermine and block responsible public-health policies.”

As the preceding paragraph illustrates, “The War on Drugs” has been a dismal failure and has gifted nonviolent African Americans offenders, especially males a permanent handicap—a lifetime of limited opportunities. The collateral consequences of a drug conviction which limit African Americans opportunities are:
The denial of financial aid and work study .
Felony Disenfranchisement.
Lifetime ban on cash benefits and food stamps.
Lifetime ban on public housing.
Termination of parental rights and ban from becoming adoptive or foster parents.
Remove the felony conviction question on applications of employment.

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News: Grand Jury Acquits Philly Police in Taped Beating

Philadelphia police officers involved in the videotaped beating of three suspects after a car chase won't be charged with crimes, according to a grand jury that found no excessive use of force.

The widely seen news footage of the violent police stop in May 2008 does not tell the whole story, District Attorney Lynne Abraham said Thursday.

Officers considered the shooting suspects armed and dangerous, and in keeping with department policy did not beat or kick them once they were handcuffed, she said.

The suspects — Pete Hopkins, Dwayne Dyches and Brian Hall — have since been acquitted of the triple shooting earlier that night for which police had pursued them.

 

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Black Politics: Sotomayor Confirmed

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who rose from the housing projects of the Bronx to the top of the legal profession, made history Thursday when the Senate confirmed her to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

Sonia Sotomayor, 55, will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor was easily confirmed in a 68-31 vote. Nine Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic caucus in supporting her nomination.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, supported Sotomayor but was not present for the vote because of illness.

Sotomayor, a 55-year-old federal appeals court judge, will be the 111th person to sit on the high court and the third female justice.

She will be sworn in at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday.

President Obama, who selected Sotomayor on May 26, said he was "deeply gratified" by the Senate vote.

"This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it's a wonderful day for America," Obama said at the White House. Watch Obama's remarks »

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Black News: President Barack Obama’s Approval Rating Drops

President Barack Obama’s approval rating is falling on concern unemployment is rising and the budget deficit will grow, a Quinnipiac University poll shows.

Exactly half of the registered voters surveyed from July 27 to Aug. 3 by Quinnipiac said they approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 42 percent who disapprove. That’s down from 57 percent approval and 33 percent disapproval in a poll taken in late June, according to results released today.

Americans are upset about rising unemployment and worried that health-care plans making their way through Congress will add to the U.S. budget deficit, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Hamden, Connecticut-based polling institute. The combination has helped drive down the president’s ratings.

 

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Rep William Jefferson Convicted

Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana was convicted Wednesday on 11 of the 16 corruption charges against him in a case that included the discovery of $90,000 in his freezer.

Former Rep. William Jefferson arrives at U.S. District Court with his wife, Andrea, on June 9.

A federal court jury convicted Jefferson on four bribery counts, three counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud and one count of racketeering. He was acquitted on five other counts including wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

Jefferson, a 62-year-old Democrat, was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 4, 2007, about two years after federal agents said they found the cash in his freezer. Authorities said the cash was part of a payment in marked bills from an FBI informant in a transaction captured on video.

Jefferson had pleaded not guilty. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 150 years in prison, with sentencing tentatively set for October 30.

After the verdict on the fifth day of jury deliberations, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis turned down a prosecution request for Jefferson to be taken into custody, ruling that he posed no flight risk.

The verdict showed that "no person, not even a congressman, is above the law," said U.S. Attorney Dana Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia. Asked what might have turned the case in the prosecution's favor, Boente said: "We always thought that a powerful piece of evidence in this case was $90,000 in a freezer."

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Where Should the National Discussion on Race Really Be?

By Leland C. Abraham, Esq.

The country has been mesmerized by the events in Cambridge, Massachusetts involving a distinguished Harvard professor, Henry Gates, and a police officer. According to reports, Gates had a rather heated exchange with the officer and he was subsequently arrested on the porch of his own home. The question immediately became, “If he were a white professor, would this have happened?” While it is a legitimate question, I am of the opinion that this is not the right case for the national discussion on race to ensue.

While I am not sure if the same incident would have happened if Professor Gates were white, I am quite certain that if he were not a Harvard professor the media would not have made it such a big story. There is clearly a problem between the black community, law enforcement and the legal system. A case more deserving of the national discussion on race is that of Walter Currie, Jr. Currie is a 15 year old high school student in Poplar Bluff, Missouri who had an altercation with two white students. On June 13 of this year, after an exchange with the two white students, Currie was doused with gasoline and the students set him on fire.

The two white students initially claimed self-defense. They were charged with assault and taken into custody. They were later released and as of the writing of this article, they were still free individuals. Walter is recovering from burns to most of his body from this horrific act. As if this were not enough, one of the white teenagers who perpetrated this act claimed that some months before this incident, Currie struck a relative of the white teenager in the face. While there was no police report taken at the time of this alleged incident, the police notified Currie and his family on July 6, that he will be arrested and charged with assault once he has completed his treatment.

There are many problems that I, as an attorney, have with this fact pattern. The first issue is that they are going to charge Currie with an incident that may or may not have happened some months ago without the aid of a police report or credible eyewitnesses. Currie denies having any part of striking someone in the face. The police then inform him of such news while he is recovering from an act that had he been white and the perpetrators been black, would have most certainly ended up with a charge of attempted murder. Not only that, but he is to be charged with assault. If you missed it before, that is the exact same charge as the white kids who doused him with gasoline and set him on fire were charged with. This means that you could potentially have a young man who may or may not have hit someone in the face and whose life was in extreme danger have the same punishment as the people who tried to kill him. When questioned by the parents of Currie, the prosecutor on the case said that he felt fully justified in this course of action.

Currie’s mother has stated several times that she doesn’t understand how there can be as much evil in the world as to set another human being on fire. While the world proves itself to be more evil than any of us could have imagined, it most certainly never crossed Mrs. Currie’s mind that the institution that is supposed to protect her son from such an act as this is seeking to give him the same punishment as those who tried to take his life for an incident in which there is no credible evidence of its occurrence.

While I am happy that the media has finally taken notice that there is a problem with law enforcement and the black community, the Gates incident is just not the right case to have the national discussion. While I am happy that president Obama engaged both parties in a “Beer Summit,” the country suffers because the media is fixated on that rather than on cases like Currie’s. I can only hope that now that Gates has the country’s attention, he would use the spotlight to shed some light on some of these cases of clear racial discrimination that the media is sleeping on.

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Dr Boyce Watkins Speaks on the Banana Eating Jungle Monkey Comment

Dr Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

I did some commentary on CNN last week about Justin Barrett, the cop who referred to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates as a "Banana eating jungle monkey" in an email. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that the officer is suing the city of Boston, claiming that they violated his civil rights.

As part of my assignment for media work I was doing on the topic, I read through the email by officer Barrett very carefully. The email was not written by a disciple of David Duke, a man with gallons of racism flowing through his veins. Rather, it was written by a man who seemed to hold a great deal of anger and resentment toward almost everyone. In one sentence, he was critiquing the grammar of the journalist who wrote the original Gates article. In the other, he was degrading Professor Gates in ways that a police officer should never degrade the citizens he/she is sworn to protect.

I am not angry with Barrett, I feel sorry for him. In fact, when it comes to Barrett, I offer the following thoughts:

1) There is the broader constitutional issue of whether or not Officer Barrett has a right to say what he said. We do have the First Amendment, and no one seems to clearly understand the great social price we must pay to uphold these rights. Personally, I feel that Barrett has the right to say whatever he wants, but revealing such bias while serving as a police officer becomes a completely different issue. At the same time, should it be ruled by a court that Barrett has the right to say what he says, then I would stand behind his rights as well. I guess if someone calls you a "banana eating jungle monkey," you should just say, "ya mama."

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Read the Jungle Monkey Letter

My FoxBoston.com posted the entire text of the letter written by Officer Justin Barrett, who referred to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates as a “Banana Eating Jungle Monkey".”

Dr. Wilmer Leon, Mack Jones and Robert Smith Analyze Obama’s Speech to the NAACP

 

Drs. Mack Jones, Robert Smith and Wilmer Leon do an in-depth analysis of President Obama’s speech to the NAACP.  Click here to listen!

News: Michael Jackson’s Mom Gets the kids

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's mother was given permanent custody of the singer's three children Monday.

Katherine Jackson has accused the executors of her son Michael's estate of "keeping her in the dark."

Katherine Jackson, was appointed permanent guardian of Michael's three children -- Michael Joseph "Prince Michael" Jackson Jr., Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael II (known as "Blanket") -- by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff.

A hearing is scheduled for October to look at some remaining issues.

Katherine Jackson was in the courtroom Monday with three of her children: Rebbie, Randy and LaToya.

An agreement last week between Katherine Jackson and Debbie Rowe, the mother of the two oldest children, cleared the way for an uncontested custody hearing.

Rowe, who was briefly married to Michael Jackson, agreed not to fight for custody in exchange for visits with the children as recommended by a psychologist.

The agreement does not involve any financial payments to Rowe "apart from the continuation of spousal support payments" that Michael Jackson personally agreed to make to Rowe after their divorce, their lawyers said in a joint statement.

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Your Black News: Dr Boyce Watkins explains the meaning of “consumer confidence”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Beyonce has a song about how she loves men with "big egos." This might imply that she likes men with confidence. Confidence matters a great deal in terms of male/female attraction, but believe it or not, it actually impacts our economy. Every month, the University of Michigan measures consumer confidence, to determine if Americans are willing to spend money and how they feel about their current and future economic security.

But you might ask, "Why would I care about confidence, since it's only psychological and imaginary?" Good question. Actually, confidence is a psychological phenomenon which leads to very real impacts on our choices and behavior. A confident man who asks out every girl he meets will probably have more mating opportunities than a good looking guy who doesn't open his mouth. A confident consumer is someone who feels good about his/her economic situation and therefore decides to spend money, which is always good for the economy. Confident companies make investments and hire new employees, but insecure companies put projects on hold and don't hire anyone. Confident banks make loans, but nervous banks hold onto their capital, thus slowing down economic growth for the nation.

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Boyce Watkins: College Athletes Should Be Paid

 

 

The NCAA, which is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 'educational' organization, has come under fire recently for capitalizing on the commercialization of college sports. Many athletes have accused the organization of unfairly using them for financial gain.

Since 1995, the NCAA has spent more than $84 million on legal fees, including some settlements. Former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon filed a lawsuit on July 21 against the NCAA and its member schools, accusing them of illegally profiting from using the likeness of former players for commercial pursuits like video games, DVDs, and jersey sales.

Dr. Boyce Watkins, a finance professor at Syracuse University, has become a vocal critic of the NCAA, for what he calls its exploitation of the black community.

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Legal Action Filed Against AKA President

Members of the country's oldest black sorority are suing to remove their president, alleging that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of the group's money on herself — some of it to pay for a wax statue in her own likeness.

In the suit filed in Washington, D.C., the Alpha Kappa Alpha members also alleged that international President Barbara McKinzie bought designer clothing, jewelry and lingerie with the sorority credit card. She then redeemed points the purchases earned on the card to buy a big-screen television and gym equipment, the lawsuit said.

"This is extraordinarily shocking if not illegal conduct," Edward W. Gray Jr., an attorney representing the plaintiffs suing the Chicago-based sorority, said Wednesday.

McKinzie denied what she called the lawsuit's "malicious allegations," saying they were "based on mischaracterizations and fabrications ... not befitting our ideals of sisterhood, ethics and service," according to a statement issued this week by the sorority.

The lawsuit also accused the sorority's board of directors of signing off on spending funds on McKinzie without the required approval by the group's membership. For example, the lawsuit says the board approved a monthly "pension stipend" of $4,000 for four years after she leaves office and purchased a $1 million life insurance policy for her. The suit demands McKinzie be fired and return money to the sorority.

 

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News - Listen up: The Police Dispatch on the Gates Case

Just out.  Listen to the audio from the 911 call on Henry Louis Gates’ Arrest by clicking here.

Huh? Parents blame 8-year old Child for her Rape

Just when you think you've heard all there is to hear about the horrors of child abuse and neglect in this country, there's this horrifying report: An eight-year-old girl is allegedly gang-raped by four boys -- one of them her cousin -- and then rejected by her parents for shaming them.
You heard me.

The victim hails from a Liberian enclave in Arizona, and all of the children involved are refugees. Her 23-year-old sister, who was supposedly babysitting when four boys attacked the youngster in a storage shed (pictured), told KTVK in Arizona, "She always bring trouble...I came to her and said it's not good for you to be following guys because you are still little." If the girl, who is now in foster care, were to come home, her sister says she would be scolded. "She's just bringing confusions among us," she said.

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Black News: Dr Boyce Watkins, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on the radio tomorrow

 

Tomorrow morning, July 26, 2009 at 8:30 am EST, Dr Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University will appear on the Jesse Jackson Show with Rev. Al Sharpton and Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree.  The conversation will center around the recent arrest of  Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates.  For affiliate information, please visit www.KeepHopeAliveRadio.com

Time: The Gates Case: When Disorderly Conduct is a Cop's Judgment Call

"I read over this article and I think it gives an excellent explanation of what the misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct is all about" Syreeta L. McNeal, CPA, JD

By Bonnie Rochman

Time.com

Saturday, Jul. 25, 2009

In law enforcement, there are few situations that are clear cut, and disorderly conduct is one of the fuzziest. As Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. now knows all too well, the misdemeanor charge can be used to corral people who are simply uncooperative or rude. State statutes are designed to help police officers maintain authority, and they are so broadly worded that divining what constitutes disorderly conduct is left up to the discretion of individual officers. "It's probably the most abused statute in America," says Eugene O'Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a good chunk of disorderly conduct charges end up being dropped, as happened in the case against Gates, who was arrested on his porch July 16 after yelling at the officer who responded to a report of a possible break-in at the Harvard scholar's home in Cambridge, Mass. Gates, who is black, accused Sgt. James Crowley, who is white, of being a racist and also cast aspersions about the cop's "mama". "Mr. Gates was given plenty of opportunities to stop what he was doing. He didn't. He acted very irrational. He controlled the outcome of that event," Crowley told WBZ Radio in Boston on Thursday.

Talking trash by itself isn't a punishable offense — unless, it seems, you draw a crowd while doing it, which is part of the allegation against Gates. That's why in the wake of the Gates incident, cops are holding firm on the need for lots of latitude in issuing disorderly conduct charges. President Barack Obama, who said earlier this week that Cambridge police had "acted stupidly," called Crowley Friday to make nice, though he stopped short of issuing the apology that Massachusetts police unions sought and maintained that he still thought "there was an overreaction."

"Disorderly conduct is a fluid concept," says Tom Nolan, a criminal justice professor at Boston University who spent 27 years in uniform at the Boston Police Department. "Unlike a lot of other crimes, this really calls for the use of discretion in a way that armed robbery or more serious felony crime doesn't. The less serious a crime, the more officer discretion you use," he says, adding "discretion is judgment that we hope is based on wisdom, experience and training."

Disorderly conduct has its roots in the mid-19th century, when police officers needed a way to quell street brawls that erupted frequently between recent immigrants and already established residents, often regarding labor issues. Crowds would gather and cops needed to restore order in public places. According to the Cambridge police report, Gates exhibited "loud and tumultuous behavior, in a public place" that "caused citizens passing by this location to stop and take notice while appearing surprised and alarmed."

The issue of whether or not Gates — first in his home and later on his front porch — was in a public place has sparked plenty of debate, including in the blogosphere. Crowley's account of the incident included the detail that "at least seven" passers-by had stopped to rubberneck. Sam Goldberg, author of Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, thinks the report includes that detail in order to bolster the case that this altercation was playing out publicly. "It's as if he was saying, 'Look, he was really causing a disturbance,'" says Goldberg, a criminal defense attorney at the Cambridge-based firm of Altman & Altman.

Jon Shane, who spent 17 years as a police officer in hardscrabble Newark, N.J., said that had he been the cop called to Gates' house, he would have left Gates and his huffy comments alone once he was sure Gates was the homeowner. He admits he may well have been offended by the professor's alleged bluster, but that's just part of the job, so much so that there's a term in police vernacular devoted to situations like this: contempt of cop.

"In contempt of court, you get loud and abusive in a courtroom, and it's against the law," says Shane, now a professor of criminal justice at John Jay who specializes in police policy and practice. "With contempt of cop, you get loud and nasty and show scorn for a law enforcement officer, but a police officer can't go out and lock you up for disorderly conduct because you were disrespectful toward them." The First Amendment allows you to say pretty much anything to the police. "You could tell them to go f--k themselves," says Shane, "and that's fine."

Like Shane, there are plenty of cops and ex-cops who think Gates' behavior didn't warrant the disorderly conduct charge, and there are those, like Nolan, who feel it did.

"Police pride themselves on resolving issues, and 99% of the time it occurs without arrests happening," says Nolan. "You are not going to win any accolades bringing in anyone for a street disturbance. It's a waste of time because in order to bring this situation to a conclusion, you've got hours of paperwork ahead of you."

"You do it because you have no other tool at your disposal," he says of disorderly conduct.

"There really isn't any other choice."

Source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1912777,00.html

Female minority lawyers don't stay at U.S. firms

BY FRANCINE KNOWLES fknowles@suntimes.com
Chicago Sun-Times

A study has found that more than 75 percent of female minority attorneys at U.S. law firms will leave their jobs within five years due to continuing barriers to advancement. The finding is by the women's research group Catalyst, which notes the barriers bring with them big costs.

"Those who leave often report experiencing institutional discrimination and unwanted and or unfair critical attention, which combine to create an exclusionary and challenging workplace," the report said.

When a lawyer leaves a firm, the cost to the employer is equal to or greater than that person's annual salary and benefits, Catalyst said, citing a previous study it did.

The report looked at the workplace experiences of minority women, compared with those of men of color and white women and men. Challenges unique to women of color include limited growth opportunities and a greater sense of "outsider status," racial and gender stereotyping and more feelings of sexism in the workplace compared with white women; lack of access to high-profile client assignments and important client engagements, and missed opportunities for candid feedback, the report said.

The findings come as firms focus on associate satisfaction and retention and address diversity issues while facing a client base and talent pool composed of more women and minorities, Catalyst said.

The report found stark differences between groups of minority women in their perceptions of workplace culture and diversity.

Black women were more likely to believe diversity programs don't address workplace biases and feel that partners and other supervising attorneys get insufficient training on how to work effectively with diverse cultures. They also cited a lack of access to challenging work assignments.

The report, whose sponsors included Sidley & Austin, said that to attract and retain women of color firms need to:

• Include senior leaders as active players in building and establishing inclusive workplaces.

• Raise awareness on the varying needs of different minority groups.

• Create opportunities for dialogue between firm leadership and female minority attorneys.

• Educate all attorneys, especially partners and other supervising attorneys on how to recognize bias and stereotyping of women of color.

• Monitor and track the career development of minority women and hold leaders accountable for their advancement.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/business/1678377,CST-NWS-women22.article

Dr Boyce Watkins: Don’t Feel Sorry for Henry Louis Gates: Be Intelligent

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

I am not Al Sharpton. In fact, I never could be and I don't want to try. I am also not Henry Louis Gates, a man with an undeniable contribution to the legacy of Black Scholarship in America. I am simply Boyce Watkins, the son of a 17-year-old mother and a father who happened to be a high-ranking police official for the past 28 years. I've argued with my father for decades, as his Bill Cosby-like views of the world have often made my face twist with confusion. But I listen to my father, because there is value in seeing other points of view.

When I hear about a Black man being mistreated by police, I take a moment of pause. I think about the horrific statistics on Black males in the criminal justice system, in which we are more likely to be arrested for the same crimes, more likely to be convicted, more likely to be incarcerated and expected to get more prison time than our White counterparts.

 

Click to read.

Harvard Prof Henry Louis Gates Arrested

Harvard University’s Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African & African American Studies, was arrested July 16 on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Gates, 58, a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Harvard’s main campus is located, was arrested after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a report on the Cambridge Police Department’s Web site. Cambridge police officials declined to comment and said the case was under investigation by Office of the Middlesex District Attorney. A call to the DA’s office wasn’t immediately returned.

 

Click to read.

Your Black News: Kids Invited Back To Swim

A suburban Philadelphia swim club has invited children from a largely minority day-care center to come back after a June reversal that fueled allegations of racism against the club, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

Some kids from the Creative Steps Day Care center say club members made racial remarks.

The development came during a hastily called Sunday afternoon meeting of the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. Club members voted overwhelmingly to try to work things out with the day-care center, which accused some swim club members of making racist comments to black and Hispanic children contracted to use the pool, said Bernice Duesler, the club director's wife.

Duesler said the club canceled its contract with the Creative Steps day-care because of safety, crowding and noise concerns, not racism.

"As long as we can work out safety issues, we'd like to have them back," she told CNN.

She said the club has been subpoenaed by the state Human Rights Commission, which has begun a fact-finding investigation, "and the legal advice was to try to get together with these camps, " Duesler added.

Alethea Wright, Creative Steps' director, said, "They should have done that before."

Click to read.

Your Black News: Marion Barry’s Complicated Life

Marion Barry, Washington's embattled city council member and former mayor, dodged another bullet last week when a District prosecutor declined to prosecute him on charges of stalking his ex-girlfriend. Barry was arrested and briefly detained by U.S. Park Service police July 4th after the woman, 40-year-old Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, complained that he was "bothering" her.

But Mr. Barry may not be completely out of the woods yet. The controversy kicked up by his arrest led reporters to dig out the fact that Mr. Barry had put Ms. Watts-Brighthaupt on his payroll by awarding her a $60,000 contract to study "poverty reduction," to be paid out of taxpayer dollars. That proved too much for current D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and others, who demanded the city council open an ethics probe of Mr. Barry. On Friday, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray announced the council would hire an independent law firm to look into the matter.

 

Click to read.

A Boarding School for Black Boys – Can They Get the Money?

Kentucky State University could open a boarding school aimed at preparing African American males for college as soon as 2010, according to President Mary Sias.

High school students would live in campus dorms, with their own teachers and an on-site principal. They would have access to KSU facilities and dual credit courses, bridging them into college life.

The plan is part of an effort to increase the number of black men who earn postsecondary degrees, Sias told The State Journal.

“We believe it’s a good way to save those students, and actually stop many black males from dropping out,” she said.

 

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Black People, The Supreme Court, and Our Rights

Elliot Millner, J.D.

The United States Supreme Court recently made a number of decisions that continued this conservative-leaning courts pattern of taking a jackhammer to the barriers put in place in order to protect the rights of people historically susceptible to discriminatory and oppressive conduct, which definitely includes Black people.

The most recent decision resulted from a case involving a group of white firefighters in New Haven, CT, who alleged that the city of New Haven was guilty of "reverse discrimination" for refusing to continue using a promotion exam that showed a clear disparate impact on Black and Hispanic firefighters(If the exam had been used, 17 whites, 2 Hispanics, and 0 Blacks would have been promoted). The court, in a 5-4 decision, sided with the white firefighters, stating that the city of New Haven's "fear of litigation" was not enough of a reason to not use the exam, nor was the disparate impact alone sufficient reason. The court gave a new standard requiring a "strong basis of evidence" to show that the city may be liable for disparate impact on a protected group, instead of the previous "good faith basis" that had been applied in previous cases. Although the court did not give a rule as to what constitutes a strong-basis of evidence, it can be easily concluded that the result of this decision will be to make it more difficult to prove claims of disparate impact regarding the use of promotional exams, both in public and private employment.

Combine this decision with the courts decision in a recent age-discrimination case, and a decision by the court blocking the right of potentially innocent people to obtain post-conviction DNA testing in order to prove their innocence(a decision the Obama administration supported-another disturbing pattern), and what we have are clear warning flags that the rights of many people (Black people in particular) are in serious jeopardy.

It is an observed trend that when the economy is not doing well, employment discrimination claims rise. As Black people, many of us are also aware that we are often the first to suffer during times of economic hardship, and that we also generally feel the effects more than others. The saying "last hired, first fired" is not a myth, but a sad reality for many of us. When times get hard, employers are more likely to attempt to find reasons to get rid of employees. Most employers will do this in a legal and ethical manner(or so we hope). However, the reality is that many will not, and when they don't, they are far more likely to use those unjust methods of firing(or not promoting, or not hiring) against Black people.

The courts decisions are a continuation of its willful ignorance, and an example of how far from being a "post-race" society we really are. The court is simply a microcosm of the rest of white supremacist/white privileged society, which is using the election of a Black president as a sort of "get out of worrying about rights" card. Although most people who don't have their heads buried in the sand realize that racism(specifically institutional) and discrimination are still issues, and that most of this conduct is not done in a blatant manner, the Supreme Court continues to make it so that a person almost has to witness or hear the act of discrimination in order to be successful. It is highly doubtful that many people will be caught saying "I designed this test so that no Blacks would be promoted", or "I am not hiring that person because they are too old".

The court, and many others in America with self-serving motives, are strongly pushing the "post-race mythology". This includes numbers of Black people as well. It is easy for those who still occupy the majority of positions of power(and yes, white people do, regardless of who our president is) to argue that things are equal now, and that there need not be any more focus on the rights of those who have been historically oppressed. It is also easier for those Black people who have achieved some level of financial success to ignore the realities still faced by far too many of us. Those who have and are prospering from the status quo, have the least motivation to want to change it. This approach of promoting the myth of racial harmony and equality over the reality of continued racism and discrimination will only result in more harm for Black people in the long term. The impetus for challenging this drive to promote the illusion of racial equality must come from us.

We must be vocal and active in the face of this machine that is working to take us backwards in time. Allowing ourselves to be blinded by a Black face in the presidential office is the worst mistake we could make. That is not an attack on President Obama, it is a message to those "fans" who think they are doing him or us a favor by not challenging him(or other elected officials, or the courts) on issues that may have a great lasting impact on us.

The Firefighters Win their Suit

In a 5-to-4 decision, made along ideological lines, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the white firefighters in their racial discrimination case. This is a direct reversal of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor's previous decision and is sure to be an extended topic of discussion during her upcoming confirmation hearings.

I've always been wary of the way the city of New Haven handled the results of its now infamous firefighter promotion test. It never made sense to me. When test results came back, and no black firefighters had scores high enough for immediate promotion, New Haven decided to throw out the results of the test on the grounds that the test itself may have been discriminatory and that the black firefighters might sue the city for discrimination. New Haven was not being altruistic in its concerns about "racial fairness."

Click to read.

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Bernie Madoff Gets 150 years in Prison

I guess crime doesn’t pay.  Bernard Madoff, the billionaire who bilked investors out of billions of dollars the largest Ponzi Scheme in American history was just sentenced to 150 years in prison.

 

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ACLU To Deal with Michigan’s Expulsion of Black Children

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Schools are not using enough discretion under Michigan's zero-tolerance expulsion law and are disproportionately kicking out black students who ultimately end up behind bars, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The study by the ACLU of Michigan was released Wednesday. It identifies a school-to-prison pipeline it says has been created by suspension policies, cultural stereotypes, referrals to law enforcement for school fights and factors such as not requiring expelled students to get an alternative education.

Michigan's 1995 zero-tolerance law requires an expulsion for possessing any "dangerous weapon," and the ACLU says it is broader than required by federal law. The ACLU wants state law to be eased so only firearms possession is subject to mandatory expulsion.

The ACLU's report says students were disciplined for bringing a toy gun, novelty lighter and eyebrow archer to school.

 

Click to read.

Supreme Court Rules that DNA Testing is Not a Right for Criminal Defendants

William Osborne

By Leland C. Abraham, Esq.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, turned down an Alaska man’s request for DNA testing. Many have argued that the Supreme Court committed a grave disservice to the cause of justice.

William Osborne was convicted of raping and nearly killing a prostitute in Anchorage, Alaska in 1993. The DNA testing at the time concluded that Osborne could have been among the 15-16% of the African-American community who could have committed the crime. This level of uncertainty is likely not to have held up in a modern court case. More unnerving is that his lawyer is reported to have advised him against seeking a better DNA test.

In the decision, the justices did not reject Osborne’s claim on the merits of his case, but rather they rejected it because they stated that it was not their jobs. Herein lies a problem with how the Supreme Court is interpreted. The function of the Supreme Court is not to make the laws, but it is to interpret the law. Thus, because the Supreme Court is not a rule-making body, it does not have the authority to declare that an inmate has a Constitutional right to DNA testing, no matter how grave the injustice. In response to this case, Chief Justice John Roberts stated, “The elected governments of the States are actively confronting the challenges DNA technology poses. . . . To suddenly constitutionalize this area would short-circuit what looks to be a prompt and considered legislative response.” The rule making authority has been left to legislatures.

What makes this case so unique is that the denial of DNA testing is usually premised on the fact that DNA testing is so expensive. Generally, DNA tests costs thousands of dollars to conduct and the state usually does not have an abundance of money to expend on every request for a DNA test. However, that is not the case for Mr. Osborne. The reports are that he offered to pay for his own test, so money would not have been a factor for the Alaska Courts to consider. This may just be an Alaskan practice. Although DNA testing has freed over 240 inmates across the nation, Alaska has not granted a single DNA review for a convicted inmate according to the four dissenting justices. One of the dissenters, Justice John Stevens said, “When absolute proof of innocence is readily at hand, a State should not shrink from the possibility that error may have occurred.” Herein lies the confusion of the Court’s decision. While it is recognized that the Supreme Court does not have rule-making capabilities, it is a court of review. The statements by Justice Stevens clearly indicate an affront to Mr. Osborne’s right to Due Process. This alone would have given the Supreme Court jurisdiction to determine whether Mr. Osborne was denied Due Process of law by lacking proper access to the DNA technology. This would take the matter out of the state court jurisdiction and put it right where it should have been, the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court decided that it did not have authority to rule on the matter which appears to be a misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s authority.

Most states provide for post-conviction DNA testing. In the few that do not, the inmate is out of luck in proving his innocence. In review of Alaska’s practice, Justice John Roberts acknowledged that most states had post-conviction access to DNA technology and because those states had it, he saw “nothing inadequate” concerning Alaska’s procedure. Alaska may not have cared that it subverted the Constitutional rights of an American citizen, but it is surprising that the US Supreme Court may have cared even less.

Legal Disclaimer: This site provides information about the law designed to keep readers informed of pertinent legal matters affecting the African-American community. But legal information is not the same as legal advice -- the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer in your specific location if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.

Black People and the Police: Should There Be Any Trust?

By Elliot Millner, J.D.

In the past several weeks, there have been numerous incidents involving the police and Black people, that have resulted in serious injury and death on both sides. This includes several recent incidents in Oakland, California; in Seattle, a 15-year old girl brutally beaten for being mouthy and kicking a shoe; an off-duty Black New York police officer being gunned down by a white officer; and other incidents in places around the country.

These are some of the most recent and extreme examples of a problem that, in one form or another, spans the length of U.S. history. The reality is that police forces, in varying forms, have been traditionally used as a tool to preserve and promote white supremacy, and to keep Blacks (particularly those in impoverished communities) "in their place". The idea of "protecting and serving" as it relates to policing, had as its root and initial goal the same objective as most other laws and statutes enacted in this country: To protect the interests of property-owning white males. There are few areas in the United States(if any) where the police in some form or fashion have not actively participated in violating the rights of Black people, utilizing any methods deemed necessary, including murder. Although some things have changed, it is naive (to say the least) to think that the legacy upon which the idea of policing was built in this country(white supremacy and Black oppression) has been erased from its method of operation.

Very often there is only outrage shown when an extreme incident takes place(such as some of those stated earlier). However, despite a spike in the number of documented and observable incidents of police brutality(thanks to youtube and various other sites), the reaction of many to these acts of brutality has become more indifference than anger. The increased ease with which we can see a person being beaten or harassed by police seems to have desensitized many of us to the injustice involved. This is extremely unfortunate for all of us, but particular for those Black people who live in neighborhoods oversaturated with police officers, which increases their likelihood of becoming the next youtube sensation(for all the wrong reasons).

Like most things, the issue of police misconduct as it relates to Black people does not operate in a vacuum, and it is not one-sided. Are there criminals in Black communities? Absolutely, just like there are in almost all communities. Do they need to be held accountable for their actions? Yes they do(we can debate what type of accountability and how harsh, but that's another issue altogether). Do the majority of police officers go out with the conscious goal of harassing Black people and/or brutalizing them? I'll say no to that one(although far too many seem to have that mindset). However, the next question is the one that most avoid and refuse to ask or seek an answer to(especially those who believe the fantasy that we live in a "post-racial" society): Is the American method of policing(not necessarily individual police officers) white supremacist/racist at its root, and in need of a complete restructuring? I say yes, and history(including the very recent past) bears witness to this.

I realize that many of us were raised to respect authority. That is all fine and good. However, it is imperative that police, given their position, show respect to the citizens in the communities that they serve. In many instances they do, but there are far too many situations where they don't, particularly in predominately Black communities. Also, the fact that most of the officers patrolling these communities do not live there only serves to increase the likelihood that they will be uncaring and disrespectful to the residents that they come in contact with.

We can no longer afford to have the attitude of "I'm just glad its not me" when it comes to acts of police misconduct. At the same time, it is not productive to simply scream "F*#@ the Police!" either. Furthermore, those of use who have moved to Suburbia or other areas where these issues are not so prevalent cannot rationalize the misconduct that takes place and the lack of accountability on the part of the police by following the lead of some and attempting to blame or criminalize entire communities of people. It is almost comical to see one of these "Well, if you're not doing anything wrong you don't have anything to worry about" people suddenly turn into Huey Newton when they are wrongly profiled, or are laying face down with a gun to their head for no valid reason.

One key result of regular negative interactions with police forces is the distrust and disdain for the police that is common amongst Black people, which results in incidents like the recent Oakland beating, where people who need to be held accountable may not be. The fear of testifying or "snitchin" is directly linked to the idea that the police cannot be trusted to protect a person when it counts, which is often the case.

The police are one part of a criminal justice system that is still demonstrably unjust in its dealings with Black people. This is not about hating individual police officers(My sister, whom I love dearly, is in law enforcement), it is about a way of doing things that is resulting in the absolute destruction of an entire segment of the Black population. 1 in 3 Black males between the ages of 20 and 29 is under some form of correctional supervision or control. (For more detailed statistics, check out www.hrw.org, and http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/welcome.html).

Police misconduct is not the only reason that every Black male in America is going to prison. There are aspects of this problem that we can and should deal with ourselves, in our communities. Although there are extreme problems in the criminal justice system, there are also problems in Black communities that contribute to this path of destruction (that will be another post). However, a large part of the problem is the disparate way in which the criminal justice system has and does treat Black people.

We must start at the most basic level first. Knowing what our rights are when interacting with the police is imperative. Document/report any negative interaction you have with a police officer(this can include contacting city council, mayor's office, or other representative, and even the press). Utilize the internet to spread the word or concern about a particular incident, including petitions if the situation calls for it.

In reality, there is a delusional segment of the population (possibly brainwashed by years of "tough on crime" propaganda) that will find a way to justify any act of police brutality, no matter how despicable. For everyone else, it is imperative to make it known ,through words and action, that this is a serious issue (even if this means addressing President Obama's continued silence on the matter). As stated before, many lives are at stake. You don't want to be the next face on that youtube screen.

People: Chris Brown gets probation, labor for Rihanna assault

By Tony HicksContra Costa Times
Posted: 06/22/2009 04:06:32 PM PDT

Chris Brown pleaded guilty Monday to count of felony assault on pop star Rihanna.
Brown entered his plea before a preliminary hearing was scheduled to start in Los Angeles on Monday. Rihanna had been on standby to testify.

After Brown left the courtroom, Rihanna was addressed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg, who explained to the Barbados-born singer that she had issued a stay-away order, requiring Brown and Rihanna stay at least 50 yards from each, except at industry events when the distance is reduced to 10 yards.

Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, said the plea deal includes five years of supervised probation and six months of community labor. Brown will be formally sentenced on Aug. 5.

Schnegg accepted Brown's plea, but specified the community service must entail hard labor, citing Caltrains cleaning or graffiti removal as an example. She said Brown likely will be allowed to do his community service in his home state of Virginia. He'll also be required to attend domestic violence classes.

Lawyers for Brown, 20, and Rihanna, 21, refused to discuss the status of the pair's relationship. Brown was arrested Feb. 8, after police say he hit and threatened Rihanna after leaving a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_12666987

Supreme Court narrows but preserves Voting Rights Act

The justices leave Section 5 safeguards intact while allowing municipalities with a clean record to 'bail out.' Clarence Thomas dissents, saying he would strike down the provision.

By David G. Savage June 23, 2009
LaTimes.com

Reporting from Washington -- The historic Voting Rights Act -- the 1965 law that ended a century of racial discrimination at the ballot box and gave blacks a political voice across the South -- survived a strong challenge at the Supreme Court on Monday as justices pulled back from a widely anticipated decision to strike down a key part of the law as outdated and unfair to today's South.Instead, the justices agreed to narrow the law's impact by allowing municipalities with a clean record to seek an exemption.

Though the court sided with the Texas water district that brought the case, its 8-1 decision preserved the core of the Voting Rights Act, including its special scrutiny for any changes in election rules by Southern states.The ruling also protected the Roberts court from charges of conservative "judicial activism" in its refusal to tamper with an act of Congress, a often sensitive procedure fraught with political risk.Monday's decision, considered among the most important of the term, came as a surprise and a relief to civil rights advocates.

"This is a Pyrrhic victory for those who were behind bringing this case," said Jon Greenbaum, legal director for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "We are glad that . . . the Voting Rights Act remains intact to protect the rights of voters."Civil rights lawyers and liberal activists were prepared to denounce Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the court's conservatives had they struck down one of the landmark laws of the civil rights era.Three years ago, Congress by overwhelming majorities in the Senate and House extended the law for an additional 25 years. President George W. Bush signed the bill extending the law.

But in January, the court voted to hear a broad challenge. Civil rights advocates were astonished during the oral argument in April when the court's most conservative justices derided the law and signaled they were inclined to throw it out.Without question, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is an unusual provision. Its effect has been to keep the South under special scrutiny from Washington because of its history of racism.

The law requires most states in the South and more than 12,000 municipalities to "pre-clear" with the Justice Department any changes in their voting and election procedures. These can range from the location of polling places to the shape of electoral districts in the state legislatures. Its original aim was to prevent county officials from adopting schemes such as shifting the hours and places for voter registration to keep blacks off the voter rolls.It has had an enormous impact in its nearly 45-year history, opening the polls to millions of black voters.

"This law has an extremely important symbolic effect even today," said Paul Hancock, who was a veteran Justice Department lawyer and defender of the Voting Rights Act. It forces states and counties to think twice before making changes that would have an unfair impact on black voters and candidates, he said.

To read more, follow link below:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-voting23-2009jun23,0,5494880.story

Why Obama’s Overhaul is a good idea

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor Syracuse University

I have a friend who broke both of his legs climbing a dangerous mountain in Southeast Asia. This friend has nearly died 8 times, been chased by bears, and has had food poisoning too many times to count. After his latest injury, we presumed that he would understand that taking such risk simply doesn't pay. But he rebuffed our intervention, stating that the risk is what makes his life worth living. My friend seems to believe that pursuing and living the dream might be worth enduring the occasional nightmare.

The current financial crisis is certainly the worst of economic nightmares. Job losses have been enormous and the stock market has shrunk faster than Lindsay Lohan's dress size. A report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week reported that in May jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and in the District of Columbiathan they were a year ago.

The Black community has had a double dose of economic drama, as our unemployment rate is nearly double that of White Americans, standing at 14.9% according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Black urban centers such as Detroit have been hit especially hard.

Click to read.

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Your Black News - Study: 1 in 4 South African Men Admit to Rape

South Africans received a horrifying measure of just how bad their country's rape crisis is with the release this week of a study in which more than a quarter of men admitted to having raped, and 46% of those said that they had raped more than once.

The study, conducted by South Africa's Medical Research Council, reveals a deeply rooted culture of violence against women, in which men rape in order to feel powerful, and do so with impunity, believing that their superiority entitles them to vent their frustrations on women and children. The men most likely to rape, the researchers found, were not the poorest, but those who had attained some level of education and income.

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Legal Issues in the Salon Beat Down

by Dr Boyce Watkins

OK, don't lie. You know that when you heard about the woman being beaten in the beauty salon in Oakland, you clicked on the link faster than Eminem's neck snapped when he had Bruno's behind in his face. You were curious, yet disturbed by the incident, as was nearly everyone else in America.

But one thing that black attorneys such as Christopher Metzler noticed during this incident were the legal implications of attacking someone in public, in broad daylight, videotaping the incident and then bragging about it on the radio. Now that the Oakland Police Department has taken notice, the women responsible for the attack are going to have some serious problems.

Click to read.

Solutions to Community Protection

 

Many of us have read about the traumatic beating of a woman in broad daylight in an Oakland beauty salon.  The woman chose not to testify, in part because she feared retaliation from her attackers.  The protection of witnesses is a serious issue and solutions are necessary.  Elliot Milner, an attorney, had this to say:

“This is a complicated issue, and there is no easy solution. Most police departments only provide protection in the most extreme cases, and this is usually a very rare occurrence. I am a proponent of self-help. I'm not speaking about vigilante justice, simply saying that if people in urban(and any other) communities want to make sure that their neighbors who speak out against those who commit crimes are not harmed, then it is necessary for people in the community to take the initiative to let it be known that they will not tolerate harm being done to innocent citizens who simply seek to have those doing wrong held accountable.

I completely understand that is easier said than done. However, community intervention is a must. The police(in Oakland or any other city/town) are not going to protect you. Even if they have the desire to, most police departments do not have the funding or personnel to accomplish that. In several cities, groups of men in urban communities have taken to policing the streets of their neighborhoods. It is imperative that people in the community show that they are not afraid and will not be imprisoned in their own homes, as is the case in some neighborhoods. Also, participating in dialogue with individuals who may be "in the street" or committing crimes is a must. The more you isolate a person or group of people, the more likely they are to react negatively to you.”

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Troy Davis: Life/Death Around the Corner...

" I have faced execution and the torment of saying goodbye to my family three times in the last two years and I may experience that trauma yet again; I would not wish this on my worst enemy and to know I am innocent only compounds the injustice I am facing."- Troy Davis, from Georgia's death row, on facing a fourth possible execution date.

For those who are unaware, Troy Davis has been on Georgia's death row for about 18 years, after being convicted of murdering police officer Mark McPhail(Mr. Davis has maintained his innocence from the very beginning).

It would take pages to give all of the details of Troy Davis' case, however I will say that there was no physical evidence found(including a murder weapon) connecting Troy Davis to the killing of Officer McPhail; he was convicted largely on the basis of inconsistent and often contradictory eyewitness testimony. The vast majority of those prosecution eyewitnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony implicating Mr. Davis, and one of those who hasn't is Sylvester Coles, the main alternative suspect presented by the defense during Troy Davis' trial. In addition, there have been multiple allegations of police coercion and the usage of unethical interrogation techniques.

(For additional information on Troy Davis' case, or to get information on how to act, check out www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis and http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/.).

Troy Davis' ordeal has been going on for nearly two decades now, and is nearing its end, one way or the other. He has had numerous appeals denied(most recently in April 2009), habeas corpus petitions denied, stays of execution granted and expired, and also had one request for clemency denied by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles(the same board that would decide any future request for clemency regarding Troy Davis).

As absurd as it sounds, relative to many others on death row, Troy Davis is 'lucky'. He is lucky in the sense that his case has drawn national and international attention, from a broad range of activists and celebrities. He has lawyers and organizations working around the clock to save his life, and draw attention to the injustices present in his particular case, and also to those injustices present in the application of the death penalty in the United States in general(particularly in cases involving Black defendants and white victims, such as this).

Compared to the multitude of nameless, faceless(and disproportionately Black and poor) people occupying death rows across the U.S., Troy Davis has a chance at life, however slim. He is the newest face of the anti-death penalty movement, and the most recent example of a Black man being sentenced to death for the murder of a white person(in this case also a police officer) under very questionable circumstances.

It is often difficult for people to get outraged regarding someone convicted of murder and sentenced to death row. Regardless of whether a person is pro or anti-death penalty, the reality is that many of the people on death row are guilty of murder, sometimes involving extreme mitigating factors, such as the murder of a child, or torture, even cannibalism. That is not the issue here. Even though there is significant evidence raising doubt as to whether Troy Davis murdered Officer McPhail, the ultimate issue is about the fairness of the process and equality of treatment, and in my view there is more than sufficient evidence showing that Troy Davis had the deck stacked against him, as is often the case for Black and poor defendants.

Act in some way to help Troy Davis, whether it be writing a letter or spreading the word. However, do not forget those others who do not have the same publicity. This issue is bigger than Troy Davis, and it is important for us to address anything involving the unjust treatment of a Black person(regardless of where they may reside), especially when it involves the ultimate penalty.

Michael Eric Dyson and Barack Obama: Their Awkward Conversation

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

When I heard the controversial and heated comments about President Obama that were made by my respected colleague Michael Eric Dyson, I felt like a 2nd grader running outside to see the fight between two middle school kids. Both Barack and Michael are men I've grown to appreciate, and I love them for their strengths as well as their imperfections. Michael was the reason I became a public scholar during graduate school, as I would watch the words flow out of him like an MC in the booth dropping his hottest album. The man is good, damn good.

Barack Obama needs to listen to the words of Michael Eric Dyson. In fact, he should give Dyson as much, or more respect than he gives me or any other black public intellectual in America. Dr. Dyson, no matter how you perceive his critique of President Obama, represents a form of insight that you are not going to find in politics, the pulpit or anywhere else. At the same time, I will confess that his words may also come from an impure place that lies within the darkest part of our souls. In other words, Dyson, Tavis, Barack, Jesse and every other ambitious man in America is always going to be tempted by the "Demon of Playerhaterology". Men are naturally competitive, and no man likes to be disrespected. Obama, as a condition for his employment, is often asked to disrespect other leaders across America who represent the essence of meaningful black thought. That's going to create a long list of enemies.

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Lady Drama: Rihanna Getting Sued

See the latest from Lady Drama:

Talk about Love Thy Neighbor..... Rihanna Gets Sued By her Neighbors!

Seems like Rihanna may not be as well liked by her neighbors as she is by the rest of the world, According to sources Rihanna is being sued by her neighbor for trespassing issues with Rihanna's guests that she had which disturbed their peace lol! Read the details below:
We just got hold of a lawsuit filed against Rihanna today.
Christian
Moeller is suing over some property, claiming Rihanna has been trampling all over his property.
Moeller is a professor of design and media art at UCLA. Moeller has created spaces for the W Hotel in Hollywood.
Here’s what happened. Rihanna rents a home owned by Stephen Yacobian, whose house is next door to Moeller’s. Moeller gave Yacobian an easement — the right to drive cars on a portion of Moeller’s property.
But two years ago, Yacobian renovated the property and the easement wasn’t really being used. To make matters a lot worse, since Rihanna moved in she’s been allowing cars to drive on Moeller’s lawn to get to her driveway… and the suit claims sometimes the cars just sit there on the lawn.
So Moeller wants the easement eliminated. As for Rihanna, Moeller is suing her for allowing people and cars to trespass on his property.
Very minor issue that I'm sure will be resolved by the time I hit publish on this entry!

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Black Legal News: Inmates Handcuffed While Giving Birth

Former Chicago inmates Simone Jackson and Danielle Bryant are seeking to file a class action lawsuit against the Cook County Sheriff's Department. Both claim they were forced to give birth while shackled and handcuffed to the hospital bed.

Jackson said, "It's dehumanizing. It's degrading. It's immoral." Jackson and three other former Cook County inmates described how they felt when they gave birth while imprisoned.

"I couldn't have family there," Bryant said. "Nobody to support me, help me. The nurses were in and out. All I had was the police officer."

Jackson and Bryant were being held on theft charges when they went into labor and were transferred to Chicago's Stroger Hospital to give birth.

Bryant's restraints were removed right before the actual birth. But Jackson says her restraints never came off.

"It is not even feasible to run when you are actually going to have a baby," Jackson said. "There is no way to do that."

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