CRIME: Black Lesbian Couple (And 2 Kids) Slaughtered In Troy, NY

I spent 8 years living in upstate New York attending college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. So when I see Troy in the news it catches my attention. This week I saw a story about the horrific murder of a Black lesbian couple and their two kids.

The New York Times reported on the story:

The police identified the victims as Shanta Myers, 36; her children Jeremiah, 11, and Shanise, 5; and her partner, Brandi Mells, 22. Jackie Robinson Sr., the pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church, told The Times Union that Ms. Myers also had an older son who was not home when the killings happened. 

[...] 

The family was found dead on Tuesday afternoon in their basement apartment at 158 Second Avenue, in a neighborhood of subdivided Victorian houses along the Hudson River. Chief Tedesco said the number of victims, their age and the way they were killed — which he declined to describe — made the crime the worst he had seen in more than 40 years in law enforcement.

The latest news is that two suspects have been arraigned in the case: Justin Mann and James White.

I will be following this case closely to find out what the reason for the vicious murder of this family was. The youngest child was 5!

Hat/tip to Pink News

WATCH: San Bernardino Cops Caught On Video Brutalizing Suspect

Hat/tip to The Daily Beast

Long-Delayed Autopsy Report Shows LAPD Shot Unarmed Black Man In Back At Very Close Range

As Mayor Eric Garcetti promised, the official autopsy report on the August 11 Ezell Ford shooting shows that LAPD officers shot the unarmed, mentally-ill 25-year-old Black male three times including once in the back, with that fatal shot occurring so close that there was a muzzle imprint on his skin.

KTLA reports:

The report was made public more than four months after the Aug. 11 fatal shooting, which caused an outcry from family members and supporters who said Ford was complying with officers’ demands and was on the ground when he was shot several times in the back. 

The county Department of Coroner document showed Ford was shot three times: once in the right side, once in the right back and once in the right arm. The first two shots were fatal, the coroner’s report stated. 

In the area of the gunshot wound to Ford’s back, the surrounding skin had a “muzzle imprint,” the report stated. The cause of death, described as a homicide, was listed as multiple gunshot wounds.

Mayor Garcetti released a statement saying that a "full" and "impartial" investigation is underway.

Hat/tip to KPCC

Killer Cop Darren Wilson Resigns From #Ferguson Police Department

Darren Wilson, the police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old African-American man named Michael Brown  in Ferguson, MO in August 2014 has been the subject of protests around the country, has released a public letter of resignation less than a week after a grand jury refused to indict him on any criminal charges relating to his actions that resulted in the death of Brown.

"I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process."

Wilson's actions and words have raised the profile of racial differences in the country, in particular as they relate to police relations with minority communities.

Hat/tip to Wonder Man

POLL: Americans See Michael Brown Shooting Very Differently By Race and Party

Not TOO surprisingly there are stark racial differences in how Americans of different racial backgrounds view the shooting of Michael Brown, a poll by Huffington Post reveals.

As YouGov puts it:

There is a massive racial divide between white and black Americans about whether Darren Wilson should face punishment for killing Michael Brown. While only 22% of whites say that wilson was at fault and should be punished, just under two-thirds (64%) of black Americans want the officer to be punished. 30% of whites, and 11% of blacks, say that the shooting was a tragic accident. 29% of whites say that officer Wilson was fully justified in shooting Brown, something only 4% of black Americans agree with.

Views of the Ferguson incident are not only bifurcated by racial identity but also by party identification:

Democrats were also three times more likely than Republicans to say Wilson was at fault, and to fear that he would be punished too leniently. 

Perhaps the biggest divide, however, was on whether the shooting represented an isolated incident or part of a broader pattern in how black men are treated by the police. While Americans overall were split, 74 percent of black Americans and 57 percent of Democrats, compared with 31 percent of whites and 18 percent of Republicans, saw the shooting as part of a larger pattern.

Despite this being an incident that involves a white cop and  a Black victim I would be interested in seeing data about how other racial groups (especially Latino and Asians) view the Michael Brown situation. Race in America is far more complicated than just Black and white.

President Obama Makes Statement About Disturbing Police Activity In Ferguson, MO

President Obama has made an appearance where he uses the term "excessive force" in describing the disturbing situation in Ferguson, MO. Obama where the police have been using aggressively militaristic tactics like tear gas, firing rubber bullets at protesters and arresting journalists to "maintain order" in response to community protests about the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed African American male, on Saturday August 9.

QUEER QUOTE: LGBT Groups Issue Statement On Michael Brown Killing

The fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old Black man named Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri (just outside St. Louis) has been roiling the internets since it happened on Saturday August 9.

LGBT groups are often criticized by other progressive groups, especially African American civil rights organizations for a lack of reciprocity when it comes to coalition work but today comes word of a joint statement from numerous LGBT groups about the heinous Michael Brown killing:

When communities experience fear, harassment and brutality simply because of who they are or how they look, we are failing as a nation. In light of the recent events in Missouri, it is clearer than ever that there is something profoundly wrong in our country. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community cannot be silent at this moment, because LGBT people come from all races, creeds, faiths and backgrounds, and because all movements of equality are deeply connected. We are all part of the fabric of this nation and the promise of liberty and justice for all is yet to be fulfilled. 

The LGBT community stands with the family of Michael Brown, who was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri. We stand with the mothers and fathers of young Black men and women who fear for the safety of their children each time they leave their homes. We call on the national and local media to be responsible and steadfast in their coverage of this story and others like it--racialized killings that have marred this nation since the beginning of its history. We call on policy makers on all levels of American government not to shrink from action, and we are deeply grateful to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for their immediate commitment to a thorough investigation. At this moment, we are inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies … but the silence of our friends." 

ACLUCenter for Black Equity, Inc.Equality FederationGay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)GMHCHuman Rights CampaignNational Black Justice CoalitionNational Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)National Center for Transgender EqualityNational Gay and Lesbian Task ForceNational Minority AIDS CouncilNational Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)PFLAG NationalPride at Work, AFL-CIOSoulforceSoutherners on New Ground (SONG)United AIDS

Good work!

Even while on vacation, President Barack Obama has also commented on the shooting, calling it "heartbreaking."

Houston Black Lesbian Couple Found Murdered; Police Sketch of Suspect Released

The LGBT blogosphere is buzzing with the sad news that an African-American lesbian couple have been found murdered in Galveston County, Texas. The two women, both 24, have been identified as Crystal Jackson and Britney Cosby. Cosby has a 5-year-old daughter and the two women had been living together and raising the child together.

Police have released a composite sketch of the person they think had been seen riding in the women's car, a 2006 Kia Sorento SUV.

Galveston County Sheriff's Office is asking for anyone with information to call 1-866-248-8477.

Racism Is Over? Two Counter-examples From Los Angeles

I was struck by two recent news stories in the Los Angeles Times which to me seem to reflect the reality of the salience of race and racism in the lives of African American men in Los Angeles.

From "LAFD firefighter wins $1.1 million racial discrimination verdict":

A civil court jury on Monday returned a $1.1 million verdict against the City of Los Angeles, finding in favor of a black firefighter who said he had been discriminated against during a nearly three-decade career because of his race. 

The verdict comes after 16 days of deliberation — and six years after another jury ruled against Jabari S. Jumaane, who alleged a pattern of racial bias, harassment and retaliation in the Los Angeles Fire Department when he worked as a fire inspector. That decision was overturned after an appeals court granted a new trial, agreeing that there had been jury misconduct in the original case. 

According to a 2012 report by the city’s office of the independent assessor on fire department litigation, Jumaane’s allegation of jury misconduct included a declaration by a juror who “claimed to have witnessed racially motivated misconduct by fellow jurors.”
The retrial jury’s ruling is a blow to a department that has found itself accused of systematic discrimination — particularly against black firefighters — in the past.

And "Judge accuses UCLA police of brutality":

David S. Cunningham III is a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, and a onetime federal civil rights attorney. 

But on Saturday morning, he found himself handcuffed in the back of a UCLA police car. Officers had pulled him over as he was driving his Mercedes out of his Westwood gym — because, the police said, he wasn't wearing his seat belt. 

What happened next is a matter of dispute, but it ended with the African American judge yelling to a growing crowd in the heart of Westwood Village about police brutality. 

Cunningham, 59, has now filed an excessive force complaint with the university, and his attorney said Monday that he believed race was a factor in how the judge was treated. 

"Do you think this would have happened if he was a white judge?" said the attorney, Carl Douglas. 

UCLA officials said the officers handcuffed Cunningham when he disobeyed their order to stay inside his car while they checked his driver's license and registration.

Do you see the common factors between the two stories?

Shame! Gov. Brown Vetoes Bll Allowing Condoms In Prison

There is bad news to report today on the status of the progressive goal to improve the lives and health of people in locked facilities in California.

Governor Jerry Brown has finally completed his work on the 900+ bills the Democratic super majority in the California legislature sent him this session. He has taken some action that progressives applaud and some that we can only shake our head at and wonder "What was he thinking?"

Overall, the Governor vetoed 96 bills in total and signed into law 805.

However, some of his more controversial legislative actions took place at the end, which occurred this weekend. On Saturday October 12th, Governor Brown vetoed AB 999 (Prisoner Protections for Family and Community Health Act) which would have eventually allowed condoms in state prisons. The Governor's Office released his veto message:

To The Members of the California State Assembly: 

I am returning Assembly Member Bill 999 without my signature. 

This bill would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop a plan to expand the availability of condoms to all California prisons. 

The Department currently allows family visitors to bring condoms for the purpose of the family overnight visitation program. While expansion of this program may be warranted, the Department should evaluate and implement this expansion carefully and within its existing authority.  

Sincerely 

Edmund G. Brown, Jr

This is disappointing news. As readers of the blog may know, I have been on the board of directors of the Center for Health Justice for years. Health Justice has the mission to eliminate disparities between prisoner health and public health and one way it does this is by distribution of condoms in Los Angeles County jails.

The point of the legislation was to give CDCR the authority (and political cover) to consider the availability of condoms in prisons (we're talking about a condom machine, people). This is because people in prison have sex with each other, and people who are in prison often have sexually transmitted infections. Officially, sex between prisoners is against the law, so making condoms available is viewed by some as an enticement to break the law. Most public health advocates strongly support actions that will "reduce harm" and they agree that increased access to condoms in locked facilities will improve the health of prisoners (and the public) and will not reduce safety for those who work in locked facilities.

It is unfortunate Gov. Brown had to use AB 999 as an example to show less progressive members of the political spectrum his conservative bona fides. He now joins his predecessor, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in vetoing a measure that would have allowed condoms in prison.

Shame on you, Governor!

Federal Judge Rules NYPD's Racial Profiling Policies Illegal

Whoa! Good news on the civil liberties front out of New York City. Yesterday a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the case Floyd v. City of New York, declaring that the NYPD's controversial "stop and frisk" policy is unconstitutionally violating the Fourteenth and Fourth Amendments. This was a huge victory by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR):

In her thorough, 198-page ruling, Judge Shira Sheindlin found the NYPD’s practices to violate New Yorkers’ Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and also found that the practices were racially discriminatory in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. To remedy the widespread constitutional violations, the judge ordered a court-appointed monitor to oversee a series of reforms to NYPD policing practices and also ordered a Joint Remedial Process which will solicit input from a variety of stakeholders, including New York communities most directly affected by policing. The court’s ruling follows a 10-week trial that concluded on May 20. The class action lawsuit, Floyd v. City of New York, was brought by the Center of Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the law firms of Beldock, Levine, and Hoffman and Covington & Burling, LLP. 

Said CCR Senior Staff Attorney Darius Charney, “This historic victory is the result not only of our 14 years of litigation, but of decades’ worth of efforts by activists, grassroots and legal organizations, and affected communities. The NYPD is finally being held to account for its longstanding illegal and discriminatory policing practices. The City must now stop denying the problem and partner with the community to create a police department that protects the safety and respects the rights of all New Yorkers.” 

In 2011, the NYPD reported a record 685,724 stops -- a 600 percent increase since Raymond Kelly took over as NYPD Commissioner in 2002. Eighty-four percent of those stopped were Black or Latino, and 88 percent of the people stopped were neither arrested nor received summonses. Despite the stated purpose of the policy, weapons and contraband were recovered less than 2 percent of the time.

As Joe Biden would say, this is a B.F.D!

FILM REVIEW: Fruitvale Station

The other half and I saw Fruitvale Station at the Arclight Cinemas Pasadena when I was back in Los Angeles last week. Fruitvale Station is a movie based on the life of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African American man who was fatally shot (in the back, while face down on the pavement!) by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in the early hours of January 1, 2009 in front of a group of his friends while taking the train from partying in San Francisco. The shooting was caught live on multiple cell-phone videos that went viral on the Internet in the days and weeks following the killing. Mehserle was eventually charged with murder, the trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles County but he was only found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years. He served 11 months in prison and was released. He was the first peace officer to be tried for murder for a line-of-duty fatal shooting in over 15 years. The Oscar Grant case was a cause celebre for several years and every New Years Day there are events to remember Oscar in Oakland and Northern California.

Fruitvale Station is the movie about the famous Oscar Grant case. It is filmmaker Ryan Coogler's very first film (although it was executive produced by Oscar winner Forest Whitaker) and stars Malcolm B. Jordan (Chronicle) and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (The Help).

Stylistically, Fruitvale Station is somewhere between a documentary and a drama. It is most definitely not a hagiography of Oscar Grant. We seem him make foolish choices as well as bad ones. But the film makes it clear he loved his daughter Tatiana and her mother very, very much. When he is on the floor of the BART Fruitvale Station after being shot he says to the officer who shot him "Why did you do that? I have a daughter." It is an absolutely devastating moment in the film, which is replete with them. Spencer plays Oscar's mom and the two have a very close relationship. She knows that he has a tendency to wander astray and you can see it in her eyes as she watches her son carefully. The other emotionally devastating scene in the film is the one in which we see Oscar's mom get the news about her son's death and then again when she views the body of her son.

A word must be said about the performance of Michael B. Jordan in the lead role. He is absolutely mesmerizing, despite being on screen for almost every scene one never gets bored or uninterested in what he is doing, even when one is annoyed with the choices his character is making. Hopefully this performance will not be forgotten when the end of the year comes around and film accolades for the year are announced.

That being said, even though it is an emotionally draining experience Fruitvale Station is most definitely worth your time and attention to see. It is exactly the kind of film the medium is made for, to impact the audience in a meaningful and lasting way another art form may not have been able to.

Title: Fruitvale Station.
Director: Ryan Coogler.
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for some violence, language throughout and some drug use.
Release Date: July 26, 2013.
Viewing Date: July 30, 2013.

Writing: A-.
Acting: A.
Visuals: B+.
Impact: A+.

Overall Grade: A/A- (3.85/4.0).

WATCH: Obama Speak at 2013 LGBT Pride Reception

Watch the video of what happened at today's LGBT Pride reception at the White House. The transcript of the remarks by President Obama at the event are below:

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

AT A RECEPTION FOR LGBT PRIDE MONTH

East Room

5:21 P.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  All right, I will not beat that act.  (Laughter.)  We could not be prouder of Zea and Luna for the introduction.  And welcome, all of you, to the White House for Pride Month.  (Applause.)

Zea and Luna are here with their moms, and also I think with Grandma and Grandpa -- correct?  And so feel free to congratulate them afterwards for their outstanding introduction.  

There are a few other folks who don't have the same star wattage that I want to acknowledge -- first of all, my Vice President, Joe Biden.  (Applause.)  We’ve got some outstanding members of Congress here, including a record number from the Congressional Equality Caucus.  (Applause.)  Eric Fanning, the Under Secretary of the Air Force, is here.  (Applause.)  Major General Patricia Rose and her wife, Retired Lieutenant Julie Roth, are here.  (Applause.)  We’ve got Fred Hochberg and Elaine Kaplan, two outstanding members of my team, who are here.  (Applause.)  And John Berry is here -- John is a former member of my team.  You may not recognize him because he looks so well rested now that he’s left the administration.  (Laughter.)      

And even though she couldn’t be here today, because she’s getting ready to finally take her seat on the bench and get to work, I want to congratulate Nitza Quinones Alejandro, who, just a few hours ago, was confirmed by the Senate, making her the first openly gay Hispanic federal judge in our country’s history. (Applause.)  

And what I'm especially excited about, in addition to Zea and Luna, we've got citizens from all across the country who wrote me letters over the last several years.  And in a letter from Kathleen, a young woman from Massachusetts, I saw someone who had experienced too much discrimination and hatred at such a young age, at the age of 24.  But I also read about someone who dreams of becoming a doctor so that she can help others, and who is determined to make a difference because, as she put it, she is “hopeful of a world filled with love.”

Love is what I saw in Valerie and Diane’s letter from North Dakota, who’ve been together for 37 years.  Their son, Madison, is here, 14.  They told me that when Madison was little -- he’s not little now, by the way.  (Laughter.)  He used to say that someday, he was going to become president and make it legal for his moms to get married.  And now, they added, “I don’t think we’re going to have to wait that long.”  (Applause.)

Madison, I agree with you that it’s time.  I agree that you should run for president.  (Laughter.)  And I agree that we’re not going to have to wait that long -- because from Minnesota to Maryland, from the United States Senate to the NBA, it’s clear we’re reaching a turning point.  (Applause.)  We’ve become not just more accepting; we've become more loving, as a country, and as a people.  Hearts and minds change with time.  Laws do, too.  Change like that isn’t something that starts here in Washington, but it’s something that has the power that Washington has a great deal of difficulty resisting over time. 

It’s something that comes from the courage of those who stood up, and sat in, and came out.  It’s something that comes from the compassion of family and friends and coworkers and teammates who show their love and support.  (Baby cries.)  Yes, it’s true.  (Laughter.)   

And it’s something that can be traced back to our Declaration of Independence -- the fundamental principle that all of us are created equal.  And as I said in my Inaugural Address, if we truly are created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.  (Applause.) 

That’s the principle that’s guided my administration over the past four and a half years.  We passed a hate crimes bill in Matthew Shepard’s name.  (Applause.)  We lifted the HIV entry ban, released the first national HIV/AIDS strategy.  We strengthened the Violence Against Women Act to protect LGBT victims.  (Applause.)  We told hospitals that accept Medicare and Medicaid that they have to treat LGBT patients just like everybody else.  (Applause.)  Starting next year, the Affordable Care Act will ban insurance companies from denying someone from coverage just for being LGBT.  We put in place new policies that treat transgender Americans with dignity and respect.  (Applause.)  And because no one should have to hide who they love to serve the country that they love, we ended "don't ask, don't tell" once and for all.  (Applause.)  

But part of the reason we're here is because we know we’re not done yet.  When Zea and Luna wrote me last December, they told me they would have voted for me if they could have -- thanks, guys.  (Laughter.)  They also laid out quite an agenda.  I hope Congress is listening to them. 

But I want them and all of you to know that I’m not giving up the fight to keep our kids safe from gun violence.  (Applause.)  I’m not giving up the fight for smarter and better schools.  I’ll continue to support marriage equality and states’ attempts to legalize it, including in my home state of Illinois. We're not giving up on that.  (Applause.) 

And as we saw earlier this year with the gun safety debate, sometimes this stuff takes time, and it’s frustrating.  You take two steps forward and sometimes there’s a step back.  But I deeply believe in something that Martin Luther King, Jr. said often, and that is that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.  Eventually, America gets it right. 

That doesn’t mean we can be patient.  We know from our own history that change happens because people push to make it happen.  We've got to do the hard work of educating others, showing empathy to others, changing hearts and minds.  And when we do that, then change occurs.  It doesn’t come always as quickly as we like, but progress comes. 

We’ve got to keep pushing.  We’ve got to make access to health care more available and affordable for folks living with HIV.  We’ve got to implement the protections in the Affordable Care Act.  We’ve got to keep making our classrooms and our neighborhoods safe for all of our young people. 

And I agree with Susan, a PFLAG mom from Ohio -- we’ve got to end LGBT discrimination in the places where we work.  Susan wrote me and said, “If I have a concern it is that there are so many LGBT men and women who contribute to the wealth and growth of our nation … but they still are not protected from harassment in the workplace.” 

And I share that concern.  In 34 states, you can be fired just because of who you are or who you love.  That’s wrong.  We’ve got to change it.  There’s a bipartisan bill moving forward in the Senate that would ban discrimination against all LGBT Americans in the workplace, now and forever.  We need to get that passed.  (Applause.)  I want to sign that bill.  We need to get it done now.  (Applause.)

And I think we can make that happen -- because after the last four and a half years, you can't tell me things can’t happen.  Look around.  We’ve got gay and lesbian soldiers, and sailors, and airmen, and Marines who are here today.  We’ve got married couples from places like New York and Washington State.  (Applause.)  You’ve got a couple of guys here on stage who I don't think anybody in their high schools thought would be the President and the Vice President of the United States.  (Laughter.)  So don't tell me that things can't happen when we put our minds to them.  (Laughter.) 

The genius of America is that America can change.  And people who love this country can change it.  That’s what we’re called to do.  And I hope that when we gather here next year, and the year after that, we’ll be able to say, with pride and confidence, that together we’ve made our fellow citizens a little more free.  We’ve made this country a little more equal.  We’ve made our world a little more full of love.

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless America.  (Applause.)  Enjoy the party.  (Applause.)

                                                         END                              5:33 P.M. EDT

George Zimmerman Trial Begins TODAY

George Zimmerman admits to shooting and killing Trayvon Martin,
an unarmed Black teenager

Finally! More than a year after the news about the fatal shooting of another unarmed Black male became a huge sensation, the trial of Trayvon Martin's killer is beginning in a Florida courtroom today. George Zimmerman, 29, claims he shot and killed the 17-year-old in self-defense. The story became an international story when police authorities in Sanford, FL questioned but released Zimmerman after hearing his story, raising questions about how police in a Southern state consider and (de)value the life of Black person. After weeks of marches and protests in multiple American cities, Zimmerman was finally arrested an charged with a crime (second-degree murder).

According to CNN:

Monday marks the start of jury selection in Seminole County, Florida, where Martin was fatally shot on February 26, 2012. The shooting put a national spotlight on Zimmerman's hometown of Sanford and sparked fresh debates about race relations and gun laws in America.  

Zimmerman is Hispanic; Martin was African-American. 

An initial decision not to pursue charges against Zimmerman led to the dismissal of the town's police chief and the appointment of a special prosecutor, who accused the neighborhood watch volunteer of unjustly profiling and killing Martin. 

Zimmerman now faces a second-degree murder charge in Martin's death. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently free on $1 million bond.

The Zimmerman-Martin case became another Rorshach test on race in America. We (at MadProfessah.com) shall be watching to see if the criminal justice system (in Florida, no less) can pass the test of "equal treatment under the law."

NYPD Says "It Gets Better"

DOJ Affirms Right To Tape Public Police Activity

Finally!  The U.S. Department of Justice has slapped down state and local jurisdictions who have been trying to criminalize what most people is obviously legal activity by citizens, recording the official activity of police officers in the execution of their duties.

Here's an excerpt from a letter DOJ sent to the Baltimore Police Department on this issue (pdf):

Because recording police officers in the public discharge of their duties is protected by 
the First Amendment, policies should prohibit interference with recording of police activities except in narrowly circumscribed situations.  More particularly, policies should instruct officers that, except under limited circumstances, officers must not search or seize a camera or recording device without a warrant.  In addition, policies should prohibit more subtle actions that may nonetheless infringe upon individuals’ First Amendment rights.  Officers should be advised not to threaten, intimidate, or otherwise discourage an individual from recording police officer enforcement activities or intentionally block or obstruct cameras or recording devices.


Policies should prohibit officers from destroying recording devices or cameras and 
deleting recordings or photographs under any circumstances.  In addition to violating the First Amendment, police officers violate the core requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process clause when they irrevocably deprived individuals of their recordings without first providing notice and an opportunity to object.  

There have been some ridiculous horror stories about people being arrested and charged with crimes for recording police officers while they conducted arrests. Hopefully the DOJ letter will put an end to this foolishness and help the police recognize that more information and openness about their activities will lead to more trust between the community they are sworn "to protect and serve," not less.

Hat/tip to Digby.

LA County Settles Police Brutality Case For $650K

The 5-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a settlement of $650,000 to Erick Hoxey and his girlfriend Shatwan Smith in response to a civil lawsuit which charged outrageous behavior by Los Angeles County Sherriff officials during an April 2008 incident in Compton.

The Los Angeles Times covers the story:

On trial for allegedly assaulting two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, Erick Hoxey took the witness stand in his own defense and told jurors it was the other way around.

He said he was waiting in his car outside a Compton apartment building where his girlfriend was making an appointment to braid a little girl's hair, when deputies pulled up. After asking him a few questions, Hoxey said they inexplicably yanked him out of the car, punched him and struck him with a flashlight before pepper-spraying his eyes and inside his mouth.


Then, he said, one grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head twice against the pavement.

The prosecutor, troubled by the young man's testimony, cut him off suddenly and asked the judge for a recess. When he returned an hour and a half later, the prosecutor announced that all charges were being dropped.

On Tuesday, two years after the criminal case fizzled, the county agreed to pay Hoxey, now 24, and his girlfriend $650,000.

The payout comes despite the Sheriff's Department defending the deputies' conduct in arresting Hoxey, his girlfriend, Shatwan Smith, and a bystander who came to their aid during the April 2008 altercation.

According to Deputies Samuel Orozco and Scott Giles, they were on patrol when they spotted Hoxey driving with his seatbelt off. The deputies said Hoxey was immediately aggressive, cursing at them, before reaching under his leg for what they believed was a handgun. The deputies unlocked the car door and pulled Hoxey out of the vehicle. The young man then spun around and took a swing at them, according to the deputies' account. Hoxey continued to fight back, the deputies said, while his girlfriend ran out from the apartment building and began hitting them too.

Although the deputies said they believed Hoxey was armed with a gun, no weapon was recovered. Deputy Orozco testified that a woman at the scene, who did not identify herself because she feared retribution, told him that she saw a man run and grab something from the car, presumably the weapon.

The couple, and the bystander who interceded and pleaded with the deputies to stop, denied the deputies were assaulted.

After hearing the conflicting testimony about the incident, the L.A. County district attorney's office abandoned its prosecution of Hoxey and Smith.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall said in a deposition that Hoxey's testimony "made me think that there was reasonable doubt in the case."

The couple's civil attorney, Glen Jonas, accused the deputies of framing Hoxey on charges of resisting arrest and drug possession and Smith of resisting arrest and assault. Giles said he found a cocaine rock in Hoxey's car, while he and other deputies were searching the vehicle.

"It ruined their lives," Jonas said of the ordeal. He said Smith, who was a student at UC San Diego at the time, "was so distraught over being falsely prosecuted that she couldn't concentrate in school…her grades fell and ultimately she wasn't able to stay in school."

During the trial, Orozco's past on-duty behavior was also scrutinized in testimony from residents in the area who said they had run-ins with him. One woman said he used the N-word against her. Another testified that she'd also been roughed up by Orozco, booked and was eventually acquitted.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore declined to comment on specific allegations but said the department maintains the couple was resisting arrest. "This settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing," he said. "Deputies don't make stuff up, the hope is, and we contend they did not fabricate anything."

I don't usually include such an extensive excerpt from a newspaper story but one really needs to see all the paragraphs that I have included in order to draw your own conclusions about what really happened*. Two Sheriff deputies see a Black guy sitting in a car and decide to rough him up for some bizarre reason only known to themselves. They start beating the crap out of him, then his girlfriend and a bystander come to the guy's defense.  Then the deputies have the gall to claim that the person that they assaulted was "resisting arrest" AND they claim the existence of a gun which is not found AND attempt to plant drugs in the vehicle. It reads like something out of FX's The Shield!
(That was a show starring Michael Chiklis as a rogue cop who basically takes the law into his own hands.)

The real hero of the piece is the Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall who refused to condone the cops lying and when he realized what was going on, declined to perpetrate a fraud upon the court. I'm not convinced that $650,000 is enough money for the two people who were attacked by the very same people their own taxes pay to protect them and keep them safe. What is a reasonable price for violation of the public trust?

Another question is why do Samuel Orozco and Scott Giles still have jobs with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and why hasn't the Los Angeles County District Attorney charged them with perjury?
Even the Sheriff's Department spokesperson says "Deputies don't make stuff up, the hope is." Really? Do you think this is some kind of joke?

 It is incredibly damaging to how all police officers are viewed and public safety overall if it appears that some officers of the court are getting away with activities that if they were just regular people would result in jail time. Police officers and sheriff's deputies (and elected officials) who are presumed to have the public trust should be held to a higher ethical standard than the general public. Even the appearance of hypocrisy is unacceptable.

*DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this blog posting should be construed as claiming any individual of having committed any criminal or civil offense.

Cop Serves 220 Days For Killing Unarmed Black Man

Johannes Mehserle claimed that he shot Oscar Grant by mistake,
using his gun instead of his Taser, and a jury with no Black members agreed

The former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black man while holding him restrained face down on the ground on New Years Day 2009 has been released from prison this morning after serving an astonishing (and sickening) 220 days in prison after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter (as I blogged about last fall).

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

E-mail and phone notifications made at 12:01 a.m. today said Mehserle had been released, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's online inmate locator also said he had been freed.

[...]

Mehserle, 29, was sentenced to two years for shooting Oscar Grant in the back while the 22-year-old Hayward man lay face down on the platform at Oakland's Fruitvale BART Station after being pulled from a train.

Mehserle has been imprisoned in Los Angeles County Jail since being convicted July 8. He was eligible for release with credit for time served before his trial and what is known as "good time" credit: one day for every day spent behind bars.

[...]

Mehserle testified that he had thought he was firing his Taser stun gun instead of his pistol as he was trying to arrest Grant for allegedly resisting an officer. The case drew widespread outrage, prompting the trial to be moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles. The jury there acquitted Mehserle of murder.

[Mehserle's attorney] Rains said at least eight other law-enforcement officers across the country have similarly mistaken their Tasers for their service weapons and were never criminally charged "and, in some cases, not even disciplined."

On Sunday, several hundred protesters marched peacefully from the Fruitvale BART Station to 14th Street and Broadway in downtown Oakland.

The saddest part of this case is that it must be considered progress that Mehserle was even charged with murder, since as the lawyer says, this was one of the rare times that the "peace officer" offending actions were caught on video and a public outcry finally lead to a criminal prosecution for murder.

Openly Gay LAPD Officer Wins $1.1M Lawsuit

Sgt. Ronald Crump

An openly gay police officer named Ronald Crump who literally appeared on a poster to recruit people to the Los Angeles Police Department has won a million-dollar judgement against the City of Los Angeles for anti-gay job discrimination and retaliation.

Karen Ocamb of LGBT POV has been covering the story diligently:

Openly gay Sergeant Ronald Crump is suing the city of LA claiming that his boss in Media Relations, Lt. John Romero, created a hostile work environment for gay and lesbian officers. His civil suit outlines a series of incidents over six months in which Crump claims he was harassed and humiliated. For instance, Crump claims that Romero said: “I was a religion major at Liberty University – Jerry Falwell would roll over in his grave if he knew I hired you.” The suit notes that Fawell founded the conservative religious university – but doesn’t mention that Falwell’s Moral Majority helped launch the antigay movement in 1977 with Anita Bryant.

Crump claims that Romero subjected him to “nearly constant harassment on account of his sexual orientation, including introducing Crump to new co-workers as “the new Ruby [Crump’s predecessor] – the only difference is that he doesn’t wear heels.” When Crump told Romero that he didn’t appreciate being referred to as the “new Ruby,” he says Romero told him to “’get over it’ and chuckled as he walked away.”

The lawsuit also details comments Romero allegedly made about other LAPD employees, calling one a “quirky, effeminate guy;” and of another, “She’s a militant, don’t ask/don’t tell activist lesbian,” among other similar comments.

The lawsuit also reports how in January 2009, a lesbian co-worker “remarked that Lt. Romero made the office environment stressful and that she saw Romero treating Plaintiff and others poorly.”  That lesbian left the Media Relations Department one month later, which was closely followed by an inquiry into the concerns about the hostile work environment from then-Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell’s office. Before he left the LAPD, McDonnell had an extraordinarily good relationship with the LGBT community.

And people think this blatant discrimination won't happen in California just because we have strong laws against it? It's up to the justice system to enforce the laws on the books.

Here's a local media report on the Crump verdict:

Los Angeles - A Los Angeles police sergeant who claimed he was the victim of retaliation for being gay was awarded $1.16 million by a jury today. 

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated for part of Wednesday afternoon and most of today before finding in favor of Sgt. Ronald Crump. 

"This was not a case about Ronald Crump being gay, but about the department's retaliation against him," attorney Gregory Smith said on behalf of Crump. 

Smith said his client's involuntary transfer from the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section in 2009 after complaining about his treatment from his boss at the time, Lt. John Romero, left the sergeant without a chance for significant promotions and pay increases. 

"He's not going anywhere in this department," Smith said during closing arguments Wednesday. "He is finished forever. They have completely destroyed his career for any advancement or promotion." 

Deputy City Attorney Daniel Aguilera declined to comment on the verdict. However, his colleague, Deputy City Attorney Shaun Dabby Jacobs, told jurors that Crump did not lose rank or pay with his changes of position and earns about $110,000 annually. She also said that months passed after he began the media relations assignment before he complained about alleged mistreatment.

I wonder what City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck will say about the Crump case the next time they address a large openly LGBT audience during one of their regular community forums?

WATCH: Houston Cops Pummel Black Male Suspect, 15

Hat/tip to Color of Change