Category: Criminal law

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Catch 22 and the Secrecy Debate

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger

National_Security_Agency.svgOne of the greatest novels I’ve ever read was Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22”. It is in turns humorous, tragic and distressing. It is finally one of the best commentaries on the insanity of the human condition, especially in wartime. Catch 22’s protagonist is Yossarian, an Air Force Bombardier in World War II, who no longer wants to keep flying the increasingly deadly missions over Germany. So desperate is Yossarian that he is willing to act out in any way possible that will get him grounded and he is hoping that he will be declared unfit for duty due to insanity. The problem is a military regulation that is described as “Catch 22”.

“The “Catch-22” is that “anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy” Hence, pilots who request a mental fitness evaluation are sane, and therefore must fly in combat. At the same time, if an evaluation is not requested by the pilot, he will never receive one and thus can never be found insane, meaning he must also fly in combat. Therefore, Catch-22 ensures that no pilot can ever be grounded for being insane even if he is.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_%28logic%29

The revelations of NSA spying have become a great topic of discussion these days, though it is merely a continuance of what we know our government has been doing since the origins of the Cold War, fueled by an ever more sophisticated technology in this digital age. A few people have been privy to the use of secrecy to hide the many violations of constitutional rights, human rights and war crimes. They have acted out of conscience to expose these violations only to face imprisonment and vilification by not only the Intelligence establishment, but by the bi-partisan Washington Establishment and their pundit minions. The most prominent of these “whistle blowers” have been Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and now Edward Snowden. The Establishment I refer to represents the Intelligence/Military/Corporate Complex (IMCC) that is and has been, in control of our country. They are the “Permanent Government” of the United States and have been for most of our history. The IMCC owns or controls most of our supposed “free press” which includes the media outlets from which Americans get their news and form their opinions. Despite the outrage of many here and many in the public, I believe that almost nothing will stop this perversion of this country under the guise of protecting it because of the logic inherent in Catch 22. Yet I have also read an article this week that discusses the NSA issue and actually ends with a modicum of hope. Since it was written by a fearless investigative reporter, whose outlook is usually pessimistic, I took heart from it and perhaps you will also if you oppose this invasion of our lives, supposedly done to protect us. Continue reading “Catch 22 and the Secrecy Debate” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Military, Politics, Society

Trust Us, We’re The Government: The Administration Multiplies Claim of “One Plot” To “Dozens” Foiled By The Warrantless Surveillance Programs

220px-Keith_B._Alexander_official_portraitIt appears that, as opposition grows to the surveillance programs, the Administration is increasing the claimed successes under the programs. The wonderful thing about secret massive databanks is that its use is . . . well . . . secret. After the surveillance programs involving all calls from citizens and hundreds of millions of emails were disclosed, congressional allies came forward to claim that “a possible plot” was foiled by the program. Of course, they could not tell anyone about the plot even after other members of the Senate said that they doubted that claim. National Security Agency director Army Gen. Keith Alexander, however, has decided that just one potential plot is not enough. So he testified this week that “dozens” of potential plots have been foiled in an effort to get citizens to redefine privacy in a more surveillance friendly image.

For many civil libertarians, the Administration and Congress will have to forgive the feeling that this is like asking “who are you going to believe a court or the people who were secretly spying on you?” What makes this particularly fascinating is the small problem of the past false testimony on surveillance given by intelligence officials in congressional hearings — testimony known to be false by the Senators in attendance. This is also the same Administration that only in February blocked a major effort to seek judicial review dismissed in the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote because any confirmation of such programs would endanger American lives.

Yet, now we are told to simply accept on faith that dozens of “potential” plots were stopped. Putting aside the past exaggeration of intelligence claims, this testimony (and the hearing itself) seemed designed to (as with the prior torture program under Bush) to get the public to forget about privacy and constitutional protections by keeping fear alive.
Continue reading “Trust Us, We’re The Government: The Administration Multiplies Claim of “One Plot” To “Dozens” Foiled By The Warrantless Surveillance Programs” →

Criminal law, Society, Torts

Texas Court Hits Psychic With $6.8 Million Defamation Verdict Linked To False Police Report

220px-John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Crystal_BallThere is an interesting torts case out of Dallas where Judge Carl Ginsberg in the 193rd State District Court, ruled against Presley “Rhonda” Gridley, a self-described psychic who created a national frenzy by telling authorities that a Liberty County couple, Joe Bankston and Gena Charlton, had a mass grave on their property. She has been ordered to pay the couple $6.8 million.
Continue reading “Texas Court Hits Psychic With $6.8 Million Defamation Verdict Linked To False Police Report” →

Criminal law, Society, Torts

Utah Parents Sue City After Daughter Is Killed Allegedly “Assassination Style” By Now Disbanded Special Narcotics Unit

1031746Melissa Kennedy and Frederick Willard, parents of the late Danielle Willard, are suing local police in an extraordinary case in which they say that their daughter was shot to death “assassination style” by a now disbanded special narcotics unit that has been accused of corruption and abuse. They are suing West Valley City, its police Officers Shaun Cowley and Kevin Salmon, Lt. John Coyle, Police Chief Thayle “Buzz” Nielsen, and 10 Doe officers, in Federal Court.

Continue reading “Utah Parents Sue City After Daughter Is Killed Allegedly “Assassination Style” By Now Disbanded Special Narcotics Unit” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

Criminal Defense Attorney Demands Evidence of Missing Call in Car Robbery Case . . . From The NSA

200px-national_security_agencysvgI was interviewed yesterday in an extraordinary case out of South Florida where Attorney Marshall Dore Louis faced a problem that phone records material to his defense of a car robbery suspect have disappeared. Accordingly, he is seeking the records from one resource that has stored every call from every citizen: the National Security Agency (NSA). After all, the Administration has admitted the existence of the storage and program. After that, Dore is arguing that it is just another government agency with material evidence. Indeed, the NSA wanted a complete record of all calls to store and it is now being called upon to hand over material evidence in its possession.

Continue reading “Criminal Defense Attorney Demands Evidence of Missing Call in Car Robbery Case . . . From The NSA” →

Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering

Former Georgia Judge Sued By Woman Who Says Drugs Were Planted On Her After Accusing The Judge Of Sexual Wrongdoing

imagesThere is an extraordinary story coming out of Georgia this week where two Murray County sheriff’s deputies pleaded guilty in federal court for their part in a scheme to frame a woman, Angela Garmley (left), after she accused Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran of soliciting sex from her in return to favorable treatment in her pending divorce case. Three other women have accused Cochran of such abuse.

Continue reading “Former Georgia Judge Sued By Woman Who Says Drugs Were Planted On Her After Accusing The Judge Of Sexual Wrongdoing” →

Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Just A Failure To Communicate: Ohio Police Clear Officer Who Shot Five Kittens in Family’s Backyard

130612101428_kittens-shotIn Ohio, animal rights activists (and others) are calling for the termination of Humane Officer Barry Accorti after he allegedly shot five kittens on Monday because the shelter was already too full. He reportedly told the family with children that the cats would be going to “kitty heaven.” Accorti is a retired North Ridgeville Police Department sergeant and I am only glad he retired before the county jail became overcrowded.

Continue reading “Just A Failure To Communicate: Ohio Police Clear Officer Who Shot Five Kittens in Family’s Backyard” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Nevada Woman Arrested After Being Reportedly Assaulted By Marshal As Judge Ignores Her Pleas

Screen-Shot-2013-04-29-at-11.18.19-AM2260_doninger_patricia_703The video below is a highly disturbing scene from the courtroom of Clark County Hearings Master Patricia Doninger (right) in a family court case. The video shows Monica Contreras, 28, who complains that she was assaulted by a marshal in the room next to the courtroom under a pretext of a spontaneous drug search. Doninger entirely ignores her and does nothing as the marshals arrest her on the clearly abusive charge of “making false allegations about a police officer.” Doninger is shown playing with Contreras’ daughter. Internal Affairs is reportedly investigating a host of such allegations in the courthouse. Contreras is now suing the officer Ron Fox, a second officer, James Kenyon, and Doninger in a civil rights action. She has also named Clark County, Nevada, as a defendant.

Continue reading “Nevada Woman Arrested After Being Reportedly Assaulted By Marshal As Judge Ignores Her Pleas” →

Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

An Inconvenient Truth: Members of Congress Go Silent Over Prior False Testimony On Surveillance

16-28The Republican and Democratic parties have achieved a bipartisan purpose in uniting against the public’s need to know about massive surveillance programs and the need to redefine privacy in a more surveillance friendly image. They have also united in attacking Snowden as a traitor and seeking his prosecution for telling the public about the program. In the midst of this full-court press to lull the public back into sleep over civil liberties, the members will face a slightly inconvenient problem: possible perjury. These members have repeatedly called for perjury and contempt prosecutions of officials who have given false or misleading testimony like Eric Holder. However, they have a little problem with Obama officials who seem to have given false or intentionally misleading testimony over the surveillance of citizens. The problem is that these members want the scandal (and the public) to go away. Many of them knew at the time that the public was being told untrue things in these hearings. It will only be embarrassing to now address the falsehoods fed to the public in their presence and with their knowledge. In other words, they were all lying to the public and, under our new relativistic world, a lie told by everyone is treated as the truth.

Continue reading “An Inconvenient Truth: Members of Congress Go Silent Over Prior False Testimony On Surveillance” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Lawyering, Politics, Religion, Society

Turkish Police Caught Staging Fake Riot By Protesters

300px-Gezi_Park_protests220px-Erdogan_croppedThe Guardian is reporting a scene that is both chilling and comical in Istanbul. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been warning protesters that his patience is running out and his police force are using gas and water cannons to clear areas of the city. As discussed earlier, the media has been virtually silent about the media in final proof of the death of a free press in the country. However, Western reporters were surprised by Turkish reporters and cameras were seen at the park and then learned why: the government was about to stage a fake riot.

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Bizarre, Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Traitor or Whistleblower? Attacks on Snowden Mount From Political and Media Figures

228px-Picture_of_Edward_SnowdenThe attacks on Edward Snowden have increased today. CNN’s Jeff Toobin who previously denounced Snowden as a “clown” has added that he is a “a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison”. In the meantime, Senator Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker John Boehner have denounced Snowden as a “traitor.” Other media organizations have barred their reporters from referring to him as a “whistleblower” in what has become a deluge of negative stereotyping of Snowden -even before we know the whole story. Indeed, the attacks began with folks like Toobin almost immediately after he came forward.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Dr. Obamalove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love a Police State

220px-Drstrangelove1sheet-Below is my column in this week’s U.S. News & World Report, which is part of a debate over the question: Should Americans Be Worried About the National Security Agency’s Data Collection? On the other side was former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Professor John Yoo who answered the question in a predictable no. I suppose my answer was equally predictable.

Continue reading “Dr. Obamalove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love a Police State” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Ohio Prosecutor Fired After Posing As Former Girlfriend Of Defendant To Change Testimony Of Alibi Witnesses

40128_166854760001658_6970515_nThere is an extraordinary case of prosecutorial abuse out of Ohio where former Assistant County Prosecutor Aaron Brockler, 35, is mystified why he has been fired. Let’s see if you can spot the reason. Brockler was given a murder case in which he was told that the accused had two girlfriends as alibi witnesses. Brockler then proceeded to pose as a woman on Facebook and engage the women in chats about the accused. He told the women that he was the former girlfriend of the accused and had an child by him. After enraging the women, he then spoke to them in his real capacity as a prosecutor and they refused to serve as alibi witnesses at the trial. Brockler is astonished that he would be fired for such dishonesty and insists that he was wrongfully terminated.

Continue reading “Ohio Prosecutor Fired After Posing As Former Girlfriend Of Defendant To Change Testimony Of Alibi Witnesses” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Leaders Call for Snowden’s Prosecution As CNN’s Toobin Calls Him A “Clown”

200px-national_security_agencysvgEdward Snowden, 29, is now a hunted man. The media this morning has moved from the shock over the massive surveillance of citizens to attacking Snowden as a leaker. Indeed, this morning, CNN’s Senior Legal Analyst Jeff Toobin denounced Snowden as a “clown” and someone who should be denounced. Toobin and I have been disagreeing a great deal lately. While I respect Jeff Toobin, I was surprised last week when he defended aspects of the investigation of journalists and later the massive surveillance programs. However, I was taken aback by the attack on Snowden. There certainly is a basis for criminal investigation — a point no one denies. He will have to answer for any violation of his clearance agreement and national security laws. However, it is the tenor and shift of the comments this morning that so surprised me. Rather than continue the debate of the loss of privacy, political and media figures are focusing on Snowden rather than the programs. You can disagree with his methods just as you can disagree with Julian Assange. However, there is an obvious effort to (like Assange) make him look unbalanced and dangerous. The story appears more complex. This is a man who gave up a $200,000 a year job and his likely freedom to reveal something that he felt the public should know about in the interest of privacy. You can disagree with his method, but few of his critics would even consider such a sacrifice for principle. Yet, the coverage this morning is largely on how to catch him and punish him. Over the weekend, the White House said it would find the person responsible and punish him. Snowden then self-disclosed his identity.

Continue reading “Leaders Call for Snowden’s Prosecution As CNN’s Toobin Calls Him A “Clown”” →

Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

OBAMA AND THE FINAL MEASURE OF DEVOTION

President_Barack_ObamaBelow is today’s column in USA Today (the print version is a bit shorter). The column looks at the effort of President Barack Obama and his congressional allies to get citizens to give up privacy as they did protections of the free press, due process, and international legal principles on earlier scandals. It is truly the final measure of devotion demanded in what has become a virtual cult of personality.

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