Tag: licenses

State retaliates against private investigator for criticizing police shooting

A state has retaliated against a private investigator for criticizing a police shooting that left two people dead by denying him a license, and now he’s taking his protest to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Institute for Justice explained it is Joshua Gray, of Massachusetts, whose comments about a fatal police action drew the reaction from state officials in the Maine Department of Public Safety, who admitted the rejected his application for a license because of his criticism of the department’s employees.

“When the government retaliates against people because of their speech, it violates the First Amendment. That’s true whether the government is imposing a fine, withholding a parade permit, or denying an occupational license,” explained IJ Senior Attorney Paul Sherman.

The IJ explained, “Gray’s problems with the department began after he criticized the conduct of Maine police in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Kadhar Bailey and 18-year-old Amber Fagre in February of 2017. Believing that the shooting could have been avoided had it not been for police recklessness, Gray expressed his criticisms on his Facebook page. But when Gray later applied for a license as a professional investigator in Maine, the Department denied Gray’s application on the ground that his online criticism contained factual errors, and therefore he lacked the ‘good moral character’ required for licensure.”

Keep reading

Cops Seize Bikes and Arrest 1 Teen Over Traffic Violations and Bike Licenses

“I told you guys you’re supposed to have licenses,” one officer says in the clip as the cops attempt to get the boys to surrender their bikes. “The sergeant warned you about your bikes, so you guys are warned. I gave you a warning.”

One teen gives in. “Drop the bike or you’re gonna get arrested too,” says another cop in the background, addressing the other boys who are slower to dismount.

In a longer video posted to YouTube, the boys are repeatedly promised that they won’t lose their bikes. The teen who first complied is then arrested, and all of their bicycles are taken by the cops.

“You know that we told you guys to stay on the sidewalk,” the cop says in a video exchange with one of the teens who filmed their conversation when he returned to get his bike. “You guys knew that you were going against traffic. It is for your safety. You think I want to be here taking bikes away? Like, this is so asinine. Like, we have so much better stuff to do with our time.”

She is correct on most counts. It is asinine, and the Perth Amboy Police Department definitely has better stuff to do with their time.

But she didn’t stop there: “Is your bike registered with us? I don’t have to give it back to you,” she notes, harking back to the licensing scuffle referenced during the first confrontation. “You have the receipt to prove that that bike is your bike? I don’t have to give it back to you.”

Keep reading

Gaming Control Board Threatens Bars: Make your Employees take Vaccine or Lose Gaming License

For over 6 months now, we have been called conspiracy theorists for reporting on the coming Strip-Casino sponsored vaccination programs for event attendees and programs that will force hospitality workers to take the COVID Vaccinations. Last week, we reported on how the Gaming Control Board was threatening smaller casinos to force their employees to take the shot, or risk being bankrupted — telling them that they would keep limited capacity limits in place, indefinitely.

Today, we learned that bar owners throughout the Las Vegas Valley are now being targeted as well by Governor Steve Sisolak, Jim Murren, and their henchmen at the Gaming Control Board. Local bar owners are being threatened that they need to force their employees to take the shot or risk losing their businesses.

In the memo, which can be read here, the Gaming Control Board threatens gaming establishments, including small bars throughout the valley, that if they don’t implement vaccination programs for their employees, the gaming control board will not increase their capacity limits. They told bar owners, “Prepare to account to the Board on your company’s vaccination efforts if you seek increased gaming floor occupancy.”

Keep reading