Tag: police state

Prison Phone Companies Involved in Scheme to Ban In-Person Jail Visits, Lawsuit Says

Two lawsuits filed by an activist organization allege a conspiracy between county governments in Michigan and prison phone companies. This conspiracy has involved a “quid pro quo kickback scheme” that eliminated in-person visits at prisons to boost profits for the companies, the litigation claims. As part of the scheme, a portion of those profits were allegedly then shared with the county governments.

The Civil Rights Corps, a non-profit that describes itself as “dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the United States’ legal system,” recently filed the two lawsuits, which allege a similar scheme in both St. Clair and Genesee counties in Michigan. These arrangements involved business relationships with the county sheriffs of St. Clair and Genesee that were predicated on the elimination of in-person prison visits. Under the new systems, visitors to the jails had to pay for phone calls with the incarcerated, and the money from those calls was then shared between the providers and the counties, the lawsuit alleges.

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A 5th Albuquerque Cop Resigns Amid Widening DWI Corruption Scandal

Another Albuquerque police officer resigned last week amid a widening scandal involving cops who allegedly conspired with a local defense attorney to make drunk driving cases disappear in exchange for payoffs. Joshua Montaño, who had been employed by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) for 19 years, is the fifth officer to quit after being placed on administrative leave. His March 20 resignation letter, which City Desk ABQ obtained through a public records request, sheds light on the extent of the alleged corruption within the APD’s DWI unit, the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation as well as an APD probe.

“When I was put on administrative leave, I thought there would be an opportunity for me to talk to the department about what I knew regarding the FBI’s investigation,” writes Montaño, who missed several scheduled interviews with APD investigators prior to his resignation. “I thought there would be a time [when] I could disclose what I knew from within APD and how the issues I let myself get caught up in within the DWI Unit were generational. I thought there would be a time where I could talk about all the other people who should be on administrative leave as well, but aren’t.”

Montaño says he ultimately decided against cooperating with APD investigators. “In order for me to talk to the City about what I knew,” he writes, “I needed to not be the City’s scapegoat for its own failures.” He complains that Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, who has promised to “make sure that we get to the bottom of this” but is himself under investigation for causing a February 17 accident that severely injured a driver whose car he broadsided, “has made it seem like there are just a few bad officers acting on their own.” That is “far from the truth,” Montaño says.

Among other things, the FBI reportedly is investigating claims that officers deliberately missed court dates, resulting in the dismissal of DWI cases. But according to Montaño, “officers all know that our attendance, or non-attendance, at Court is watched over and monitored.” While “I take responsibility for my actions,” he says, the responsibility for the alleged misconduct extends up the chain of command and more than a few years back in time.

Medina “has made numerous public statements concerning APD’s knowledge of the FBI’s investigation of various APD personnel and made commitments to complete parallel investigations,” Montaño’s lawyer, Thomas Grover, writes in a separate letter to the department. “However, as is evident in the investigations of Ofc. Montano, the department responded to the FBI’ s inquiries in a manner that is haphazard at best and artificial at worst.”

Although Montaño wanted to share “his knowledge of how widespread the issues of concern to the FBI are, how far up the supervisory chain they go, and other personnel they involve,” Grover says, he “could not provide such a statement because of the myriad of deficiencies APD plagued its investigations of him, and presumably others, with. From procedural errors concerning notice requirements to police officers, to timeline violations by APD, it seems at every turn, the department could not follow basic practices for internal affairs investigations.”

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Colorado Amendment Addresses Concerns On Banning Social Media Marijuana Posts, But Questions On Psychedelics And Other Drugs Remain

Colorado lawmakers advanced an amended social media bill on Thursday that, as introduced, would have forced platforms to ban users for talking positively about marijuana online. But while the sponsor says the issue has now been “worked out” with recent changes, critics contend the revised legislation still fails to address concerns around statements regarding other substances, including state-legal psychedelics, certain hemp products and even some over-the-counter cough syrups.

The bill, SB24-158—a broad proposal concerning internet age verification and content policies—would require social media platforms to immediately remove any user “who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance.”

Initially that provision would have applied to all controlled substances under state law, but an amendment from the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen (D), includes language saying that “a social media platform may allow a user to promote, sell, or advertise medical marijuana or retail marijuana to users who are at least twenty-one years of age” so long as the content complies with state cannabis laws.

Members of the Senate Committee on Business, Labor and Technology at Thursday’s hearing unanimously approved the amended bill, advancing it to the Appropriations Committee with a favorable report.

“We have worked out adjustment language with the MJ industry,” Hansen told Marijuana Moment in an email about the amendment last week, in response to questions about the potential consequences of the bill. “Those amendments will be distributed later today in preparation for the bill being voted on in committee on Thursday.”

But even before the amendment landed in committee this week, a fellow at the center-right think tank R Street Institute, said the changes leave major issues unaddressed.

“The updated version would still prevent users from from promoting NyQuil or anti-anxiety medications among many others, even though it exempts marijuana,” Shoshana Weismann, who first called out the potential problems in the bill’s drug-related language, told Marijuana Moment in an email. “And if you promote those medications, you will be reported to law enforcement. That is asinine.”

The amended bill also still specifies that its restrictions apply to certain hemp products with more than 1.25 milligrams THC or a CBD-to-THC ratio of less than 20 to 1, as well as most other hemp-containing products intended for human consumption that are not “a dietary supplement, a food, a food additive, or an herb.”

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Kentucky Budget Bill On Governor’s Desk Would Restrict Medical Marijuana Funding Ahead Of Program Launch

Kentucky’s legislature has delivered a budget bill to the governor that includes a provision restricting funding for a medical marijuana regulatory body overseeing the state’s forthcoming program until its advisory board determines there’s a “propensity” of research supporting the therapeutic “efficacy” of cannabis.

The language represents a watered down version of what was included in the Senate budget proposal, which would have set a much stricter threshold for the availability of funding for the Office of Medical Cannabis.

A last-minute amendment that was adopted prior to passage on Thursday removed Senate-approved language that would have broadly required a “propensity of federal and international peer reviewed, published research with conclusive evidence as to the efficacy of medical cannabis” in order to fund the regulatory division.

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St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones to Get Tough on VICTIMS – Wants to Hold Business Owners Responsible for Crimes Near Their Stores

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones wants to get tough on crime – VICTIMS.

The far left mayor wants to hold businesses responsible for crime committed near their stores.

St. Louis previously had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Repeat offenders are let out of confinement and back on the street.

The Missouri House voted on Thursday to approve “state control” of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police as leaders like Jones have failed to fight the crime epidemic in the city. According to local KTVI, a force of nearly 1,400 officers has shrunk by more than a third, with officers unable to address the lawlessness, including rampant public gunfire

ABC 13 News reported:

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones plans to hold local businesses accountable for violent crime outside their establishments, she told Action News 5.

Her comments came while attending a meeting of the Black Mayors’ Coalition on Crime. The group, launched this week by Memphis, Tennessee Mayor Paul Young, aims to “harness the collective power of black mayors across the nation to fight crime” and includes 21 leaders of cities across the country.

We have a lot of violence around convenience stores and gas stations,” Jones said of St. Louis. “So how can we hold those business owners accountable and also bring down crime? Some of the things we’re already doing, we’re finding that other mayors are doing as well.”

Her statement comes as the area is currently embroiled in controversy following the brutal attack of a 15-year-old girl. Kaylee Gain could be seen on video convulsing on the ground after being battered and having her head slammed against the pavement by another girl. Family lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer told TND Gain suffered a fractured skull, brain bleeding and brain swelling as a result of the attack.

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Bodycam of mistaken identity police raid that terrorized innocent family will not be made public

A judge in North Carolina said Raleigh police don’t have to release body camera video to the general public of a raid with guns drawn at a wrong house that left a husband, his then-pregnant wife and 11-month-old son traumatized.

In his decision, Wake County Superior Court Judge Matthew Houston noted the delay between the 2021 raid at Amir Abboud’s home and the hearing this week. The judge said that even though the plaintiffs allege something noteworthy about the underlying circumstance of the warrant, the execution of the warrant itself was not noteworthy. Abboud and his lawyers received the video but sought its release to the general public “for purposes of emotional recovery, accountability, transparency, and policy advocacy.”

Abboud’s lawyers said they were shocked.

“We think it’s clear that there is a compelling public interest in this matter,” the lawyers from Emancipate North Carolina, an advocacy group that opposes mass incarceration, said in a statement. “At least 10 personnel from media outlets were present during the hearing, and numerous outlets have been reporting on the issue. We believe this to be a blow to transparency and accountability to the public.”

Media representatives for Raleigh declined to comment.

Court documents spell out how it all happened on April 7, 2021, when Abboud returned home from work to his then-pregnant wife and their 11-month-old son.

Abboud was making coffee when Raleigh Police Department officers in military-style gear executing a “Quick Knock” warrant busted open the front door with a battering ram, pointing their AR-style rifles at the couple and their screaming 11-month-old son, the lawsuit alleges. The couple was not suspected of criminal activity — the raid was based on “erroneous police work” and a case of mistaken identity, court documents said.

Officers handcuffed Abboud and separated him from his family, taking him outside for questioning, the lawsuit alleges.

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Hawaii Lawmakers Advance Bill To Expand State’s Marijuana Decriminalization Law As Broader Legalization Hangs In The Balance

As a bill to legalize marijuana in Hawaii hangs in the balance in the state legislature, a House committee has amended and advanced separate legislation on Thursday that would expand the state’s current decriminalization of cannabis by increasing amounts of the substance for which people would not face the threat of jail time and reducing certain financial penalties.

After adopting a handful amendments to the underlying measure, SB 2487, members of the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs (JHA) Committee voted 7–2 to recommend that the proposal be passed.

In its current form, the bill, sponsored by Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D), would specify that possession of an ounce of marijuana or less would be subject to a $25 civil fine. Under existing law in Hawaii, possession of up to three grams carries a $130 fine.

In some cases, individuals could perform community service instead of paying a financial penalty under the new legislation.

Between one and two ounces of cannabis, meanwhile, would be punishable as a petty misdemeanor—up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Currently that range is between three grams and an ounce, with anything between one ounce and one pound carrying a misdemeanor penalty of up to a year of incarceration and a $2,000 fine.

The bill would also create a new violation for smoking marijuana in a public area, which would carry a $130 fee with the possibility of community service.

“This is important,” Rep. David Tarnas (D), the JHA Committee chair, said of the public consumption change before the panel’s vote. “This is a significant step to deal with an issue that we heard coming up in the bill considered about legalizing cannabis use.”

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FBI Agent Says He Hassles People ‘Every Day, All Day Long’ Over Facebook Posts

The FBI spends “every day, all day long” interrogating people over their Facebook posts. At least, that’s what agents told Stillwater, Oklahoma, resident Rolla Abdeljawad when they showed up at her house to ask her about her social media activity. 

Three FBI agents came to Abdeljawad’s house and said that they had been given “screenshots” of her posts by Facebook. Her lawyer Hassan Shibly posted a video of the incident online on Wednesday.

Abdeljawad told agents that she didn’t want to talk and asked them to show their badges on camera, which the agents refused to do. She wrote on Facebook that she later confirmed with local police that the FBI agents really were FBI agents.

“Facebook gave us a couple of screenshots of your account,” one agent in a gray shirt said in the video.

“So we no longer live in a free country and we can’t say what we want?” replied Abdeljawad.

“No, we totally do. That’s why we’re not here to arrest you or anything,” a second agent in a red shirt added. “We do this every day, all day long. It’s just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any ill will.”

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RFK Jr. warns Americans ‘will be slaves’ if central bank digital currency is established

Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared in no uncertain terms recently that establishing a Central Bank Digital Currency in the country will be “the end of freedom; we will be slaves if we allow that to happen.”

In a wide-ranging discussion at the University of Austin about freedom of speech and civil discourse, Kennedy said he didn’t “get” the connection between CBDCs and the loss of freedom of expression and other freedoms until he witnessed the Canadian trucker protest.

“The truckers in Canada were protesting the COVID mandates, the lockdowns, masking mandates, vaccination mandates, and others,” Kennedy began. “They started in Alberta. They picked up thousands of trucks as they drove across Canada to Ottawa.”

When they got to Ottawa — they were trying to petition Prime Minister Trudeau — and they were exercising a right that we all take for granted in this country: the right to assemble, the right to protest, the right to petition their government, and the government instead condemned them as right-wing fascists and racists, which if you look at the videos, they’re the opposite. Looks like Woodstock. They were delivering bottled water, they were cooking food for the poor, they were picking up garbage. There were musicians on every block.

It was really a beautiful thing.

However, the Trudeau government perceived the protesters to be an existential threat.

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Eight States Officially Agree to Ban the Sale of Gas-Powered Vehicles

President Joe Biden made headlines last week by unveiling the most radical environmental regulations in U.S. history, aimed at phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles and mandating the adoption of electric cars. Now, a recent report shows that the push to eliminate gas-powered automobiles is gaining momentum in eight states.

According to a report from The Daily Mail on Tuesday, the regulations being implemented in these states outline that only zero-emission vehicles, such as electric cars and specific plug-in hybrids, will be permitted for sale starting from the 2035 model year. This directive is known as the Advanced Clean Cars II rule.

Eight states, including California, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington, have committed to mandating the use of “environmentally friendly” electric vehicles among their residents. Additionally, the District of Columbia has endorsed this initiative.

Predictably, California was the frontrunner in implementing the regulation. They aim to ensure that 35% of new vehicle sales produce zero emissions within two years, with plans to raise this target to an impressive 68% by 2030.

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