Tag: police state

Nearly 500-Page House Report On Marijuana Legalization Bill Previews Democratic And Republican Arguments

With a vote on a bill to federally legalize marijuana set for House floor consideration this week, lawmakers on Thursday released a report on the legislation that effectively previews the partisan debate to come, with the majority and minority leaders of a key committee making their arguments for and against the reform.

The 483-page report prepared by the House Judiciary Committee provides an extensive overview of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which is sponsored by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

Leadership announced late last week that the bill to end federal prohibition would be taken up on the floor for the second time in congressional history. It passed the House in 2020 but saw no action in the Senate. Then, in September, it again cleared the sponsor’s panel for the current session.

Before heading to the floor, there will be a House Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday, where members will decide whether any proposed amendments can be made in order. The hearing was initially scheduled for Monday but was pushed back two days over the weekend for unknown reasons.

“Enforcement of marijuana laws has been a key driver of mass criminalization in the United States,” the new report’s background and need for legislation section states. “The drug war has produced profoundly unequal outcomes across racial groups, manifested through significant racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system.”

It further describes the collateral consequences of cannabis arrests and convictions, including the possible loss of opportunities for employment, voting rights, housing, education, government assistance and more, saying that “these exclusions create an often-permanent second-class status for millions of Americans.”

“Like drug war enforcement itself, these consequences fall disproportionately on people of color,” it says. “For non-citizens, a conviction can trigger deportation, sometimes with almost no possibility of discretionary relief.”

“Today, overcriminalized communities continue to suffer the consequences of failed drug policies, even in states that have legalized marijuana, where arrests have dropped for marijuana crimes. Public support for making marijuana legal has increased over the past two decades. The resulting trend in state-level legalization of marijuana has placed states in apparent conflict with federal law and, as a result, the Justice Department has struggled with how to continue to uphold federal law in this context.”

The report also touches on other unique challenges that state-legal marijuana industries face under the status quo of federal prohibition, including barriers to accessing financial services through traditional banking services which have resulted in public safety issues for cannabis businesses that have become targets of crime because many operate on a largely cash-only basis.

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Horrific Video Shows Teen Start Convulsing as Cop Tasers Him for Vaping Outside

“He was only vaping,” was the sentiment from eye-witnesses over the weekend who watched in horror as an Atlanta police officer tasered a 17-year-old boy, causing him to fall to the ground and start convulsing. The incident is now the subject of an internal investigation.

On Thursday, dozens of teens took to Atlanta’s Historic Fourth Ward Skate Park and were peacefully skating and hanging out when a female officer spotted one of the teens using a vape pen. Apparently, vaping is illegal at the park, despite the fact that it is outside, so the officer claimed the right to extort the teen for doing so.

In the brief video we see the teen, 17-year-old Terion Fortson, standing up talking to the officer as she demands he “Get on the ground now. Get on the ground.” Fortson was not seen in the video physically assaulting the officer or otherwise resisting in any way that would require the following use of force.

According to witnesses, the taser came out after Fortson didn’t get out his ID fast enough.

“I was scared, because you know, past events, of police officers and Black people, you expect him to be shot, but she didn’t,” witness, Brendon Aldridge told WSB-TV.

“He was only vaping. She asked him for his ID. He was being calm, he wasn’t being like, ‘No, I’m not going to show you my ID.’ She tased him. It was crazy, because while he was on the ground, shaking, she was like, ‘Get down, get down,’ like he wasn’t already on the ground. It was even crazier, like six other police officers pulled up and they were all dapping each other up, saying, ‘What’s up?’, hugging. I’m like, what is this? That was just crazy. It made no sense.”

As the video shows, the officer tasers Fortson but it didn’t have much of an effect. The teen just stood there before the officer fired a second time. The second time, it definitely penetrated his skin, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Once he was on the ground, he was no longer a threat but the officer deployed the taser once more causing the teen to start convulsing uncontrollably on the ground. The video is hard to watch which is why local news refused to air it.

When reached for comment, the department claimed Fortson was resisting and said this was the reason the taser was used. However, according to the videos below and witnesses, Fortson was not physically resisting at all.

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Thought Police: Germany Conducts Mass Raids over Online ‘Insults’ Against Politicians

Federal police in Germany have conducted mass raids across 13 states on Tuesday over online ‘insults’ levied against politicians.

A large number of apartments and houses were raided in Germany on Tuesday as Federal police in the country look to prosecute those who made allegedly hateful remarks against elected officials online.

In total, federal authorities have said that they have checked over 600 statements for so-called “criminal content”, with 100 people being “searched and questioned” across 13 different German states.

According to a report by Der Spiegel, a significant number of raids have also been conducted, with the houses and apartments of those suspected of posting illegal online messages being searched by law enforcement for incriminating evidence.

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South Africa considers requiring citizens to turn over biometric data to own a phone

Governments of several nations around the world have considered using biometric data during SIM card registrations as a “fraud deterrent.” The proposals have always faced pushback for being a clear challenge to privacy.

Biometric data or identifiers include scans of a fingerprint, palm, retina, or the entire face of the user. South Africa has become the latest nation to consider SIM laws that make this data a mobile phone registration requirement.

Identity and other thieves can still hack phones with current security measures. Biometric data makes it more difficult because a criminal would need biometric proof that they own a phone and have the right to unlock it.

Acquiring body scans illegally is a difficult process. Governments hope that the extensive time and financial effort required to copy or mimic the biometrics of a specific person might deter criminals from hacking phones.

They also hope it might deter criminals from using their own phones for criminal activities since biometrics data creates a solid link between them and their phones that investigators can trace from a phone used in a crime back to the owner.

The telephone regulator for South Africa believes that all SIM card records should have biometric identifiers. For now, the data would only be used for basic authentication of ownership and monitoring of SIM swaps.

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Doctor Honored and Investigated by Same State For Same Work

In a classic case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing, a Virginia doctor has been awarded a legislative commendation for his study into alternative treatments of COVID-19 just a few days before the state’s medical licensing board informed him he was under investigation for misconduct for the same work.

On Mar. 11, the Virginia House of Delegates unanimously passed HR228, a resolution to recognize Dr. Paul Marik, founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), for what lawmakers called “his courageous treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients.”

“Instead of playing it safe, and going along with so-called conventional wisdom, Dr. Marik dared to take a truly scientific approach by questioning and innovating in an environment where both were not only frowned upon, but for which he was persecuted,” said Virginia Republican Dave LaRock, the resolution’s primary sponsor.

Just a few days later Marik received a letter dated Mar. 15 from the Virginia Department of Health Professions informing him he had until Mar. 29 to respond to an investigation underway by the agency into his medical practices.

According to the letter, the investigation is based on a complaint from Sentara Hospitals, Norfolk, where Marik ran its intensive-care unit before it suspended him for refusing to prescribe Remdesivir and instead prescribed Ivermectin and other alternative treatments to COVID patients.

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