Archive for the 'Police State' Category
Detroit Might Stop Prosecuting “Low Priority” Crimes
July 17th, 2009Via: Detroit Free Press: Low-priority crimes like breaking and entering might not be prosecuted and the conviction rates will continue to decline if the proposed budget for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is approved, Prosecutor Kym Worthy told commissioners this morning. Advertisement “We can’t even cover our courtrooms anymore,” Worthy said in vehemently disagreeing with […]
5 Years After: Portugal’s Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results
July 2nd, 2009Maybe Portugal didn’t view the Prison Industrial Complex as a growth industry (like elites in the U.S. do). Via: Scientific American: In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized […]
London’s Metropolitan Police Accused of Waterboarding Suspects
June 10th, 2009Via: Times Online: Metropolitan Police officers subjected suspects to waterboarding, according to allegations at the centre of a major anti-corruption inquiry, The Times has learnt. The torture claims are part of a wide-ranging investigation which also includes accusations that officers fabricated evidence and stole suspects’ property. It has already led to the abandonment of a […]
Supreme Court: Suspects Can be Interrogated Without Lawyer
May 27th, 2009Via: AP: The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a long-standing ruling that stopped police from initiating questions unless a defendant’s lawyer was present, a move that will make it easier for prosecutors to interrogate suspects. The high court, in a 5-4 ruling, overturned the 1986 Michigan v. Jackson ruling, which said police may not initiate […]
FBI ‘Lured Dimwits’ Into Terror Plot
May 25th, 2009Via: Times Online: ON the steps of New York city hall on Friday, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, praised the police officers and federal agents who helped disrupt an apparent terrorist plot to blow up a synagogue and shoot down military aircraft. The mayor was flanked by more than 100 homeland security and counter-terrorist specialists, all […]
Netherlands to Close Prisons Due to Lack of Criminals
May 25th, 2009Via: NRC Handelsblad: The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty. During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison […]
Court Tosses Case Over GPS Tracking
May 19th, 2009Via: Times Union: A Watervliet man will get a new trial on burglary charges after the state’s top court ruled Tuesday it was wrong for a police investigator to slap a GPS device on the defendant’s van to track his movements without a search warrant. A divided Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 decision, reversed […]
Boy and Girl Explorer Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More
May 14th, 2009This is a cross between America Fuck Yeah and Starship Troopers. Via: New York Times: Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor. The […]
Blind Interpreter Detained at Philly Airport for Questioning Flight Delay; Luckily His Visit to the U.S. Only Resulted in Minor Physical Injuries and Nightmares
May 12th, 2009Via: Philadelphia Daily News: A BLIND INTERNATIONAL interpreter who says he was dragged off a Belgium-bound flight, arrested and held in custody in Philadelphia for hours without food or water faces an arraignment Thursday. His crime: He questioned why his U.S. Airways flight was delayed nearly two hours. Nicola Cantisani, 61, of Brussels, Belgium, a […]
Wisconsin Court Upholds Warrantless GPS Tracking by Police
May 11th, 2009Via: Chicago Tribune: Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody’s movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday. However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was “more than a little troubled” by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by […]
