An Altercation with the Drug Court Gestapo

Yesterday, I was invited to attend the Birmingham Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society luncheon and panel discussion. The topic of the panel discussion was "Is Drug Court a Good Idea?"

A little bit of info on the Federalist Society.

The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.

Their members include all of the current conservative members of the Supreme Court and others of that ilk. Some might think that I would be out of place in such company, but the truth is I am a real conservative. I believe in a very small, un-intrusive government that serves to protect our rights and freedoms. I believe in states rights. I believe in the separation of powers. The people calling themselves conservatives today (The Republican Party) are really anything but.

I wouldn't have known about this luncheon, but apparently I have a friend in the legal community that thought my presence might be sorely needed at any such discussion on drug courts in Alabama. Bless'em! And a HUGE thank you to the attorney who invited me. If you live in Shelby Co. or surrounding areas and get wrapped up on drug charges CALL ME and I will give you the name of an attorney whose heart is in his work and that you can trust to fight like hell to clear your name. I would list it here on the blog but I haven't asked permission to do that. If I get permission I will put up a permanent link.

The luncheon was held at The Summit Club in Birmingham. The Summit Club is for really rich, powerful people. It is a private deal with membership dues (I don't know what they are but I suspect they are outrageous according to my poor person definition of that word). It is located on the 32nd & 33rd floors of the Regions Bank Harbert Center and it has an incredible view of the city. I had been there once before back in the late 90's. Yesterday my friend and fellow activist Dawn Palmer attended with me.

We arrived about the same time but had problems finding good parking. I wound up parking three blocks away. As soon as I pulled into the parking spot and began looking for change to feed the meter I was assailed by a homeless person. I tried to ignore him but he was persistent enough to tap on my window. "I don't have any cash." I wasn't lying either. All I had was enough to pay the $16 to get into the event. He walked away. About ten seconds later along came another one. I just waved him away. Then another one. Geez Louise! I finally got out of the car, fed the meter and hobbled the three blocks on my broke foot to the Harbert Center.

Dawn and I got in and got situated. Two more attorney's joined us at our table and introduced themselves and asked who we were and what we did. I explained that I am a legalizer, run Court Watch, Alabamians for Compassionate Care and ran for Governor with the Libertarian Party in 2006. It turns out that both of these attorney's had recently quit their practice and are opening an addiction treatment center. I was glad to hear that. Alabama has a huge deficit in the number of treatment beds available in the state and zero funding dollars. It's really awful. Drug Court can only be as good as the treatment offered. This bullshit of herding people through it and making them pay the drug courts anywhere from $2500 to $4000, plus CRO fees, plus drug test fees, plus drug and alcohol class fees is nothing more than government sanctioned extortion that doesn't help anyone. Most drug courts in Alabama offer no wrap around services such as mental health counseling and medications for those who need them, no vocational rehab to help them get a job, no transportation to get to and from drug court, which makes it almost impossible for people to get there because the state takes your license when you plead guilty. It's basically all a big fucking extortion scam.

The panel was made up of Drug Court Judge Davis Lawley, who was appointed by Gov. Bob Riley to take the place of Judge Pete Johnson when he retired in 2007. Judge Lawley informed us that he was the former head of a drug task force and used to be the door-kicker-inner on drug raids. What a swell, unbiased person to be appointed Judge of drug court, eh? The other panelist was Lt. James Chambliss head of the Narcotics Division in the Birmingham Police Dept. Rep. Cam Ward (R- Alabaster) was also supposed to be on the panel but was unable to make it due to being in session in the legislature. A note to the organizers of this event...if you truly want to have a discussion on whether drug courts are a good idea or not how about including a panelist who doesn't profit directly from the drug war and drug courts? That'd make it a tad more balanced.

Having no opposing panelist I decided to fill that role from my chair in the audience. Judge Lawley spoke first and he covered what drug court is, how he wants to 'help' people who are 'addicts' so they can pay in their social security like everybody else. I got the impression that he felt every human was born to be a slave to social security taxes and that was perfectly ok by him. He tried to talk about how the brain works in an addicted human and failed terribly. It was painfully obvious he had not a single clue as to the science of drug addiction. He was a cop and now he is a judge and he never went to medical school, so just how exactly is he qualified to talk about addiction? Sounded to Dawn and me like he was acknowledging that addiction is a medical condition and not a criminal justice one. Which begged the question of why is he a drug court judge. But that isn't what I asked.

Next up was Lt. James Chambliss head of the Birmingham Police Dept. Narcotics Division. He kept looking at me long before he and Judge Lawley took their seats at the head of the room. He looked incredibly familiar. I am almost certain I have seen him in the State House. He talked about how his department is currently engaged in a "Zero Tolerance" campaign which consists of pulling over anyone and everyone. He said "We pull people over for throwing a piece of paper out the window. We use every tool we can to make contact with as many 'subjects' as we can to try and see what they are doing." It gave me chills. He continued to ramble about nothing in particular for some time. Seriously, this guy made no sense and was not talking about the subject of the luncheon at all. He said he sees the same people over and over and over. He threw in a comment about the Titanic being built by professionals and Noah's Ark being built by amateurs...but then failed to connect it to anything relevant. It was most bizarre! I couldn't help but wonder how many times his incoherent, rambling testimony put some poor non-violent drug user in jail.

Both Judge Lawley and Lt. Chambliss harped on the dangers of opiates, cocaine and meth. Neither of them mentioned marijuana in their remarks. I found that rather encouraging....until question time arose.

The first question was, "Does drug court reduce the recidivism rate and if so by how much?"

Lt. Chambliss started rambling again about seeing the same people over and over. To me that was a clear indication that Lt. Chambliss didn't think it was working. He continued to ramble about how bad drugs are and a bunch of other crazy nonsense that had absolutely nothing to do with the question asked. It was obvious that he probably didn't know what a recidivism rate was and he was floundering pretty badly when Judge Lawley attempted to answer the question. He didn't do much better. I was really surprised that they did not come prepared with some government math stats that say drug court works. It's like they never expected that question to come up.

Next question from an attorney was.."Does drug court actually cure addicts?" To my absolute horror Judge Lawley said something to the effect of, "There's no real fool proof way to cure and addicts...Everyone in the room here is educated so I can say this....Chairman Mao in China cut off the heads of drug addicts and pushers...we can't do that here of course so we have drug court."

There were a couple other questions before they got to me. I don't remember what they were. When I was finally called on I asked Judge Lawley how much of his drug court case load was made up of simple possession for personal use marijuana cases. It seemed that question caught him off guard as well. He had to stop and think about it for a minute. Then he pulled the random number of 10 to 12 percent out of thin air. Now it may actually be that percentage but he really didn't seem to sure of that number. I noted that 50% of all drug arrests in Alabama are for simple possession of marijuana and that his number seemed very low to me. I then asked him if he thought that using 10 to 12 percent of the very scarce resources available for drug court on non-violent marijuana offenders was a waste since marijuana is not addictive and doesn't have the same health risks as other harder drugs.

Judge Lawley: "Absolutely not. Marijuana makes people lazy and a-motivational."

Me: "Well, I hope the narcotics officer won't arrest me for saying so, but I have been smoking marijuana regularly since the age of 12. I am now 33, I run Court Watch, Alabamians for Compassionate Care, a blog, I ran for Governor of Alabama in 2006 with the Libertarian Party, am often in the media and I am here at your meeting today. Does that sound like someone who is lazy and a-motivational to you?"

Judge Lawley: "No but not everyone reacts the same way. Not everyone is you."

Me: "True, yet the net cast by law enforcement drags in everyone caught with drugs and does not differentiate responsible users from non-responsible users. Why doesn't drug court focus its resources on just the problem drug users?"

Judge Lawley: "Talk to Cam Ward...I don't make the laws."

Me: "I've been talking to Cam Ward for a few years now."

Lt. Chambliss: "I would like to address this question. Marijuana is a gateway drug. Every drug addict I have ever dealt with started with marijuana."

Me: "Marijuana is not a 'gateway drug'. That is just a theory. Every drug addict also drank milk at some point too...so is milk a gateway drug? The connection between marijuana and harder drugs is that marijuana is simply the most prolific and widely available. What about tobacco and alcohol? Do you consider those gateway drugs as well?

Lt. Chambliss: "Them's legal."

Me: "Yes but I asked if you thought they were gateway drugs?"

Lt: Chambliss: "I believe tobacco a gateway drug."

Me: "But not alcohol?"

Lt. Chambliss: "No."

Me: "Both of you keep referring to 'drug related crime'. That is the wrong term. The correct term is prohibition related crime. It is exactly the same thing that we had when alcohol was outlawed in the 20's."

AT this point Lt. Chambliss became so irritated at me that he started asking me questions.

Lt Chambliss: "How many people you charged with narcotics?" (at least I think that is what he said)

Me: "None, I'm not a cop."

Lt.Chambliss: "How many narcotics raids you been on?"

Me: "None and I wouldn't ever go on one." I almost said "Hey I'm asking the questions here" but figured that might push him over the edge and make him pull out his gun and shoot me dead in my chair. Neither of those questions even made sense.

Judge Lawley: "I saw a study recently that showed marijuana caused 'paranoia'." (What he meant to say was schizophrenia).

The moderator jumped in at this point and cut off any further debate between the three of us. I was ready with this response had I been allowed to give it.

"I think you meant to say schizophrenia Judge. And regardless of what government study you read medical science tells us they have no idea what causes schizophrenia, that people are born with it and it is triggered at some point in their lives. Additionally, schizophrenics who use marijuana are using it to self-medicate. It doesn't cause the condition. If you truly meant that marijuana makes you paranoid I would offer up that it isn't marijuana that makes you paranoid....its the cops."

The next question was about arrest statistics. Lt. Chambliss pulled out some notes and left no doubt that cops and drug court judges are having no success in stemming the flow of drugs or stopping people from using them. He went back to about 2002 and read the amount of marijuana seized each year. Every year there was much more marijuana than the year before.

And then the fun was over because time was up. I'd like to be locked in a room with Lt. Chambliss for about an hour. Just me and him. He'd come out a changed man.

As we were leaving the lawyer who invited me came over and the first thing out of his mouth was, "I can't believe they would put that guy (Chambliss) in charge of anything. You couldn't make sense out of anything he was saying." I said, "Scary ain't it...and he carries a gun."

He also said that he was sitting by a Jefferson County Commissioner who was nodding his head in agreement with marijuana being a gateway drug. He said he told him that it isn't a gateway drug but that it is more widely available and easier to access than other drugs. The commissioner said, "That may be but the public isn't ready to hear that."

I had a marvelous time being a professional pain in the ass yesterday. It isn't often that I get to go head to head with a Narc and a drug court judge all in the same day. I was really surprised that some of the Federalist Society lawyers didn't ask about the Constitutionality of the drug war and the end run around the Constitution with the Interstate Commerce Clause. Really surprised.

You know the stupidity of Lt. Chambliss is downright frightening...and what is even scarier is that most law enforcement officers are drinking the same fucking koolaid that he is. Even the judge, who I assume is educated, believes in the shit. Either that or he is a whore profiting off of the blood and misery of others. Sadly not enough people possess the testicular fortitude to do what I did yesterday. It is always sublime to sit before a cop and a judge, both who would love to arrest and imprison me and say "I AM A POT SMOKER" thereby destroying their stereotype of what a pot smoker aka drug user is and does. Goddamn there is nothing better! I think my presence and direct confrontational questioning caught them seriously off guard. And that makes it ever better.



Strangely, the question of whether drug court is a good idea was never answered. Judge Lawley, who makes around $140,000 a year, obviously thinks it is a good idea and Lt. Chambliss, although he hinted that it wasn't working, profits from the fact that it isn't working so he don't give a damn about whether it is a good idea or not. He'll still make blood money off the damn drug war anyway.

My friend who extended the invite also attended our Compassionate Care meeting last night and signed up. He also told me that he has a friend who used to be a drug task force officer and has since joined LEAP and is now against it. I made him promise to hook me up with that gem. I'd really like to get LEAP down here in the same room with Lt. Chambliss and Judge Lawley and any other law enforcement officers, DA's, defense attorneys and judges who are interested to attend.

Later today I am going to talk to my friends at LEAP and see what it would cost to get them down here and start raising funds to make that happen. I'll make a separate post about that and ask you dear readers to contribute to that most noble cause.

Peace Out
Loretta Nall

Cross Posted at Alabama Court Watch







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Compassionate Care Meeting Thursday, Feb. 21

Alabamians for Compassionate Care will conduct a meeting/training session Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 at

Two Pesos Mexican Grill
201 Southgate Dr
Pelham, AL 35124
(205) 987-3800

The meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. and last until 7:00 p.m. We will be discussing this years bill, our strategy for getting it passed out of committee, recruiting new patients and medical professionals who are interested in supporting this bill, discuss the documentary film about to be made about our group and talk about who will be giving testimony this year.

Please join us if you are able, pass this invitation along to everyone you know and bring along some friends. Appetizers will be on the house. Any additional food or drinks will be dutch treat.

For more information please email Loretta Nall at lorettanall@gtmail.com or Christie O'Brien at reederchristie@yahoo.com

Hope to see you there!

Loretta Nall
Executive Director
Alabamians for Compassionate Care
http://www.compassionate-care.org (website)
http://compassionate-care.blogspot.com/ (blog)




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Stupid Alabama Legislature Tricks

Every year in the Alabama Legislature there are a host of really stupid, idiotic and completely pointless bills. So far this year I have discovered two that really stand out. I'm sure there are many more...but let's start here.

The first one is HB147 which, would make it a crime not to have a tax stamp attached to any crack cocaine rocks you might sell.

Now, crack cocaine is illegal....100 times more illegal if you are black than if you are white and use powder cocaine. I don't think anyone selling crack rocks is going to suddenly be-bop it up to the court house and buy tax stamps to affix to the corners of their sandwich baggies.

So, what exactly is the purpose of this legislation? My guess is that it serves two nefarious purposes.

1. To make it easier for the state to seize peoples homes, cars, bank accounts and any other property that the state takes a shine to. Someone selling small amounts to support their own habit wouldn't really be making any money....but with this law every rock sold would have tax affixed to it and although the bill does not say how much each tax stamp is I would be willing to wager that it is very high. So, say a person wasn't a 'dealer' who sold vast quantities and never used any money made for anything other than to support their own habit. They never bought a house, car, didn't have a bank account processing those funds and never bought any other property with the funds. The state would still be able to seize everything they did own, even if it was gained through acceptable means, because of 'back taxes' owed on the crack cocaine they sold.

2. To make it harder for people convicted of selling crack cocaine to get their voting rights restored after they complete their sentence. One of the requirements for having ones voting rights restored is that all fines, restitution and so forth be paid in full. Adding a tax to any illicit drug makes it almost certain that voting rights will never be restored. This specifically targets the Black community since so many more black people are in prison for crack cocaine than white people. And that's just the way they want it.

Another stupid bill is HB2 which, makes selling glass tubes that could be used to smoke crack illegal.

Do they really think that drug users are so uncreative that they will suddenly stop smoking crack if glass tubes are removed from the market? Do they think that glass tubes are the only way to ingest crack cocaine? PLEASE!!! I've seen people use a coke can and cigarette ashes to smoke it. I've seen them use a straw and tin foil and a host of other things. Marijuana pipes and bongs are already against the law here....but that hasn't stopped anyone from smoking pot. A pipe can be made of an apple, toilet paper tube and tin foil, a tampon paper, a coke can with small holes punched in it...the list goes on and on. Will the legislature eventually move to outlaw every common household item that could potentially be used to ingest an illicit substance?

The legislative definition of 'drug paraphernalia" is as follows...

"(a) Definition of "drug paraphernalia". - As used in this section, the term "drug paraphernalia" means all equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use, in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of the controlled substances laws of this state.

Looks to me that under that definition they have effectively outlawed, air, water, sunshine, dirt, bat shit, Miracle Grow, sandwich baggies, kitchen scales, shovels, hoes, rakes, garden shears....man that is quite a list and is very short considering all of the things that could fit into this overly broad definition of 'drug paraphernalia'.

I can't help but wonder what they are thinking when they come up with shit like this. What it says to me is that they know they are powerless to stop drug use in the state of Alabama. In light of that, they have decided to try and pass any useless, feel-good piece of legislation that will make them look good to their constituents, even if the bill itself does NOTHING to stop illegal drug use. These kinds of bills DO, however, infringe on the rights of people who don't have anything to do with drugs. That's one of the scarier parts. People who clamor for these laws do not realize that it will affect them at some point. Sadly, that is what government has become. A weapon to be wielded against others to stop them from doing something they want to do or to force them to do something they don't want to do by threat of government force.

Will they ever realize that they cannot legislate natural human behavior, that they will not ever be able to legislate drug use out of existence, that they are wasting our time and money sitting around debating useless legislation like this?

One day, probably not in my lifetime, they will realize that drug use is a health, social and family issue and not a criminal justice one. Hopefully they will also realize all of the damage their laws have done to our once free society and to the human lives that their laws helped further destroy. I am not holding out for them ever being held accountable for their actions.





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New Sidebar Section

Readers,

I have added a new catergory to the sidebar of the blog titled "Alabama Orgs. Worth Supporting". All of these are non-profit, grass-roots organizations working on issues like drug policy reform, helping inmate mothers, judicial reform, poverty and constitutional reform. For the purpose of transparency I am executive director of Alabamians for Compassionate Care and Alabama Court Watch. If you know of other non-profits that I might support but aren't listed here please send me a link and a brief description of the organization and I'll consider linking them up.



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This is Beautiful!

From the Birmingham News

Volunteer program at Tutwiler Prison for Women helps inmates read and record books for children and grandchildren


For the last five years the program Aid to Inmate Mothers has had women incarcerated at Tutwiler in Wetumpka record bedtime stories for their children and grand-children. I think this is absolutely wonderful. I read tomy children from the time I discovered I was pregnant until they told me they were too old for a bedtime story. I firmly believe that is one of the main reasons I have such awesome kids, who to this day, love to read more than anything.

I can't imagine what it means to a child, who's mother is in prison, to still be able to hear her voice at bedtime. Things like this help to strengthen the fragile bond between mom's in jail and kids left in the outside world to fend for themselves. I plan to get involved with Aid to Inmate Mother's and to volunteer for this program and any others that they have.

If you would like to know more about AIM then please visit website.

Mobile Cops Facing Drug Charges Resign

News coverage video

AL.com Blog

Officers facing drug charges resign
Posted by Ron Colquitt, Staff Reporter
February 15, 2008 1:18 PM

The two Mobile police officers arrested and charged with felony possession of crack cocaine Feb. 6 turned in their resignations today, police Chief Phillipp Garrett said.

Desmond Ryan Brooks, 28, and Aaron Porter, 32, resigned "in bad standing," the chief said today during a news conference.

The men still face criminal charges, Garrett said. An investigation is continuing to determine if other officers were involved in the criminal activity, he said.

An affidavit used to obtain a warrant said Brooks was involved in illegal "shakedowns," when answering calls involving possible drugs or money.

Undercover officers set up Brooks to see if he would take drugs and money without reporting it, according to the affidavit. Brooks took the bait and did not report what he found, investigators say.

Following Brooks' arrest, Porter, a rookie, was taken into custody after officers searched his home and found less than an ounce of crack cocaine.

Texas Ban on Sex Toy Sales Is Overturned

Associated Press

By ANGELA K. BROWN – 9 hours ago

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned a statute outlawing sex toy sales in Texas, one of the last states — all in the South — to retain such a ban.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Texas law making it illegal to sell or promote obscene devices, punishable by as many as two years in jail, violated the right to privacy guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

Companies that own Dreamer's and Le Rouge Boutique, which sell the devices in its Austin stores, and the retail distributor Adam & Eve sued in federal court in Austin in 2004 over the constitutionality of the law. They appealed after a federal judge dismissed the suit and said the Constitution did not protect their right to publicly promote such devices.

In its decision Tuesday, the appeals court cited Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 opinion that struck down bans on consensual sex between same-sex couples.

"Just as in Lawrence, the state here wants to use its laws to enforce a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct," the appeals judges wrote. "The case is not about public sex. It is not about controlling commerce in sex. It is about controlling what people do in the privacy of their own homes because the state is morally opposed to a certain type of consensual private intimate conduct. This is an insufficient justification after Lawrence."

The Texas attorney general's office, which represented the Travis County district attorney in the case, has not decided whether to appeal, said agency spokesman Tom Kelley.

Phil Harvey, president of Adam & Eve Inc., said the 5th Circuit Court's decision was a big step forward. He said his business plans to expand to sell in stores and at home parties, something company consultants had been fearful of doing because of the Texas law.

"I think it's wonderful, but it does seem to me that since Texas was one of three states in the country — along with Mississippi and Alabama — that continued to outlaw the sale of sex toys and vibrators, that it was probably past time," Harvey said Wednesday.

Alabama is in the 11th Circuit. But now it's unlikely that the law in Mississippi, which also is in the 5th Circuit, will be prosecuted, some legal experts said.

This bodes well for sex toy sales in Alabama. Another suit has been filed which challenges the constitutionality of our current law banning the sale of adult novelty devices. We are also waiting on HB12 sponsored by Rep. John Rogers tha would repeal the current law. So far, it has not been placed on any committee calendar.

Bill Seeks to Expand DNA Database

From the Mobile Press-Register

Thursday, February 14, 2008
By BRIAN LYMAN
Capital Bureau

MONTGOMERY -- The state is trying to expand its DNA database and wants offenders to make a contribution.

The House Government Appropriations committee Wednesday approved a bill that would expand the state's DNA database to include those arrested for felony charges and assess an additional $10 fee levied on municipal, district and criminal court proceedings to help pay for it.

The fee would also apply to speeding tickets......

Alabama currently collects samples from those convicted of felonies and certain misdemeanors. There are now 155,000 samples in the state's database. The added fee would bring in an estimated $8 million, all targeted for the program.

The bill allows the use of "reasonable force" to obtain samples from those who refuse to give them.

This is ridiculus. No one who HAS NOT BEEN CONVICTED of a crime should be forced to give up a sample of their DNA to the state. NO ONE. If the state suspects someone of a crime like rape or murder where DNA would either prove guilt or exonorate a suspect then there are other ways to obtain a sample that will not infringe on the privacy rights of EVERYONE else in the state.

Cops can stake out the suspects home and collect the trash, they can follow the suspect and if he/she smokes they can try and obtain a cigarette butt discarded by the suspect, they can offer a suspect a drink during interrogation and get DNA from the cup or can, or, if the suspect is in jail, then DNA can be obtained from the dishes and plastic flat-wear used to feed him/her. There is no need for a blanket law that will result in DNA being collected and stored for every citizen of this state.

The story does say that folks stopped for speeding or other traffic violations will not be forced to give up a sample. I don't trust that though. How long will it be before they go back and change that section? How long until they whoop out one of those anecdotal cases where so-and-so got a speeding ticket and later it was learned that they were wanted for another crime? The state and the cops will use something like that to push for every motorist stopped for any reason to give a DNA sample. I tell ya....if they come after mine then they better be ready to use more than 'reasonable force' because I'll fight like hell.

Another thing DNA could be used for is the REAL ID cards. The government plans to have all of the private and important details of your life on the damn thing....so why not your DNA makeup too?

The article ends with this...

Those arrested for felonies but later released or acquitted may petition the courts to expunge the DNA samples.

Yeah right! Why in the hell should an innocent person have to petition the courts to expunge the DNA record? Why does the onerous burden fall to the innocent? If I haven't done anything wrong and, in fact, the State was WRONG then why is it my responsibility to make the state give up information it had NO BUSINESS obtaining in the first place? And how would you really ever be sure that they did, in fact, clear your name and DNA record out of the database? Will they allow you to manually search it? How do we know they don't have a secret file somwhere with all of the information and DNA of innocent people stored away....you know....just in case?

I'd Put This Bitch in a Wheel Chair

In Hillsboro Co., Fl. a female deputy DUMPS a quadraplegic on his face because she doesn't believe he is paralyzed.



If this guy was a member of my family or a friend of mine then the deputy who dumped him could look forward to a wheel chair of her on....and she would be getting off easy. I'd flat fuck that bitch up!

What's up with these cruel, sadistic fuckwads wearing badges? Is anyone else sick of their senseless brutality?

Thieves Steal Water Bongs & Pipes Worth $775

From the Montgomery Advertiser

The following crime was reported overnight to the Montgomery Police Department

Burglary
Thieves smashed a glass front door at a specialty shop in the 5700 block of Woodmere Boulevard at 2:04 a.m. and stole two glass “water bongs” and two glass pipes valued at $775 on Monday. The two glass pipes are valued at $75. The “water bongs” are valued at $700 total. The thieves caused $400 damage to the front door.

Something tells me that the cops won't expend too many resources trying to track these thieves down.

My Big Ol' Teddy Bear

I have the sweetest doggie ever. After being outside almost all day yesterday he was happy to be rescued and brought back inside when the kids got home. The first thing he did was seek out his mommy, who was laying on the couch, and proceed to snuggle as best he could. He likes to put half of his huge body on the couch and snuggle his head between my arm and body and make little groans of pleasure. It's the sweetest thing you ever saw. A big, mean, scary man-eater snuggling up to his mommy like a tiny baby. God I love him. I dread today. He'll be outside all by his lonesome and I'll be inside all by my lonesome and neither of us can get to the other. I just hope he doesn't find a way out of his fence because I can't catch him. Hell, I couldn't catch him when my foot wasn't broke....but I could follow him and make sure he didn't eat the neighbors. Now I can't even do that.

The Foot

I went to an orthopedic specialist yesterday morning to have my foot looked at. The ER doctor had told me not to put any weight on the foot or I would wind up having surgery to have a pin placed in the bone.The orthopedic doctor took off the splint, said he was going to try and get the bone to heal without a cast, placed me in a velcro shoe and told me to start putting as much weight on it as I can stand.

Lemme tell ye....it ain't much.

My foot doesn't hurt when I am sitting or laying....but when I move it for any reason it SCREAMS. It's weird, I always imagined a broken bone would hurt all the time. I guess maybe some of them do. But this one only hurts when moved....and that's plenty, thank you very much!

I told the doctor about my arthritis. He said that this kind of break usually isn't associated with osteoporosis, but since my records indicate that I have osteoporosis and osteoarthritis he is going to set me up for a bone density test next week and see just how bad it is. He will also be taking over all of my bone and joint care. It will be very nice to have one doctor managing all of that. Usually I have to go with whoever has an open appointment, on the days where I hurt so bad that I break down and decide to go to the doctor, and have not been able to get settled with one doctor for the arthritis.

Anyway, I go back on Monday for another X-ray. Today is the first day I will be home alone since I broke my foot. Y'all keep your fingers crossed that I don't add a broke neck to it by the end of the day. While crutches are suppossed to be a walking aid I have found them very hard to master. I don't know how people make using them look so easy. It is not easy. And it is particularly hard when you are whacked out on Percocet.

Should Customs be Allowed to Search Laptops without a warrant?

This topic is in the news again this week.

CNN

By Jeanne Meserve
CNN


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Amir Khan says he becomes frustrated and humiliated every time he enters the United States and federal agents search his computers. Khan, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen, says it has happened five times since 2003.

A suit filed last week seeks clarification on the rules that allow federal agents to search laptops and other devices.
He says agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have even forced him to give them access to password-protected, confidential information from his company and his banking records.

An IT consultant who travels to Europe, Turkey and Pakistan, Khan says he has cooperated with the questions and searches but feels by now border agents should know he doesn't pose a threat.

Situations for travelers such as Khan are at issue in a lawsuit filed last week by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Asian Law Caucus in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The suit accuses customs agents of "lengthy questioning and intrusive searches" and seeks clarification on the law that allows such searches.

Back in 2004 I traveled to Canada to participate in an International Drug Policy Conference. I had no problems getting into Canada. In fact, the Canadian border guard told me to bring him a joint when I came back through. But I don't carry weed with me into or out of Canada. On my return trip to the US the Customs assholes seized my laptop and made me miss my flight even though I was honest with them about who I am and what I do. I wrote an article on it that you can read here.
Crossing Borders: The Vast Differences Between the US and Canada

I never got any resolution on whether they had the right to copy my hard drive or seize my computer. I didn't know about the lawsuit but will contact the EFF today to see if I can join in on the fun.

My feeling is HELL NO they should not be allowed to seize your electronic devices without suspicion of wrongdoing or a warrant.

Helping Mothers and Children Recover from Drug Addiction

In this morning's Birmingham News there are two great articles about Lovelady House in Birmingham. I had never heard of this place before I read the articles this morning. Apparently Lovelady House serves women who have been in prison for drugs by offering them a safe place to live, job training and classes to improve their lives. But the most incredible thing they offer is a place where children can come and be with their mothers during the process.

The first article is Drugs divide mothers from children, but Lovelady Center restores relationships

I completely disagree with the headline. Drugs don't divide anything....LAWS do. No drug ever ripped a child away from its mother and placed it in the care of strangers. No drug ever put an addicted mother in prison instead of in treatment. Only cold, power hungry, heartless human beings would do that to one another. Despite the headline the article is very good.

The second article is Children of Drug Addiction Face Risks Beyond Drugs

I would love to be able to volunteer some time at Lovelady House. When my foot heals I plan to do just that. I support any program that aims to reunite mama's and babies. That my friends is a most beautiful thing. Restoration of the family unit is a very important part of harm reduction and drug policy reform.

MISERY!!!

Until yesterday morning I had never had a broken bone in all 33 years of my life. Truth be told I could have lived another 33 without ever acquiring firsthand knowledge of just how badly having a broken bone (especially a hoof) SUCKS!!

What used to be a 10 second walk to the bathroom has turned into what seems like an uphill marathon of grueling proportions. Hell, my heart rate gets up and I break a sweat making that trek on crutches. Trying to find my balance on one leg, once I set the crutches aside, ain't no walk in the park either. I know I must look similar to a flamingo....but far, far less graceful.

The pain is pretty bad. Right now it has me up at 2 a.m. typing on this computer when I should be in bed mending. However, the cast has a contact point with the back of my heel and it feels like it is on fire. I can't make it stop burning for anything. I'm thinking I might amputate before the sun rises. I'll be like Caroline Ingalls on that episode of "Little House on the Prairie" when her leg got infected while Charles and the girls were away and she had the butcher knife, the tourniquet and the boiling water rocking and rolling when Charles walked in and caught her. Only in my amputation....I won't get caught. I might not have enough Percocet to do it painlessly...but amputating without good drugs couldn't hurt much worse.

For the next few weeks until I can bear weight again my sweet doggie will have to stay outside in his fence M-F from 6 am to 4 pm. I'm gonna miss him. I won't even be able to go outside and wuv on him. He and I will both be unhappy campers for a while. Saul has done very well with me being laid up. He gently sniffed my cast a few times but hasn't tried to chew on it, stays out of the way when I have to hobble somewhere on my crutches and close by wherever I am when I am sitting or laying. He is curious about the crutches. I'm scared he is gonna decide that they are big silver sticks made for his chewing pleasure....while I am walking on them. That or he's gonna decide they are big silver aliens trying to eat his mommy....while I am walking on them....but so far so good.

It's 2:30 a.m. and I want some coffee. Somebody unplugged my coffee maker yesterday so now I have to wait for like an hour til the water is hot enough to make coffee. I have a Bunn coffee maker that keeps water hot 24/7....unless someone unplugs it. I managed to get it plugged back up, get coffee in the basket and water in the pot. What I haven't figured out is how I am gonna get a cup of scalding coffee from the pot to the table with no hands without waking up a member of my family and asking for assistance. That'll be a neat feat indeed. It's likely I'll wind up with third degree burns on top of a broke foot.

Not being able to do simple, everyday tasks for myself is getting old quick. While some folks might milk a broke foot for all it's worth I am finding mine to be an extreme annoyance. I can't dress myself, I can't hold anything and walk, I can't get up and get something if I need it. No, Ms. Independent is stuck at the mercy of others. My family has been great so far. My husband got up and turned the bathroom light on for me at 2 a.m. My son just got up and walked a cup of coffee over to me at 2:45 a.m. That's some serious love there. My daughter waited on me hand and foot yesterday with nary a complaint. She even undertook tackling my dirty kitchen of her own free will...so I guess having a broke foot does have some advantages after all.

I won't be able to drive for a long time and that will take some getting used to. I am used to covering most of the state in a week via car. In order to get to Montgomery and torment Troy King and his ilk I'll have to get a ride to and from the house. All of the Compassionate Care meetings will have to be moved to Alex City until I can drive again. Luckily my friend Christie O'Brien, who coincidentally is about to have a cast removed from her right hoof, has said she would help out once she is mobile again.

I itch under my cast. And I can't get to the place that itches. It's MISERY!

I Broke My Damn Foot!

So, I was taking Saul out about 7 this morning and I stepped off the steps wrong and broke my right foot. The doctor in the ER said it is about the worst kind of break I can have because any weight on the foot will result in me having to have surgery and have pins placed in my foot. So, for now I am in a soft cast until I see the orthopedic specialist on Monday. I am having to learn how to hobble my large ass around on crutches. I am finding that most difficult to master.

The bone I broke is the one that is connected to my pinky toe and runs along the outside of the foot. It hurts like a BASTARD!!

I contend that if my doctors had placed me on Fosamax or Boniva when my osteoporosis was first discovered then I would not have a broken foot this morning. Breaking it as eaisly as I did tells me that my osteoporosis is much worse than previously thought.

Saul was wonderful when I fell. Usually he will take advantage of any perceived weakness to dart away from you. When I fell though I hollered LOUD and he stood over me and licked my face until Terry got outside and could put him in his pen. He is really curious about my cast. He keeps walking up and sniffing it....then he gives my arm a kiss and waits a few minutes and repeats the process. What a sweetie!

Don't Deserve Compassion

In a very quick turn around the letter I submitted to the Press-Register yesterday was printed in today's edition....with only minor editing.

Thanks Press-Register

Don't dseserve compassion

I read with anger the articles concerning Mobile police officers being arrested for drug possession ("Officers arrested on drug charges," Feb. 7, and "Details emerge," Feb. 8). I wasn't angry because the cops were arrested, as they most certainly were worthy candidates for that. I was angry because of the kid-glove treatment they received vs. the treatment received by the non-badge-wearing guy on the street arrested for doing the same thing.

For instance, the paper said Chief Phillip Garrett observed that "there was no indication that officers Brooks and Porter had used drugs or sold them." So, what exactly were these fine men in blue supposedly doing with the drugs and money they allegedly seized? Holding onto it for a medical emergency? Stocking up for the coming recession, perhaps?

Anyone else caught with crack cocaine and money would have been labeled a "king pin" and probably would have lost their pay. (this was edited slightly from the original sentence)

In the second story, Chief Garrett was quoted as saying, "We do have compassion for them."

What about compassion for the people who don't wear a badge who succumb to temptation? Where is the compassion for regular folks caught doing the same thing? Are cops more worthy of compassion than regular people?

A regular black man found with "less than an ounce of crack and $360 in cash" would likely have been tasered, tackled and hauled to jail. There was no tasering or tackling with these arrests. No drug task force kicked in these officers' doors at 3 a.m. using a no-knock warrant and flash-bang grenades.

I don't normally advocate jail for drug offenses, but I do if cops are found with the drugs from people they have arrested.

If these cops are convicted, I do hope that any cases involving testimony from them will be given a thorough second look.

LORETTA NALL

Alexander City

Joran Van der Sloot says "Marijuana made him falsely confess"

In an unreal turn of events the suspected killer in the Natalee Holloway case, Joran Van der Sloot, says he was under the influence of marijuana when he confessed on secretly recorded video to being present when Natalee died and having a friend dump her body at sea.
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Aruban police in Netherlands again question Van Der Sloot

By MARGARET WEVER
Associated Press Writer

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- Aruban investigators in the Netherlands again questioned a Dutch college student Friday in the Natalee Holloway disappearance as they sought a court order to detain him as a suspect based on a hidden-camera interview.

(This is a chilling video....but you should watch anyway)

Police questioned Joran Van der Sloot for about two hours, and he again denied any role in the May 2005 disappearance of the American teen in the Dutch Caribbean island, the Aruban prosecutor's office said in a statement. The 20-year-old Van der Sloot was detained previously in the case but was released for insufficient evidence.

Van der Sloot, who was accompanied by a lawyer, claimed he was under the influence of marijuana when he said in a secretly taped video that he was with Holloway when she died and that he had a friend dump her body at sea, the prosecutor's office said.

I never thought I would comment on this story. I, like most Americans, felt that this story got way too much media attention...for whatever reason. Most of the public has a hard time understanding why this one case is any more compelling than any of the other tens of thousands of missing children cases in the US each year.

But, I don't really feel that way anymore. I mean, I still wonder why this case is such a media gold mine...but, if it were my daughter or son missing then I would use every resource within my power and accept any media invitation to keep the case in the spotlight. I believe most parents would. I cannot imagine what Natalee's parents have gone through wondering what happened to their baby girl. My heart truly goes out to them.

The reason I am commenting on this case is because Joran Van der Sloot, who I have been convinced was involved in Natalee Holloway's death since Day 1, said today that he was under the influence of marijuana when he confessed 10 times to being present at the death and arranging the dumping of Natalee Holloway's body in the ocean.

Admittedly, marijuana procured in the Netherlands is far superior to what can be obtained in the US....but it ain't gonna make you confess to a crime you didn'tcommit. I have been smoking marijuana regularly since I was 12 years-old....and never have I smoked any marijuana that made me confess to being present during a suspicious death and then to being involved in dumping the body in the ocean. I submit that there is no marijuana on earth that will make a normal, sane person admit to being involved in the Natalee Holloway case (or any other case)....unless they actually were involved. That ain't the way pot works. If it worked like that the CIA would have been using it for years. It does have a way of showing you the truth....but it won't make you confess to involvement in the death of a young woman and the unceremoniouos and disrespectful disposal of her body.

Now, in the Netherlands marijuana is de-facto legal, so the Dutch press isn't likely to make a big deal out of Van der Sloot's comments. They know that it is complete bullshit. But, here in the US where the drug war reigns supreme this story is likely to dominate the headlines in the coming days.

Do your part by writing LTE's to any newspaper this story appears in and by calling any talk radio station you hear it on. The media is bound to try and make this case about smoking weed. But, it isn't about smoking weed. It is about a sick fucker named Joran Van der Sloot, who, through his own actions, caused the death of Natalee Holloway and the vanishing of her body and the never-ending pain to her family. Not marijuana. Joran Van der Sloot.

The "Wuss Wall"

I just learned that our friend and fellow blogger Tim Lennox and For the Record have moved into new digs at the Alabama State House. I love Tim's idea about a 'wuss wall' too! Hope he gets one.

Be sure to tune in to APTV tonight at 8 p.m. for a great news show thats only 'entertainment factor' is excellence of the material presented and the wit of the host. In other words you won't find Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton here. Bless'em for that. With this being the first week that the legislature has been back in session and with the continuing drama between Senator Charles Bishop and Senator Lowell Barron it's bound to be a great one!

Do corrupt cops deserve more compassion than regular folks?

Here is an LTE I just penned to the Mobile Press-Register about the cops arrested on drug charges. I hope that you will write one too.

Dear Editor,

I read with anger the stories of two Mobile police officers being arrested for drug possession ("Officers arrested on drug charges" 02/07 and "Details emerge" 02/08). I wasn't angry because the cops were arrested, as they most certainly were worthy candidates for that. I was angry because of the kid-glove treatment they received vs. the treatment received by the non-badge-wearing guy on the street arrested for doing the same thing.

For instance Chief Phillip Garrett's comment, "Garrett said there was no indication that Brooks and Porter had used drugs or sold them."

So, what exactly were these fine men in blue doing with the drugs and money they seized? Holding onto them for a medical emergency? Stocking up for the coming recession perhaps? Anyone else caught with crack cocaine and money would have been labeled a 'dealer'. They would also have lost their jobs and their pay. However these two cops were suspended WITH PAY.

In the second story Chief Garrett said, "We do have compassion for them."

What about compassion for the people who succumb to temptation that don't wear a badge? Where is the compassion for the regular folks caught doing the same thing? Are corrupt cops more worthy of compassion than regular people? A regular black man found with 'less than an ounce of crack and $360 in cash' would likely have been tasered, tackled and hauled to jail. I noted there was no tasering or tackling with these arrests. No Drug Task force kicked in these officers' doors at 3 a.m. using a no-knock warrant and flash-bang grenades. Must be nice to have the police have compassion for you.

I don't normally advocate jail for drug offenses, but I do when it involves corrupt cops being found with the drugs that they have arrested and jailed other people for. I wonder how many drug cases they have testified in resulting in imprisonment for others? I do hope that any cases involving testimony from these true thug gang members will be given a thorough second look. And I hope these cops get placed in general population for a long, long time. They need a taste of their own medicine.

Respectfully Submitted for publication,
Loretta Nall

More on Mobile cops busted with drugs

A new article in the Press-Register this morning lays out more details in the case of two Mobile cops being busted with drugs they took off the streets.

According to the article...

An affidavit used to obtain a warrant to search Brooks' home and vehicle said the police received information that Brooks was involved in illegal "shake downs," when answering calls involving possible drugs or money. "Specifically that Officer Brooks was unlawfully seizing money and converting it to his personal use," the affidavit said.

The affidavit, obtained from the Mobile County District Attorney's Office, describes how two undercover officers set up Brooks to see if he would take drugs and money without reporting it.

Brooks took the bait and did not report what he found, according to the affidavit. Brooks, an eight-year veteran of the force, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after officers searched his home and found a few grams of crack-cocaine and about $360 in cash, said Deputy Chief Jim Barber. According to the affidavit, $360 was the amount of money left in a vacant house as bait to see if Brooks would take it.

Brooks arrived on the scene and talked with the informant, then retrieved the drugs and money from the vacant house and put it in his police cruiser, according to affidavit.

Brooks never reported seizing either the drugs or the money, and did not turn them in to the department's property or evidence section, the affidavit said.

The story goes on to say....

Brooks, of Theodore, was released on $8,500 in bail on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, a charge of theft of lost property and one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. Brooks is scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing on Feb. 20.

Porter was released on $5,000 in bail on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance.

When is the last time the average dude on the street selling crack got a bond that low? How come they got such a low bond? Man, that really pisses me off. These scum are NOT entitled to special treatment.

And here is the real kicker...

Garret said the squad should be relieved that Porter and Brooks have been suspended, because their actions have brought embarrassment and discredit to the department. However, it wasn't easy for officers to arrest two of their own, Garrett said.

"We do have compassion for them," he said.

What about compassion for the people who succumb to temptation that don't wear a fucking badge? Where is the compassion for the regular folks caught doing the same thing? Are corrupt cops worthy of more compassion that regular people? A regular balck dude found with 'less than an ounce of crack and $360 in cash' would likely have been tasered, tackled, hauled to jail and given a $100,000 or higher bond. I've seen them go as high as a million in pissant drug cases....yet these cops get out of jail on what really amounts to pocket change.

I don't normally advocate jail for drug offenses.....but I do when it involves corrupt cops being found with the drugs that they have arrested and jailed people for. I wonder how many cases they have testified in resulting in imprisonment for others? I hope these guys get placed in general population for a long, long time.

Mitt Romney drops out of Presidential race

So long Captain hair-do! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Two Mobile Cops Arrested on Drug Charges

The Press Register is reporting that two Mobile cops have been arrested on drug charges

Two Mobile police officers have been arrested on drug possession charges and one also faces a theft charge.

Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett said Desmond Brooks, 28, of Theodore and Aaron Porter, 32, of Mobile were arrested Wednesday.

In a statement, Garrett said a search warrant was executed at Brooks' residence where officers confiscated illegal drugs. Brooks, who has been on the police force six years, was charged with two felonies - possession of crack cocaine and possession of marijuana. He also was charged with theft of lost property.

Porter, who has been an officer for about a year, was charged with possession of crack cocaine.

Both officers were held in Mobile County Metro Jail, pending a bond hearing. They were suspended from their jobs. It was unclear Thursday if they had attorneys.

Garrett said there was no indication that Brooks and Porter had used drugs or sold them. A tip last week led to the arrests.

"It was a total surprise to me," Garrett said.

And here's my favorite line...

Garrett said there was no indication that Brooks and Porter had used drugs or sold them.

So, what? They were just keeping them in their homes for shits and giggles? A medical emergency perhaps? Stocking up for the recession? They were either selling, using or both. The only other reason they might have them would be to plant them on people so they make their monthly bust quota.

Wonder how many men and women are sitting in prison today who were arrested by these guys?

Another Election Season, Another Political Prosecution in Alabama

A friend of mine sent me this fascinating piece from Harper's Magazine. It's a long read but well worth your time.


The morning calm in the small Alabama town of Toney, located near Huntsville, was broken at 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning. A team of five FBI agents, accompanied by a prison matron, pounded on the door. When the man of the house answered, he was forced into the yard, shirtless in the early morning cold. The team had come for his wife, Sue Schmitz. She was dragged out of her bathroom, where she was taking a shower, handcuffed, breaking her flesh and scraping her wrists, and hustled off to prison.

Who was this threat to the community? Sue Schmitz is a diminutive, 63-year-old retired social studies teacher who has lived in the town for 38 years, roughly 20 of them as a civics teacher. She is loved in the community and among her students is legendary for her passion for civics and her outreach to the disadvantaged. The dream of her life was to let the fire of civic spirit catch on in communities and among families on the margin of society, where the danger of drug abuse and criminality are the highest. She dedicated her life to it. She launched a program called “We the People,” designed to build civic spirit and interest in participatory democracy among school children. And Sue Schmitz’s advocacy of civic engagement led directly to her conflict with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who considers it to be criminal. But one other fact figures directly in this drama. Schmitz is a Democratic member of the state legislature.

The Alabama G.O.P. is busy revving up its plans for the fall elections, and today gives us a unique opportunity to see its various limbs moving in perfect concert. The party’s objective is to take control of the state legislature. The party’s leader, Governor Bob Riley, announced that if he can raise $7 million, the party can take control of the legislature in 2010. Riley is busy mustering every tool at his disposal to accomplish that goal. That, of course, is all politics as usual–the sort of thing that goes on in states in every corner of the country. But there’s something exceedingly rotten in Alabama. And it’s revealed when we take careful stock of how Governor Riley and his party go about implementing their plans.

First, where do we read about this? On the editorial page of one of the three Newhouse newspapers that have a lock on the state’s print media market, and which operate as the press service of the Republican Party. The Mobile Press-Register, which otherwise publishes fawning pieces about Governor Riley’s cowboy boots and describes Karl Rove as a persecuted genius, now tells us that the G.O.P.’s plan to “take control of the legislature” (their words) is a wonderful idea. Indeed, it gets the official seal of approval of the paper. You can read this on line at the Press-Register’s website, but why not read it at the website of the Alabama G.O.P.? After all, they are all part of the same operation. Why bother maintaining the pretense of independence?

Here’s the core of their story:

Most Republicans are advocates of reform, perhaps because they’ve been on the outside looking in at a deeply entrenched system. The Democratic Party has controlled the Legislature for more than a century. That kind of political dominance breeds complacency, cynicism and corruption.

Got that? Republicans = reform. Democrats = corrupt. No need to deal with individuals and their record of service. No need in fact to actually explore any political issues, like education or taxation. That would just confuse your poor, tired mind. The labels are all you need to know.

Let’s keep in mind that the state government is in the hands of the G.O.P., and the legislature in theory provides oversight. What happens to the process of oversight when the executive and legislature are in the hands of the same party? I think we all know the answer to that: corruption. Voters often exercise just the kind of wisdom that the Founding Fathers envisioned by providing for opposing parties to live in an uncomfortable cohabitation. Uncomfortable for the politicians, that is. For those concerned about the hoggishness at the public trough that inevitably accompanies one-party crony rule, it can be the best solution. So when the Press-Register writes about “corruption” and “reform,” just remember that they mean those terms in the Orwellian sense.

The last several years have seen an explosion of no-bid state contracts in Alabama in which cronies of Governor Bob Riley are involved. What happens when newspaper reporters in Montgomery submit stories about these scandals to the three Newhouse newspapers? Alas, I’ve tracked that process, too. The stories don’t run and the reporters get chided. The Press-Register is absolutely right. There is a culture of “deeply entrenched” corruption in Alabama, and they’re a significant part of it. But for the Press-Register the seat of corruption lies not there, but in the Alabama Education Association, the organization that represents school teachers. Why? Because the AEA has crusaded for improvements to the state’s secondary education system, and has backed the Democrats, who generally support spending more money on education. You’d think a newspaper would favor reducing the state’s illiteracy rate, but you’d be wrong. After all, this is Alabama.

So the G.O.P.-loyal newspapers lead the charge into the campaign, calling for voter contributions to G.O.P. coffers to fund taking over the legislature. And they also crank out political propaganda for the G.O.P. in the form of stories that pass for news coverage. At the core of this is the work of the Riley Administration’s court chronicler, Brett Blackledge at the Birmingham News. Blackledge has earned his stripes with a crusade looking into Alabama’s two-year college system, where he is fearlessly rooting out corruption. Funny how everything he writes is perfectly choreographed with Governor Riley’s themes of the week and seems seamlessly joined with criminal investigations conducted by the U.S. Attorney, about which Blackledge is impeccably well informed. And strange that his investigation of the two-year college system neglects to mention that Governor Riley ran it.

Still all of this pales in comparison with the single most wondrous fact about the Blackledge reportage–only Democrats ever figure in the crosshairs. Mind you, there’s probably no shortage of corruption in this college system, feather bedding and the like. No shortage of allegations have come to me, Blackledge and the U.S. Attorney’s office concerning corruption. A great many of them involve figures connected to Governor Riley and the G.O.P. But, alas, there doesn’t seem to be enough ink or newsprint to allow Blackledge to write about those cases. Or perhaps there’s another reason. It would be what my politico friends call “off message.”

And today we see the typical pincer movement involving the Alabama G.O.P. election campaign’s third arm, the U.S. Attorney’s office. Specifically, Alice Martin, the sometime U.S. Attorney, sometime G.O.P. candidate for elective office. Martin fully understands the benefit to the party and its election efforts of criminal prosecutions being commenced that target elected Democrats, are geared carefully to the election cycle, and are hyped extensively to the party media apparatus. And yesterday, as Sue Schmitz was dramatically dragged from her home in Toney, Alice Martin went before the press with an announcement which will feature prominently in Republican campaign literature for the coming years. She announced an indictment that Blackledge signaled, with his usual perfect clairvoyance in all things prosecutorial, was in the works months back.

Sue Schmitz’s day was dramatically interrupted by her arrest. She had never before had a conflict with the law in any way. And yesterday morning, she had just been preparing to take a group of school kids from underprivileged backgrounds on a tour of the state capital, Montgomery. Here’s how the AP reports the story:

“We charge that Representative Schmitz’s only substantial ‘work’ was to work her official position in the Legislature to land a job through the postsecondary system,” U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said in a statement.

Schmitz was employed from January 2006 until October 2006 by the CITY Skills Training Consortium, an arm of Alabama’s troubled two-year college system. The federally funded program operated at 10 sites statewide to help at-risk youth referred by juvenile courts develop academic, behavioral and social skills. The indictment claims Schmitz made as much as $53,403 annually as a program coordinator despite rarely showing up and doing virtually nothing for the money.

Let’s just pause and look at what’s going on here. A massive federal case has been launched, at a likely taxpayer cost in excess of $2 million, against a social studies teacher, who it is alleged (on the basis of sharply disputed evidence) was not putting in as many hours as she should have in teaching her classes. This has to count as one of the more absurd (if not malicious) cases I’ve seen in recent years. And remember, this is a Justice Department that can’t spare an FBI agent to look into, or a prosecutor to handle, a gang rape case involving Jamie Leigh Jones, or any of the dozens of other cases involving rape, assault and homicide in Iraq. They’re not “priorities.” On the other hand, bringing charges against Democratic office holders has been a very high priority from the day Bush took office, and it continues to be so today.

More than this, note how party connections flavor the U.S. Attorney’s interest in cases of feather bedding. Recall that a Missouri criminal attorney conducted a detailed investigation into the service of Mark Everett Fuller as District Attorney in Coffee and Pike Counties. His study, presented in a sworn affidavit and backed up with documentation, showed that Fuller was an absentee district attorney. He drew his salary for the job, but he spent his time out of state, largely in Colorado, attending to the business that he owns and operated and which continues to provide most of his income–Doss Aviation. The affidavit was submitted to the U.S. Attorney and the Justice Department. No investigation of its allegations occurred. The allegations of “feather bedding” in the case involving this Republican official were many times greater than the one charged against Schmitz. But what happened? Nothing. The U.S. attorney was not interested. As a prosecutor told Time’s Adam Zagorin, different rules apply with respect to the “home team.” Fuller went on to be the judge designated to handle the highest profile political prosecution in the country, involving former Governor Siegelman. Now we’re seeing more evidence of the two distinct flavors of justice dispensed by Republican prosecutors in Alabama: one marked with a “D” and the other with a “R.”

U.S. Attorney Martin seems to have a problem with the truth. She’s currently under investigation for giving perjured testimony in connection with an employment litigation. I lay out the details of the accusations against her, which are quite compelling, here. However, Martin serves at the pleasure of the president, and, as comedian Jon Stewart would say, it clearly pleasures him for her to continue to serve. And it pleasures Karl Rove and the G.O.P. state organizers even more.



Former school teacher, now state legislator Sue Schmitz

“My client is a wonderful, dedicated educator. It’s been her life’s work. These charges are garbage,” said her attorney Buck Watson. He also noted that he had advised the U.S. Attorney that if they decided to indict his client, she would come in on her own, and he would handle it–an offer spurned in favor of the heavy-handed arrest squad. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s bizarre.” I spoke with several of Schmitz’s colleagues, who were shocked by the charges. And it’s spreading a message of cold fear in the community. Others with whom I communicated were afraid to have their names appear in print. “This is a political vendetta. Anyone who objects to what they’re doing will become a target,” one teacher told me.

So why would a federal prosecutor put such tremendous resources into arresting and prosecuting a retired social studies teacher? Schmitz is an irresistible target. She’s a Democratic member of the state legislature. Note how Alice Martin’s loudly trumpeted indictment works in a perfect trifecta:

• The battle plan rolled out to retake the legislature, announcing “corrupt Democrats” as the target

• The Newhouse papers run the call to arms and funds, and print a sequence of stories designed to make it all credible

• The U.S. attorney’s office in Birmingham announces the indictment of a “corrupt Democrat” retired school teacher.

And today, as expected we see stories in the Newhouse papers announcing the indictment, with predictably tendentious commentary. All of this is geared at helping smooth the way for a successful prosecution, and more to the point, a successful Republican takeover of the state legislature. It is a pattern that Alabama has witnessed over and again in the last six years.

The charges against Schmitz will of course have to be proved in a court. And whether they are meritorious or not, Schmitz will be put to hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal expense and is having her reputation tarnished, all courtesy of the taxpayers. Whether the charges stand or fall, all of this activity has one clear-cut beneficiary: the Alabama G.O.P. and its plans “to take control of” the state legislature. Funny, but the ballot box doesn’t figure very prominently in that effort.

Senator Bishop to SUE over Senate Sanctions

This just in from Phil Rawls at the AP

Alabama senator won't quit, but will sue over punch discipline

By PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press Writer

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- The legislator who threw a punch in the state Senate said he won't quit over disciplinary action taken against him, but he will sue.

State Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Jasper, announced his intentions Wednesday, one day after he was removed from most Senate committees.

Bishop said some Democratic senators were trying to run him off, but that won't happen.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said in an interview.

Between the two legislative sessions, the Senate Ethics Committee reviewed the punch, but was unable to come to a consensus and took no action.

In court, Bishop said he will argue that the Ethics Committee violated his due process rights by never giving him an opportunity to present his version of events, which is that he reacted to being cursed.

Why can't this guy shut up and take his lickin' like a man? I'd like to point out that Bishop is a millionaire....but it's the taxpayers (and we ain't millionaires) who will foot the bill for this continued bullshit. The Republican's need to step up and encourage Bishop to drop this sissy whining and lawsuit nonsense and do his job....which doesn't include punching other Senators.

And So It Begins

Yesterday marked the opening of the 2008 Legislative session in Alabama. Already it looks to be a wild yet somehow unproductive year. Last year on the first day of business the legislature and senate voted themselves a whopping 61% pay raise without any voter say so. Then the Republicans in the Senate shut down the entire session as a form of protest against the operating rules. Practically nothing was accomplished while they all sat there and got paid around $50,000.


Then on the last day of the session, with a very important and progressive probation and parole bill up for a vote Senator Charles Bishop (R) goes and wallops the stew out of Senator Lowell Barron (D). Here is a clip of the punch seen round the world.


Bishop's explanation for assaulting another member of the Senate was that Lowell Barron called him a son-of-a-bitch and "nobody talked about his mama." Barron denies he used any coarse language. Yeah...I know...this sounds like it could have just as easily played out on a kindergarten playground...the only difference is that in kindergarten the aggressor would have been punished...and that is not the case with the senators. At least not until today.

Barron declined to file assault charges against Bishop but he did file a complaint with the Senate ethics committee. A few days ago the Senate ethics committee decided to take no action.

Oh yeah, during the time between the punch and the ethics committee's decision Senator Bishop (the puncher) was given a standing ovation by most members of the Republican party and was also given a trophy for his assault on another member of the Senate.

Well, yesterday the fireworks began immediately in the Senate Chamber. Seems the Democrat majority decided to take action of their own and I think it's fair that they did so. Obviously, no one else was going to and I am of the opinion that we cannot simply let this assault go.
According to this article by Phil Rawls at the AP,

On the opening day of the 2008 session Tuesday, the Senate split along party lines in passing a resolution laying out sanctions for future violence.

Also, the Democrat-controlled panel that determines senators' committee assignments pulled Bishop off most of the Senate committees where he served, including the important General Fund budget committee.

Bishop left the Senate chamber immediately, saying he planned to consult with this lawyer and spend a few days considering his future before returning to the Senate next week.

Remember, I am a Libertarian leaning Independent as far as political persuasion goes, so I am not choosing along party lines. To let this go would be to condone it. When a regular citizen assaults another they go to jail. When kids do it at school they are suspended and often sent to alternative school. Our elected officials must face consequences for their actions.

Now, having said that, I hope the entire Senate body will let yesterday's sanctions be the end of their choke hold on the State House and get back to work.

I'll be going to Montgomery before too long. there are a number of bills I am supporting and pushing this year. We will be doing the Compassionate Care Act again this year but, as of now, it has not been submitted. I'll update everyone when it has.

I am also very much looking forward to the judiciary committee hearing for HB12 which is Rep. John Rogers bill to repeal the ban on sex toy sales in Alabama. That has not been put on the calendar yet but I've got my blow-up pigs and "Trixie King" pig buttons all ready to go for when it is put on the calendar.

Another bill I am watching and supporting is Rep. Cam Ward's bill in opposition to the REAL ID Act. If you are in Alabama and would like to support that bill go here.

Hope to see you at the State House soon!

Rep. Mike Rogers has some Competition

I just learned that Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama's 3rd district now has a Democratic challenger named Joshua Segall. Joshua is the son of Bobby Segall who was at one time president of the Alabama Bar Association and is currently the lawyer for the Alabama Democratic Party and sits on the board of Directors for Alabama ACLU.

Joshua has up a website which is currently pretty short on details. I assume a campaign platform will emerge soon.

Many of you might remember that after the 2006 election I talked of running against Mike Rogers in this election. I decided not to because I am not interested in being Washington DC's representative to Alabama. I want a seat in the Alabama house. I still get national media queries about whether or not I am running. Newsweek wrote just last week to inquire.

I am no Mike Rogers fan. All he is good for is being a rubber-stamp boy for George Bush. One of his aides told me that Rogers loves the Patriot and REAL ID Acts on my last visit to his office in DC to lobby him to vote against those nasty, constitution destroying documents. That in and of itself is reason to replace him. I have other reasons though.

Here's hoping Joshua does well. I'll likely be supporting his campaign in whatever way I am able. We need new, young, progressive faces representing us in Washington.


Joshua with his dog Sallie

Ones that love their doggies get extra points in my book.

Super Tuesday

Today is Super Tuesday and the first year that Alabama has had any say in who the eventual nominees will be for the November presidential election.

Today I will be casting my vote for


I sincerely hope that you will do so as well. Even if you don't cast your vote for Paul please do go and exercise your right to vote.

I am really curious as to how he will do in Alabama. I know that in at least 2 AL Republican caucuses he won by a HUGE margin. I hope that carries over to the polling places across the state.

Go Ron Go!!

More Troy King Funnies

Readers it is once again time for more Troy King funnies. Now, Troy hasn't released his 2008 legislative agenda. I suspect it will be a recycling of his 2007 legislative agenda. There wasn't much good in that one and I don't hold out high hopes that this year will be much different. While we are waiting for Troy Boy to unveil his masterpiece of fascist legislation we can have some fun with one piece of legislation he has already announced.

The Montgomery Advertiser is running a story this morning about our esteemed Attorney General Troy King tackling drunk drivers. His plan is to place ignition breathalysers on the cars of people who have 3 DUI convictions.

The big problem with that is that there is no mechanism by which the breathalyser can tell who is blowing into it. So, theoretically, any drunk person can find a buddy to blow in it for them. One website says that the mechanism which prevents someone else blowing into the device is that a new blow is required during operation of the vehicle. That can easily be gotten around in a couple ways. 1.) Mean drunk makes one of his/her kids ride in the car so they can blow into the device and keep the car operational. 2.) You simply fill up some balloons when you are sober and leave them in the car for when you are not. I also wonder about the sensitivity of these devices. If someone rinsed with Listerine would the device be able to distinguish that from someone who has had say three beers? One of the sites for these devices says that it triggers at .02 to .04 which is far below the legal limit. Listerine might indeed trigger it.

For the record I oppose drunk drivers as much as anyone. When I spot them on the road I actually call the police. It is one of the very few things I will call them for. We all want drunk drivers taken off the roads....but passing useless legislation that any drunk person with a little imagination can get around isn't going to accomplish that. I am not sure if anything available in modern day America can accomplish that.

Dan over at Daily Dixie brings up the very real possibility that before too long these devices will be required on every vehicle.

Now, on to the next funny. Danny over at Political Parlor has an interesting piece on King being pissed and looking paranoid at a John McCain rally. There is some interesting speculation as to why he is unhappy. Go red it!

I can't get going today

I hate days like this. It all started yesterday when I decided to lay down and take a nap because my back was hurting. I napped for about 5 hours and then didn't sleep any last night. Today I'm just all blah!

The results from the MRI I has last week are not good news. I have osteoporosis in my lumbar spine and cervical spine. As a result I also have bone spurs all over my spine. These can be very painful because they often press on nerves. They also cause the spinal opening to become more narrow and that leads to a whole new set of problems.

Today I start a round of steroids to reduce the inflammation in my lumbar spine and I start doing specific exercises to increase range of motion in all of my joints affected by this miserable fucking disease. I am in disagreement with the steroid treatment. Steroids are treating a symptom of the problem instead of the root problem, which is osteoporosis. If they know that I have osteoporosis then why not start me on a treatment like Boniva or Fosamax to prevent further bone loss? I hate steroids because they make me want to be violent. I have enough trouble holding myself in check on a daily basis doing the work that I do...I don't need anything that will feed my need to smash and destroy. That could be dangerous.

However, I will do what the doctor says. I know steroids will reduce my pain and that is really all I care about right now. The 500 mg of Naproxen and 10 mg of Robaxin ain't cutting it and the opiate based pain killers they gave me last week are gone. Instead of taking three a day I required one every four hours. During the first two days I required more than that as I would wake up at night in pain and take one so I could get some sleep. Besides, there were far fewer painkillers than NSAID's or muscle relaxers. The problem with all of those medicines is they hurt my stomach.

It really sucks to have inherited this particular disease. Mine kicked in when I was 28 and has gotten progressively worse with each passing year. I watched my grandmother suffer for years and years with osteoporosis and she died bed-ridden and in terrible pain. When I was a little kid I used to get so tired of her talking about her aching joints...but now I understand just how badly she must have hurt and realize what is in store for me in the not too distant future. Calcium supplements, cabinets full of pain killers and a lot of suffering.

Do any of my readers suffer from this condition? What kinds of treatments have worked best for you? What hasn't worked at all?

Montel Fired for Speaking Truth to Fox News

This just in from my friend and fellow reformer Kevin Zeese.

Friends

Montel Williams, who has been an outspoken and effective advocate for
medical marijauna was fired for taking a discussion of the death of Heath
Ledger and focusing instead on deaths in Iraq. No doubt the conversation
would have been about a celebrity drug death if Williams had not taken
control of the conversation. Bravo for Montel for not playing the ratings
game by focusing on celebrity death and bringing the conversation back to
reality.

The video of Montel Williams expressing outrage over coverage of celebrity deaths vs. coverage of Iraq War deaths is here under the Fox & Friends link. Click the 'Fox & Friends link in that post then scroll down until you see "Famous Faces" and click on Montel Williams.

I can't help but wonder sometimes about the timing and coverage of celebrity sex/drugs/alcohol/divorce/child custody battles/ bald-shining coochies vs. coverage of other actual news stories. Sometimes I wonder if people like Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton and so forth aren't somehow controlled by the CIA and programmed to show their asses when say there is a huge explosion in Iraq that killed 550 people, mostly American soldiers, or when President Bush does things like condone torture or when the economy is totally tanking.

Hat's off to Montel for attempting to discuss real news on a Faux news show.

The 'Punch' Goes Unpunished

The Montgomery Advertiser is reporting that the Senate Ethics Committee voted to TAKE NO ACTION against Sen. Charles Bishop for punching Sen. Lowell Barron on the last day of the 2007 legislative session.

I find this lack of condemnation repulsive, insulting and embarrassing for the state. What kind of message does that send to companies looking to locate here? What does it say to the kids who have been expelled from regular school and made to attend 'alternative prison school' because of a playground scuffle? What does it say to the citizen's of this state? What does it say to the folks in jail or prison for assault?

It says that those who make the rules get to live by a different set than the ones they make to govern us peasants.

Since it apparently ok, legal, condoned and rewarded (trophy, standing ovation for Bishop) I wonder when all of our elected officials will line up and let the citizen's have a go? If anybody has the right to punch our do-nothing-get-a-big-pay-increase-act-like-WWF-wrestlers-with-a-camera
-rolling-joke-of-a-legislative-body then it is the citizen's of this state.

Who's first?