We Now Need Kobach's Permission To Drop Out Of An Election

Kris Kobach, a major co-author of the Arizona "papers please" laws, now not only wants sole power to tell us who can and cannot vote in our elections here in America.........one must obtain his approval in order to drop out of a race! That's right, Chad Taylor decided to end his run for a seat in the Kansas senate race, and now Kris Kobach has filed suit against him! At first glance, this appears insanely funny. We have a politician who thinks he is an emperor actually demanding legal action against someone who has changed his mind about running for political office and demanding that the former candidate run for office despite the change of heart, against his will! This is something your blogger would expect to find in a Monty Python skit, but no....she has found it in Kansas!

Aside from the ludicrous aspect of Kobach's demand, there are three very serious problems with
refusing to allow a candidate to drop out of a political race. First, the very notion that another elected official can control who runs, or does not run, in an election is completely undemocratic. If Kobach wants to go this route and take Taylor's choice away from him, he should at least appeal to the Kansas Democratic Party to take a vote on the matter and to nominate someone else. But even then, many candidates, especially at local levels, run unopposed. One person should not have the power to determine the choices of voters in an election. Second, if Kobach wins this nonsensical lawsuit and forces Taylor to run, Kansas will, in the event of Taylor's victory, have a senator whose desire was to do something other than represent Kansas in the Senate. Kobach has no right to impose such a paradigm. Third, an elected official can always resign. If Taylor were to win and resign, a lot of time and money would be wasted. Not to mention the money taxpayers will spend on the lawsuit and on Chad Taylor's defense.

It's bad enough that Kris Kobach wants to stop minorities from voting and marginalize any American who does not appear to descend from Anglo Saxon ancestry, but now he wants to tell us who can run, thereby controlling elections from both ends. Hopefully, Kansas will just dismiss this frivolous lawsuit.

Greg Orman, the Independent candidate who actually stands a chance of beating  Pat Roberts for Senate in Kansas.

Chad Taylor Drops Out Of Senate Race

Chad Taylor, (D) District Attorney of Topeka Kansas and Senate Wannabe, not to be confused with Chad Taylor, guitarist in Live, has dropped out of the race for Senate in Kansas. This is good news, as this blogger will no longer be faced with the choice of voting for someone who actually tried to stop prosecuting domestic violence in Topeka and still has not filed charges in the death of Caleb Stewart, a baby who died in a Topeka daycare; or the choice of voting for republican Pat Roberts. It looks like the choice is now between Pat Roberts, and Independent Greg Orman.

Chad Taylor Thinks Kansas Wants Blood

Whoa! Not only has Chad Taylor forced this blogger to assist the senile and Republican Pat Roberts in another meaningless victory in the Kansas senate, he even makes incriminating statements about his career path while doing so! A recent poll about the upcoming senate race showed Chad Taylor leading incumbent Pat Roberts by five percentage points. About this, Taylor was heard to say, "This poll simply confirms what we're hearing as we visit with real Kansans throughout the state -- they are ready for new blood!" WIBW News

Blood? After the way he has managed the job of District Attorney, that's a very strange word for Chad Taylor to use publicly. His job performance in Topeka has been controversial, and there have been complaints, including outcry over his 2011 announcement that because of a budget cut, his office would no longer prosecute domestic violence. He was forced, by popular opinion, to change his mind. It seems that the people of Topeka Kansas were not ready for domestic violence to become legal again.

Something Kansans should think about, now that our Democrat candidate for the senate has made mention of "blood" is the place of children, particularly children of middle class parents. Along with the rest of the nation, Kansas has experienced more cases of violence against children over the past decade. Chad Taylor's attempted stance on domestic violence was disturbing enough, but it seems that only some children, primarily the children of the upper middle class and richer, are worth any of his precious time or prosecution dollars. There's a very strong chance that Chad Taylor's assumption that voting Kansans feel the same way he does about middle class children is wrong. Most Kansans care about children. If the media in Kansas gave better coverage to cases about children who die needlessly, Chad Taylor would have been forced to answer for his lack of attention to some of their cases, just as he was called out on his refusal to prosecute domestic violence cases. There is still one question Mr. Taylor has not answered: what about Caleb Stewart? Caleb died in February of 2013 at a daycare in Topeka while his parents were at work. His family is still waiting for answers and justice. Blood is a very incriminating sound bite for the senate hopeful.

Caleb Stewart's Case After Eighteen Months

How long does Kansas take to investigate a complaint about a daycare? How many reports of abuse, injury, or untimely death do they need in order to justify the expenses involved in gathering information and making a quality decision about who gets a license to operate a daycare, and who does not? According to the latest information, brought to us by WIBW, the death of a child will bring an investigation and a decision in about a year and a half. That's how long it took Child Protective Services in Kansas to substantiate the charges, concerning a wrongful death, finally brought against Tara Johnson, the home daycare provider; and Destiny McClusky, a random friend of Tara's who had no real business in Tara's workplace.

In February of 2013, five month old Caleb Stewart was dropped off at daycare by his mom, Misty Durham. Later that day, he died. Tara Johnson was not on the premises, which she should have been, and her boyfriend, Russel Morris and the aforementioned friend, Destiny McClusky, were watching the children. Anywhere besides Kansas, this would lead to charges and a lawsuit. As is stands, Johnson, Morris, and McClusky probably do not have the assets to settle a lawsuit for wrongful death, and since Kansas was allowing this daycare to operate without a license and failing to substantiate the complaints that led to the situation that cost Caleb his life, Johnson's daycare was not covered by insurance, either. But then, about ninety-five percent of public schools in Kansas did not have insurance when school started in 2013, either.

Chad Taylor, the prosecutor in Topeka, Kansas, has declined to press any charges at all in this case. He presses charges when the children of richer, better connected parents die in daycares, but not Caleb Stewart's death. Taylor even retaliated against Misty Durham by having her arrested for an old traffic violation when she called his office to ask about the status of the case! Does he think that forcing different social classes to exist in Kansas and denying justice to people he simply doesn't like are going to get him elected again? And is child protective services in Kansas really attempting to protect children? Or do they only respond when they find children who are alive and marketable, and whose parents don't know their rights and cannot afford legal representation?  How many other children have been in harm's way during the eighteen months it took them to glance at Caleb Stewart's case?

Kansas Allowed Daycare To Kill A Baby

On February 27, five month old Caleb Stewart, of Scranton, Kansas, died at the home of his daycare provider, Tara Johnson. He died, somehow, while sleeping on a dog bed on the floor, but an actual cause of death has not been established by the coroner. Many complaints had already been filed against Tara Johnson with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and Child Protective Services. The complaints ranged from dirty surroundings to lack of supervision of children and Tara's boyfriend (not an employee of the daycare or a licensed childcare provider) caring for the children while Tara shopped and ran other errands. Caleb's mother, Misty Durham, has been met with evasive answers and denials from everyone involved, from those at the home where her son died to Chad Taylor, the District Attorney, to whom the case has been assigned.

This seems to be the practice in Kansas inasmuch as regulating daycares, schools, and other institutions that have contact with children. There's a daycare in Frankfort, Kansas where the spouse of the proprietress cares for the children on a semi-regular basis, although he is not licensed to do so. Their adult children also consume alcohol and other drugs while the children are present. There's another daycare in the same town which allows it's charges to run about, unsupervised, between the pool and the library. Not only are these indiscretions an invitation to liability; they create a tragedy waiting to happen, yet nothing is done. Frankfort High continues to employ a guidance counselor who abandoned a female high school freshman alongside the highway four miles away from the school, all by herself, and when she got lost, he told no one. He looked for her a little bit by himself, but when it was time for him to go home, he went home for the day, not even bothering to tell the student's parents or make a police report. Child Protective Services have actually removed children from the homes of parents who treat their children that way, yet a teacher who does the same thing is allowed to continue. Is this because it is less dangerous for a child to get lost, wandering around four miles away from town, after being abandoned by a school employee, rather than a parent? Or is it because the only action Child Protective Services could take in a situation such as that would be to insure that the school employee is fired, with no removal of the child, and therefore no money to be made via an ongoing case or a questionable adoption pending the termination of parental rights? It seems, also, that the same possibility exists in the case of the daycare: a caucasion  baby who could be taken from his parents and put up for adoption, or sold to the highest bidder after parental rights had been terminated would be a prime target for Child Protective Services, but since most judges will not go along with removals of children from the homes of the parents over bad choices of daycares or schools, Child Protective Services ignores violations and crimes of daycare providers and teachers, focusing instead upon individual parents who make easier targets. Grim.

Sadly, Caleb's case did not get much attention from the media. The most complete information about it seems to be a piece from WIBW, written in May of this year. Caleb's case has gotten even less attention from law enforcement and the District Attorney, and now, almost eight months later, there have been no arrests, and Tara Johnson is still caring for children in her home! Apparently, no one who was in the home at the time of Caleb's death has agreed to a polygraph, and when concerned voters and taxpayers in Northeast Kansas call law enforcement and the District Attorney with questions about this case, both agencies respond by hanging up! What an amazing message to send to voters! The lead investigator in this case is Erin Thompson, who can be reached at 785-368-2242; and the district Attorney, Chad Taylor, can be reached at 785-233-8200.

 

 

A Letter From Topeka

This morning, Chad Taylor, of the District Attorney's Office in Topeka, issued a letter to everyone about the fact that he does not prosecute most crime anymore. It is kind of wordy, so I will link you to it here, and I will just quote part of it. I don't think he really says anything of value to his constituents in the letter, anyway. We all know that he is just making a choice which he says is based on budget cuts, and most of us feel that it is a bad choice. The people who don't feel that it is okay to judicially ignore misdemeanors are petty criminals and domestic violence thugs. What's happening with them is this: the police arrest them and put them in jail, and within a certain amount of time, they get released, because the district attorney in Topeka never charges them with a crime, because there is not enough money in the budget to prosecute petty crimes any more.

Here's a tidbit from the letter that explains Chad Taylor's intentions the best:

In preparation for this policy change, my office discontinued the filing of any new city misdemeanors. Ethical and practical considerations required that we stop filing new criminal cases that we knew would have to be dismissed shortly once budget cuts were instituted and we no longer had the necessary personnel to prosecute these newly filed cases. Our office has continued prosecuting all previously filed city misdemeanors as well as any new misdemeanors that occur outside the city limits, but within Shawnee County.

There are several things that I find disturbing about this, among them is the idea that if I ran a business in Topeka, my insurance would probably go up, since the DA has very publicly stated that is it almost legal to steal there. A myriad of other crimes no longer have consequences, either. But what I find most disturbing is this..........domestic violence and child abuse are both usually misdemeanors. The victim has to present with fatal or near-fatal injuries for these crimes to become felonies. Guess what's happening with domestic violence thugs in Topeka now, friends.........Yes indeed......these creeps are getting arrested initially by cops who don't want to find corpses at the same addresses later on, after they stop the violence; but since Chad Taylor knows that it is a lot more cost effective, from a strictly fiscal point of view, to bury a domestic violence victim that to help her, or to bury or sell a child abuse victim than to help a family find other options, these offenders are getting released almost as quickly as they get arrested. How long will it take for someone in power to give the police a directive to stop intervening in domestic violence situations at all?

I asked this a couple of weeks ago on this blog, and I will ask it again. Wouldn't it have been a better idea, for the safety of the general public, if Chad Taylor had decided to stop prosecuting victimless crimes, instead? As a citizen, I am completely uninterested in sending someone to prison for years on end and limiting his or her opportunities forever with a permanant criminal record just because he or she took a bong hit somewhere, at the wrong place or time. As a taxpayor, I am completely uninterested in paying for the indefinate room and board for that type of "criminal", too. In fact, the biggest impact prohibition laws have had on our entire population is the criminalizing of people who would not otherwise have had encounters with our judicial system. Think of all the money Topeka could save it it didn't focus on bong hits. Nationwide, if we just loosened our grip on prohibition laws concerning marijuana (don't get me wrong, folks, I am NOT condoning drunk driving, opium dens, dirty needles, or bathtub gin!) we could effect the pleasant result of forcing the drug cartels to look for income elsewhere and lots of drug dealers would have to find gainful employment. Did Chad Taylor give this any thought?


                                                                                                      

                                  A "misdemeanor" hit.   Notice, also, the victim's gender. Any possible relevance to the gender of most domestic violence victims  and Chad Taylor's decision to shirk his duties at this particular juncture will have to wait for another post, though. Hopefully, Chad Taylor will stop this nonsense and start doing his job again, before I have to create another post.      
                                                  

Here, we have a "hit" that is usaully a felony, after our judicial system has gotton through with it, using your tax dollars and mine.

It's Legal To Commit A Misdemeanor In Topeka

I have known for quite some time that Kansas has a serious problem with lunatics making serious decisions, but now, authorities in Topeka are no longer using due process for misdemeanors. Only felonies, which must, at the direction of federal authorities, be prosecuted. No kidding. Chad Taylor, District Attorney of Shawnee County announced, "Under current constraints, we do not have the necessary resources to prosecute misdemeanors that occur in Topeka and simultaneously fulfill our statutory obligations. This decision will have no effect on felony crimes or crimes occurring outside of Topeka. We will continue to vigorously prosecute all felonies that occur in Shawnee County as well as misdemeanors that occur beyond the boundaries of Topeka"........ksnt

So what does this mean? Lots of sex offenses are misdemeanors. Does this mean that offenders can do whatever they want to any victim they choose, and just stop short of committing a felony? What about domestic violence? Is wife beating okay, now? Drunk driving is usually a misdemeanor, so is vandelism. What about child abuse? Can I key my neighbor's car when he parks in my spot? Can shoplifters loot the stores, as long as they only take so much at one time? I think I see insurance rates for running a business rising already.............

This is really a stupid idea. I think it would have been smarter if Chad Taylor had informed Topeka that he was going to ignore violations of prohibition laws, instead. Then, only victimless crimes would be ignored, and Shawnee County's judicial sytem would find it's productivity at an alltime high.....no pun intended! Oh wait........that can't happen. Victimless violations of prohibition laws are usually felonies, these days, while sexual assualts of children and domestic violence, even with fatal results, are usually misdemeanors.