Police Cannot Outrun Cameras

Something that should be understood by law enforcement everywhere is that even if a cell phone is snatched and thrown, anyone, anywhere can have a phone or a camera running. That does not take security cameras and satellite photography into account.

A Rigged Grand Jury

November 10 is the day the grand jury is expected to announce a decision about charging Officer Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri this past August. The date is right around the corner. It has been reported, via juror indiscretion, that no charges will be brought. Unfortunately, this is believable, not only because law enforcement and government seem to want to fan the flames of anger and force racism and injustice on Ferguson, which is mostly black; but there have been tweets from someone allegedly serving on the grand jury stating the intention to allow Wilson to get away killing an unarmed man. Not only does Missouri feel entitled to it's racism, it feels entitled to divulge statements made during proceedings that were directed to remain under seal until the date of the announcement. Missouri may not understand any of this.

Bigoted New Hampshire Cop Finally Resigns

Richard Copeland, the New Hampshire police commissioner of this post, finally resigned. His desk is cleaned out, his locker is emptied, and his white sheets with eye-holes are back at his house. That's a very good thing, because Wolfeboro, New Hampshire can do a lot better than a rude, vocal bigot for a police commissioner.

The remaining question some of us have is whether or not there are any other police officers who encourage violence for reasons of bigotry in American small towns and cities.

Michelle Obama Will Speak In Topeka

How lucky can this year's graduates of Kansas Unified School District 501 get? Michelle Obama will speak at their graduation! Usually, Topeka's high schools have their own graduations, but this year, there will be a joint ceremony for them on May 17. Michelle Obama will speak in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka, the landmark court decision forcing schools in Kansas and the rest of the nation to stop racial segregation in schools and allow everyone to attend. 

Something all public school administrators and teachers in Kansas need to remember and discuss more efficiently with students is that the State of Kansas was in the wrong in that lawsuit. A black family decided to challenge the unlawful, racist lifestyle that made all those pink, fluffy, white Topekans very happy back in 1954 and challenge racial segregation in schools. No doubt, if Dean Dalinghaus, principal of Frankfort High School in Frankfort, Kansas had been the defendant, he would have told parents the same thing he told the parents of Frankfort High's valedictorian last year: "We do not encourage the children to learn very much about the Constitution because it's easier to run the school smoothly without teaching it". Yes, a public school principal in Kansas said that, as recently as last year. The comment was made by a pink, blue-eyed, bald, white high school principal, who encourages children to bully any child with a disability, and any child whose parents do not identify with mainstream christian whiteness as enjoined in the Midwest. 

Kansas has resisted a lot of the equality and progress enjoyed by other schools since Brown v. the Board of Education by refusing to consolidate it's public schools and make them all answerable to the State of Kansas, rather than to tiny school boards in "unified districts". The unified districts do not have to follow any state laws, and thumb their noses at federal laws as often as they can get away with it. If schools disbanded the unified districts and consolidated, they would be more organized, and students in Frankfort would have the same opportunities to take drama or a foreign language as students in Topeka. Children who are good writers could take honors English, which is not offered in many smaller Northeast Kansas high schools, instead of being blackballed as "dangerous" for writing  petitions and going door to door for signatures. (Marysville High School, in Kansas, after a student wrote a petition asking for a more challenging curriculum)

Kansas also needs to remember how very welcome Westboro Baptist Church has been over the years, conducting their picketing campaign. Many native Kansans do not think they have anything in common with Westboro Baptist Church, but other christian churches, in Kansas are almost identical, only lacking the publicity enjoyed by Westboro. New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas, teaches that law enforcement should shoot anyone who identifies as gay. Teenage church members then attend local public schools and bully any gay child, with Reverend Curtis Knapp's blessing. Also, while discussing discrimination in Kansas, we must not forget that Republican congresspeople in Kansas recently wasted everyone's time passing House Bill 2453, a pathetic attempt to legalize unlawful discrimination. The Senate took one look at it and tossed it in the circular file, but if it had passed, it would have given businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies the right to refuse service to anyone perceived as "different" in some way....using faith and adherence to the christian religion as the basis for the discrimination. A skin complexion or religion seeming somehow "unbiblical" to a Kansas emergency room nurse could grant her the right to turn away a sick child. A pharmacist could refuse to fill the sick child's prescription for antibiotics because the bible says to hate certain minorities. Schools would have the right to turn gay students, black students, and any other student failing to be pink, fluffy, white, and conformist away. So much for Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka. Kansas is still looking for ways to break the law and stay as vile and prejudiced as it was in 1954.

I wonder what Michelle Obama is going to say....... 

Forensic Evidence In Kendrick Johnson Case

Kendrick Johnson's untimely death at his Georgia school last year is finally gaining some national attention. It would be nice to think it was also the subject of serious investigation, but over a year has passed, and local law enforcement initially had no intentions of any honesty with Kendrick's family; from the cause of death to the possible suspects. Judging from community reaction to this, it appears that school officials and others in the community are displeased with the determination of Kendrick's parents to find out exactly what happened to their son. Some members of the community actually think that Kendrick's family should just forget that they ever loved him, and "move forward with their lives", accepting the community's judgment that it is okay to victimize some people, and that the feelings, lives, and children of those people do not matter.

"Move forward and get on with your life." Communities who push that philosophy usually push it on minority populations, and it is most feverishly pushed on those targets when special non-minority segments of the population, such as the children of law enforcement or prosecutors, have committed crimes that the teachers, policemen, school administrators, and Christian ministers would rather see unprosecuted.

The Fair Sentencing Act Goes Into Effect Today

Happy New Year, Everyone! Today is the day that the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 will go into effect. This means that many people, nationwide, who have been incarcerated since 1986 for small amounts of crack will, or should, be released, because they were sentenced as if they had been caught with about ten times as much cocaine. In many cases, the time already served would more than equal the length of a sentence for the same drug not turned into crack. This is fair, as we never should have incarcerated people for drug possession in the first place. Especially with this drug. I really think that imposing harsher sentences for crack was racially motivated, since more African Americans have been arrested over the years for crimes involving crack than any other ethnic group. It was a way Republican politicians could reduce that particular voting bloc. Now, if they want votes, I guess they will have to try harder to appeal to everyone.

If you have read other entries on my blog, you can probably guess my thoughts about incarcerating people for violation of prohibition laws. While I am one of the most anti-drug people you will find, I simply think that making laws prohibiting drugs only creates and strengthens organized crime, and turns individuals into criminals when they otherwise would not have been. An example of this, in this country, is alcohol prohibition. We did not have a probelm with the Mafia until we created a market for bootlegging. Even the repeal of alcohol prohibition in 1929 did not eradicate the monster of organized crime that got a home here in this country because of prohibition. So.......any attention to this matter by any politician is appreciated. Thankyou for signing the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, President Obama!

As a collective population, this could be an opportunity for Americans to save a lot of money and resources. Sending people to prison is expensive, in many ways. "Three hots and a cot" are obvious, but what about medical care, the salary of every corrections employee, and the costs of court proceedings? It adds up.....and don't forget the costs of foster care for any children whose parents are caught in the legal machine. That's not exactly cheap, either, while it still seems to accomplish the "divide and conquer" goal so dear to today's Republicans.

Lots of people will be getting out of prison today, tommorrow, and in the upcoming weeks. Some of them have been in prison since the late 1980's, when the economy was in much better shape than it is today. How easy will it be for them to find gainful employment in a climate where a person with no criminal history may have problems finding gainful employment? Will those who went into prison with addiction and substance abuse issues be able to find a way to stay sober and embrace the opportunity they have just been given? Last night, the traditional Halloween, or Ancestor Night, and today, "Day of the Dead", marks the beginning of a New Year. I sincerely hope that those affected directly by the the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 will find positive ways to take advantage of their new opportunities and learn to enjoy their lives in a grateful and productive way. Congratulations and good luck!