Friday, August 03, 2007

JUSTICE


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WHISTLEBLOWING GRANDMOTHER IS HARASSED BY CHICAGO POLICE

KATE N. GROSSMAN, CHICAGO SUN TIMES - Four days after a [Chicago
Housing Authroity] resident was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times
complaining about the police, her home was turned upside down by
officers looking for drugs. Carol Wallace, a 63-year-old grandmother,
has no criminal record and said she has never had any run-ins with the
police in her 10 years at the Dearborn Homes public housing complex. She
accused the police of trying to silence her.

"They did this just to harass me," Wallace said. "My nerves are shot,
and I'm afraid. I feel like I've been violated."

In the Sun-Times, Wallace decried police for demanding Dearborn
residents' and visitors' information for "contact cards," including
names, nicknames, addresses, tattoos and other physical details. Her
complaints also led to a recent tenants meeting with an area police
commander, she said.

Wallace is "widely recognized as a strong asset to this development and
a community voice," a case manager in the area said. Wallace has worked
most of her life, as a medical technician and for the U.S. Postal
Service. She's retired now.

The Sun-Times story ran July 19, and a search warrant for her apartment,
looking for drugs, was issued three days later. About 11 police officers
showed up at her door at 29th and State streets Monday. . .

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/484868,CST-NWS-harass26.article

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BLACK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FACES 22 YEARS FOR SCHOOLYARD FIGHT AFTER
ATTACK BY WHITES

ABC NEWS BLOTTER - The FBI, Justice Department, and the U.S. attorney's
office are set to meet in Jena, La., to discuss possible civil rights
violations revolving around a racially-charged schoolyard beating. The
case involves the assault of a white student, Justin Barker, at Jena
High School by six black schoolmates. Mychal Bell, the first of the six
students to be tried in court, was convicted of aggravated second-degree
battery and faces up to 22 years and six months in prison. The remaining
five students have not yet faced trial.

Critics have called the charges outrageous, citing the facts that Barker
only received minor injuries and was released from the hospital that
same day so he could attend a school ceremony. Civil rights leaders say
the black defendants, now known as the "Jena 6," have received unequal
treatment compared to white defendants charged with similar crimes. . .

The attack on Barker was the latest incident in a series of conflicts
between white and black students sparked when black students found three
hangman's nooses dangling from a tree on school property. Robert Bailey,
one of the Jena 6, was assaulted at a local party by white students
using bottles and fists. Those who assaulted Bailey were only charged
with simple battery by the district attorney in La Salle Parish, the
district in which Jena lies.

Bell's attorney, Louis Scott, said, "Actions by black students were
treated more harshly than actions by white students."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/black-youth-fac.html

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PRISONER CONVICTED OF MASTURBATING IN CELL

SMOKING GUN - In a verdict that could chill lonely inmates everywhere,
a jury today convicted a Florida inmate for masturbating in the privacy
of his Ft. Lauderdale cell. After deliberating for only 45 minutes, a
Broward County panel found Terry Lee Alexander, 20, guilty of indecent
exposure for an episode last November. According to investigators, a
female guard--who was monitoring Alexander's cell from a jail control
room--spotted Alexander pleasuring himself while seated on his bunk. At
the time, he was jailed on auto theft and gun raps (Alexander
subsequently pleaded guilty to the felony raps and was sentenced to ten
years in prison). Alexander was sentenced to 60 days in custody, though
the time will be served concurrently with his lengthier sentence.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0725071lee1.html

MIAMI HERALD - Defense attorney Kathleen McHugh faced 17 prospective
jurors and asked point-blank who among them had never done that
particular sex act. No hands went up.

http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/181902.html

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