Free Republic

You can say one thing about the Yes on 4 TV ad: It's sure to spark some strong reactions. The campaign to pass an abortion parental notification law aired an ad last night with a young man bragging about impregnating underage girls and then taking them to get secret abortions. The ad features a scruffy looking 20-something, wearing a white t-shirt and fleece jacket, talking straight into the camera about how, "I go out with some teenage girls." "OK, so I get a couple of them pregnant. What is the big deal? I can just take her to get an...

WASHINGTON - The ATF lost 76 weapons and hundreds of laptops over five years, the Justice Department reported Wednesday, blaming carelessness and sloppy record-keeping. ... "It is especially troubling that that ATF's rate of loss for weapons was nearly double that of the FBI and DEA, and that ATF did not even know whether most of its lost, stolen, or missing laptop computers contained sensitive or classified information," he added. ... Compared to weapons loss rates for the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF misplaced almost twice as many guns. ... The Justice Department's report can be found at:...

Patrol fires 12 troopers in cheating case Thursday, September 11, 2008 3:21 AM FROM THE (CANTON) REPOSITORY CANTON -- Twelve officers accused of cheating on a certification test for a device used to gather evidence against intoxicated drivers have been fired from the State Highway Patrol. Patrol spokesman Lt. Tony Bradshaw said it's the first time in the law-enforcement agency's 75-year history that so many officers have been let go at once. The patrol said the three sergeants and eight troopers from the Canton post and one Wooster trooper cheated on a certification exam for administering breath tests to determine...

Santa Clara, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Details have emerged from documents in a California appeals court case that a Planned Parenthood abortion business referred for an abortion on a sexually-abused teenager without telling authorities about the abuse. The case prompts pro-life advocates to say parental notification is needed.According to court documents, a Santa Clara County sexual predator impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter and forced her to have a late-term abortion.The man then continued to molest her for another seven months until the child's mother discovered the abuse and contacted police.Despite two visits to Planned Parenthood and a surgical abortion at San...

Sacramento, CA -- Details have emerged from documents in a California appeals court case that a Planned Parenthood abortion business referred for an abortion on a sexually-abused teenager without telling authorities about the abuse. The case prompts pro-life advocates to say parental notification is needed. According to court documents, a Santa Clara County sexual predator impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter and forced her to have a late-term abortion.

On Aug. 14, at around 3 p.m. my wife stepped out of Target in El Centro. I stayed in Target to throw away the trash because we ate in the “Food Ave.” When I walked outside, my wife informed me that a guy in a four-door, silver-colored car sped down the parking lot and somewhat yielded as my daughter was crossing the parking lot intersection. As soon as the driver saw enough room to squeeze by the curve and my daughter, he accelerated fast enough to make the tires skid causing a burning rubber noise (also scared my daughter). He...

A British man was jailed for five hours after he photographed a cop reversing the wrong way up a one-way street. After Andrew Carter snapped the cop van, officer Aqil Farooq leaped out, hit the camera to the ground, handcuffed him and bundled him into the back of the vehicle. The plumber, 44, was arrested for supposedly being drunk, resisting arrest and assaulting the officer with the camera. He was kept in cells before finally being released on police bail at midnight. Carter, of Bedminster, Bristol, said: “I was nearly knocked down there once so when the police van went...

Mayor of Maryland town, his dogs dead, still waiting for apology Cops in Prince George's County, Md., have a proud tradition to maintain. In May, a former county officer was sentenced to 45 years in prison for shooting two furniture delivery men at his home last year, one of them fatally. (He claims they attacked him.) In June, a suspect jailed in the death of a local police officer was found strangled in his cell. Authorities have no idea how that could have happened. It's unlikely Mayor Cheye Calvo of Berwyn Heights, Md., was thinking of his county's behaviorally challenged...

Murder and attempted murder charges against seven New Orleans police officers, accused of shooting unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina, were tossed out by Criminal District Court Judge Raymond Bigelow, who concluded that an Orleans Parish prosecutor tainted the secrecy of the grand jury process by showing a piece of testimony to another officer. "The violation is clear, and indeed, uncontroverted. The state improperly disclosed grand jury testimony to another police officer," Bigelow said, reading his ruling from the bench. The judge also dealt a blow to the prosecution on two other pending defense challenges to the...

A Detroit Emergency Medical Technician’s union grievance hearing abruptly ended this morning because his attorney refused to stop tape recording the proceeding. The hearing was to address the firing of Detroit EMT Doug Bayer, who is suing the City of Detroit, Fire Department Commissioner Tyrone Scott, and other supervisors. Bayer accuses the department of terminating him because he spoke to the media and the Michigan State Police about what he says he knows about the alleged Manoogian Mansion party.

***NEW CNN POLICY REGARDING PERSONAL WRITINGS ONLINE*** We’ve gotten a number of questions from CNN staff wanting clarification of CNN policy on communicating publicly about our work, or on news or public affairs -- on the internet. In Blogs. In Chatrooms. On video sharing sites. On social networking sites. Below are some of the typical questions -- and our answers. We hope this is helpful to everyone, After reading -- please don’t hesitate to call or email anyone at Standards and Practices if you have further questions. (See contact info below). MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: UNLESS GIVEN PERMISSION BY CNN...

Racial slur? So what! Two police officers say black chief didn't care BY JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Sunday, July 27th 2008, 11:11 PM Pace for News Cops Shelron Smikle (l.), 28, and Blanch O’Neal, 38, pictured here at their lawyer’s office, plan to sue NYPD. Cairo for News The cops say when Assistant Chief Gerald Nelson (above) found out they had lodged a complaint about a black sergeant’s N-word-laced rant, Nelson repeated the N-word. Two black cops who reported a boss for using a racial slur say they were viciously chewed out by an African-American chief in the...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A police lieutenant in Daytona Beach was fired over accusations that he threatened slower emergency response times if he was not given complimentary specialty Starbucks coffee drinks. An internal police investigation found that Daytona Lt. Major Garvin received free coffee for about two years from a city Starbucks coffee store. However, when recently denied free coffee from new management, Garvin allegedly told managers that he could change the police department's response time if they refuse to give him complimentary drinks. Garvin is accused of saying, "If something happens, either we can respond really fast or we...

SPRINGFIELD -- The Greene County sheriff fired a correctional officer who was charged this week with misusing his position for personal gain. A detective says Steven Donovan used a computer system that he didn't have clearance to use -- to clear his name. Donovan is charged with misuse of official information by a public servant. That’s a misdemeanor that could get him up to a year in a county jail if he’s convicted or pleads guilty. The detective says Donovan admits he cleared a warrant for his own arrest from Phelps County on a statewide computer system known as MULES...

SODUS, NY--According to several police officers who wish to remain anonymous, it has become an unwritten policy of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office to not report illegal aliens to the U.S. Border Patrol when they are taken into custody. On April 27th of this year, Juan Casarubia-Rendon, age 24, was stopped by Wayne County Sheriff's Deputies for numerous traffic violations. He was found to be highly intoxicated, with a blood alcohol level of .32%, four times the State threshold for vehicle operation. Juan had no license and no vehicle insurance, something that would have normally called for an arraignment for...

For the first time in recent years Cameron County's Democratic Party may not have a candidate on the ballot for a constable's race in the November general election. Precinct 1 Constable Saul P. Ochoa was to represent the party in the election, but after pleading guilty last month to a charge of distributing marijuana, it knocks him out of the race. The Democratic Party has until Aug. 26 to nominate another candidate in his place. However, with Ochoa's sentencing on the drug charge not scheduled until Sept. 22, this leaves the party without a candidate in this election. "I don't...

A Hillsborough sheriff's deputy who said he had always wanted to spend his life in law enforcement used a Taser on his wife then held his service pistol to her head before he was arrested and held for mental evaluation, deputies say. Carlos Thomas Tanner, 38, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff's office, was arrested at his Dover home about 1:45 a.m. Monday. He is charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor battery-domestic violence. Tanner was taken in under the state's Baker Act because he threatened to harm himself if he were arrested, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie...

SAN JUAN -- A Mission police officer has been suspended indefinitely after a Saturday morning arrest for allegedly driving an unmarked police car while drunk, officials said. This is at least the third arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated for Officer Martin Flores Villarreal, 40, of Mission, and at least his second while driving an unmarked Mission police car, according to court records and Trooper Johnny Hernandez, a local spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The first two charges, in 2004 and 2006, were both dismissed, court records indicate. Villarreal is suspended from the department indefinitely and...

Hundreds of cases could be dropped Prosecutors say they will throw out pending cases in which 2 police officers facing charges played a major role. By Gary L. Wright gwright@charlotteobserver.com Mecklenburg prosecutors say they'll dismiss a “substantial” number of criminal cases made by two police officers now facing drug conspiracy charges. District Attorney Peter Gilchrist said Friday he'll dismiss any pending cases in which Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers Jason Ross and Gerald Holas played a crucial role. Gilchrist might also agree with defense lawyers to set aside some convictions if it can be shown that the cases substantially hinged on the two...

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - Exclusive video obtained by Action News 5 shows a Memphis police officer beating a suspect at 201 Poplar in an apparent case of police brutality. The video, recorded February 12th, shows Duanna Johnson in the booking area at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center after an arrest for prostitution. The tape clearly shows a Memphis police officer walk over to Johnson - a transsexual - and hit her in the face several times. "Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that wasn't my...

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a South Carolina state trooper with striking an African-American man with his patrol car, while videotaping the incident with the cruiser's dashboard camera, NBC News reported.

In yet another in the series of "guess the missing party label" we once again present the case of imprisoned former Broward County (FL) sheriff, Ken Jenne. As we have seen before, the South Florida news media is extremely reluctant to apply a party label to the disgraced Jenne, who was convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion while in office, despite the fact that the Broward sheriff  office is most most important political post in the county. A hint as to what  is Jenne's political label is the fact that if he had been a Republican, we would have seen that fact...

Among the thousands of drivers who have been issued $40 fines after being nabbed by Montgomery County's new speed cameras are scores of county police officers. The difference is, many of the officers are refusing to pay. The officers are following the advice of their union, which says the citations are issued not to the driver but to the vehicle's owner -- in this case, the county. That view has rankled Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and County Council Member Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), who chairs the Public Safety Committee. "You can't have one set of laws for police officers and...

DETROIT - A former federal agent who pleaded guilty to faking a marriage to gain U.S. citizenship and improperly searching FBI databases was sentenced Tuesday to pay $975 in fines and other fees, but will serve no prison time. U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn said Nada Nadim Prouty, 38, "erred in judgment" 19 years ago when she lied to enter the U.S. in 1989 from her native Lebanon, but has provided "exemplary service to the country" as a federal agent. Cohn also signed an order revoking Prouty's citizenship, but Prouty's attorney Thomas Cranmer said after the hearing she will...

A former top State Police official who killed himself left behind a detailed suicide note focusing on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's probe of the Dirty Tricks Scandal and feared an ongoing investigation of ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer's involvement with prostitutes, The Post has learned. Recently retired State Police Inspector Gary Berwick, who hung himself in the garage of his home on Thursday, wrote a wide-ranging and sometimes rambling suicide note, sources said. The letter zeroed in on his close relationship with former acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton, a key figure in last summer's political espionage scandal who was dumped after...

ADMITTED TO AFFAIRS BEFORE PROBE Associated Press May 2, 2008 -- Gov. David Paterson said Friday that he admitted past marital affairs in part because he feared an "out-of-control" element in the state police that he says was investigating politicians. The Democrat, who took office in March after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer amid a prostitution scandal, had already called for an investigation into lawmakers' claims that a state police unit was keeping tabs on elected officials. At that time, though, he wouldn't say if he believed there was such a unit and the state police union said it doubted...

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. Ted Strickland has asked the state Highway Patrol to fire two troopers who engaged in a prank involving a costume that resembled a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Strickland said today that the behavior by the troopers from the Sandusky post could not be tolerated. A patrol report says trooper Craig Franklin is pictured in a Jan. 20 cell phone photo wearing a white cone on his head, a white paper mask and a white cloth. Trooper Eric Wlodarsky forwarded the cell phone photo. The state's public safety director had recommended firing. However, a union contract provision...

Today's New York Post reports that new Governor David Paterson has authorized Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to launch a criminal probe into the New York State Police. The allegations to be investigated include illegal leaks of information statewide, politically motivated investigations and looking the other way while former Governor Eliot Spitzer repeatedly patronized high priced prostitutes. If this is how the state's police operate, no wonder Hillary has expressed interest in running for governor if her presidential bid fails.

March 31, 2008 ALBANY - The scandal-scarred State Police is suspected of harboring a renegade unit that for years has secretly compiled personal information on top New York officials - possibly including Gov. Paterson, The Post has learned. The governor got a whiff of the existence of such an illegal, politically directed operation after being told by several lawmakers that the State Police targeted them for unjustified traffic stops and "interfered in their personal lives," a senior Paterson aide told The Post yesterday. The explosive information - supplied to Paterson by both Democrats and Republicans - suggests that the Dirty...

The prostitution ring that ensnared New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer stunned officers at SAPD. For some, the big surprise wasn't that a federal wiretap captured a governor arranging to meet a call girl. No, the shock was how much prostitutes were charging: $1,000 to $5,500 per hour. "That's crazy," one cop said. "Who could afford that?" Court papers say a number of wealthy men met with Emperor's Club prostitutes in New York, Washington, London, Paris, Miami, and Los Angeles. Spitzer, an affidavit says, paid $4,300 in cash. "Amazing," said a second officer. "Makes you wonder what the girl did in...

A government official in Goa has accused Indian police of trying to cover up the murder of a British girl. Scarlett Keeling, 15, of Bideford, Devon, was found dead on a beach last month. Police initially said she had died after drinking too much. Local man Samson D'Souza, 29, has been charged with rape but not with murder. Goa's Tourism Minister Francisco X Pacheco has stated that Indian police deliberately covered up Miss Keeling's murder. He told the Reuters news agency: "This is a clear case of murder and it has gone out of proportion because police tried to cover...

Police Officer Faces Charges In K-9's Death 8:39 am EDT March 10, 2008 MIAMI -- A Miami K-9 officer is expected to surrender Monday morning to face animal cruelty charges for allegedly allowing his police dog to starve to death. Investigators said the 4-year-old bloodhound named Dynasty weighed 33 pounds when she died in November, though she had weighed almost twice that 10 months earlier. Officer Rondal Brown was relieved of duty while the investigation was pending. His attorney said it's "utter nonsense" to claim the officer intentionally harmed or killed his police dog. Brown has spent most of his...

Family members speak with 13 News IRONTON -- A pedestrian is killed after a crash involving an Ironton Police Department Cruiser Saturday night. The Ironton Police Department said the crash occurred around 9th and Jefferson Streets just before 10 p. m. The Ohio Bureau of Investigations has been notified and the Ironton Police Department has asked them to conduct an independent investigation. The victim's family tells 13 News, the victim is Guy Thomas, 46, of Ironton. Family member said Thomas was at the American Legion and left to walk home around 9:30 p.m. From there, family members said information is...

Los Angeles Police Department investigators routinely fail to fully investigate citizens' complaints against allegedly abusive officers, often omitting or altering crucial information in ways that help exonerate the officers, according to a report to be released today. The 34-page report by the Police Commission's inspector general raises questions about the department's ability to police itself, adding to still-unresolved problems highlighted in previous reports. The audit, which is expected to be presented to the civilian Police Commission today, examined how 60 complaints filed against officers in recent years were handled by the officers' supervisors and investigators in the department's internal affairs...

PHILADELPHIA - City prosecutors struggled in a high-profile case this week to get fearful witnesses to stick to their stories, finding a deeply entrenched "code of silence" at work even in the slaying of a 5-year-old girl. In an example of witnesses "going south," or recanting testimony, four key witnesses in the Sept. 25 drive-by shooting of Casha'e Rivers took the stand in city court and withdrew statements they previously gave police. In the most striking reversal, a witness whose statement was videotaped by police one day after the slaying told the judge he had just told police what they...

HONEST KPD personnel have turned over police documents that prove corrupt police have conspired and targeted PINKERTON in an attempt to make PINKERTON a victim of malfeasances' and conspiracy to maliciously prosecute. Pinkerton has posted these files on his website.

A fight erupts among acquaintances, words give way to violence and a bystander is fatally shot amid a crowd of onlookers. For investigators, solving the crime would seem simple enough: question witnesses, identify the gunman and make an arrest. But in this particular case, the killing of a security guard two weeks ago outside a recording studio in Brooklyn, detectives have run into a stubborn wall of silence. Among scores of witnesses, including the rap artist Busta Rhymes and a half-dozen hip-hop celebrities who were present at the filming of a video at the studio, the lack of cooperation has...

NEW YORK (AP) - Jailed Mafia boss Joseph Massino secretly recorded his successor plotting the assassination of a federal prosecutor, becoming the first head of a New York Mafia family known to have turned government informant, sources familiar with the case said Thursday. A federal indictment unsealed Thursday alleges that acting Bonanno family head Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano planned the killing of a top mob prosecutor in meetings with someone described as a "high-ranking member" of his crime family. The FBI recorded the conversations with the help of the high-ranking member, the indictment says. Several sources familiar with the investigation...

GRACANICA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - A Serb teenager has been shot dead in Kosovo and police quickly arrested two Albanians suspected of trying to ignite another round of ethnic violence in the United Nations-run province. The killing in the Serb enclave of Gracanica on Saturday was the first since 19 people were killed in mid-March when the U.N. protectorate was engulfed in the worst violence in five years of international administration. NATO peacekeepers later said the riots were clearly orchestrated. U.N. police spokesman Malcolm Ashby said 16-year-old Dimitrije Popovic was killed when gunmen fired from a car into a...

<p>SACRAMENTO – The new chief of the nation's largest prison system says it will take years and wholesale ethics retraining to end a corrosive "code of silence" that she has experienced within the California Department of Corrections.</p> <p>Director Jeanne S. Woodford blamed the prison system's chronic overspending on unrealistic underfunding by the previous administration as costs soared to meet federal and state laws and the requirements of running an around-the-clock operation.</p>

<p>Responding to criticism that the state's prison system is beset with corruption and mismanagement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he'll appoint a special commission to investigate the problems.</p> <p>Although aides said Schwarzenegger announced the move earlier than expected and that details won't be available for several weeks, he said in a talk radio interview that his commission would "really study the whole prison system Â… the overspending that has occurred, why is this kind of corruption going on.</p>