Free Republic

Police in Cambridge, Mass., gave state Sen. Anthony Galluccio a ride home because acquaintances told them he was too drunk to drive about 13 hours before he was involved in a hit-and-run accident. Police were called to a gas station in Cambridge about 4:40 a.m. Oct. 4 after receiving a call about an intoxicated man. The station attendant told police he believed Galluccio was too drunk to drive. Police said another man told them he was trying to drive Galluccio home but couldn't find his house. Police said they drove Galluccio home in their cruiser. About 13 hours later, a...

MOBILE, Ala. — A former Alabama judge was cleared Monday of charges accusing him of paddling and sexually abusing male inmates. Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on seven counts after more than a week of testimony. A judge threw out the remaining 14 charges. Defense attorneys had painted the 48-year-old as a prominent civic leader who became a victim of felons lying about him to manipulate the court system. Prosecutors said Thomas brought 11 young male inmates to a private courthouse office and severely paddled their bare bottoms for sexual gratification. Some of the...

State police have refused to release information that might shed light on the response of its Pocono barracks to a February crash off Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, that led to the death of a Taylor man. The agency has failed to provide even basic information on the incident since The Times-Tribune began making inquiries in August. State police have classified the crash a "nontraffic incident," which directly conflicts with a Lackawanna County coroner's report that found 47-year-old Sam Turoni died from injuries suffered in a vehicle crash. A call reporting the crash was only briefly...

ROY -- The same day a 47-year-old Ogden High School teacher was accused of having a sexual relationship with a then 16- or 17-year-old former student, a Roy Jr. High teacher has been accused of the same thing with a former jr. high student. "They're victims. They're preyed upon. They're manipulated. They're not, by societal standards, mature enough to make some of these adult decisions on their own," said Roy police Chief Greg Whinham said. "We've been in this weird world where we're having one a week become the headline in the paper. There's definitely a problem." Ogden police and...

Perhaps the Garden State should switch its nickname to the Barnyard State. A New Jersey judge has dismissed animal cruelty charges against a cop accused of committing a sex act with cows, saying a grand jury had no way of knowing whether the animals were "tormented." Moorestown police officer Robert Melia, who is currently suspended, allegedly stuck his penis in the mouths of five calves in Southampton in 2006. Since New Jersey currently has no law explicitly banning such an act, prosecutors in Burlington county brought animal cruelty charges against Melia, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. "If the cow had...

On Monday, we asked if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could be reformed, citing companion bills in the Senate and House backed by the National Rifle Association that promise to roll back certain restrictions and moderate penalties for minor violations. Yesterday, we examined a campaign created by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Their bottom line: "Boot the BATFE." No doubt many will consider this an unrealistic goal, and deem the likelihood of generating enough support to make it happen remote without revolutionary changes from the way government exerts control now. That doesn't mean it shouldn't...

Tom Brokaw: "It's frightening, frankly."

ERICHO, Ark. (AP) -- It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps. The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court.

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne Sheriff Michael A. Savokinas abruptly resigned Tuesday afternoon, ending a 20-month stint in office that often was plagued by controversy and clashes with other county officials. "At this time, my presence seems to be a distraction for my already over-worked staff," Savokinas wrote in a three-page resignation letter to Gov. Ed Rendell. Savokinas, 36, complained about a "witch hunt" and smear campaign "orchestrated by county officials" to drag his "reputation through the mud," and claimed drugs found in his vehicle "were planted as a possible political vendetta." Savokinas added he "can no longer do justice to my...

In this video at Representative Jim Moran’s (D-VA) town hall meeting on ObamaCare held at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA, many people were left outside when the school filled to capacity. School security officer Wesley Cheeks, Jr. did not like a protester’s anti-ObamaCare poster which used one of the viral "Joker" graphics. Officer Cheeks told some town hall protesters to put away their signs or he’ll "charge them with trespassing or whatever he wants." Then, when a protester said to Officer Cheeks, "This used to be America!" his response was: “It ain’t no more, OK?” Pro-Obama Cop to...

Gay Cop Profiled Illegal Aliens for Molestation

A jumpy cat caused a distraction, report saysHOLLYWOOD - After a Hollywood police officer rear-ended a car in February and then arrested the driver on drunken driving charges, he and other officers talked about doctoring the report -- it said a jumpy cat created a distraction -- to cover up the crash. The exchange was recorded by a dashboard camera in one of the patrol cars. The officers apparently didn't realize it was on.

Driving and using cell phones - we all know the dangers. But now, new evidence suggests it's not only dangerous, but deadly. Federal officials have long had the evidence that shows drivers on the roads, who are talking on a cell phone, hands free or not, are running the risk of getting involved in a deadly accident. Officials recommend talking on a cell phone while driving should only be done in an emergency. However, this evidence never saw the light of day. A long-term study the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggested to fully assess the threat was never done....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The popular video sharing web site YouTube has again censored a video exposing Planned Parenthood hiding a potential case of sexual abuse of a teenager. The video also shows the Planned Parenthood employee telling a woman posing as a teenager how she can evade the state's parental consent abortion law.The undercover video, taken by Lila Rose of Live Action, shows a staffer at a Birmingham, Alabama Planned Parenthood abortion center telling a woman who appears to be a victim of statutory rape that "we bend the rules."The video has triggered an investigation by the state Attorney...

<p>WHEN AGNES LAWLESS and three friends were inside a Lukoil convenience store in the Northeast at 3 a.m. last August, they'd all but forgotten the fender-bender in which they'd been involved moments earlier.</p> <p>There was little damage, and the other driver had left the scene, near Northeast Philadelphia Airport.</p>

PHOENIX (AP) -- Prosecutors in Arizona won't file charges against five Mesa police officers for their role in flushing a stillborn fetus down a toilet. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office determined a crime wasn't committed last month when an officer flushed the 4-inch fetus down a toilet in a motel room. ~snip~ Officers and Mesa fire personnel responded in June to a Motel 6, where they found a woman had miscarried. One of the officers photographed the fetus, which fire officials reportedly declined to take, then flushed it.

(AP Photo/El Monte Police Department) It all started out with a kick to the head. True, the suspect was not exactly one to elicit sympathy, but that's not the point. A free society cannot tolerate police acting outside the law to administer physical punishment. Except Dean Scoville, "Associate Editor of Police Magazine and a retired patrol supervisor and investigator with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department," disagrees with that: There was a time when post pursuit ass-kickings were obligatory. Cops knew it, suspects knew it, and there are enough old timers on both sides of the fence that will verify the...

Cop taped beating Chicago bartender gets probation By DON BABWIN Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) -- An off-duty Chicago police officer convicted of pummeling a female bartender half his size was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and anger management classes for the videotaped attack that appeared worldwide on the Internet and cable news channels.

San Diego police Officer Frank White was found not guilty yesterday of criminal charges resulting from the shooting and wounding of a mother and her young son during a road-rage incident last year. A Vista Superior Court jury acquitted White, 29, of a felony count of grossly negligent discharge of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of exhibiting a firearm. White showed little emotion as the verdicts were read about 4 p.m., but after the jury left the courtroom, he bear-hugged his attorney, Rick Pinckard, then his wife, Jacquellyn.

Police were called early Sunday to the home Manuel Salvador Morales Jr. shared with his parents because relatives said Morales was threatening himself with knives. Police spokesman Tom Nichols says two officers confronted Morales, who was armed and failed to comply with their commands. No additional details about the confrontation or how Morales was armed were released. Nichols says Officer Albert Riccardi fired two shots at Morales, who was hit twice in the torso and pronounced dead at a hospital.