10 posts tagged “in the news”

Generations ... of disposable people.

As someone else said, it's going to be a long, hot summer in NYC.

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Police not guilty in groom's death

• Story Highlights
• NEW: Crowd angry but orderly; union chief praises verdict
• Detectives acquitted of wrongdoing in Sean Bell shooting case
• Judge cites contradictory prosecution testimony, witnesses' demeanor
• Victim's fiancee runs from courtroom as verdicts are read

From Deborah Feyerick

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A judge acquitted three New York Police Department detectives of all charges Friday morning in the shooting death of an unarmed man in a 50-bullet barrage, hours before he was to be married.

Detectives Michael Oliver, left, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper were accused in the 50-bullet barrage." Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora were found not guilty of charges of manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell, 23, and the wounding of two of his friends.

Detective Marc Cooper was acquitted of reckless endangerment.
Justice Arthur Cooperman said he found problems with the prosecution's case. He said some prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves, and he cited prior convictions and incarcerations of witnesses.

He also cited the demeanor of some witnesses on the stand.
As the judge read his decision, Nicole Paultre Bell -- Sean Bell's fiancee before his death -- ran from the courtroom, saying, "I've got to get out of here."

The announcement immediately sparked anger among some in the crowd outside the courthouse, but the protests were generally orderly.

One woman shouted at a black police officer, "How can you be proud to wear that uniform? Stand down! Stop working for the masters!"

Patrick Lynch, president of the New York Police Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said "there's no winners, there's no losers" in the case.

"We still have a death that occurred. We still have police officers that have to live with the fact that there was a death involved in their case," Lynch said.

But, he added, the verdict assured police officers that they will be treated fairly in New York's courts.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been advising Bell's fiancee and family, left the courthouse about an hour after the verdict without making a public statement. He had called for calm Wednesday.

Bell, 23, was killed just before dawn on his wedding day, November 25, 2006. He and several friends were winding up an all-night bachelor party at the Kalua Club in Queens, a strip club that was under investigation by a NYPD undercover unit looking into complaints of guns, drugs and prostitution.

Undercover detectives were inside the club, and plainclothes officers were stationed outside.
Witnesses said that about 4 a.m., closing time, as Bell and his friends left the club, an argument broke out. Believing that one of Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman, was going to get a gun from Bell's car, one of the undercover detectives followed the men and called for backup.

What happened next was at the heart of the trial, prosecuted by the assistant district attorney in Queens.
Bell, Guzman and Trent Benefield got into the car, with Bell at the wheel. The detectives drew their weapons, said Guzman and Benefield, who testified that they never heard the plainclothes detectives identify themselves as police.

Bell was in a panic to get away from the armed men, his friends testified.
But the detectives thought Bell was trying to run down one of them, according to their lawyers, believed that their lives were in danger and started shooting.

In a frantic 911 call, police can be heard saying, "Shots fired. Undercover units involved."
A total of 50 bullets were fired by five NYPD officers. Only three were charged with crimes.
Oliver, who reloaded his semiautomatic in the middle of the fray, fired 31 times, Isnora fired 11 times, and Cooper, whose leg was brushed by Bell's moving car, fired four times, the NYPD said.

No gun was found near Bell or his friends.
Soon after his death, Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre, legally changed her name to Nicole Paultre Bell. She is raising the couple's two daughters, ages 5 and 1.

"I tell [them] that Daddy's in heaven now," she said. "He's watching over us. He's our guardian angel. He's going to be here to protect us and make sure nothing happens to us."

Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said forensic and scientific evidence presented during the seven-week trial contradicts the testimony of prosecution witnesses.

But Paultre Bell's father, Lester Paultre, said, "For those naysayers who say the police was doing their job, they should imagine their child in that car being shot by the police for no reason."

Paultre Bell, Guzman and Benefield have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court that has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial. Guzman was shot 16 times, and four bullets, too dangerous to remove, remain in his body, according to his lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have been monitoring the trial. In the event of an acquittal, it is likely authorities would conduct a review to determine whether there were any civil rights violations.

Sean Bell and Nicole Paultre Bell

I'm a little late on this week's "In the News" post, but with the Martin Luther King, Jr.-holiday and me playing catch-up at work yesterday, blogging had to take a back seat.  But not for long because some of the tags and events that have caught my attention of late occurred this week, not last week. 

Actually, I'm only going to share 2 stories and links with you.  This is where my head is right now, so some other issues have to wait until another time.

1.

I know that the passing of Heath Ledger may have usurped the big news about Australia's Black Tuesday and the general flailing that's taken the national and international economic world by storm, but I'm afraid I couldn't just let it slip by without commenting on it.  In case you haven't heard, Australia's stock market had the biggest crash since 1989 yesterday, the UK's FTSE doesn't know which end is up, and India's doing its best to maintain its economic solvency while the U.S. slips into its "Big Bad American Recession" that some feel is long overdue, but I could've sworn was well underway at least 9 months ago.  (Color my face red.)  Now, I am neither an economist nor a fortune teller, so I can't break all this down into convenient sound bite-sized Cliff Notes.  But needless to say, bad times are ahead, although I wonder how a person of color is supposed to differentiate this bad time from the previous period where things were supposed to be all-well-and-good but weren't?  *SMH*  Either way, I still loathe my job, I'll still keep on looking for a new one, and my debt will only decrease by a fraction whether the world comes to an end or not.

2.

Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez wrote a fascinating rebuttal to a New York Times article declaring that Barack Obama has very little support throughout the Latino-American community, where it expertly cited the "common man and woman" on the streets of East Los Angeles as proof.  Since I rarely look to the NYT for news unless a compelling headline comes up on my iGoogle news feed, I, of course, missed the story.  Which is great because I don't need the agitation.  However, I am glad that I found my way over to Miss Alisa's blog because it offered some fine points on Latino/African Diaspora relations and a well-constructed commentary on how the media picks and chooses how to view those relations and the communities themselves.  I highly recommend you take the time to pop over and see what the hubbub was all about.

That's it for this week's Kelleah's brain probe "In the News".

This year I hope to make my Vox more representative of what's going on in my life, not just what's going on on my TV set.  You may have noticed that I've been blogging about more political and social issues than usual.  This is neither accidental nor deliberate; it's just me being more me-like.  I'm not interested in turning my Vox into a political pundit blog or waxing effusively about where I stand on every single issue no matter how controversial or mundane.  But I do hope to include a little bit of this and that which keeps popping up on my radar and taking me away from things less important.

Why the change?  Well, back in late 2007, I said to myself, "Self. You know your Vox blog kind of makes you appear a wee bit shallow, yes?."  To which I responded, "Shut up! You don't know me! ... Okay, well, maybe it does."  And unlike so many other things in my life that annoy the crap out of me, I'm actually going to do something about this.  No, it's a not desperate effort to appear more multi-faceted.  If anything, it's an effort to allow myself to feel more comfortable about who am I in public.  (Don't worry. No flashing. I wouldn't sprain your eyes like that.)  So, each week (hopefully), I plan to post an "In the News" entry, which will feature 3 links to news stories that I've been following throughout the previous week that demanded my attention, and maybe, pique your interest as well.  Here we go.

This week's 3 spotlights fall on . . . .

1.

If you have a moment, take a look at Angry Black Bitch's response to Gloria Steinem's NYT letter endorsing HRC.  I have a fair amount of respect for Ms. Steinem, and I certainly don't hate Mrs. Rodham-Clinton, but Shark-fu's commentary easily sums up why many women of color have splintered from the Feminist movement time and again.  There's a dichotomy there that never fails to rear its ugly head whenever those in power (namely middle-class white women) don't feel that things are going quite their way.  And once again, it's WOC who are forced to stand back and wonder how their lives are constantly being dictated by people who have precious little knowledge of their experiences.

2.

Okay, now many people would consider it a given if I blog about issues affecting the African-American community because, duh!, I'm African-American.  However, some may or may not be surprised that my identity does not begin or end there, and although there are issues where my ethnicity certainly colors my stance (pun intended), it does not necessarily determine my stance altogether.  What am I getting at here?  This.  I am wholeheartedly an opponent of capital punishment.  Write it down.  Take a picture.  Recite it in your sleep.  I have no intention of browbeating anyone with my perspective, and I'm not interested in engaging anyone (online or F2F) in an attempt to see things from their opposing point-of-view on this issue.  I'm a firm believer that much in life exists in shades of gray, but on this salient matter, my perspective sees it clearly as black-and-white.  It's either right or wrong.  No exceptions, no special circumstances, no get-out-of-jail-free cards.  Therefore, the current Supreme Court deliberation regarding the "cruel and unusual" methodology of lethal injections concerns me greatly.  If you see this issue come up again and again on my Vox, now, at least you'll know why.

3.

Speaking of capital punishment, I happened to take a gander over at MoJo's little Primary Color graph a few weeks back, and noticed that my Primary candidate of choice (as of today; there's always the possibility of it changing before February 5th) does not see eye-to-eye with my stance on the issue.  No surprise there; even though my attention was focused on other hot button topics, I kind of already knew.  Of course, that might explain why I'm leaning more toward Mr. Kucinich every day.

Although, to be fair, the likelihood of any candidate matching my stance perfectly on every issue is highly doubtful.  So the question becomes: Do I vote for the candidate who matches my stance on as many issues as possible? Or do I vote for the candidate who matches my stance on the issues that matter to me the most?  (Wait, did that make sense? I hope so.)  If it's the former, I'll likely pull the lever for Edwards.  If it's the latter, I might pull the lever for Kucinich.  But hey, according to this quiz, I'm supposed to be cheering for Mike Gravel.  Hmmm.  Interesting. 

88% Mike Gravel
87% Dennis Kucinich
82% John Edwards
81% Chris Dodd
81% Barack Obama
80% Hillary Clinton
79% Joe Biden
70% Bill Richardson
38% Rudy Giuliani
28% Ron Paul
24% John McCain
23% Tom Tancredo
19% Mitt Romney
18% Mike Huckabee
9% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Well, I'll be damned.  I honestly didn't think he could do it.  Or to be fair, I honestly didn't think they [Iowa natives] would do it for him.

I'm still not sure if I'm voting for you come February 5th, but congratulations are definitely in order.  You go boy Mr. Obama!  The middle of the speech made me feel like dozing off, but he ended it on a high note.  And if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure he gave his wife a shout-out.  "Give it up for Michelle Obama" is definitely a shout-out.  :-)

Wow.  I was hoping to post something positive today.  And who knows?  I still may later on, but when I came into work this morning and opened up my iGoogle, this is the first thing I saw:

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7161590.stm

Not to make this all about me, but what a way to start the day!  Damn!  I know that there's been a lot of attempts on her life, but good lord.  I must be losing my edge, because this has really shaken me.  Now, I'm not naive (or at least not as much as people think I am), and I know what humanity is capable of (probably better than most), but this has just left me dumbstruck.

It is a dark day, ladies and gentlemen.  Not just for Pakistan, but for the worldover.

I'm not sure what more there is to say at this point that hasn't already been said by those far more eloquent than I.  But in the spirit of justice and community, I'll add my name to the roster of those standing up to be counted.  Yes, count me among the subversive.  Granted, I can't be there in Jena, Louisiana, today, but I am definitely there in spirit.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, allow me to share a little background on this insignificant, little court case currently working its way through the system in the tiny town of Jena, LA.  I know it's not as fascinating as the O.J. Simpson QOTD earlier this week (thanks Vox!  /sarcasm), but please try to follow this lengthy tale until the end.

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A rough timeline of the events so far (courtesy of the Newport News Daily Press [formatting mine]):

The Jena 6 case so far: September 2006 – Three nooses are found hanging from the "white tree" at Jena High School the day after a black student asked to sit under the tree. The principal recommends expelling three white students involved but is overruled by the superintendent. The white students get a three-day suspension, and black students organize a sit-in under the tree to protest.

Fall 2006 – Racial tensions mount, and there are a series of fights between black and white students at the high school. In late November, arsonists set fire to the high school's main building. Off-campus, a white youth beats up a black student who shows up at an all-white party. A few days later, a young white man pulls a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.

Dec. 4, 2006 – White Jena High School student Justin Barker, 17, is beaten during a fight with black students. Barker was temporarily knocked unconscious and suffered cuts and bruises. He was treated and released at a local hospital. Six black students – 17-year-old Robert Bailey Jr., 17-year-old Theo Shaw, 18-year-old Carwin Jones, 17-year-old Bryant Purvis, 16-year-old Mychal Bell, and a 14-year-old boy – are arrested in connection with the assault. All but the 14-year-old are charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder. All six are expelled from school.

June 26, 2007 – On the morning of Bell's trial, the district attorney reduces the charges against him to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. Bell is tried and convicted by an all-white jury. He faces up to 22 years in prison.

Sept. 4, 2007 – A Louisiana District Court judge dismisses the conspiracy charge against Bell but lets the battery conviction stand, although he said Bell should have been tried as a juvenile. Charges against Jones and Shaw are reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy.

 

Sept. 10, 2007 – Charges against Bailey Jr. are reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy.

 

Sept. 14, 2007 – The Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals reverses Bell's aggravated second-degree battery conviction, ruling that he had been tried improperly as an adult.  The local district attorney may appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court or refile the case in juvenile court.

But that’s just the bare bones of the situation at hand.  Allow me to flesh out some of the details.  In July, ColorofChange.org began to circulate an online petition in hopes of encouraging Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to put pressure on the Jena police force and justice department, not in the name of special treatment, but in the name of fairness and equality.  Those who signed the petition were offered the following template if they are unsure of how to voice their concerns: 

Dear Governor Blanco,

Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."

 

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

 

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place." But it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the story has gotten minimal press. Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please join me:

 

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2273-187765

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were later arrested for the theft of the gun.

 

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital, but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.

 

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder.  The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.

 

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years. Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.

 

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home.  But if we act now, we can make a difference.

 

Join me in demanding that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.

 

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2273-187765

Thanks.

I imagine Gov. Blanco’s response to the inundation of protest e-mails and letters was not a pleasant one.  As a matter of fact, it was so unpleasant she felt the need to have her representative issue the following insult to anyone who contacted her about the situation:

Dear:

 

Your email to Governor Kathleen Blanco regarding the Jena Six case has been forwarded to me for a response.

 

Your input and concerns are vital as we make critical decisions to move this state forward.  The Jena 6 case is a matter in the Judicial System and any defects must be addressed in that system with the appeals court.  The State Constitution provides for three branches of state government - Legislative, Executive, and Judicial - and the Constitution prohibits anyone in one branch from exercising the powers of anyone in another branch.  Certainly, the Governor hopes for and expects fairness.

 

Thank you for emailing and if this office can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Cheryl Shuffield, Director

Constituent Services

Well, if Governor Blanco thinks that her indifference and pithy dismissal would easily deter us from speaking up and fighting for what’s right (seriously, why is this heifer still in office?), she is sorely mistaken.  This is just a small sample of the fight that’s being waged without the help of state or federal intervention:

Protest Set For Racial Beating Case, Thousands Expected in Small La. Town; Black Teens Accused

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/19/national/main3274097.shtml

Rocker Donates to Jena 6 Defense Fund

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIs7BlqlbOcI-_Jj9tEmcWt-1x8g

Concerned Blogosphere Launches Grassroots Virtual March in Support of Jena 6

http://www.pr.com/press-release/52561

Jasiri X’s song, “Free the Jena 6”

http://www.myspace.com/jasirix

That’s right, Governor.  We shall not be moved.  Feel free to sit back and pretend that your hands are tied while 6 young men face 15-20 years in prison for some trumped up charges on your watch.  We’ll remember that come election time.  Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Hillary Clinton have spoken out against this Jim Crow-justice that’s brought your state under a very painful microscope.  But don’t worry.  You just relax and put your feet up.  We got this.

And to anyone out there who can’t make it to a rally, but still want to support the cause, remember that the fight isn’t over at midnight.  This isn’t the last day you’re going to hear about what’s going on in Jena, Louisiana.  And this certainly isn’t the first or last time young black males will be treated harshly and unjustly by the American justice system.  Like many have said, it’s not about letting the black students involved in the fight off without punishment, but it’s about having the punishment fit the crime.  The white students who hung the nooses from the tree received 3 days suspension.  The black students who got into a fight received expulsion and criminal charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.  That’s the legacy of injustice that black men and women face everyday.  Speak up or condone the status quo.

Also, any Angelinos who are interested in attending the candlelight vigil for the Jena 6 Day of Action, there’s one at Leimert Park in the Crenshaw District (off of Vernon Ave. and Crenshaw Blvd.).  It’s supposed to last all day, but if you’re going to be there after 6:30pm, you might be able to catch me somewhere in the crowd dressed like this:

Day of Action

**Yessshh.  This is my third attempt to post this today.  The computer has been giving me nothing but trouble.  Hmm?  I smell c-o-n-spiracy.**

I know I'm going to hell for laughing at this, but I can't help it.

Pathetic + Sad = Pathetisad

Courtesy of Digital Femme (aka Cheryl Lynn) and Rubyphoenix.

It's been quite an eventful week, wouldn't you say?
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The Good

• The House and Senate change party hands.  And the town rejoiced.  Yay!
• Rummie’s out of there!  Someone else called it last Saturday.
• Finished shipping latest magazine issue to the printer yesterday
• I’ve lost 4% body fat since starting my new exercise regimen 3 months ago
• Britney kicked Kevin to the curb
• Hugh Laurie and America Ferrara on Monday’s Leno  Yay!
• Bought a new pair of tennis shoes to replace my 6-year-old New Balances

The Bad

• Ed Bradley passes on
• Gas prices are slowly starting to creep up.  Monday ($2.31), Wednesday ($2.35), Thursday ($2.37)
• Ahnold maintains hold on CA’s stupidity
• Currently working on shipping a different magazine issue this Friday
• My living room is full of half-empty moving boxes and I’ve only lined 1 kitchen drawer and 2 cabinets with contact paper.
• My new 504 New Balance tennis shoes refuse to break in and become comfortable like any decent, self-respecting sneaker would.

The Indifferent

• Lost is leaving me underwhelmed

Nah, me neither.

Schadenfreude like a mo**** fu****!!
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Enron boss gets 24-year sentence
Former Enron boss Jeffrey Skilling has been sentenced to 24 years for his role in the giant fraud that led to the energy firm's 2001 collapse.

In May he had been found guilty on 19 counts including fraud, conspiracy and insider trading, and was told he could expect 20 to 30 years in prison.

The former chief executive of the US energy giant was convicted together with Enron's ex-chairman Kenneth Lay.

Mr Lay has since died and his convictions have been quashed.

This is because Mr Lay, who died of a heart attack in July, passed away before he was able to appeal against the verdict.

The scandal at the one-time energy giant left 21,000 people out of work, and shook corporate America, when the firm went bankrupt in 2001 with debts of $31.8bn (£18bn).

Remorse

Skilling was found to have orchestrated a series of loss-making deals and financial schemes to try to hide debts from investors.

"Crimes of this magnitude deserve severe punishment," US District Court Judge Sim Lake told Skilling before sentencing him to 24 years and four months in jail.

"In terms of remorse your honour, I can't imagine more remorse," Skilling told the court before he was sentenced.

"That being said your honour, I am innocent of these charges."

Before sentencing Skilling was made to listen to testimony from a number of victims of the Enron fraud.

"You should be ashamed," said Ann Beliveaux, an employee who lost her entire retirement savings.

"When things got bad, you jumped ship."

Skilling has said he will appeal against his conviction.

The judge confined him to his home where he is to wear an ankle monitor until he reports to prison.