Tag: Crime & Punishment

Couple That Shot Las Vegas Cops Couldn’t Have Made Their Intentions Any Plainer

Trish
The Millers on their wedding day. These are not happy people.

Besides being a cold-blooded act of cowardice, Jerad and Amanda Miller’s unprovoked shooting of two Las Vegas policemen and a Wal-Mart shopper prompts a bigger question: How much rope must a free country give antisocial, violent malcontents with which to hang themselves? Do we wait for the body count? If not, how do we decide it’s time to act to protect potential targets?

The Millers couldn’t have been more forthright in their intentions. Yet their next-door neighbor and self-proclaimed “best friend,” who was “holding documents for the couple that included detailed plans to take over a courthouse and execute public officials” said she didn’t realize they were “that crazy.” Really?

Is that how we want it to work in this country? I’m really asking

Officers Alyn Beck, 41, and Igor Soldo, 31, were in their seats at CiCi’s Pizza, 309 N. Nellis Blvd., at about 11:20 a.m. Sunday when suspects, identified by sources as Jerad Miller, 31, and his wife Amanda, age unknown, entered the rear of the restaurant…

The police official said neither officer had a chance to return fire…

Jerad Miller then covered the officers with the Gadsden flag, a yellow banner with a coiled snake above the words, “Don’t tread on Me,” and placed a manifesto with a swastika symbol on one officer’s body.

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What It Means for America to Have the Largest Prison Population in the World

Trish

This video from the Hank portion of the VlogBrothers doesn’t follow where the $75 billion a year goes, nor does it discuss prison privatization, which drives the spending, but maybe it’s better to start, as the video does, by describing the problem’s scope.

Punitive measures that continue punishment even after the convicted have paid their debt to society turn every prison term into a life sentence

What is covered is something a criminal justice system employee once told me: the vast majority of people in prison today will at some point get out, and we are not only doing almost nothing with that day in mind, such as preparing them to do something different, but we are helping ensure their failure with punitive measures that are designed to continue punishment even after the convicted have paid their debt to society. This turns every prison term into a life sentence. And that’s good for neither them nor society, i.e., us.

I hope someone will do a similar video on the facts behind the DUI privatization rip-off, but that’s a subject for another day.

Even the 2nd Amendment’s Little Known Dumbass Clause Wasn’t Strong Enough

Trish

While this ad from Saatchi & Saatchi for the “gun responsibility” group, Evolve, is funny, neither the ad’s, nor the group’s, dots connect.

“Personal decisions” leave us at the mercy, not of good guys with guns, but just guys with guns which in reality is all there is

The spot’s creators said they were not taking a stand on gun safety laws.

“When we researched the gun debate in America, we saw that it’s become almost impossible to have a thoughtful discussion about gun safety. What I love about Evolve is that they’re not about taking a side in that debate–they’re squarely focused on promoting personal decisions about gun safety.”

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The List of What Young Black Males Can’t Do Grows Longer

Trish

When I saw this sobering warning from Twitter about an image related to the trial of Michael Dunn, the man who fired 10 shots into a vehicle occupied by four black male teenagers, killing one, 17-year-old Jordan Davis, I steeled myself for the worst. I do the same when I suspect I am about to see something that’s going to stay with me, like a tale of horror visited upon an animal.

I braced myself as much as I could, deciding it might be worth the psychic damage, and clicked, “View photo.” Here’s what appeared.

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George Zimmerman Arrested Again

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George Zimmerman's most recent mug shot

Police in Seminole County, Fla. must be getting tired of seeing George Zimmerman’s face. The man who shot and killed the unarmed teen Trayvon Martin and was then acquitted of murder under one of the country’s most lax definitions of self-defense* was arrested again, this time for domestic violence against his current girlfriend. WESH-Orlando:

He was arrested at about 1 p.m. Monday at his girlfriend’s home on Topfield Court in Apopka following a 911 call. Neighbors told WESH 2 News that they didn’t know the woman was dating Zimmerman, and they thought the man might have been an undercover cop because he walked around like an officer.

Neighbors said they thought [Zimmerman] might have been an undercover cop because he walked around like an officer

Neighbors said his truck had been parked in the neighborhood for about a month.

Let’s review.

  • Zimmerman was let off scotfree for killing Trayvon Martin.
  • Zimmerman was let go without being issued a ticket 15 days after the end of his murder trial, when he was pulled over for speeding in Texas and told the officer he was carrying a gun.

    • […]

Zimmerman is the Gift that Keeps On Giving in Florida

Trish

$200,000 – $300,000

Amount George Zimmerman is asking the state of Florida to reimburse him for hiring expert witnesses, providing depositions, and other trial costs aside from attorney’s fees. Zimmerman was acquitted after he profiled, stalked, and finally shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin last year. Since the trial, Zimmerman has been pulled over for speeding in Texas, and forced his lawyers to apologize after he was photographed taking a merry tour of the factory that made the gun he used to kill Martin.