The Louisiana Sheriff"s Association admitted that thousands of inmates have been sitting in jail, awaiting a trial for more than a year.
The post Thousands of People in Only One State have Been in Jail for Over a YEAR and Never Proven Guilty appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
There were many unanswered questions following last night"s story from Defense One, according to which the US Air Force would put nuclear bombers on high, 24-hour alert for the first time since the end of the cold war in 1991. There may be even more questions on Monday, when the Air Force denied the report and said it was not preparing to put its B-52 nuclear bombers on 24-hour alert, adding that a "misunderstanding" might have led to a report claiming those preparations are underway.
According to Ann Stefanek, the chief of Air Force media operations at the Pentagon, updates to facilities, exercises, and training related to the B-52 Stratofortress aircraft at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana are done routinely to ensure the service is prepared.
"We are not planning or preparing to put B-52s back on alert," Stefanek said quoted by the Washington Examiner.
Sunday"s report in Defense One said the Air Force was preparing to put the long-range strategic bombers at Barksdale on around-the-clock alert for the first time since 1991. The report also pointed out that the alert order had not been given, and that officials were preparing for such an order if it comes.
Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, was quoted as saying the service was taking "one more step" to ensure it is prepared.
"I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we"re prepared going forward," Goldfein told Defense One.
It remains unclear just where the alleged "misunderstanding" took place in the breakdown of communication between Goldfein, Defense One, and today"s damage control by the USAF.
Authored by Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
Historians of the future, huddled around their goose-fat lamps in muddy woolen cloaks, may cite this as the month that the Kardashian Dreamland formerly known as “The USA” finally lost its collective mind.
Submitted for your approval, as the late, great Rod Serling (senator from The Twilight Zone) used to say: this week’s Russia-Russia-Russia hearing on Capital Hill. I caught the final hour of this circus when freshman senator Kamala Harris (D – Cal) was hectoring Attorney General Jeff Sessions about his “contact with Russian Officials” and had to be reprimanded by the chair for her rude behavior.
Note: it’s now deemed illicit for US government officials to talk to Russian diplomats. I wonder what would happen if government officials in other lands decided that it was improper to talk with US diplomats. The Democratic Party seems to be building a case that the world would be better off without diplomats cluttering up each other’s capital cities. Hey hey, ho ho, Di-plo-macy has got to go! Now that’s a most progressive idea! Apparently, AG Sessions riled Senator Harris by pointing out that the Soviet Union collapsed nearly thirty years ago — a typical white privilege thing to say, right?
Next up was Senator Mark Warner (D – Va), Vice-Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who grilled Sessions about Russia’s electronic warfare capability. Say what?
First of all, wouldn’t Senator Warner find more enlightenment on the subject by calling the Secretary of Defense, or the top military brass, or the NSA Director to the witness table? Does he know where the duties of the US Attorney General begin and end?
Secondly, Is there anybody in this country with an IQ above room temperature who thinks that the USA is not similarly disposed to carry out electronic warfare? Or that all the advanced nations of the world are not toying with internet intrusions into each other’s cyber space? Perhaps this is a manifestation of the political neurosis called American Exceptionalism, the idea that we’re so unlike people in other lands that they might as well be space aliens. (A sweet idea for a new Twilight Zone episode.)
All this idiocy suggests that the Russia meme is losing its mojo and the forces dedicate to dump Trump might have to look elsewhere for some legal ground to stand on. For the moment, they’re veering into the darkling woods where obstruction of justice lives, a Blair Witch Project of politics, where any old assemblage of broken twigs is a sure sign of the lurking beast — but perhaps that’s exactly where witch-hunting takes you.
Personally, I still believe they’ll run him over with the 25th Amendment, which allows for simple removal of a batshit incompetent executive without the pain-in-the-ass rigmarole of due process. You just get a consensus of the highest officials in the land to agree that guy has to go, and they get him gone, and, in this case, you get yourself Mike Pence, a tranny-like Church-Lady with a hard-on for the Koch Brothers. That’ll get the country great fast, I’m sure.
Then, of course, there was the gunning down of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and others on a Virginia ballfield by a disgruntled Bernie Sanders fan, of all things. Is it hyperbole to say that this incident had the tone of a first shot in a new civil war? Even the hysterical elements over at CNN rushed to put out the very brushfires they had been kindling by broadcasting the Thursday night news against the backdrop of the annual congressional charity baseball gamed held at the Washington Nationals ballpark — as if the sore-beset people of this dissolute land might be stirred from their anomie by the comforting sound of wood on horsehide. Summer’s not quite officially here yet, but who feels like dancing in the streets? It’s more like wanting to hide behind the nearest trash can.
Louisiana just proved how cruel the drug war can be, as the state’s Supreme Court upheld an 18-year prison sentence without possibility of parole – for possessing 18 grams of cannabis. In 2014, Gary Howard was convicted of “marijuana possession with intent to distribute” and a Caddo parish judge handed down the harsh sentence, labeling him as a “habitual offender” for a 2008 firearm possession conviction.
The Supreme Court was convinced that the ‘intent to distribute’ charge was justified because Howard had the pot in five separate bags, even though “a prosecution expert conceded the marijuana could have been for Howard’s personal use” and “acknowledged it was possible the marijuana was purchased in the same form that police found it.”
Chief Justice Bernette Johnson blasted the “outrageous” judgment of her colleagues, who made an arbitrary decision to ruin Howard’s life.
“As a practical matter, in light of the inconsequential amount of marijuana found, imprisoning defendant for this extreme length of time at a cost of about $23,000 per year (costing our state over $400,000 in total) provides little societal value and only serves to further burden our financially strapped state and its tax payers,” wrote Johnson.
Johnson went on to suggest that authorities “overreacted” because a firearm was found during Howard’s arrest, resulting in a charge for which he was later acquitted.
The fact that in one state a person can be locked in a cage for 18 years for possessing a plant, while in other states a person can go to a store and legally buy the same amount of the plant, underscores a ‘justice system’ that is truly broken.
READ MORE: Man Jailed for Swearing During 911 Call, After Police Allowed his Mother to Die
For decades government has carried out an immoral War on Drugs, created for the purpose of stifling dissent, oppressing minorities and enriching the corporatocracy. To this day, federal government maintains cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic, and we see prohibition serving the same goals.
Even though most states have acknowledged the medical benefits of cannabis, legalizing its use, the feds continue a policy of deliberate ignorance – and it’s no coincidence that Big Pharma profits from prohibition. This is why pharma companies lobbied against state legalization efforts, admitting that legal cannabis threatens their profits.
The Louisiana Supreme Court decision shows that the Reefer Madness mentality is alive and well in the cretins that inhabit the halls of ‘justice.’ Even as 60 percent of Americans now think recreational cannabis should be legal, arbiters of ‘justice’ have no reservations about locking people in cages for possessing said plant.
The silver lining is that judges such as Bernette Johnson are not afraid to point out the absurdity of these sentences, which can only be called a war on people.
(ANTIMEDIA) New Orleans — Sometimes the headline says it all. On Monday, the Washington Post ran an article titled “New Orleans removes a tribute to ‘the lost cause of the Confederacy’ — with snipers standing by.” The piece opens:
“On the same day that some southern states were honoring their rebel heritage, masked workers in New Orleans dismantled a monument to that past — chunk by chunk, under darkness and the protection of police snipers.”
The monument, an obelisk that honors the Battle of Liberty Place — fought years after the Civil War by members of the Crescent City White League — is the first of four statues linked to the Confederacy scheduled to be torn down.
Saying the Liberty Place monument honored “white supremacists” and that his government was on the “right side of history,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu asserted his town will “no longer allow the Confederacy to literally be put on a pedestal.”
The removal operation was unannounced beforehand, and as to why it required police protection, Landrieu cited “intimidation and threats” by protesters who gathered at the scene to oppose the statue’s removal.
Again, from the Washington Post:
“After a small group of protesters dispersed about 1:30, a.m., police officers barricaded surrounding streets, and snipers took position on a rooftop above the statue, according to the Times-Picayune. By 3 a.m., workers were drilling into the obelisk’s pale stonework.
“Contractors wore face masks, helmets, and what one reporter described at a news conference the next morning as ‘military-like bulletproof vests. Landrieu said the workers were disguised for their protection.”
A New Orleans group called the Monumental Task Committee says that’s unacceptable. The group’s president released a statement condemning the manner in which the removal was conducted.
“This secretive removal under the cloak of darkness, outside of the public bid, masked contractors, and using unidentified money reeks of atrocious government,” the statement reads.
Some in the local media are predicting that public anger over what the Post called a “sneak attack” will grow as the news spreads. Either way it goes, this story, perhaps more than anything, shows how truly politically charged this nation has become.
Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo
At least 28 people were injured on Saturday evening after a pickup plowed into a crowd during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, police said according to WDSU. New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington said that "initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition." She added that the number could increase as the investigation continues.
#mardigras Video Of Aftermath 21 people injured (several in critical condition) after car crashed into people during Endymion parade. pic.twitter.com/pTppanyYFv
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras MAN ARRESTED! for after car ploughs into crowd at Mardi Gras In New Orleans.Has Not been confirm yet Put Man might Been Drunk. pic.twitter.com/5xVZEI6tps
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras Update News On car ploughs into crowd at Mardi Gras In New Orleans 21People Have been injured pic.twitter.com/SRgqM9NiFH
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras Update News On car ploughs into crowd at Mardi Gras In New Orleans pic.twitter.com/vLmxBqNiOL
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
#mardigras Police say 21 injured after vehicle drives into crowd during New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations pic.twitter.com/WkQwqLELij
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) February 26, 2017
New Orleans police said the crash happened around 7 p.m. at Orleans and Carrollton avenues, where the Krewe of Endymion parade rolled through. According to CNN the driver is in police custody.
Police Chief Michael Harrison said it appeared the suspect, who was driving a pickup truck that hit two cars before running into the crowd, was likely highly intoxicated. None of the injuries was life-threatening and there were no known fatalities, a source with direct knowledge of the incident told CNN.
The CNN source said, "It appears to be a drunk driver," and added there were no preliminary indications that it was a terrorism-related incident.
One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection. Carrie Kinsella said, "I felt a rush it was so fast."
Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done. "He was just kind of out of it," she said.
The incident occurred near the intersection of Orleans and Carrollton Avenues where the Krewe of Endymion parade was underway.
Video from CNN affiliate WDSU showed a gray pickup truck that had run into a dump truck near the intersection.
Photo of scene at #neworleans #MardiGras #breaking. Via https://t.co/7mZX0FK9FI pic.twitter.com/xoyNOTOf5N
— Breaking Norfolk (@breakingnorfolk) February 26, 2017
Witnesses told the station that the pickup came down one of the streets and struck several cars before hitting people in the crowd watching the parade.
"I saw the gray truck flying down Carrollton Avenue," a female witness told WDSU. "He sped up and he lost control and you could see was getting ready to turn and I knew he was going to run into all those people."
With the executive order signed by President Trump to override the Corps of Engineers, it appears the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is more likely to be bored underneath Lake Oahe, the water source of the Standing Rock Sioux. It’s a final insult in the violation of property rights and Native American treaties, all for a high-risk investment by oil tycoons.
Regardless of the outcome, the massive protests and brave actions of water protectors showed the world that informed citizens will no longer stand idly by as fossil fuel exploitation needlessly threatens natural resources and civil rights. It exposed the police state for violent mercenaries protecting corporate interests, as militarized cops poured in from multiple states and the National Guard even manned checkpoints.
North Dakota isn’t the only state where the business venture of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) is threatening vast swaths of water resources and property rights. In Louisiana, the tail-end of DAPL is set to be installed across 162 miles of the state – crossing 700 bodies of water, 600 acres of fragile wetlands, and “wells that reportedly provide drinking water for some 300,000 families.”
Water protectors from North Dakota and elsewhere are already preparing to join Louisiana natives in resisting the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. The 24-inch diameter pipeline would carry up to 480,000 barrels of oil per day – originating in the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota and going through the controversial DAPL — to refineries and ports in Louisiana.
Farmers and crawfishermen showed up at a packed public hearing to speak about the threat to their livelihood and health posed by the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. Conservationists and local residents of all stripes protested the destruction the pipeline would bring to the treasured natural habitats of south Louisiana.
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Jody Meche, president of the state Crawfish Producers’ Association, described how careless actions of prior oil companies have ruined natural water flow in the Atchafalaya Basin, creating spoil banks (piled up sediment from trench excavation) and zones where crawfish and other aquatic life cannot thrive.
“The best way to determine the future is to look at the past,” said Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. “And you can see how honest they were about filling the old canals: there’s not a single example of them fixing the existing spoil banks.”
The Atchafalaya Basin – a national heritage area and American’s largest wetland – is threatened by both pipeline construction and the potential for large oil spills. 77 acres of wetlands would be permanently lost and 171 acres would be temporarily affected.
An oil spill from the large diameter pipeline could do catastrophic damage to the Basin ecosystem, which hosts a rich, diverse array of life and several endangered species. It is a significant ecotourism destination and is loved by countless Louisiana sportsmen for fishing and hunting.
Last year alone there were 144 pipeline accidents in Louisiana, including 85 oil spills. Residents and water protectors are not confident the Bayou Bridge Pipeline would somehow escape the propensity for pipelines to leak.
According to the permit application, the Bayou Bridge Pipeline would create just 12 permanent jobs, but the health and livelihoods of many more who depend on these waters would be at risk. The oil will likely be exported, meaning even less benefit to state residents.
READ MORE: Death Metal Musician Voted Into Town Council After Asking "Please Don"t Vote For Me"
More than 400 people attended the permit hearing, with most of them protesting the pipeline.
“This new pipeline adds an additional threat to my rice and crawfish crops because it threatens a major source for irrigation. It threatens the drinking water for my family, my neighbors and my livestock,” Rachel Roche testified.
Former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a long-time ally of the oil and gas industry and recipient of ETP campaign donations, testified in favor of the pipeline. She claimed pipelines are the safest transportation method for oil, but as we reported in September, that is not actually the case.
Retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré described how Louisiana legislators are notoriously indifferent to the impact of oil and gas on natural resources and property rights. State and federal regulators don’t have the resources to enforce permit requirements; the Corps of Engineers doesn’t even have a boat to inspect construction activity in the vast Atchafalaya Basin.
This writer, residing in Acadiana and having worked in the industry, is intimately familiar with the laissez-faire attitude of Louisiana government toward oil and gas. Industry representatives routinely grease the skids with paid dinners and all sorts of other gifts to legislators and regulators.
The Atchafalaya Basin and most other wetlands in south Louisiana are riddled with the scars of previous oil and gas activities. Spoil banks disrupt the natural flow of water through the freshwater swamps, while rig channels in coastal marshes have caused monumental destruction by allowing saltwater intrusion.
Water protectors are ready to bring the energy of the North Dakota DAPL resistance down to the bayou. Local activists professed their intent to stand in the way of machinery, and others described how networks are already forming to join Louisianans in the fight against the tail-end of DAPL.
READ MORE: 25 Lies About Cannabis on the DEA Website — Refuted by the DEA Itself in 2016
“We are connected with people the country — heck across the world — who won’t blink from your tear gas, duck from your rubber bullets, or cringe from your sound cannons,” said Emma Yip, a California resident who went to Standing Rock.
Protests are also growing against major pipeline projects in Texas, Alabama and Florida, where natural resources and property rights are also being violated. Yesterday we reported on a couple in Alabama served with a restraining order prohibiting them from parts of their own property — so an oil company could drill there.
On the opposite side of the country from North Dakota, the same company is threatening major water resources to drop off DAPL oil for export. Louisiana, long in the pocket of big oil, is going to have a new experience when water protectors amass in the bayou state.
