A judge has ruled that the practice of state forensics labs receiving financial compensation for positive tests that lead to DUI convictions is unconstitutional.
The post Convictions Thrown Out After Police Caught Paying Labs for Positive DUI Test Results appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Update (5:00 pm ET): Authorities have identified the shooter as Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25, of Murfreesboro. Little is known about Samson or his motivation - other than that he is a black male, and that he wore a clown mask during the assault, before turning his gun on himself. According to the Washington Times, Samson has been discharged from the hospital and will soon be charged with murder and attempting murder for the attack, police said.
Samson is reportedly a Sudanese immigrant. Screenshots of his Facebook profile have been circulating on Twitter:
And here"s what"s purportedly his Instagram page:
* * *
Update (3 pm ET): Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has isued a statement about the deadly shooting at a baptist church in nearby Antioch Tennessee today. Antioch is a separate municipality that is governed by the city of Nashville"s government.
This is a terrible tragedy for our city," she said. "My heart aches for the family and friends of the deceased."
JUST IN: Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Issues Statement on Deadly Shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ pic.twitter.com/2cWpAtOqKZ
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 24, 2017
According to a report from ABC, the gunman “began indiscriminately shooting” after entering the church. He was confronted by a church usher and eventually shot himself during the struggle.
WATCH: Witness Describes Graphic Scene of Mass Shooting at Tennessee Church
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 24, 2017
* * *
Update (2:45 pm ET): In a disturbing update reportedly gleaned from police scanner chatter, the as-yet-to-be-identified assailant in a church shooting in Antioch, Tennessee was reportedly wearing a clown mask at the time of the attack, which left one woman dead and seven other people inured, not including the shooter, who police say shot himself. In an ominous sign, the involvement of the clown mask harkens back to the rash of evil clown sightings across the US last fall, a phenomenon that inspired a mini-hysteria. Perhaps this incident suggests that, just in time for the Halloween season, the phenomenon is set to reoccurr, possibly in an even more malevolent form.
Notably, a remake of the horror movie "IT", which features an evil clown named Pennywise, was released two weeks ago.
The shooter is expected to survive, and will hopefully cooperate with police to provide clues as to his motivation.
* * *
Update (2 pm ET): One victim has died and seven are being treated for their wounds according to the latest news out of Antioch, Tennessee. The Metro Nashville Police Department said one woman was shot dead in the parking lot, and six other “innocents” were shot, while a seventh was "pistol whipped". The shooter, who reportedly shot himself, is being treated for his wounds at a local hospital. Police described the shooter"s wounds as non-life threatening. It’s understood the shooting occurred shortly after 11 a.m, according to local reports and Russia Today.
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Update: “Medical personnel are treating 8 wounded churchgoers shot at Burnett’s Chapel Church of Christ,” Nashville Fire Department said in a tweet Sunday. “Shooter among wounded.”
Medical personnel are treating 8 wounded church goers shot at Burnett’s Chapel Church of Christ. Shooter among wounded.
— Nashville Fire Dept (@NashvilleFD) September 24, 2017
This is a mass casualty situation. All of the wounded have been transported to area hospitals. The majority are older adults.
— Nashville Fire Dept (@NashvilleFD) September 24, 2017
* * *
As we detailed earlier, At least six people were shot at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, according to Metro Nashville Police.
A woman living next door to the church told WKRN two people came up to her door and said, “Someone is shooting at us at the church.”
Her husband went to the church and saw a victim that had been shot in the back. He saw someone lying in the doorway, and “some other people that were shot.”
The extent of the injuries are not known.
The Tennessean reports that Joseph Pleasant, a spokesman for the Nashville fire department, confirmed at least six to eight people have been injured and were being transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Pleasant, who was en route to the scene around noon, did not know the severity of the injuries.
MORE: Here"s a picture from the scene of this shooting at Burnette Chapel Church Of Christ. At least 6 people shot. @WKRN pic.twitter.com/sbzmEXKcN8
— Josh Breslow (@JoshBreslowWKRN) September 24, 2017
Metro Nashville Police said the scene remained active as of 12:10 p.m. local time and advised people to stay away from the area, though it is not clear if the shooter, or shooters, remain at-large or if someone is in custody.
JUST IN from @MNPDNashville: Church shooting is still an ACTIVE scene. Avoid area near Pin Hook Road.
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) September 24, 2017
When Vice News argued that perhaps Mt. Rushmore should be demolished, running a headline which declared without irony - "Let"s Blow Up Mount Rushmore" (a headline subsequently scrubbed) - we suggested that the fanatical push to sanitize all historic monuments and public references to past political leaders perceived as "tainted" or controversial "may have hit peak crazy here." Well, we were wrong - it appears the PC mob is now coming for the film industry.
The historic Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee has decided to censor "Gone With the Wind" from a line-up of movies it will show as part of its 2018 Summer Movie Series after dubbing it racially "insensitive". The 1939 classic film, based on the book by Margaret Mitchell, is set on a plantation in the American South during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, and is widely considered by critics and historians to be among the greatest American movies of all time. It broke Academy Award records at the time, receiving eight Oscars including a Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African-American Academy Award-winner. It also remains the highest grossing film of all time (with ticket prices adjusted for inflation) - beating out even Star Wars.
Memphis" Orpheum Theatre has included the movie as part of its annual local film festival featuring American classics for decades. But apparently this nearly 80-year old world renowned classic has been scrubbed for the first time based on some complaints the theater received after its last August 11 showing. “As an organization whose stated mission is to ‘entertain, educate and enlighten the communities it serves’, the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population,” the theater’s board said in a statement.
The theater indicated that for the first time this year"s screening “generated numerous comments” which led to the decision to drop it, adding that, “while title selections for the series are typically made in the spring of each year, the Orpheum has made this determination early in response to specific inquiries from patrons.” This will mark the first time in 34 years Gone With the Wind will not show. It appears that much of the negative feedback came via Orpheum Theatre"s Facebook page with some comments decrying the film as "racist" and leveling the charge that it"s a "tribute to white supremacy".
Meanwhile Brett Batterson, the president of Orpheum Theatre Group, claimed in an interview that the decision was made before the tragic events of Charlottesville. “This is something that’s been questioned every year, but the social media storm this year really brought it home," he said. “This is about the Orpheum wanting to be inclusive and welcoming to all of Memphis."
The Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. Image source: Wiki Commons
Local media also referenced Memphis" "64 percent African-American population" as making the film"s inclusion in the festival "insensitive". Yet, if as Batterson claims the removal of the film was primarily due to negative social media response, this means the Memphis population may not have actually had much of a say. And of course the next logical question is: where was the outcry of "racism" while the film was featured every year for 34 years, and sometimes multiple times a year?
This would further imply that just about every film industry institution from the Academy Awards to the American Film Institute to the People"s Choice Awards to every critic that ever praised the movie is potentially a racist and paid tribute to white supremacy. But that is the absurd path we are headed down here: an American classic which goes back to the first part of the 20th century must be purged due to angry anonymous comments on social media. Orpheum"s president admits he cowered before what he called a "social media storm" and opted for censorship.
Orpheum Theatre Group"s mission is stated as "utilizing the performing arts to entertain, educate, and enlighten." But we wonder: if the very organizations claiming to safeguard and promote the arts are now purging classics like Gone With the Wind, are we now witnessing the start of a broader and vicious coming assault on art itself?
(NEWS CHANNEL 5) Inmates in White County, Tennessee have been given credit for their jail time if they voluntarily agree to have a vasectomy or birth control implant, a popular new program that is being called “unconstitutional” by the ACLU.
On May 15, 2017 General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield signed a standing order that allows inmates to receive 30 days credit toward jail time if they undergo a birth control procedure.
Women who volunteer to participate in the program are given a free Nexplanon implant in their arm, the implant helps prevent pregnancies for up to four years. Men who volunteer to participate are given a vasectomy, free of charge, by the Tennessee Department of Health.
County officials said that since the program began a few months ago 32 women have gotten the Nexplananon implant and 38 men were waiting to have the vasectomy procedure performed.
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Three years after a Knoxville police officer shot an unarmed man in the back six times and killed him, an appellate court has determined that the officer is not eligible for qualified immunity in the $3 million civil rights lawsuit he is facing.
The incident occurred during a stop on the side of the road when Officer David Gerlach encountered Ronald E. Carden, a 45-year-old man who was recently released on parole. It ended with Gerlach shooting Carden multiple times in the back, and then proceeding to shoot him as he was falling to the ground. The horrific incident now serves to illustrate that not only did police lie about what happened, they covered it up, and refused to bring charges against an officer who should have likely been charged with homicide.
Carden’s son, Brandon, is suing Gerlach and the Knoxville Police Department for $3 million in a federal civil rights lawsuit. He recently won a small victory in court when an appellate judge refused to grant qualified immunity to Gerlach. The court ruled that not only did case law not sustain that the shooting was justified, but they denied Gerlach’s claim of immunity from prosecution. The court wrote:
“Because it was clearly established at the time of the shooting that the police may not fire on a fleeing suspect who does not pose a threat of serious physical harm, the denial of qualified immunity was proper.”
In other words, while police officers are normally protected from prosecution because of qualified immunity statutes, when a suspect is running away, a police officer may not shoot and kill such a person. One might be tempted to believe such a conclusion would fall in the realm of common sense, but not when it comes to police, as The Free Thought Project has reported.
READ MORE: Deputy Has Mental Breakdown While Celebrating His Birthday, Cops Show Up and Kill Him
The incident occurred along the side of Knoxville’s Interstate 40 at about 3 a.m. on July 27, 2014, when the car Carden was driving got a flat tire. From Gerlach’s dashcam footage, two men (Carden and a friend) can be seen attempting to change the flat tire on the car. Some police officers may have attempted to help the two men, but Gerlach ran Carden’s plates which reportedly came back registered to a different vehicle.
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Thinking the car might be stolen, Gerlach began questioning Carden. As soon as Gerlach reached for Carden’s arm, Carden punched him and began running away, out of camera view. A taser can be heard as having been deployed, and then six shots were fired.
Gerlach radioed “shots fired” and backup officers arrived, and Carden’s friend—who had stayed out of the encounter, even as he watched the shooting—was placed in handcuffs. The story that followed was anything but the truth.
KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk reportedly described such a violent struggle for Gerlach’s gun that the holster broke under the force. “Officer Gerlach was able to retain enough control of the gun to fire more than one shot,” DeBusk said.
What DeBusk failed to mention, which the autopsy confirmed, was that Gerlach shot Carden in the back six times, with five bullets being fired from a distance of more than three feet. Not only was Carden fleeing, but Gerlach shot him after he had fallen to the ground, according to the autopsy report.
Carden’s son filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Gerlach, and the KPD for its officer’s use of deadly force against his father. Gerlach’s attorneys contended he should be given immunity from prosecution on the basis that he was acting within his official duties as a police officer at the time of the shooting. The judge overseeing the case completely disagreed.
READ MORE: HUNDREDS of Police Depts Caught Breaking the Law by Covering Up Number of Officer-Involved Deaths
Proof Gerlach shot both a fleeing man, and killed a wounded man comes from the pen of the judge overseeing the appeal. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Sixth District U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Tom Varlan cited the autopsy report as well as evidence presented by Carden’s attorneys. Varlan wrote:
“(Carden) started to flee, and made it about one step, when (Gerlach) began shooting at (Carden)…(Gerlach) fired approximately two to three shots at (Carden) while (Gerlach) was still lying on the ground. He then stood up and fired three more shots down at (Carden). Approximately thirty-five seconds elapsed from the moment (Carden) struck (Gerlach) to the moment (Gerlach) fired his final round.”
The Sentinel also noted that while the dash cam footage showed Carden wearing jeans and a buttoned-up shirt when he ran from Gerlach, his body arrived at the morgue shirtless and in handcuffs. The shirt was not turned over until three weeks after the shooting, and it was “still buttoned but turned inside out,” with “no evidence Carden was wearing the shirt when he was struck by bullets.“
For those who might assume that Gerlach had probable cause to shoot Carden, the court opined:
“[Even if Gerlach] had probable cause to fear for his safety during his struggle with Carden [a jury could find] he lacked the same cause after the struggle had ended and Carden, still unarmed, had turned and begun to flee.”
Police officers and departments everywhere should take notice that it is still unlawful to shoot at fleeing suspects who pose no serious threat to police.
READ MORE: BREAKING: Raw Video Shows Cops Shoot, Kill Subdued Man, Mock Him While He Lay Dying
According to a report from the Knoxville Mercury, which conducted an extensive review of the disciplinary procedures inside the KPD, the problem is systemic.
“Although more than 100 officers have been flagged in the 14 years since an early intervention system was instituted to nip problem behaviors in the bud, only one of those officers has actually been enrolled in the correctional part of the program. In all other cases, supervisors decided the officers’ activities weren’t a problem.”
Equally disturbing is the fact that the police department investigates itself when officers are accused of serious infractions.
“The Mercury examined the personnel files of more than 20 officers who have either recently been the subject of lawsuits related to use of force, had repeated misbehavior problems or high-profile errors, or who have been flagged for recurring problems by the department itself. In these officers’ cases, reprimands, “counseling forms,” and even suspensions often appear to have had little to no effect on officers’ annual reviews, pay raises, or promotions. The department itself investigates potential criminal allegations against its officers, even in cases that involve deadly use of force or shooting deaths.”
Had there been an independent review board, operating outside of the influence of the police department, and an effective discipline program at work within the KPD, then maybe this shooting could have been prevented.
As Carden’s son moves forward in his civil rights lawsuit, it is important to remember that even if he does win the $3 million he is pursuing, Tennessee taxpayers will be the ones footing the bill, not the killer cop.
Baltimore schools spend a staggering $16,00 per student - the fourth-highest rate in the nation - and still an investigation by Fox45"s Project Baltimore revealed that at six city schools, not one student scored proficient on either the statewide tests for English and math.
At West Baltimore"s Frederick Douglass High, one of five high schools and one middle school where not one student scored a four or a five on the state test, only one out of 185 students who took the test last year scored a three, while 165 students scored a one, the lowest possible score.
The schools are:
• Booker T. Washington Middle School
• Frederick Douglass High School
• Achievement Academy at Harbor City
• New Era Academy
• Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High
• New Hope Academy
"That"s absurd to me," says Janel Nelson, the mother of one Frederick Douglass student. "That"s your teacher"s report card, ultimately." Janel"s son Navon Warren lost his father when he was three months old, followed by two uncles and a childhood friend, all whom were gunned down in the streets of Baltimore by the time he was 18. But Warren is one of the lucky ones; a champion swimmer, he won a scholarship to Bethany College in West Virginia and is preparing to leave Baltimore in the fall, one of only a few dozen students in his class to go to college. In fact, only 50% of Frederick Douglass students ever graduate.
Baltimore is one of a handful of U.S. cities - along with Chicago and Washington D.C. - where violent crime is once again on the rise after a two-decade decline brought us to historic lows. Crime, fueled by the opioid epidemic and decades of failed liberal policies.
Now, abandoned buildings dot the landscape and drug addicts can be seen lying in the streets. Through the end of April, the city had recorded 118 murders - putting it on track to surpass 400 for the year, what would be a new all-time peak for the murder rate. But what"s worse, even more people are dying of drug overdoses, thanks to synthetic opioids like Fentanyl and Carfentanyl that can be 100 times more potent than heroin.
Returning to the money for just a moment, it"s difficult to imagine how a school system can spend so much money and still be so ineffective. Warren, to his credit, has a simple answer, yet illuminating answer. “The tests are harder than what we’re learning in class.”
Image source: Pixabay.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A convention to amend the U.S. Constitution is closer to reality than most people realize.
Tennessee soon might become the 29th state to pass a resolution calling for a convention to add a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Thirty-four states are required.
The Tennessee state senate passed the convention resolution in early February; it would need to pass the state house to become official. Idaho and Arizona also are considering such proposals and could becomes Nos. 30 and 31.
Article V of the Constitution gives states the power to call a constitutional convention provided that two-thirds – 34 – agree to it. Any amendment then would need to be ratified by three-fourths of the states – that is, 38.
It would not require congressional approval.
Discover What America’s Founders Truly Intended!
The Constitution actually lays out two ways to amend it. The typical path involves Congress proposing amendments to the states. According to the National Archives, “none of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention” – the method Tennessee soon might favor.
Image source: Pixabay.com
“I give it a 60 percent chance in five years, because most people in Congress would like to see it happen, as well,” constitutional scholar Robert G. Natelson told The Tennessean newspaper.
Supporters of the proposal say it is needed to help solve Washington’s debt problem.
“It is time for states to step up and solve the problem with almost $20 trillion of national debt that has been amassed in Washington,” Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, a Republican, said in a press release. Kelsey authored the resolution, which calls for a “planning convention” that would draw up the rules for a new constitutional convention.
Rolling the Dice?
Critics fear that a constitutional convention could go rogue.
Christian Heroes For Christian Kids: These Amazing Stories Are Putting God Back Into History!
“There’s nothing to keep our founding document to be actually thrown out,” Tennessee state Representative Craig Fitzhugh, a Democrat, said of the convention.
Opponents like Fitzhugh fear the convention could rewrite the entire constitution like the one in 1797 did, setting up a constitutional crisis.
“They were supposed to meet to make amendments to the Articles of Confederation but ended up with a whole new form of government,” Nathan Griffith, an associate professor of political science at Belmont University, told the newspaper. “Not just a new constitution, but a whole new form of government.”
Said Griffith: “You’re rolling the dice a little bit with this.”
Supporters believe that planning conventions would restrict the convention’s agenda to certain issues.
“Founding Fathers James Madison and George Mason insisted that states have a method for amending the Constitution because sometime in the future the federal government would grow to the point it would become deaf to states’ needs,” said Republican state Sen. Mike Bell.
Would you support a balanced budget constitutional convention? Share your thoughts in the section below:
Entertain Kids In The Cars For HOURS — Without A DVD Player!
For months we"ve warned about the impending collapse of the luxury real estate markets in New York and San Francisco amid tepid demand and a supply glut that is getting ready to flood the market with new capacity (see here, here and here). Of course, one of the first signs of excess capacity comes in the form of rent concessions, which as we pointed out over the summer, have been relatively easy to find in the large metro markets.
“Listings that once rented in just two to three weeks can now take two to three months to rent,” explains Paul Hwang, principal broker at Skybox Realty, a San Francisco-based real estate agency.
At least four new apartment buildings have opened within a three-block radius of one another during the last 18 months in San Francisco’s thriving South of Market neighborhood, which is home to major tech companies like Airbnb, Pinterest and Yelp (YELP).
Those four buildings — Jasper, 340 Fremont, 399 Fremont and Solaire — frequently offer some sort of bargain for prospective renters. 340 Fremont is offering six weeks of free rent; Solaire is pitching four weeks of free rent, free on-site storage and $1,000 discounts to renters who work at tech companies like Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Yahoo (YHOO). Meanwhile, another building, 399 Fremont, even tried giving away free bikes one weekend.
But new buildings weren"t the only ones offering incentives. Craigslist was also flooded with listings like the one below offering free rent and a $500 gift card to interested renters.
Unfortunately, as the Wall Street Journal points out, NYC and San Francisco aren"t the only cities across the country that are about to get flooded with new luxury apartments. In 2017 alone, 378,000 new apartments are expected to be completed across the country, or roughly 35% more than the 20-year average.
Developers in New York are already offering up to three months of free rent on some projects. In Los Angeles, some landlords are offering six months of free parking, and some in Houston are waiving security deposits. Meanwhile, MPF Vice President Jay Parsons said he expects little or no rent growth in urban rental markets this year.
“This will be a very challenged leasing environment almost everywhere,” Mr. Parsons said.
The slowdown, he said, is being driven not by a pullback in demand but rather a flood of new apartments. Demand for urban properties jumped after the housing bust as young, high-earning professionals eschewed homeownership and flocked to big cities. Developers responded by focusing most of their efforts on high-end properties.
Now, though, the number of upscale apartments coming onto the market appear to be outpacing the number of renters able to move into them: More than 50,000 new units were rented by tenants in the fourth quarter in the U.S., six times the number in the year-earlier period. But that demand was overwhelmed by the 88,000 new units that were completed in the quarter, the most since the mid-1980s, according to MPF.
That gap looks set to widen in 2017. More than 378,000 new apartments are expected to be completed across the country this year, almost 35% more than the 20-year average, according to real estate tracker Axiometrics Inc.
And smaller cities like Dallas, Atlanta and Nashville are expecting some of the largest supply gluts.
The sluggishness is expected to spread across the U.S., hitting markets from Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas to Los Angeles and Atlanta.
Dallas is expected to see nearly 25,000 new apartments delivered, compared with the long-term average of roughly 9,000 new apartments a year, according to Axiometrics. Los Angeles is expected to get roughly 13,000 new apartments, nearly double the historical average.
Nashville could see some 8,500 new apartments, more than triple the typical 2,400 apartments completed annually.
John Tirrill, managing partner at SWH Partners, an Atlanta developer that has several projects under way in the Nashville area, is leasing a new five-story property with a fitness center, yoga and barre studio and swimming pool. He has lowered rents from $2.25 a square foot to $2.10 a square foot—a $150 discount on a 1,000-square-foot apartment—and is offering one to two months of free rent.
Meanwhile, as Wolf Street notes, rent concessions have become fairly pervasive across the country.
And, banks are starting to get just a little worried that they financed a few too many luxury skyscrapers.
Banks are pulling back on lending, which could help slow the pace of construction starting in late 2018.
“We’re just being really selective,” said John Cannon, a senior vice president at Pinnacle Financial Partners, a Nashville-based financial-services company that has increased its focus on multifamily lending in the last couple of years. “Multifamily has a large number of units on the ground that they really have to demonstrate some absorption.”
We vaguely recall seeing the single-family version of this movie a few years ago...
