Carolina Politics Online

A lawsuit filed late this morning by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) in Wilkes Superior Court accuses the Wilkes County school system of denying members of N.C. Peace Action the same access as military recruiters to students in the high schools.

The suit seeks court action requiring equal access for N.C. Peace Action representatives and that they be allowed to provide information on military service and alternatives to military service to Wilkes high school students in the schools. The suit also asks for court action declaring that N.C. Peace Action representatives are entitled to present truthful, job-related information about military careers, including disadvantages of military careers.

The ACLU-NCLF filed the suit on behalf of N.C. Peace Action and N.C. Peace Action members Sally Ferrell of Boomer and Bill Towe, who is state coordinator of the organization.

Wilkes Journal-Patriot

According to another story by the Charlotte Observer, Ferrell was given two opportunities to present pamphlets and brochures to students that discussed military alternatives.  The superintendent barred her from returning on the basis that she was handing out leaflets which promoted a disparaging image of the military and other negative comments.

The question is are Sally Ferrell’s First Amendment rights being violated?  I am a very strong supporter of free speech, but in my opinion I say no on this particular case.  I think a school system has the right to determine who and what they allow into their classrooms.  Is the school obligated to allow every speaker that requests an audience through their doors?  What if someone from a radical group like PETA or ELF wanted to speak?  Or perhaps a member of the Reverend Fred Phelps’ gay bashing church?  You know, the guy whose followers protest military funerals holding up signs that say “God loves dead soldiers?”

School officials are entrusted with the protection of our children while they are within those halls and I think that gives them a right to allow or deny whatever third party they want from bringing in what they may feel is a negative influence.  Nothing is stopping Ms Ferrell and Mr. Towe from standing outside the school on a public sidewalk and handing their information out to the students as they are walking home at the end of the day.

Palmetto Dunes security officers responding to a report of a vehicle blocking the road on Christmas Eve arrived to find a woman passed out in her SUV, according to a sheriff’s report released today. When they woke her, her car began to move.

The Palmetto Dunes resident had fallen asleep with her foot on the brake and her SUV still in drive. She was blocking both lanes of Off Shore around 6 a.m.

Officers chased her slow-moving 2000 Nissan XTerra for about 30 yards, the report said. Her speed ranged from 7 to 10 mph as deputies banged on the windows and yelled for her to stop. The report states the woman was smiling and laughing at officers as they chased her.

The security officers suspected she had been drinking, but she passed all of the field sobriety tests.

The Island Packet

Robert Lee Guy, the man at the helm of the state’s probation system for the past 11 years, will be out of the job when Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue takes office.

It remains to be seen who will step in to fix the system plagued by high turnover and vacancies in urban offices. The disarray meant that many offenders were left unwatched — and some went on to kill.

The News & Observer

Guy is another failure of the Sleasley administration.  How this man even still has a job is boggling, particularly after the recklessness and holes in the probation system exposed by the media following the Eve Carson murder.  There has been no accountability in government under Mike Easley.  At least Perdue is starting off on the right foot in this area, to what extent remains unknown.

Alvin W. Keller Jr., a retired Marine colonel and military judge, will become the state’s new correction secretary. He will replace Guy’s boss, Theodis Beck, who said in late November he was stepping down at the start of this year. Keller, who is an assistant attorney general handling criminal appellate cases, addressed the probation system’s problems in brief remarks at Friday’s news conference.

“People who are being placed on probation will have to understand that there are adverse consequences for not following the terms of their probation,” Keller said.

Keller did not explain how he will do that or how he will address the management problems within the department. He could not be reached after the news conference.

Hopefully Keller will be able to make some real and noticable changes.  The criminal justice system in North Carolina is a farce.  I don’t know how the people put up with it.  We don’t have these issues in South Carolina because criminals actually receive punishment here.  Shocking, I know.  Keller being a retired marine officer gives me some solace that he may clean things up with an iron fist.

Nick Mackey, who was elected in November to the N.C. General Assembly, has been charged criminally with failing to turn over business documents in connection with a civil lawsuit and a judgment against him for nearly $100,000.

The misdemeanor charge is related to a July judgment against Mackey’s law firm for unpaid rent, attorneys fees, interest and other costs that now total $101,402, according to court records.

The judge issued the default judgment against Mackey & Associates for $85,094 for breach of contract and $12,764 for attorneys’ fees. The judge’s ruling also calls for Mackey to pay interest until the judgment is paid in full.

The offense is punishable by up to 120 days in jail.

Charlotte Observer

I’d say this is unbelievable, but it’s not.  Mackey’s entire history is riddled with run-ins with the law and questionable ethics.  This is what happens when you have an uneducated voting bloc easily manipulated by emotional propaganda who go out and elect someone based on their race as a revenge for denying Mackey the Sheriff’s seat in an election he cheated in.  We are going to see more of this kind of notoriety surrounding the man and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he becomes the next Thomas Wright and has to be officially exponged from the state legislature.

What an absolute joke…

A man who was placed under a federal detainer earlier this month says he was coerced into answering questions about his immigration status by being left in a cold room for hours.

Marcelo Pimentel Bornios, 25, was arrested by the Burlington police at 2:42 a.m. on Dec. 14 and placed in the Alamance County jail on a charge of driving while impaired.

Shortly after being processed by the officer and jail personnel, and after telling the officer that he was born outside the United States, Pimentel-Bornios was interviewed by a locally based Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Pimentel-Bornios said the ICE officer asked him if he was in the country illegally or if he had paid someone to bring him to the country illegally. According to Pimentel-Bornios, when he did not answer those questions, the officer left him in the room and told him he was going to stay there until “he was ready to talk.”

The room only had a small bench and was so cold that he started shaking, Pimentel-Bornios said in Spanish during an interview with the Times-News. In all, he said, he was kept in that room for six to seven hours without a blanket. He was only wearing his jail suit at the time, he added.

From time to time, he said, the officer would come into the room to check if he had changed his mind. He said he was given a meal during that time and was told that he had the right to get an attorney and that he could contact his consulate, though he was not given information on how to do that.

Pimentel-Bornios said he eventually got so tired that he agreed to answer the questions.

“I wanted to get out of there; I was so cold,” he said, adding that at one point he laid on the floor to get some rest.

The Times News

Well gee, it sounds to me like he could have gotten out of there whenever the hell he wanted if he would have simply answered the damn question!  Are you here illegally?  Yes or no?  He didn’t answer because he obviously isn’t supposed to be here!

FOR ATTORNEY Ehber Rossi, cases like these are violations of a person’s civil rights.

“These allegations are troubling,” Rossi said. “There seems to be a pattern of possible abuse that seems to be affecting one specific group in the county.”

He added that though it’s convenient to say that the only group being targeted by the 287(g) program is the illegal population, these cases show that the common denominator is not immigration status but rather race.

“No matter what way you look at it, these are troubling allegations that should be looked into,” he said.

What needs to be looked into?  Him being a little chilly??  Oh, boo hoo hoo!  Oh, it was so cold!  Well maybe if you didn’t sneak across our border and then careen down the road drunk as a skunk where you could have almost killed somebody you wouldn’t have been sitting in that cold, stone room.  You know what your country does to illegal aliens they catch?

As for this Rossi guy, he is just another scum lapping puss bag lawyer exploiting our legal system trying to make a buck with this frivolous complaint.  Troubling my ass.  The guy made the decision to stay in the cell on his own.  Period!

Keith Parker’s prayers were answered Tuesday. Parker was among 19 people with convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud granted pardons by President Bush as he left Washington for the holidays. Parker pled guilty to misprison of a felony — concealing information from authorities — in a case that involved some other Georgetown area men who found some packages of cocaine in the ocean. Drug Enforcement Administration officers investigated the case and Parker was given probation for his guilty plea.

Georgetown Times

Bush pardons this guy who “finds” cocaine in the ocean, but he gives nothing to border guards Ramos and Compean who are in jail for defending our country from a drug smuggler.

George Bush is a rotten bastard who should burn in Hell.

DURHAM — Durham attorney Hampton Dellinger says he wants an appointment from President-elect Barack Obama to become one of North Carolina’s three top federal prosecutors.

The Herald-Sun of Durham reported Saturday that the former aide to Gov. Mike Easley is lobbying to become the U.S. attorney for either the Middle or Eastern districts of North Carolina.

The News & Observer

Oh God, that’s just what we need is this fruitcake as a U.S. Attorney.  I can see it now.  We’ll have lawsuits to combat cow flatulence in order to stop global warming, injunctions slapped against the Atlantic Asterias for eating the endangered oysters, and property seized in the name of preserving the yellow bellied nut scratcher.

At first I thought this guy was the one offering the prostitute services, which made me cringe, but no, he was the alleged buyer of the services.  Honestly, why is this even illegal?  If two grown adults want to exchange money for sex then what the hell business is it of the State of South Carolina?  If the people in his council district disapprove then they can elect someone else, but to arrest someone for this is just plain retarded.  This is the 21st century for Pete’s sake.

Myrtle Beach city authorities slapped Horry County Councilman Marion Foxworth with another prostitution-related charge on Wednesday, 14 months after Foxworth was originally arrested and charged in a prostitution sting by city police.

Foxworth, who is now being charged with one count of prostitution under S.C. state statute, has professed his innocence since his arrest in October 2007. He still faces a charge of loitering for prostitution, a city violation. Both charges, which are related to the same incident, are misdemeanors and they carry penalties of up to 30 days in jail and a small fine.

The Sun News

I told you months ago this was coming when they introduced the idea to make these license plates.  I said the state was setting itself up for a lawsuit and whamo!  Here it is!

A federal judge Thursday ordered South Carolina to freeze plans to produce a special “I Believe” license plate, refund motorists who have prepaid for the plates and direct them to make a different selection.

The plates, designed by the Department of Motor Vehicles, bearing a gold cross and a stained-glass window with the words “I Believe” across the top, amount to state-sponsored religious preference, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled in Columbia.

“… The court … directs (the state) to take all actions necessary to preserve the status quo,” Currie ordered, pending further legal action.

The injunction, sought by four religious leaders, including Christians and Jews, and two religious groups including Hindus and Arabs, is temporary and may be appealed.

The State

Republican Bill James wants the county to file a lawsuit to force the state to spend more money on hiring prosecutors and operating the courts. He said their failure to provide adequate money has led to a severe backlog of cases in the local criminal justice system.

“They have mismanaged the criminal justice system,” James said before Tuesday’s meeting. “They’ve allowed crime to run amok.”

Commissioners will vote on James’ proposal at their Jan. 6 meeting.

Charlotte Observer

James’ point is correct.  The State of North Carolina is the butt of a sad joke when it comes to prosecuting criminals and bringing them to justice.  I don’t know that I agree with him, however, about suing the state.  The state is the way it is because the residents of North Carolina have chosen it to be this way by way of their votes at the voting booth.  Pat McCrory made crime fighting the center piece of his campaign and do nothing Perdue still won anyway.  Furthermore, where are the local Senators and State Reps who represent Mecklenburg County in Raleigh?  What the hell are they doing?  Why aren’t they up there making noise?  Why aren’t they clamouring to the media about this problem to put pressure on the whole legislative body?  Beyond that, the people of Mecklenburg are even more at fault for many of the judges they put into office who constantly give these guys probation.

Charlotte has weak representation in both Democratic and Republican circles.

I’m a libertarian-conservative. I’m not an anarchist.

I want government to be small enough to let me live my life as I see fit, but large enough to prevent me from infringing on someone else’s right to live THEIR life as THEY see fit. Government, by it’s very existence, is a threat to liberty. But even I acknowledge that some amount of government is necessary to protect our liberties too. The trick to balancing out this seesaw of liberty and tyranny is to assign to government the basic societal functions that individuals cannot perform themselves. Law enforcement is one of those things.

You’d think that after having the HIGHEST TAXES IN THE SOUTHEAST, our state government would do a better job performing it’s basic obligations. But no, that would be expecting way too much out of the three-ring circus in Raleigh.

The N&O began a very interesting series of articles on Sunday about N.C.’s broken parole system. They’re worth a read if you fall into one of the following categories:

1) You need an excuse to buy a gun and a conceal/carry permit for Christmas.
2) You want the crap scared out you.
3) You want another reason to print an enlarged picture of Mike Easley’s face to hang over your dartboard. In fact, here’s one right here for ya-

Here are the two take-away paragraphs:

Since the start of 2000, 580 people have killed in North Carolina while under the watch of state probation officers — 17 percent of all convictions for intentional killings.

Documents and interviews indicate that probation officers — poorly paid, overworked, some inexperienced — routinely lose contact with the people they are required to supervise and guide toward more productive lives. Probation leaders have failed to take advantage of technology advances, for years leaving their officers with no automatic tracking of the people under their supervision. Officers often weren’t aware when probationers were arrested on new charges.

You’ll remember that UNC Student President Eve Carson was killed by a bunch of societal parasites who were on parole. That case made news because the senseless killing of a pretty white girl always makes news. What doesn’t make as much news, though, is the case of Jamel Jefferys, a 19-year-old Southeast Raleigh teenager killed in a drive-by after a parole-violating maggot mistook him for a rival gang member. Or the case of Ronald Bittle, who had been robbed and shot several times. The parasite accused of the murder was on probation, and in May 2007 was ordered tagged with electronic monitoring. He ended up being tagged at the end of August 2007; Bittle was murdered in the intervening months.

The N&O was also nice enough to list the three people who’s job it is to make sure that this sort of garbage does not happen:

ROBERT GUY- Director of the Division of Community Corrections

THEODIS BECK- Correction Secretary. Guess who hires Beck?

MIKE EASLEY- Governor.  Appoints the correction secretary and is responsible for prisons and probation. Easley, a Democrat, declined an interview about the department’s management but issued a statement saying more probationers should go to prison.

Some of may have wondered why I criticize Mike Easley so harshly. You may have asked if it’s appropriate to portray him as a clown. Perhaps you don’t think I’m giving Easley a fair shake.

You know what? Mike Easely can kiss my ass. Because putting up that clown picture doesn’t even to justice to massive screw-up that incompetent buffoon has been. For eight years, the buck has stopped at HIS desk, and what do we have to show for it? A state that can’t even keep track of freakin’ murderers walking around on our streets, that’s what! Meanwhile, this clown has been asking for $40 million Welcome Centers and a gubernatorial plane. Apparently, he’s too busy jetting off down to Florida to explain his sorry self to the people that pay his salary.

You’re a clown, Mike Easley. You’re an embarrassment. The state government that you head has few true obligations to the people, but first among those is public safety, and you have failed miserably to provide it. Pathetic.

DURHAM — Former Durham Public Schools Superintendent Ann Denlinger and the Board of Education have appealed to the state Supreme Court to dismiss the remaining allegations in a lawsuit brought by nine current and former students. They alleged unconstitutional actions by school officials involving disciplinary suspensions and how an anti-gang policy was enforced.

The Herald-Sun

You know, there is a really easy solution to this.  It’s called a uniform.  I have to follow a dress code when I go to my job.  Just about everyone does.  I can’t just walk into the office in ripped jeans and ratty t-shirt.  There is a professional image to be maintained.  Why should it be any different with schools?  Just create a uniform policy and be done with it and then you can stop wasting taxpayer dollars on stupid lawsuits like these.

Cumberland County again?

A 9-year-old elementary school student has been charged with seriously injuring a classmate by stabbing her in the back with a pencil on Wednesday, lawmen said.

Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies charged the boy after he stabbed the 10-year-old girl at Cliffdale Road Elementary School, a news release said.

Investigators say the boy stabbed the girl with a pencil, causing a puncture wound on the upper portion of her back.

The boy stabbed the girl after an argument over a pencil box, authorities said.

Detectives could charge the boy with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury pending the outcome of the investigation, the release said.

The Fayetteville Observer

Assault with a deadly weapon?  A pencil is a deadly weapon?

He’s a freakin nine year old!!  Suspend him from school for a week.  Have his dad (assuming he has one) take his belt off and crack him across the ass with it.  That will settle the matter.  What the hell were the police even called for in the first place??  Common sense has flown completely out the window in every school district across America and evidently in a lot of police departments too. Get a clue, people.

“The suspect, Fred L Ervin, went to the BP store located at 8005 Ten Ten Road (Garner) and stole money from the cash register of the store,” Binns said.

Binns said the suspect, who is thirty years old and has a rural Raleigh address, then crossed the street to the Harris Teeter parking lot. The grocery store is located in Fuquay-Varina.

Fuquay-Varina Police Chief Larry Smith said once arriving in the Harris Teeter Parking lot, Ervin attempted to steal Bailey’s vehicle, a 2001 Nissan Maxima.

During the alleged theft, Bailey was assaulted. Smith said citizens witnessed the assault and came to the aid of Bailey. In their attempt to assist Bailey, Ervin was hit in the head by a frozen turkey that Bailey had bought.

Fuquay-Varina Independent

Now imagine if the frozen turkey control lobby had gotten their way.  This woman might not be alive to tell her story today.

Retiring Mecklenburg County Commissioner Parks Helms (D) has made the case to the media that this year’s judicial elections in Charlotte are the reason why the state should change the way judges are elected.  Four incumbent judges were ousted in the elections a few weeks back and replaced with one guy that never campaigned and another who ran simply because his incumbent opponent ruled against him in a divorce case.  There is valid reasoning on both sides of this argument.

Supporting Helms’ view point, a lot of people going to the voting booth have no idea who these people are or how they have conducted themselves in the time they have spent in the judiciary.  Should they really be voting for these people?  Of course, the same can be said for a lot of elected offices.  How many people really knew who Steve Troxler was when they reelected him to Agriculture Commissioner or who Beth Wood was when she was chosen for State Auditor?  In many cases it’s a game of name recognition.  Voters simply don’t bother to inform themselves and as the Observer points out 1.2 million people skipped the State Supreme Court race.

The alternative to the people electing judges, however, is politicians appointing them.  I’m not sure which method does less damage.  When you switch to political appointment you now risk delegating judicial positions as seats of political patronage and partisan politics.  The Governor or state legislature will start rewarding their friends in the ole boys club and start picking judges based on their political views.  Look how much chaos is caused every time there is a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Is this what people want in North Carolina?

There is no easy answer to this question and it’s certainly debate worthy.  For now, it is what it is.

WILMINGTON, N.C. (Nov. 19) - A North Carolina sheriff’s official has apologized for plunging a funeral into chaos when undercover agents tried to arrest the dead man’s son — and used a Taser on him in the process.

It happened as the coffin was being loaded into a hearse. The officers planned to quietly arrest pallbearer Gladwyn Taft Russ III, The Star-News of Wilmington reported Wednesday.

AOL News

South Carolina ranked dead last in the nation for funding programs to prevent children from using tobacco, 10 years after receiving nearly $1 billion in a landmark case against the tobacco industry.

A coalition of health organizations released a report Tuesday analyzing the amounts of money states spent on preventing and reducing tobacco use compared to the recommended spending target established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers found that no state is funding prevention at suggested levels, and only nine states fund programs at half the CDC recommendation.

The Post and Courier

No kidding, you morons.  That’s what people like me told you ten years ago when those bullshit lawsuits against the tobacco companies were going on.  The money didn’t get used for medical treatment or anti-smoking programs; it went right into the general coffers of just about every state and blown on various crap by the state governments.  Those lawsuits were a farce and should have never happened.

Why does South Carolina need to spend any money to tobacco prevention in the first place?  It’s not the government’s job to educate children on the dangers of tobacco.  That’s their parents’ jobs.

Mayor Pat McCrory released a statement Monday that said the position “could actually cause confusion among the public as to who is responsible for criminal justice issues.” He also questioned using taxpayer dollars, and said leaders in the system should meet and discuss the issue, saying: “I would be glad to call such a meeting.”

Matthews Mayor Lee Myers also said Monday he doesn’t support the idea, which was the main proposal from a citizen’s crime task force formed by Mecklenburg County commissioners earlier this year to look for ways to fix problems in the local justice system.

Charlotte Observer

I was in favor of this new position if it was filled by Jim Pendergraph and if there would actually be authority granted to him to make changes.  However, it turns out that the job is nothing more than a waste of $140,000 a year on what will be another ineffective bureaucrat.  The county needs to reverse course on this.  The money can be better spent on more district attorneys which are sorely needed.

DURHAM — City officials should release copies of the Web postings that have sparked a Durham Police Department internal affairs probe into whether officers made racially derogatory comments about President-elect Barack Obama, Durham’s NAACP branch says.

The request came Thursday afternoon in an e-mail from branch President Fred Foster Jr. that went to Durham’s mayor, city manager and police chief.

Foster also said he wants to see tough disciplinary action against the officers if the allegations prove true, and said the matter rates “the highest priority” from the city administration.

“We want to know if there will be transparency about those comments to the community and what disciplinary action if any will be taken against these officers,” he said. “We believe that if these comments are against people of color, then it will be hard for those officers to serve and protect without prejudice and that they should not be allowed to wear the uniform representing public trust.”

The Herald-Sun

I do think there is some validity to the NAACP’s concern in this case.  When you have people entrusted with the kind of responsibilities that law enforcement officers are given you want to make sure they are upstanding citizens and aren’t going to abuse their authority and discriminate.  Generally, I would take the position that what these guys write on their own personal Web pages on their own personal time is their business and not the police department’s nor the NAACP’s and they should be judged only by their actions when on duty.  However, the Durham PD has a code of conduct that hold their police officers to a written standard even when off duty.

The department’s code of conduct, under the heading “private life,” states that an officer’s “character and conduct while off duty must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the community in which he or she lives and serves. The officer’s personal behavior must be beyond reproach.”

Former Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph withdrew his name from those being considered for the county’s new crime czar position citing that the new job has no teeth.  Evidently the job won’t really carry any real authority and is more or less a waste of time and money.  CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe has also criticized the position saying “If they needed somebody else to tell me how to do (this) job, they should have brought somebody else here.”