Carolina Politics Online

CARTHAGE - State Rep. Joe Boylan has pleaded guilty to driving while impaired.

The Fayetteville Observer reports that Boylan entered the plea Wednesday. The Moore County Republican was charged with DWI after he drove his pickup truck off a road and hit a tree in April.

Police measured Boylan’s blood alcohol level at .17 - more than twice the legal limit of .08.

He sentence includes a 60-day suspended jail term, 12 months unsupervised probation and a $100 fine.

The N&O

Authorities say a man attempting to shoplift steaks from Food Lion in Haw River Tuesday afternoon ran from police and was found about 30 minutes later without a pulse on a back porch on Green Level Church Road.

Ronnie Lee Hayes, 47, of Dixon Lane, which is in the Green Level community, was later pronounced dead at Alamance Regional Medical Center.

The Times-News

Hyped up on drugs I’m sure.  One less hood rat on the streets.  Gee, too bad.

Several Virginia Commonwealth University administrators are stepping down following an investigation into the improper awarding of a bachelor’s degree to the police chief in Charlotte, N.C.

University officials aren’t linking the resignations to the investigation.

WBT

Huh?  So let me get this straight.  They discover that Rodney Monroe was improperly awarded a Bachelor’s Degree from the university and now these guys are resigning their positions.  One of them is actually the one who awarded Monroe the degree, but none of these resignations have anything to do with the degree.

And tomorrow monkeys will fly out my ass.

I said before that quite frankly, I don’t care if Monroe has a degree or not.  College is extremely overrated.  Rodney Monroe has the experience and the record of getting the job done and that is far more practical and valuable than any piece of paper.  If he delivers for Charlotte that is all that matters.

Sanford Herald

The Republican hopeful for governor from Charlotte was on a fundraising mission when he stopped on his way in Sanford, North Carolina.  He spoke about the gang problems in the state and about the absence of talk for public safety. He also publically asked that Perdue participate in more debates and forums so the voters can understand where the two candidates are coming from.

The Charlotte mayor also called on his Demo­cratic opponent, Lt. Gov.
Beverly Perdue, to agree to more debates.
“I believe I’m a candi­date who is accessible to the public. I’m willing to showcase my opinions,” he said. “Beverly Perdue is not willing to do that, and it’s an extension of the last eight years of state government, where we’ve had a governor who we never see.”

Big business and special interest PAC’s like labor unions and George Soros funded PACS have Perdue’s attention and demand it on a daily basis. McCrory has solutions and leadership, Perdue has $60 cheeseburgers to live up to.

WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad of Charlotte is either an arbitrator so honest that he would rule against his own brother or a conservative extremist who would “turn the clock back” on people’s rights.

Whether his friends or foes are correct – or the truth is somewhere in between one thing seems certain: He is no closer to sitting on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, or even getting a confirmation hearing, than he was on the day President Bush nominated him a year ago.

Charlotte Observer

Americans should really be outraged about this.  There have been four seats vacant on this court for years.  Both parties have engaged in judicial obstructionist tactics in the past, but it has never been nearly as bad as what we have seen in the Bush administration.

Conrad is more than qualified.  He received a “Well Qualified” rating from the American Bar Association.

Liberal judicial advocacy groups cite a record of “radical right wing positions,” including arguing for the death penalty and opposition to abortion.

There is nothing radical about supporting the death penalty and opposing abortion.  Those are very mainstream views.  It’s quite clear what is going on in the Senate.  The Democrats are obstructing these judicial picks in hopes of an Obama victory this year in the election and then they can fill these courts with left leaning judges.  Meanwhile, the 4th Circuit Court is understaffed and overburdened and it is undermining our nation’s system of justice.  People really need to demand more from their elected representatives.

The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved “Jessica’s Law” – a plan that would imprison some child sex offenders for at least 25 years and monitor them by satellite if they’re released. The bill requires adult offenders who commit certain sex crimes against children under 13 – including rape – to be sent to prison for 25 years to life. The bill is named for Jessica Lunsford, a former Gaston County resident who was raped, and buried alive by a repeat sex offender in Florida in 2005. She was 9 years old.

Charlotte Observer

It’s hard to believe that as socially conservative as North Carolina is they are one of the last states to pass this law.  It now goes to Easley for signature.

NEWS&OBSERVER

Senate Democrats are talking among themselves about trying to pass a measure aimed at addressing racial bias in death penalty cases. The House has already passed a bill that would allow murder defendants to use statistical evidence to suggest that race is a significant factor in prosecutors’ seeking the death penalty or in juries’ imposing it.

The state NAACP president is prodding senators to approve the measure. If Senate Democrats move forward with it, Republicans see a chance to get something they’ve been fighting for — a provision that may allow the state to resume executions. Executions have been stalled for more than a year partly because the Department of Correction cannot find doctors who will take part in them, as the law requires. Last year, the N.C. Medical Board adopted an ethics policy that forbids doctors from doing anything more than being present at executions.

First, the part we can ALL agree on… hopefully:

The state Senate moved Thursday to keep guns from those deemed so mentally ill that they pose an immediate threat to themselves and others.

The N&O

Now, the part that leads to arguments and gnashing of teeth:

Senators would allow gun purchases by people who have been involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment but are not considered an immediate threat.

So why would the senate do this?

The Senate voted 30-19 to remove a requirement that anyone involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment would be listed on a national database that sheriffs use to deny gun permits. The bill now says that those committed to outpatient treatment “shall only be reported if the individual is found to be a danger to self or others.”

“If someone is involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment, it specifically means they are not found to be a danger to others,” said Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, who pushed the change.

Berger contended that judges and medical professionals would be more aware of the need to determine whether someone is a danger.

This page had a discussion on this very topic a few months back. So far back, in fact, that I’m too damn lazy to go look for it to link to. But I recall that this page’s general consensus was similar to what the Senate ultimately agreed to- involuntary commitments should not be a permanent bar from owning firearms. There’s just too much ambiguity over whether or not the person is truly mentally incompetent.

I want to know why the North Carolina State Senate has decided to try and modify Jessica’s Law in an effort to delay or perhaps kill it? The Democratic legislators are taking a common sense measure and making it political. Do we want to be mentioned in the same breath as Vermont and Colorado when it comes to protecting our children?

I write this to try and help light a fire under the Democratic politicians in Raleigh who have over the years helped make the great state of North Carolina a laughing stock. They are in charge in this state until the voters wake up and decide we do need “REAL CHANGE” in North Carolina.

I WILL TAKE THE LEAD ON ISSUES THAT MATTER TO THE PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA! I MEAN WHAT I SAY AND I DO WHAT I SAY.

It is time to end the politics of closed doors, help me bring some sunshine to Raleigh and the great state of North Carolina.

Legislation that would require state and local governments to pay reasonable legal fees when they lose a public records lawsuit cleared a Senate judiciary committee today after an attempt to gut the bill.

State law currently gives the courts limited discretion to not award legal fees to people and businesses who win public records lawsuits if the governmental agency showed substantial justification to deny records. Open government advocates say judges have largely used that discretion to prevent or limit the awarding of legal fees, reports Dan Kane.

The News & Observer

I think this is a fair bill.  If a government agency is in violation of its own laws, public advocates like the media should not be burdened with paying out of their pocket to expose these violations.  True, if the government has to pay the fines then the taxpayers are footing the bill, but it is up to the taxpayers to elect people who will abide by the laws they have been sworn to uphold.

If you live in the Charlotte area you may recall this incident back in March.  Darryl Wayne Turner was a 17 year old employee at a Food Lion in north Charlotte who died as a result of being shocked with a Taser gun by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer.  The police were called to the scene when Turner became unruly with members of the management, cursing and screaming at them and attempting to assault them by throwing objects at them.  He was shocked with the Taser when he disobeyed an order by the police officer and began advancing towards him.  The death was accidental, but the family’s attorney, Ken Harris, is now considering a civil suit against the CMPD.

Ken Harris is exactly the type of ambulance chasing sleaze bag that has given lawyers a bad name.  While I feel bad for the kid’s mother, Turner got exactly what was coming to him.  He was engaging in threatening behavior and advanced on a police officer, a very dangerous situation for all present.  What else was the officer supposed to do?  He didn’t intend to kill the kid.  If he did he would have just shot him.  The death resulting from the Taser hit, while unfortunate, was nothing more than accidental and the family has no justifiable cause to collect anything from the city taxpayers.  Harris is just seeing the dollar signs.  Morals and ethics need not apply.

The Charlotte Observer has a run down of what happened that day:

Turner’s mother, Tammy Fontenot, said her son had come home for lunch on March 20 and told her he’d stolen a couple of Hot Pockets from the store. He was afraid of getting into trouble, but she told him to go back and admit what he had done.

Goodenow said Monday that when Turner returned to the grocery after lunch, a supervisor told him to remove the sucker from his mouth and tuck in his shirt. The teenager began cursing, the prosecutor said.

The supervisor called the store manager to report what was happening. She said Turner was cursing and angry, and told the manager she felt threatened and was going to call police.

After the manager arrived, Turner began taunting him to get him to fight, Goodenow said. He threw a plastic counter-top display at the manager, she said, then picked up an umbrella and threw that at the manager. Then he advanced on the manager who was behind the customer service desk.

Goodenow said a witness recalled the police officer, who had witnessed at least part of the confrontation with the manager, yelling: “Freeze. Don’t move. Stay where you are.”

Turner then began walking toward the officer, who had already pulled his Taser. When Turner was a few feet from Dawson, the officer fired the Taser.

Goodenow said Turner’s body stiffened after being shocked, but the teen kept walking. When Turner got to the front of the store he tossed a metal grocery bag holder, she said.

It’s unclear when the officer fired again or how long the shock lasted.

The video doesn’t show where Turner fell to the ground, Goodenow said. A witness said the teenager, while on the floor, still wasn’t complying with the officer’s commands to put his hands behind his back and roll over, the prosecutor said.

“He gave the officer a look like he was going to break him in half…,” the manager told police. “I don’t know what was bothering him, but he was not himself.

“The officer told him he needed to stop. And that’s the last warning you’re going to get. And he just kept on going.”

The only one at fault here clearly was Darryl Wayne Turner and he paid for it with his life.

Jessica’s Law is very close for this bill to become a reality because it passed in the NC House last year, then in the short session the NC Senate passed it with changes. Now it has gone back to the NC House to approve those changes. Even though it should be on track, there have been continued delays that have become a growing concern whether the Democrats will do the right thing to protect our children and finally get this bill passed.

It looks like changes need to be made at the ballot box in November. The “Do Nothing” legislature has given us another example as to why they need to be removed from power. We need to “Take Back Our State” from the entrenched corruption that is running rampant.

Will Rep. Dan Blue and Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue do anything to pressure Rep. Hackney and Senator Rand to do the right thing on Jessica’s Law? I call upon the Democrats in North Carolina’s legislature to get off their collective derrieres and pass Jessica’s Law NOW!

COLUMBIA — Gov. Mark Sanford on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have expanded the use of genetic information in criminal cases, saying collecting DNA samples when suspected felons are arrested is an invasion of privacy.

“We see this legislation as a reach past that very foundation upon which this country was founded,” Sanford told legislators in his veto. He called the bill a “further encroachment on our civil liberties and privacy rights.”

The Post and Courier

And that it is, Governor.  Amen for Mark Sanford.  There were just too many problems with this bill.

The legislation required a DNA sample to be taken when people were arrested for felonies as well as for eavesdropping, peeping or stalking. Those samples could be destroyed if suspects are not convicted.

The governor cited statistics showing that only about 40 percent of people arrested on felony charges are convicted.

And how could the destruction of those samples by proved?  Would we actually be expected to trust the government?

There were some other good provisions in the bill that I would like to see passed at some point.  I favor prisoners having the right to DNA testing to prove their innocense.  There was also a condition that would have allowed family members of missing persons to have their DNA tested against unidentified remains.

DNA sampling is at the core of those efforts because of the potential for finding cold hits on old crimes and getting repeat offenders off the streets, McConnell said.

“It is the public’s civil right to be protected in their person and their property,” he said. “This bill was the single biggest thing that we could do in the battle against violent crime.”

At the expense of civil liberties, Glenn.  Wise up.

WTF??

LUMBERTON - Authorities say nine North Carolina jail inmates have been charged with making wine behind bars.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Wednesday the inmates were discovered making wine last month in the Robeson County Jail.

Assistant jailer Capt. Jeffrey Martin says the inmates used food from their meal trays, especially sweet items, to make the wine in a plastic bag.

The Times News

What genius these men must possess.  To be able to think that much outside the box and make their own wine from inside a jail cell and instead of having successful lives somewhere they are rotting behind bars.  Talk about taking the wrong path in life.  Tragic.

And if you’re curious as to how this is done, Bradwrage has all the details for you if you’re sure you really want to know.  You’ve been warned.  I have a feeling this stuff has a kick that keeps on kicking for a long time.  Now you know what to get those pesky in-laws at Christmas time.

Last year, Sanford vetoed a bill that would have allowed law enforcement to collect DNA samples at the time of arrest, and the House decided to uphold the veto. Sanford outlined a number of privacy concerns with the bill. If he vetoes the bill this year it will remain in limbo until January, when the Legislature reconvenes.

All states require DNA samples from convicted sex offenders and upon conviction for certain other crimes. Some states allow samples to be taken at the time of arrest, primarily for felony charges.

The bill Sanford is reviewing contains a number of provisions in addition to collecting pre-conviction samples. It also allows prisoners to request their DNA be tested to prove their innocence and a provision that would allow the family of missing persons to have their loved ones’ DNA tested against a database of unidentified human remains.

The Post and Courier

This same provision is up again in a similar DNA bill that has passed both chambers of the legislature.  I think, as before, Sanford should veto this bill.  I don’t like this idea of collecting a person’s DNA based upon an arrest.  Being arrested is not an indication of guilt.  So what happens to your DNA sample if you are found not guilty?

I agree with the provisions allowing prisoners to demand a DNA test to prove their innocence as well as that which allows family members of missing persons to have their DNA tested against human remains for identification.  Those are good ideas and they should have been put up as their own bills instead of being combined with the forced surrendering upon arrest.

A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia, authorities said.

Six Flags officials are uncertain why the unidentified 17-year-old from Columbia, S.C. scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors, spokeswoman Hela Sheth said in a news release.

Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Police have declined to release the teenager’s name until an autopsy is completed.

The teen was struck and killed by the roller coaster “while it was in operation,” according to the park’s news release. Police said the ride was going full-speed when the teen was struck.

WBT

I’ve read about this on a few different message forums and have seen some pretty harsh comments regarding this kid’s fatal lack of judgment.  I’ve seen accusations of this incident being “Darwinism in action,” or “thinning the herd.”  I’m not going to say anything that crass.  Sure, those comments may be true.  What the kid did was totally stupid, but let’s all remember how much common sense we had back at that age.  Anyone who never took a stupid and/or dangerous risk when they were young raise your hand.  (Anyone who raises their hand is a liar) When you’re that age you have a false confidence that you are somehow “bullet proof.”  Generally, you wise up as you get older, though some never do.  It’s a sad tragedy and the family deserves everyone’s deepest sympathies….

For now.

This is where I become polically incorrect.  I guarantee that somewhere right now there is a filthy, blood sucking lawyer who is salivating at the opportunity of calling up this kid’s parents and encouraging them go after Six Flags for tens of millions, all for his own greed.  It doesn’t matter that there were fences up and the kid jumped both of them.  It doesn’t matter that there were signs on these fences noting the danger and indicating the area was a restricted zone.  None of that matters because these are the components of your modern day frivolous lawsuit.  If these parents sue Six Flags, they lose all of my sympathy and deserve to be shredded to pieces up and down the blogosphere and throughout the media.

The American Civil Liberties Union is opening an office in Charleston next week, the first in the state.

The location at 12 Liberty St. and the timing of the opening ceremony were planned to highlight the organization’s mission, Interim Executive Director Graham Boyd said Thursday.

The Wednesday ribbon cutting is two days before Independence Day. The ceremony will be at the Old Exchange Building on East Bay Street, where South Carolina leaders ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788.

“It symbolizes our mission, which is to defend the Constitution,” Boyd said. “A lot of organizations raise their money by trying to vilify the ACLU, and that’s fine if that’s what works for them.”

The Post and Courier

Wow.  I had no idea that South Carolina didn’t have an ACLU office.  I am neither pro-ACLU nor anti-ACLU.  I think they have done some good things, but I also feel that they go overboard at times too.

Update: I was contacted this evening by Mr. Boyd and he was gracious enough to send me their official press release on this event.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26, 2008

CONTACT: Graham Boyd, ACLU, (843) 720-1423; gboyd@aclu.org

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The American Civil Liberties Union will announce the opening of its new South Carolina Office July 2 at a press conference and ceremonial ribbon-cutting that will include Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and a host of other political and community leaders.

The press conference, intentionally timed to coincide with Independence Day as a way of highlighting the ACLU’s historic commitment to preserving the principles contained in the Bill of Rights, will be held at Charleston’s Old Exchange Building - site of South Carolina’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788. The event will mark the official opening of the South Carolina Office and the creation of a new powerful voice on behalf of civil liberties across the state.

At the press conference, Graham Boyd, a native South Carolinian and the Interim Executive Director of the ACLU South Carolina Office, will announce the details of what will be a broad, non-partisan approach to

defending constitutional rights in the state and new commitments to engaging the state’s civil liberties community and seeking and responding to the opinions of all South Carolinians.

WHO: Graham Boyd, Interim Executive Director of the ACLU South Carolina Office, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and other South Carolina political and community leaders.

WHAT: A press conference to announce the opening of the new ACLU South Carolina Office.

WHEN: Wednesday July 2, 2008, 2 p.m. ET

WHERE: Old Exchange Building

122 E. Bay Street
Charleston, S.C. 29401

Additional information about the ACLU can be found online at:

www.aclu.org <http://www.aclu.org/>

Motorists traveling on Broad River Boulevard near Robert Smalls Middle School and Stuart Point Road near Whale Branch Middle School will be stopped and asked to produce their driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance.

The checkpoints are conducted to enforce all South Carolina state laws with an added emphasis on violations related to driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations, and insurance, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The Beaufort Gazette

This was yesterday.  Now they’re going to stop us just to make sure we’re even supposed to be driving.  Papers please!

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday outlawed executions of people convicted of raping a child.

In a 5-4 vote, the court said the Louisiana law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in such cases violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

“The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.

There has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim in 44 years.

Patrick Kennedy, 43, was sentenced to death for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana. He is one of two people in the United States, both in Louisiana, who have been condemned to death for a rape that was not also accompanied by a killing.

The AP

I think I’ve made my opposition to the death penalty pretty clear. However, the death penalty doesn’t bother me early as much as this block of five constitutionally illiterate Supreme Court justices who’ve apparently never heard of a little something called the 10th Amendment.

For those of you who need a refresher-

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

-The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

You may find it odd that I’m using a state political website to discuss a national issue, but this brainless decision has statewide implications as well. Once again, the imperial federal nanny-state has decided that all us little children dwelling in our respective home-states are too stupid to decide these things on our own. We need “smart people” like Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to decide these things for us.

I disagree with Louisiana’s death penalty law. But Louisiana, by powers granted to it through the 10th Amendment, has a right to that law. It’s up to the people of Louisiana to approve or repeal that law- not Anthony freakin’ Kennedy! If the people of North Carolina decide they want to repeal its death penalty, or make it more encompassing, that’s up to the people of this state, not 5 dudes in robes in Washington, DC!

Some of you may wonder how the 8th Amendment figures into this, as that was the justification these five judges used to repeal Louisiana’s law.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

-The 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Sorry, but a quick needle in the arm as punishment for ripping the soul out of some innocent young child, as is the case in Louisiana, is not cruel and unusual. If Louisiana had put child rapists to death using the iron maiden or drawing and quartering, then you’d have a case to make under the 8th Amendment. But I recently had to put my dog to sleep and it was almost the exact same thing as what Louisiana planned to do. Are you telling me that’s somehow cruel and unusual? C’mon!

This is yet more more right taken away from states (and by extension the people) by the imperial federal nanny-state. To make it worse- it wasn’t even legislative, it’s some damn judicial fiat decision that probably can never be overturned.

The patrol, called Neighborhood Watch Alliance, is comprised of some of Yamanashi’s friends from businesses off Central Avenue. The group is still organizing, he said. But the plan is to patrol the area with handguns, flashlights and notepads.

“We can lurk in the shadows, watch people and report what we see,” he said. “That’s not against the law.”

But the idea has alarmed some residents and concerns police.

“I’m glad that they’re getting involved,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Sgt. Tonya Arrington said. “There’s just some concern any time weapons are involved.”

Charlotte Observer

I think it’s a wonderful idea.  Yamanashi and the others in his neighborhood have a Constitutional right to have a gun and there is nothing wrong with them patrolling their own neighborhoods and arming themselves for protection.  Naturally, you’re going to have the anti-gun crowd over sensationalize the “what ifs” and make dire predictions of Old West style street shootouts, like this moron who commented on the Charlotte Observer:

More rabid gun owners, just what we need

That’s the mentality of your anti-gun folks.  If you arm yourself for protection you’re rabid.

The City of Charlotte has dropped the ball on this which is why crime has been spiking in places like Plaza Midwood and Dilworth and others.  Furthermore, the police can’t be everywhere and contrary to the conventional wisdom of Americans, it’s not the job of the police to protect us.  Their job is simply to enforce the laws on the books, not provide individual protection.  The Supreme Court has ruled in numerous cases that the only person charged with the responsibility of protecting you and your family is you.