Arresting people for sex work is not going to get them out of sex work. – Arlene Mahoney
This “youth pastor” appears to have an oddly specific fetish:
A [typical and representative South Carolina] youth pastor is facing nearly 60 charges…Daniel Kellan Mayfield [set up hidden cameras] in June of 2021…[to record] a bride and her bridal party…[in] changing rooms at Gowensville First Baptist Church…[he did the same thing] in September of 2021…in a bedroom at [a different] wedding venue and…[committed] a similar [viol]ation…in April of 2019 at [still another] wedding venue…
While other cities back away from these medieval laws, Phoenix doubles down:
…“manifesting an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution”…in Phoenix [is]…a crime with a mandatory sentence of at least 15 days in jail…more than 450 people…have been charged with manifestation of prostitution over the past eight years. The…unconstitutional [ordinance]…allows…wearing provocative clothing to be used as grounds to [arrest] someone. In 2014, the city’s prosecution of Monica Jones under the ordinance drew national outcry…But Phoenix has not stopped using [it, and]…the majority of those charged were Black…An attorney who has represented people charged with manifesting prostitution offered a blunt assessment of the city prosecutions in an interview: “You’re being prosecuted because of what you’re wearing”…
Suffolk County cops ignored a key tip in the grisly Gilgo Beach murders case for over a decade — and had a general description of the suspect and a make and model of car he drove which they failed to act upon for 13 years. It was only when a new task force went back over evidence in the case and reinterviewed a pimp that the clues pointed to Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect who is now charged with three counts of murder. The crucial tip came from the pimp for Amber Lynn Costello, one of three women…killed by Heuermann in 2010. He was interviewed by cops soon after the murders and identified the killer as a bulky “ogre” [Heuermann is 6’6″ and weighs about 270#] who drove a distinctive Chevrolet Avalanche when last seen with the victim. It was only when ex-NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison took over as Suffolk County police commissioner last year and reopened the case that the dots started to get connected…
Violence against a marginalized group never stays limited to that group:
Michelle Dionne Peacock…was a 59-year-old Black cis woman who was…murdered by 67-year-old Tommy Wayne Earl in Richmond, Indiana in June…Earl [slit her throat] with a straight razor and…[told cops] Peacock [w]as “a male acting like a woman” several times…In a separate incident, 32-year-old Colin Smith was stabbed to death in Portland, Oregon on July 2. He had been out with coworkers at…[a] bar when 24-year-old Rahnique Jackson started harassing one of [them for being]…trans. When Smith tried to intervene, Jackson…stabbed him to death…
The Clueless Leading the Hysterical (#1316)
Over the past few years, marijuana use has been [reported by] more young people in…hospital…according to a new study by the…CDC…cannabis-related emergency department visits increased overall among kids, teens, and young adults…The rise in cannabis-related emergency department visits, however, does not…mean that kids are consuming more marijuana. According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey, marijuana use among 8th to 12th graders from 2019-2022 either decreased or remained approximately level…this [most likely] mean[s] that young people are…more…[likely to] report…cannabis use during ED visits [due to decreasing stigma against cannabis, one of the safest drugs known]…
Since there is no known LD50 for THC, prohibitionists are desperate to invent new evidence-free reasons for banning it.
Unsafe for Human Consumption (#1331)
Since doctors keep mocking cops’ fentanyl hysteria, they’re looking for new bogeydrugs:
Five Los Angeles [cops] were rushed to the hospital [in a ludicrous display of cop theater]…after [they saw] methamphetamine while [invading someone’s home]…They were all reportedly [having panic attacks despite the fact that there is no such thing as “methamphetamine exposure”]…
Ballard’s increasingly-bizarre antics have apparently upset his partners in profiteering:
Tim Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, has quietly parted ways with the [highly-unethical rescue industry] group. The news comes as Sound of Freedom, a heavily fictionalized depiction of Ballard’s work for a division of ICE and his early career as a [“sex trafficking”] pr[ofiteer]…continues to [flounder] at the box office. The movie has brought in just under $50 million, largely on the strength of a [scammy] marketing campaign…buying [up] tickets [to make the movie look far more successful than it actually is]…In recent days, sources with knowledge of OUR…[say] Ballard had…gone to donors in a state of upset, saying that he’d been forced out and asking for their help with a new organization…
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