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Posts Tagged ‘The Punitive Mindset’

Law enforcement feels they can treat mental health issues like criminal issues.  –  Ben Crump

Torture Chamber

This will continue until journalists stop obediently referring to senseless violence as “correction”:

A [ga]ng of [screws] at a Memphis jail used handcuffs as makeshift brass knuckles to beat a Black inmate and kneeled on his back and neck until he went limp in a pool of blood, according to surveillance video…The county medical examiner ruled Gershun Freeman’s death on Oct. 5, 2022, a homicide…Freeman seemed to be experiencing a mental health crisis and was [confin]ed naked and alone to minimize the risk of [escaping further torture by killing himself]…surveillance video shows two [screws decided to]…mace…him [for no particular reason]…Freeman is seen shielding himself from the mace with an orange piece of fabric, which he was given [in lieu of an actual blanket]…and…attempting to…bat away the mace can…at least seven [screws used that as an excuse to attack Freeman]…kicking…and beating him with fists, handcuffs…mace cans…heavy rings of jailer’s keys…and “sets of brass handcuff keys”…[until he succumbed, then] kneeling on [his] back, neck and head for over five minutes…[until he] stopped breathing…jail staff did not perform CPR or attempt any resuscitation…[instead walking] over…[his] body, until medical staff arrived…

Torture Chamber (#1116)

Remember, these people were locked in this cage facility because of US policies:

Guards…in [a prison for migrants]…walked out of the burning building as screams could be heard on the street in downtown Ciudad Juárez.  Thirty-nine migrants died locked in that cell as the [cage stack] burned on the night of March 27, and another died later at the hospital…Survivors say those who died did so for one reason: they could not or did not pay a $200 bribe to s[crews] to be released…the…jail…was a de facto “extortion center,” where only migrants with the means to pay were released.  Others would have to stay in jail and be sent to Mexico City or deported back to their origin country…

Torture Chamber (#1292)

Yelling “Stop faking!” at the sick and dying is one of screws’ favorite games:

Ta’Neasha Chappell was arrested for theft in Brownstown, Indiana, in May 2021…Her bail was set at $4,000—an amount too high for her family to pay…On July 15, [she] became mysteriously and violently ill…she called for help repeatedly throughout the night…[as] she was throwing up blood.  During the night she became increasingly incoherent, stripping off her clothes and soiling herself…no one provided medical care or called an ambulance…At 3:12, a jail employee told Chappell—who was lying on the floor moaning, “This just makes us think you’re faking it”…she was pronounced dead at 5:45 that evening…Chappell’s death was “probable toxicity from an unknown substance,” based upon “a green liquid in Chappell’s abdomen and her altered mental state, among others”…several inmates…said that Chappell had been poisoned by other prisoners, who “had allegedly been slipping a cleaning product…into her food and drink”…Chappell’s…family has filed a lawsuit against the jail employees who ignored her cries for help…Chappell is not the first person to die under mysterious circumstances in the Jackson County Jail.  In August 2021, Joshua McLemore, a man with untreated schizophrenia died of multiple organ failure after he was left in a solitary cell for three weeks—during which time he refused to eat and became increasingly delirious.  McLemore’s family has also filed a lawsuit against the jail…

Here’s more detail on the McLemore case:

…Joshua McLemore…was l[ocked] in a small, windowless cell for 20 days straight in Jackson county jail in July and August of 2021.  The cell had no bed or bathroom and had fluorescent lights on at all hours.  In [recently-released surveillance] footage, McLemore, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, appears detached from reality, speaking gibberish, rolling in filth and his own waste and becoming clearly emaciated.  He received daily meals through a small slot in his jail door, but appears to have rarely eaten them.  H[is only] human interactions [were] on…four occasions…when guards [decided to mindlessly brutalize] him…McLemore [had originally been hospitalized for]…psychosis…[but] when…he pulled [a nurse’s] hair…a guard…called…police, which sent [a whole gang of thugs]…to…carry…him out of the hospital in his underwear [and throw him into the dungeon where he eventually died]…

Of course, Georgia has an unusually-high number of these as well:

A 32-year-old man [locked in a cage] at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail begged for medical help for nearly two months before succumbing to testicular cancer in January…Alan Willison had been locked up at the scandal-plagued jail since October on a third-degree forgery charge.  In November, he began complaining of severe pain and swelling in one of his testicles, but [screws]…gave him only over-the-counter medication to manage his pain.  “NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL,” Willison wrote in a Nov. 23 request for medical care…In early December, Willison received testing indicating that he likely had cancer, but it was not until Jan. 19 that he saw a urologist, who officially diagnosed him.  He died a week later, on Jan. 26…the Clayton County Medical Examiner…determined that Willison had died of testicular cancer complicated by medical neglect….unhygienic living conditions at the jail…malnourishment and physical abuse…

Another case from Georgia:

LaShawn Thompson was at the Fulton County Jail for three months before he was found dead in a jail cell…”[that] was not fit for a diseased animal”…Thompson…had mental issues…but [screws] did nothing to administer aid to him or help him…until he died…[covered with bites from bed]bugs and [other] insects…

The Punitive Mindset (#1294) 

“Drug” fantasies are just a pretext; the real reasons for this are petty torture of prisoners and more profits for the carceral state’s fascist partners:

P[ropaganda about] drug overdoses in the jail…[is being used by well-known prohibition fantasist] Tom Dart…[as an excuse to] ban…visitors from bringing in paper, including documents routinely carried by attorneys fulfilling their constitutional duty to provide legal counsel to [Dart’s victims].  The facility…is among jails and prisons across the country [pre]tending…th[at]…paper soaked with illegal narcotics…[is the the cause of overdoses, despite the fact that it is well-known that drugs in jails are smuggled in by screws, as demonstrated by the fact that overdoses actually increase when mail and books from outside are banned]…Dart’s office…[c]ould not provide any…[actual facts to support the cop fantasy of] overdoses tied to deadly paper…Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr.’s office…seemed surprised and distressed by the restrictions…[which appear to be aimed at forcing] public defenders to share information with their clients…[via] computers [so cops can secretly spy on conversations they are not legally allowed to access]…

No Escape

Your “leaders” refer to state-employed thugs raping women as “correction”:

[After] raping a…[prisoner]…a [Tennessee screw named]…James Thomas…[not only] still works as a [screw] for the Maury County Sheriff’s department…but…was given a raise…

In the rest of this confused mess of a news item, a so-called “victims’ advocate” burbles nonsense about “sending messages“, while the reporter thinks a 60-word digression about the rapist’s sister is more important than the crime the story is supposed to be about.

No Escape (#1312)

Prosecutors are rarely interested in going after rapists with badges:

Terry Grassaree [got away with rape] for years b[ecause he was first a cop and later sheriff]…in Macon, Miss…There were [regular]…rape[s] inside the jail [by] Grassaree…and [others, both cops and prisoners, and Grassaree always]…covered up the episodes.  At least five people, including one of his fellow deputies, [witness]ed him…beating [prison]ers or choking them with a police baton…Now, more than three years after losing an election and retiring, and 16 years after a woman first [report]ed that…Grassaree pressured her to lie about being raped, the [typical and representative] sheriff faces criminal charges…of…bribery [rather than rape and assault]…

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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I’ve been told to respond, “I respectfully decline to answer”.
–  April Rogers

Welcome To Our World (January Updates)

Sows just love fantasy role-playing as sex workers in order to harm people:

[In the summer of 2020, a] young woman with long pink hair [who] claimed to be from Washington state…walked into the Chinook Center, a community space for left-wing activists in Colorado Springs…and offered to volunteer.  She…said her name was Chelsie…[and] implied…that she was a sex worker…But Chelsie’s identity was as fake as her long pink hair.  The young woman, whose real name is April Rogers, is a [cop whom]…the FBI enlisted…to infiltrate and spy on racial justice groups…The work of Rogers…is a direct offshoot of the FBI’s summer of 2020 [scheme] in Denver, where Mickey Windecker, a paid FBI informant…rose to a leadership role in the racial justice movement, and encouraged activists to become violent…Once Rogers gained trust among the activists, she tried to set up at least two young men in gun-running conspiracies.  Her tactics mirrored those of Windecker, who tried to entrap two Denver racial justice activists in crimes, including an FBI-engineered plot to assassinate Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser that went nowhere…

The Truth About “The Truth About…”

This is the first time I’ve seen a woman falsely accused of rape:

A deputy U.S. marshal was found guilty of plotting to frame his former fiancée for attempted rape of his wife.  Ian Diaz…faces as long as 20 years in prison…[because he] and his then-wife created phony email and social media accounts in the name of Jane Doe, his former fiancée, and used these to send each other messages with graphic threats to rape and kill his then-wife.  They also posted ads on Craigslist to lure men to enact “rape fantasies” with his then-wife, and when the men showed up at their condo, they called the police and claimed that Jane Doe was responsible…As a result, Jane Doe was arrested and spent almost three months in prison…Diaz…was [angry at]…Doe…[for refusing to keep quiet about the fact] that he had raped and abused her during their relationship…

Torture Chamber

This will continue until journalists stop obediently referring to senseless violence as “correction”:

A [man who] was [violently] assaulted without provocation by [Suffolk County NY screws] last year…[has filed] a $69 million lawsuit…Wilson Cantarero Lopez…had to undergo emergency surgery to save his life…on March 25, 2022, a day after the beating [was inflict]ed…[because his] large intestine was [ruptured in] the assault…while serving [a short] sentence [for violating a court order]…15…[screws crowded in]to his cell…[and] six of the[m]…beat and kicked [him for no reason other than petty sadism, then]…strapped [him] into a [torture] chair…for…90 minutes…[while he was] gagging on his blood and struggling to breathe…Cantarero Lopez was hospitalized for 10 days before he was [locked in a cage until]…May 24.  Cantarero Lopez is unable to work due to the injuries…

Crying for Nanny (#1037)

Ambulance-chasers don’t care who gets hurt as long as they make a bundle:

A federal court says that sex-trafficking lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank can go forward.  In three separate but similar suits, the two banks are being accused of knowingly benefiting from sex trafficking by allowing Jeffrey Epstein…to bank with them…these suits…suggest that mere allegations against someone should warrant financial institutions canceling their accounts—something…likely to hamper a person’s ability to defend themselves in court.  A society where private businesses must reject anyone accused of crimes or face criminal liability themselves is perverse, frightening, and antithetical to civil liberties…This…risks giving regulators, politicians, and private busybodies a way to shut entire industries out of legal banking systems…without having to…prove any criminal action…[profiteers] are trying to move beyond holding actual perpetrators—who tend not to have very deep pockets—accountable and instead penalize deep-pocketed third parties…[which could] prompt hotels, social media platforms, software companies, and others to reject (or call the cops on) all sorts of people…merely because they look “suspicious” or seem like they’re engaging in any sexual activity at all…

A Broker in Pillage (#1196)

Airports are among cops’ favorite places to lurk in order to rob people:

The trucker who had $39,500 [stol]en by police in August 2020 at Sky Harbor Airport has finally gotten his money back.  Jerry Johnson had traveled to [Phoenix] with a large amount of cash to [bu]y…a truck he needed for his business.  But Phoenix police s[tole] his money before he could get to the auction, [belch]ing…[out the magic words] “drug courier” [in order to sanctify their crime]…Johnson has spent the last couple of years fighting the [robbery] in court and his lawyers said he’s recently gotten back his money….The Institute for Justice represented…him…

The Punitive Mindset (#1294) 

This evil fascist scheme needs to be eradicated, root and branch:

A new lawsuit is challenging a California county jail’s policy of digitizing and then destroying all physical mail received by incarcerated people—part of a national trend of prisons and jails restricting inmates’ ability to receive physical mail.  The lawsuit…by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Social Justice Legal Foundation, argues that [any]…ban on physical mail “violates the expressive, associational, privacy, and religious rights of the individuals in its jails, including those presumed innocent, and of the many individuals who send mail to those incarcerated people”…[these policies are pretended to] reduc[e] contraband…[but] the overwhelming majority is smuggled in by staff…[and] depriving inmates of a vital source of comfort and connection to the outside world [actually increases drug problems]…”Following statewide adoption of MailGuard in Pennsylvania, the drug test positivity rate actually increased,” the lawsuit says…”[in] Missouri…the [average] number of…overdoses…increased from thirty-one to thirty-seven per month.  And in New Mexico…the drug test positivity rate nearly doubled”…

To Molest and Rape (#1312)

Always the fixation on the magical clown costume:

[A] Wichita [Kansas cop named]…Brock England [was arrested in Oklahoma for]…sexual[ly] abus[ing]…a child younger than 12…England has been [rewarded with a paid vacation]…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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There [is] a culture of impunity for…police officers.  –  Harriet Wistrich

Divided We Fall (#736)

Contrary to popular belief, “conversion therapy” has never been banned anywhere in the US; most states merely restrict its use to sex workers and clients:

[Politicians] in Wisconsin voted to strike down a ban on [using] conversion therapy [against LGBT people]…effectively making the practice legal.  Conversion therapy is a broad term that can describe many practices that generally involve trying to force…sexual…[minorities] to [stop whatever sexual practices those with power over the victims dislike].  The methods involved in these practices are highly discredited by medical professionals, and those who have been victims of conversion therapy have described it as torture

The Widening Gyre (#928)

People interpreting a domestic violence incident as “sex trafficking” is basically a microcosm of the whole moral panic:

Bangor [Maine] police sa[id a] kidnapping [from a Target parking lot] is not part of a larger human trafficking ring, despite claims to the contrary on Facebook…Colby Cooper…arrived at the store with the unnamed woman[, but when she broke up with him while there] he…forced [her]…into a U-Haul rental van…[and] fled…police spotted Cooper a short time later…and…arrested [him]…The department cautioned people to refrain from believing everything they read on Facebook…

To Molest and Rape (#1212)

Just a few isolated incidents:

A [London cop] who used his [job] to put fear into his victims has admitted [to] dozens of rape[s] and [highly abusive] sexual [relationships with] 12 women.  David Carrick…who met some victims through dating websites, pleaded guilty to 49 offences across two decades.  The [police bureaucracy] has apologised after it emerged he had [been reported for rape]…nine [times]…between 2000 and 2021.  A [boss cop attempted to downplay the pervasiveness of rape among cops by uttering the obvious lie that] his [behavior] was “unprecedented in policing”…His offences spanned 2003 to 2020 and most took place in Hertfordshire, where he lived.  [In his abusive relationships] Carrick…would control what the women wore, what they ate, where they slept and even stopped some of the women from speaking to their own children…

Thou Shalt Not (#1227)

Prohibitionism is a dangerous mental illness:

Bringing cake into the office should be seen as being as socially unacceptable as inflicting passive smoking on your colleagues, Britain’s top food [nanny]…said…[Nutrition cultist] Susan Jebb…said it was not enough to rely on…personal [responsibility and free choice]… “If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day, but because people do bring cakes in, I eat them.  Now, OK, I have made a choice, but people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub”…

The Punitive Mindset (#1243) 

If there’s anything narrower and meaner than the mind of a prison official, I’m not sure what it might be:

Florida’s prison system has banned more than 20,000 books — the most tracked in the U.S., according to a new study from The Marshall Project…[which] published a database…of about 54,000 titles banned by [human-caging bureaucrats] in 18 states with such records…Most prison systems ban…books containing content related to violence, [criticism of the carceral system], sex or nudity…But…other books banned in Florida prisons include: adult coloring books, French language textbooks, [and] How to Make Money in StocksIn Texas, The Color Purple is banned, while Dungeons and Dragons books are prohibited in Michigan

Guinea Pigs (#1260) 

Alabama discovers the secret to detecting “sex trafficking” in ordinary escort ads: label everything “sex trafficking” and arrest all the women:

Computer modeling developed by…University of Alabama…collects data from online sex ads…[in order to] help…[cops] locate…and arrest s[ex workers]…the modeling has…[led to] over 100 arrests since February 2021…

The article goes on to dredge up lots of moldy decade-old “sex trafficking” propaganda, including the claim that half of all sex workers are children; “Human trafficking is the second-largest criminal enterprisebring[ing] in as much as $150 billion…a year“; the claim that someone other than gibbering idiots calls I-20 the “sex trafficking superhighway“; and the utterly-absurd fantasy of “6,000 human trafficking victims per day in Alabama alone.

The Mob Rules (#1303)

Laws enabling nuisance lawsuits will keep multiplying until they’re ruled unconstitutional:

Utah may follow Louisiana’s lead by requiring residents who want to access pornographic websites to verify their age first….[pro-censorship politician] Todd Weiler…[bloviated a lot of nonsense and dismissed] privacy concerns…[which should come as no surprise given that he’s the jackass who sponsored the bill]…declar[ing] pornography a [“]public health crisis[“ and also tried to establish a state internet censor]

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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It’s difficult to measure how much you’re harming someone’s relationships and connections with the free world.  –  Keri Blakinger

Surplus Women

Apparently Mexican cops are more concerned about sex workers’ lives than their US counterparts are:

A suspect behind serial killings of sex workers in Tijuana is thought to be somewhere in San Diego, and the Attorney General of Baja California says he is working with U.S. authorities to find the killer…a U.S citizen…[who] finds his victim’s [sic] in strip clubs and bars in Zona Norte…the suspect [rapes]…his victims, [then] beats them and kills them…Each woman was found dead in a motel room…Authorities say they are keeping some details of the murders confidential so as not to alert the suspect…[but] they…know who he is and that he crossed the…border into San Diego…

Follow Your Bliss

The naive believe the government propaganda that “sex predators” are creepy dudes who hang out at playgrounds; in reality, they are largely people in positions of authority over their preferred targets:

A campus [cop named David Laudon] at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth resigned…[after groping a female student and then constantly harassing her with frequent unwanted texts and calls] in 2010…Laudon, was then…hired…in the nearby town of Blackstone, Massachusetts [to lurk in schools and harass students.  While there]…Laudon was [given his dream job of]…investigating reported sexual assaults and [leering at] students…who have been sexually victimized…Blackstone [sacked]…Laudon…after…[finding out about his previous] misconduct…but [w]as [kept] on the town police force…as an investigator who handles sexual assault reports…

Above the Law (#1142)

They usually make these cases sound like the scumbag was doing his victim a favor:

…police chief…Kenny Payne of Plaquemine, Louisiana, was indicted by a grand jury with…malfeasance in office…[after demanding] a…woman…breasts and perform oral sex on him [in exchange for dropping a case against her boyfriend]…The next day, Payne ordered a lieutenant to delete text messages from the woman to the [cop she] report[ed] the [demand to]…Payne also requested Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stasi to…cease…investigati[ng]…him after the woman filed a…complaint…

The Punitive Mindset (#1159) 

“Safety” is just a pretext; the real reasons for this are petty torture of prisoners and more profits for the carceral state’s fascist partners:

…On Nov. 14, New York City Department of [Torturing Caged Humans] commissioner Louis Molina outlined plans to digitize mail in city-run facilities…cit[ing cop fantasies of] “dozens” of letters “soaked in fentanyl” [to justify a scheme] to have mail scanned by a third-party vendor and delivered to incarcerated people via tablet.  If the plan goes into effect, it will make New York the latest in a string of carceral systems to end the delivery of paper mail…By damaging…people’s ties to the outside community, the policy could make it more difficult for them to re-enter society, potentially increasing their chances of recidivism…Wanda Bertram…[of] the Prison Policy initiative [says] mail bans are nothing but the flavor of the week in prison and jail policy…11 state prison systems…about 140 jails nationwide…and the Federal Bureau of Prisons [inflict this petty mistreatment on those condemned to their clutches despite]…a host of technical issues: delayed deliveries, blurred photographs, unreadable letters, and missing pages.  In…Pennsylvania…scanning…has resulted in Christmas cards being delayed until March…

Creepy Coppers

Reporter tries to bury the lede; headline writer won’t participate:

A [Georgia cop named]…Robert Vaughn [was arrested] and [charged with possession of child porn] in both Clay and Early County…after receiving [too many reports on his online activity to ignore]…from…NCMEC…[but his cronies are still hiding his identity by refusing to release a mugshot]…

Panopticon (#1256)

Amazon’s fascist collaboration with cops just keeps getting worse:

The New York Police Department…has joined Neighbors, [the] public neighborhood watch platform owned by Amazon’s Ring where video doorbell owners can post clips, and where [cops] can enlist the help of [snitches and useful idiots to fink on their neighbors]…over 2,000 of the nation’s [cop shops] have [already] signed on, including in Los Angeles and Chicago…[NYPD] do[es] not…[yet] have the ability to view or tap into Ring cameras…in real-time [as San Francisco cops already do]…

To Molest and Rape (#1293)

Your “leaders” refer to raping kids as “correction”:

Two [California screws] have been arrested [for]…sex crimes against children…The [screws lurked in] different prisons.  It’s unclear if the two [rapi]sts [a]re connected.  Matthew James Leavens…is being charged with six counts…including rape…[and] Matthew Robert Solem…was [charged with]…14…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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[Qatar’s] Preventive Security Department…[are a kind of] unhinged mafia that go arresting people…just on the suspicion of them being gay.  –  Dr. Nasser Mohamed

Rough Trade

What kind of garbage uses attacks on women as an opportunity to belch out slurs against the victims?

[Cops claim they want] to find a man…[who is a] seri[al rapist of]…sex workers in the east Hollywood area…[yet their press release also calls the victims’ work] “human trafficking’…the [rapist pretends to be a client to]…lure…[women] into his vehicle…the[n]…drives to [a secluded] area…and [violently rapes them at gunpoint]…the man…may use the name Mainer or Maynor and has tattoos on both arms. Also, he has sometimes had an “M” shaved on the side of his head…He was described as 25-35 years old, about 5-feet-8 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes…and…drives a newer-model, four-door sedan, possible a Honda, which is dark in color.  The vehicle may have tinted windows and a…spoiler…

Above the Law

The predictable result of giving violent, aggressive men power over women:

A [typical and representative porcine creature] pleaded guilty…to…a…civil rights [charge for a violent rape]…Rogeric Hankins…was working as a [thug assigned to transport human beings like animals from one cage to another]…when he and a[nother member of his gang]…picked up a[n innocent woman, not convicted of any crime,] in Olympia, Washington, to take her to…St. Paul, Minnesota, where a federal warrant for [enjoying herself in ways the rulers disapprove of] had been issued…[after] picking up and dropping off several male [prisoners] along the way…they stopped at a gas station in Joplin, [Missouri on April 3, 2020]…the woman was the only [prisoner] left…[so] Hankins [used a bath]room…[stop as an opportunity to drag] her into [a filthy] men’s room and [rape her orally and vaginally]…in…[a] stall…

As often happens, the government has chosen to hide this dangerous predator’s picture so other women won’t know what he looks like.

The Punitive Mindset (#829) 

The minds of federal prison bureaucrats are just as narrow and mean as those of state prison bureaucrats, and just as pointlessly cruel as those of screws:

…the federal Bureau of Prisons…bans D&D and other roleplaying games…[just as they] are widely banned in state prison systems under the dubious rationale that they present a security threat or encourage gang behavior…it…illustrate[s] how counterproductive and dumb prison book bans can be.  Of all the things you could be doing in prison, D&D is one of the better and less offensive ways to pass the time.  It’s social, encourages teamwork and empathy, and as one former incarcerated man told me, gives “the vilified an opportunity to be the ‘Good Guy’ that the world in which we live rarely does”…

Presumption of Guilt (#843)

There’s very little point in actually quoting any of this revolting concoction of badge-licking, police-state cheerleading, demonization of privacy, and frantic wanking to “sex trafficking” fantasies and other infantilizing filth.  It is exactly what it appears to be: more propaganda for the Establishment’s wet dream of total financial surveillance.  For decades now, authoritarians have tried to devise a way to sell the hordes of useful idiots on their schemes to completely eliminate cash or other anonymous financial transactions, so governments can monitor, control, and bleed revue from even the smallest exchange of value and even completely cripple the ability of “undesirables” to engage in any financial activity at all.  The only thing of interest here, beside the remarkable depravity of Forbes’ editorial position, is that the magazine has such a low opinion of its readers’ critical faculties that it’s willing to specifically demonize a service whose name clearly reveals what its creators intended it to be an online analog for: Cash.  And in so doing, it “says the quiet part loud”, as the young people put it.

Monsters (#847) 

All around the world, monsters claim the “right” to persecute and torture sexual minorities:

 Qatar’s laws criminalise LGBTQ people…and homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment and lashings under sharia law…LGBT…Qatari[s tell]…of entrapment using dating-apps — cat-fishing gay men and luring them into a honeytrap to arrest them.  Of violence, including torture, and gang rape [by cops].  Of imprisonment, solitary confinement, and deportations.  And of far-reaching online surveillance…that renders LGBT people fearing every connection to someone they do not already know…There is only one publicly out gay Qatari in the world: Dr Nasser Mohamed who…[now lives in] San Francisco…[and works] with Human Rights Watch…“Their biggest targets are feminine gay men and transgender woman,” he says.  “Because it’s visible.”  Even subtle indications of gender identity or sexuality can lead to arrest…[often via] fake dates [like American cops set up with sex workers they wish to entrap]…

The Widening Gyre (#1266)

Even though neither word appears in the article, it’s obvious this woman’s panic attack was rooted in the “fentanyl” and “sex trafficking” hysterias:

A Houston [woman scared herself into a panic attack and]…spent a night in the hospital…because [she believed internet scary tales about] a napkin [she found on] her car door…[because she had read the stories] she grabbed it with the tips of her long fingernails, threw it away and went back inside to wash her hands.  [But she was already obsessed with the idea that the napkin might contain Magic Sex Trafficking Insta-fentanyl, so she imagined]…a tingly sensation in her fingers…She [had an anxiety attack, feeling] like she couldn’t breathe and quickly became light-headed…Hysterical, the couple couldn’t “think straight,” she said, and struggled to find the nearest hospital…where she spent just over six hours as doctors checked her vitals and blood pressure, gave her an IV, took a urine sample and ran a CAT scan to determine if she was having a stroke.  [In typical moral-panicker fashion, she] took to Instagram the next day to warn women to be safe.  Her video went viral…[giv]ing her [the attention she so desperately craved]…and…alarm[ing] many [other] women, who labeled it a kidnapping attempt…

You Were Warned (#1266)

It’s a relief when courts choose to rule that the obviously-true is true:

Reddit cannot be sued for sex trafficking if it didn’t knowingly permit sex trafficking.  That’s the gist of a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.  The case…was brought by [ambulance-chasers who claim that]…Reddit was not quick enough in [removing photos when informed the subjects were underage, and that]…this [somehow] made Reddit complicit in a sex trafficking venture.  In an October 24 decision, 9th Circuit justices disagreed…[due to] Section 230…FOSTA—carved out an exception to Section 230 for claims involving sex trafficking.  But no one was quite sure how wide that exception was…

 

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Prison officials like to censor anything…to do with minority anything.  –  Paul Wright

If Men Were Angels

“Youth pastors” are as bad as cops:

A…youth pastor who [claimed] he began sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl [because] he mistook her for his wife, [yet] continued abusing her for more than two years, was sentenced…to…more than four years in prison.  David Walker…gasped as…Judge Ashley Kilbane announced the sentence.  Walker also must register as a sex offender…Walker was also a math teacher, baseball and basketball coach at Cleveland Christian Academy at the time…Investigators spoke to several women who were teenagers in the church around the same time as the abuse, and four of them said that David Walker also committed sexually inappropriate behavior with them…

I view shocked reactions in these cases as evidence of severe sociopathy; they really can’t believe they’re actually suffering consequences for their actions.

Damned If You Don’t (#442)

But picket-fence gays say cops aren’t our enemies:

The [cop shop] that [harasses people in] New York City’s main bus terminal has agreed to stop sending [disguised cops]…to [lurk in] its public bathrooms to [frame] people [for supposedly] propositioning strangers for sex, a [creepy] type of sting…aimed at gay men.  Under a legal settlement…the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will…only reinstate the so-called public lewdness patrols…if approved at the highest levels…the charges were [nearly always]…brought by [cops] who targeted men…they perceived…as gay, largely to inflate their arrest statistics.  The two named plaintiffs, Cornell Holden and Miguel Mejia, [were both victimized by cops] at the bus terminal in 2014…Both [were]…arrested…[for] public…masturbati[on because they were holding their penises in order to urinate]…

As a NY Times reporter phrased it at the time, “the Port Authority’s interpretation of the law [seems] to criminalize the use of public urinals“.

To Molest and Rape

I guess cops are never too old to rape:

An 81-year-old Walker County [Georgia cop named Jerry Glover]…has been arrested and charged with rap[ing a woman while wearing his magical clown suit]…

The Punitive Mindset (#804) 

If there’s anything narrower and meaner than the mind of a prison official, I’m not sure what it might be:

[Prison] officials in…Michigan…ha[ve] banned dictionaries in Spanish and Swahili under claims that books’ contents are a threat to the state’s [cage stacks].  “If certain prisoners all decided to learn a very obscure language, they would be able to then speak freely in front of s[crews]”…said Chris Gautz, the spokes[mor]on for the Michigan Department of [Torturing]…prisoners …If staff is unable to find a translation [of any] book…[it] is placed under the list of banned books – even when these are in Spanish…A 1989 Supreme Court ruling allows prisons to ban any book – as long as [the censors belch out the magic word “]safety[” first]…

Gautz’s moronic definition of “obscure” includes languages spoken by roughly 592 million and 90 million people, respectively.

Pyrrhic Victory (#1022)

I don’t think petitions like this do any good, but they don’t hurt:

We, the Tech Equity Coalition, including members of the former Port of Seattle Biometrics External Advisory Group…write to urge you to post clear and accessible signage in both visual and auditory forms in the new International Arrivals Facility (IAF) regarding the collection of biometric data from travelers and the rights available to travelers.  Such signage should be present and discernible prior to an individual’s biometric data being collected.  Since Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not posted such signage themselves, then the Port of Seattle must step up to do so…the…lack of clear and accurate signage violates all seven of the Port of Seattle’s Principles for Public-Facing Biometric Technology, which were adopted in Motion 2019-13.[2]  The Port of Seattle can and should post signage making it clear that CBP intends to collect biometric data from travelers and that U.S. citizens have the right to opt out…

Tissue of Lies (#1231)

The latest pig fad: collecting a bunch of unrelated raids, arrests & record updates and calling the resulting dog’s breakfast a “human trafficking operation”:

ICE…[crowed]…that 70 missing children were recovered following a three-week long operation in Texas.  [In reality, the lugubriously-named] “Operation Lost Souls” [was largely a review of records which dis]covered 70 [legal minors who had been reported] missing…[most of whom had already returned home.  The others were] victims of…physical…and sexual abuse…[whom police captured and returned to their abusers, under the direction of] Homeland Security…El Paso…

Winding Down (#1236)

British Columbia is better on prohibition issues than its neighbor to the south:

British Columbia will become the first jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize possession of “hard” drugs such as…heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.  Effective Jan. 31, 2023, British Columbians 18 and older will be able to carry up to a cumulative total of 2.5 grams of these [state-stigmatized] substances without the risk of arrest or criminal charges.  Police are not to [steal] the drugs, and there is no requirement that people found to be in possession seek treatment.  The production, [sale] and exportation of these drugs will remain illegal…The change comes six years after B.C. declared a public health emergency in response to skyrocketing overdose deaths [due directly to the drug war]…Close to 10,000 people have died since 2016 in B.C. alone, and advocates have put pressure on governments to re-examine drug laws [politicians pretend] were intended to minimize harms but have [always] had the opposite effect…

Judging by the number of dysphemisms I needed to edit, the Globe and Mail does not approve.

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Phil Harvey…was a sex-positive activist before we used that term.  –  Carol Queen

R.I.P. Phil Harvey

Phil Harvey, the founder of…adult entertainment giant Adam & Eve and a longtime fighter of censorship, died on [December 2nd] at…[the age of] 83…As a student at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Global Public Health in the 1960s, Harvey first began what would become Adam & Eve as part of his graduate thesis focused on the distribution of contraception…Before enrolling at UNC, Harvey spent five years in India working for the nonprofit CARE International, helping feed hungry children.  The experience made him an advocate for expanding birth control availability.  Though it was illegal at the time to sell contraception and other “obscene” items via the post…the mail-order company became a success, [especially] after it [expanded to selling sex toys and then, in the 1980s, adult video].  And…a portion of all…purchases w[ent] to…DKT International, a nonprofit that increased the availability of contraception and conducted educational campaigns around family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention.  By 2004, Harvey w[as] putting around $2 million per year…into DKT…helping distribute some 348 million condoms to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America…over the years Harvey…donated some $50 million total of his Adam & Eve profits to his family-planning work…

Surplus Women (#544) 

Almost 30 years before he was caught, then another 61/2 before he was tried:

The trial [of] a [typical and representative] Pasco [Washington cop] is [finally] set to begin…in Spokane [for the] 1986 [rape and] murder of a [sex worker named Ruby Doss]…Richard J. Aguirre…was charged [again in] September [2020] with premeditated first-degree murder…charges [wer]e…brought against Aguirre…in 2015…[but] in December 2017, the case was [quietly] dropped…while [Aguirre got to remain at large as a menace to other sex workers]…

To Molest and Rape

Another sexual predator specifically targeted a vulnerable woman:

A New Mexico [cop]…rap[ed] a [woman after accusing her of] drunk driving…Leon Martin…[implied]…he would shoot her or add extra charges…if she didn’t comply…he…[also infected her with] chlamydia…Martin admitted to [rap]ing…the woman…but [claimed] she [wanted it] and…[euphemized aggravated rape as] a lapse in judgment…Martin…had [previously stalked] her on Facebook after…[he first met her when she reported a domestic violence incident]…

A Broker in Pillage (#1091)

I hope the Institute for Justice has already contacted her:

Dallas [cops robbed]…$106,829.00, from a 25-year-old [woman from]…Chicago [at Dallas’ Love Field Airport]…Legally, there is no limit on the amount of cash a traveler can carry on domestic flights, but forfeiture allows [cops] to s[teal] any amount [as long as] they [belch out the magic word “]suspicious[” first]…Texas [cop shops]…have a “strong incentive” to s[teal] property, as they are entitled to a significant percentage of the [take].  In fact, IJ is currently suing Harris County, which encompasses Houston, over its application of the state’s asset forfeiture law…

Devil’s Advocate (#1114) 

The absurdity becomes more obvious when we substitute “toaster” for “sex doll”:

The Supreme Court [of South Korea has] ruled…imports of child[-shaped toasters] should be banned, because they could lead to the perception of children as [foodstuffs] and increase the danger of potential [cannibalism] against minors.  The ruling overturned lower courts’ decisions that imports of child[-shaped toasters] should be allowed, like those of [other novelty toasters].  In 2019, the top court allowed imports of [toasters] on grounds that they are [appliances] used in private [kitchens], an area in which the state should not interfere…

The Punitive Mindset (#1146) 

“Drugs” are a popular pretext for petty vindictiveness in US prisons:

A Massachusetts judge has ordered the state prison system to stop using drug field tests with well-known reliability issues after incarcerated people and their lawyers…were [repeatedly] falsely accused of smuggling drugs for exchanging legitimate legal mail…Justice Catalyst Law and the law firm BraunHagey & Borden, filed a class action lawsuit [demonstrat]ing that the state Department of [Torturing Caged Humans] uses NARK II test kits to [generate pretexts to torture people specifically because]…those tests have an error rate so high that they’re akin to “witchcraft, phrenology or simply picking a number out of a hat”…Judge Brian Davis issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the [DOTCH] from punishing inmates based solely on the results of…NARK II field tests…[saying] the tests were…”only marginally better than a coin-flip”…

To Molest and Rape (#1181)

Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?

A [typical and representative Alabama cop] has pleaded guilty to more than two dozen child porn charges.  Phillip Humphries…was…sentenced…to 10 years, with [only] one year to serve in [a jail diversion program, then]…probation for three…[plus condemnation to the] sex offender [registry.  The judge’s leniency was probably mostly due to Humphries’ copishness, but may also have something to do with]…his recent leg amputation…

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[The Backpage] case is a hot mess.  –  Michael Piccarreta

The Punitive Mindset (#872) 

Much more of this, please:

I was incredibly disappointed when I recently learned that music artists are partnering with telecom corporations in the prison industryPrison telecom is a $1.4 billion industry dominated by just two corporations that charge families extortionate rates to communicate with their incarcerated loved ones.  One of these…is Aventiv Technologies, which [owns the]…notoriously predatory…Securus and JPay.  Securus controls roughly 40 percent of the prison and jail telecom market and charges as much as a dollar per minute for a simple call.  JPay charges similarly egregious rates for everything from money transfers to emails…And both…routinely face legal action for an extensive list of unlawful practices…including the unlawful recording of sacred attorney-client calls…As music executives and artists, we should…not [be] cutting back-office deals with…the prison industry…I’m making a pledge not to collaborate with corporations that profit from incarceration…And I urge my fellow music executives and artists to join me…

Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic (#957) 

“Porn addiction” is still being used as an excuse for violent crimes:

Two 11-year-old “porn addicts” have been arrested in India after they allegedly stoned a six-year-old girl to death for refusing to perform sex acts they had watched on their parents’ phones…Authorities arrested the two…along with another eight-year-old who is thought to have [stood guard while] the [others] murder[ed] the…girl…children are seen as having criminal responsibility from the age of seven in India…

Subtle Pimping (#1013)

While American cops favor VR porn games, Kazakh cops prefer LARPing:

A…week-long simulation exercise on combating…migration…started on 11 October 2021 in Almaty.  The simulation exercise [refers to this migration control as “]Combating Trafficking in Human Beings[“, following the racist European practice]…this training exercise offers f[antasies in place of]…real-life [situations], using actors to create [fantasy] trafficking scenarios.  A fictitious brothel..a[nd] massage parlor…were…created to…[indoctrin]ate c[ops in the fantasy version] of human trafficking…and sexual exploitation…

Torture Chamber (#1037)

The PREA is just feel-good nonsense as long as screws have absolute power over their victims:

…a 23-year-old woman…committed suicide in a [Forks,] Washington jail [after] she tried to report sexual harassment by a guard, but her complaint was [ignored].  Months later, that same [screw] was sentenced to prison for [raping] four other women…the family of Kimberly Bender [is suing jail] officials…[for allow]ing Bender…[to] be…tormented by a [typical and representative screw] with a known misconduct record…John Gray…[repeat]edly tormented Bender at night, leering at her, making “vile” comments, and frequently waking her up.  Bender, “struggling with heroin withdrawal, was unable to sleep, rest, or relax because of…Gray”…wh[o was]…previously…fire[d from a different cage stack] in 2018 for m[oc]king…a training on the Prison Rape Elimination Act…[by making disgusting] “comments and sounds such as, ‘Here we go’ and ‘oooh…oh yeah baby…mmmmm'” during a [scene showing]…a woman [groping]…another woman [under the pretext of a “search”]…PREA is [well-known to be] largely toothless.  Since the reporting rules went into effect in 2012, reports of sexual assaults in prisons and jails have dramatically increased, especially at local and county jails…

The Convergence of Censors

Vomit out the right buzzwords and you can censor at will:

The Waterloo Region District School Board is undertaking a multi-year review of its library collections to [censor] any texts deemed “[magically] harmful to staff and students.”  Graham Shantz, coordinating [bureaucrat, made a bunch of incoherent, pseudointellectual excuses about why stunting students’ intellectual growth and controlling their thoughts is actually a good thing, belching out words like]…”inappropriate…questionable and…pedagogical framework”…[to support plain old-fashioned book burning]…Earlier this year, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board removed William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies from its curriculum after [bureaucrats vomited out the words]…white, male power structures [at librarians].  Other books recently removed from Canadian school libraries…in response to complaints [backed by fashionable pseudointellectual bullshit]…include Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

To Molest and Rape (#1130)

Imagine a non-cop child rapist staying free for decades like this:

A [typical and representative] New York [cop] who for decades has delayed facing [trial for]…repeatedly rap[ing] and molest[ing] his daughter’s 12-year-old friend was arrested in Florida…Leonard Forte, who is now 80…was [found guilty] in Vermont in 1988…[but] the judge tossed the verdict…[because cop]…and…Forte persuaded prosecutors to delay the retrial because he [claimed to be terminally ill]…A USA Today investigation in 2019 revealed how Vermont prosecutors had mishandled the case [for over 25 years]…and exposed Forte’s dubious claims about his health…[thus shaming] Vermont’s Attorney General’s Office [into] reviv[ing] the case…

Dangerous Speech (#1184)

After presiding over an evil clown show for months, Brnovich does what an ethical judge would’ve done a year ago:

…Judge Susan Brnovich today recused herself from the [Backpage] trial…[without providing a] reason…the case ha[s] been reassigned by lot to…Judge Diane J. Humetewa…Brnovich…previously refused to recuse herself from the case [despite obvious]…conflict [of interest due to]…Brnovich’s [being married to the attorney general of Arizona, a noted prohibitionist with a history of disseminating anti-Backpage propaganda]…Humetewa is…the fourth judge on the case…Steven Logan was first assigned to the case…[but] recused himself with no explanation in March 2019.  The case was briefly assigned to…Douglas Rayes, who immediately recused himself sans explanation…Brnovich was then assigned the case…Tucson criminal defense attorney and former Arizona State Bar President Michael Piccarreta [pointed out that]…“Someone’s going to have to take a look at the government’s overreaching issues…No judge wants to have to deal with that”…prosecutorial misconduct in this case…[includes] the [intentional] destruction of exculpatory evidence…and…the [armed robbery] of millions of dollars in assets, including…more than $10 million from lawyers for the defense…

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[Surveillance] is not what makes people or communities more safe.  –  Lauren Johnson

Unintentional Hilarity

Vancouver, Washington is a “hotspot” for “sex trafficking” hysteria:

Sex trafficking is a growing problem across Washington…[blah blah bogus statistics] as close as your child’s school, your neighborhood, or even the internet in your home.  It’s time we double-down on our efforts to put an end to it…Clark County’s…position between Seattle and Portland with Interstate 5 as one of our main corridors makes us part of the sex trafficking circuit in the West.  We need to protect our children…with [propaganda sourced from]…Shared Hope International…

Remember the imbecile who gave a strange man all her savings, then claimed she had “escaped sex trafficking” because he told her strippers make more money than waitresses?  She was encouraged & enabled by this same bunch.

The Punitive Mindset (#880) 

If there’s anything narrower and meaner than the mind of a prison official, I’m not sure what it might be:

The Prison Policy Initiative has campaigned for years to protect incarcerated people’s letters from home…We’ve been concerned for some time that private companies — which already make it costly for incarcerated people to make phone calls and video calls — would someday partner up with prisons to block people from sending physical mail, too.  Now…the telecom company Smart Communications is trying to sell prisons its “MailGuard” service — where the company scans incarcerated people’s letters from home and gives them…digital copies instead — and the federal Bureau of Prisons is piloting the service…Pennsylvania has been using MailGuard in its prisons since 2018…but if the federal system starts replacing letters from home with scanned copies, more states will follow…the Florida Department of [Torturing Caged Humans] is planning not only to convert incoming mail to scans, but to start charging incarcerated people to access their own mail…

Welcome to the Future (#1124)

Pasco County is already being sued and federally investigated over this:

It starts like an offer of admission from a prestigious university.  “We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected”…But the four-page letter from the Pasco [County, Florida] Sheriff’s Office goes on to tell recipients they will be facing enhanced police scrutiny under the agency’s controversial intelligence program…the Sheriff’s Office creates lists of people it [pretends are more] likely to break the law based on criminal histories, social networks and…[a lot of “AI” bullshit, then harasses them merciless]ly…without…warrant or [even the slightest shred of] probable cause…four [victims of these civil rights violations] are now suing the Sheriff’s Office in federal court…and…policing experts drew comparisons to child abuse and surveillance that could be expected under a…[more] authoritarian regime [than is allowed even in Florida]…the agency has a separate program that uses schoolchildren’s grades, attendance records and abuse histories to label them potential future criminals

The Course of a Disease (#1130)

Our recent Freedom Fest panel:

Dangerous Speech (#1146)

US “authorities” keep pretending “because sex” is an excuse for any tyranny:

The mendacity of the federal government’s prosecution of award-winning journalists Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin knows no bounds.  With less than a month before…trial…the government claims it had no duty to correctly define “prostitution” to the grand jury in the case.  And so far, prosecutors have dodged defining prostitution for the pending trial…Instead, the prosecution has taken a free-wheeling “it’s whatever we want it to be” approach…

Choke Point (#1150)

PayPal is becoming an active threat to civil liberties:

PayPal announced Monday a new initiative against [free speech] online…it…will track and shut down financial networks that…”profit…from all forms of hate and bigotry against any community [except sex workers]”…PayPal threatens to limit the ability of individuals or organizations that it deems intolerable to engage in private financial transactions.  Even worse, the judgment about what language or opinions stand beyond the limits of toleration will be outsourced to activists with their own…definition[s] of extremism [that are] not limited to terrorism, organized crime, or other direct threats to constitutional government…The goal is to make it as difficult as possible to organize [for groups popularly deemed]…offensive[, including sex workers]…

To Molest and Rape (#1154)

Rapists are attracted to police work for obvious reasons:

A [typical and representative] Greeneville [Tennessee cop]…was pushed out by his department after an internal affairs investigation concluded he sexually assaulted a woman onboard a Caribbean cruise in 2019…A group of three women [reported that] Alan Dotson…proposition[ed] them and [w]hen [they refused]…he…push[ed] his hand over [one of  the women’s] dress into her genitals…He continues to deny the allegations [on the grounds that cops virtually]…never face…criminal charges [when they rape]…

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To what extent the prosecution will twist the law to its ends remains to be seen.  –  Stephen Lemons

Whore Madonnas (#808)

More from Juniper Fitzgerald:

…my children’s book, How Mamas Love Their Babies…is the only children’s book– to my knowledge– to include a sex-working mother: “Some mamas dance all night long in special shoes. It’s hard work!”…You would never suspect that such a modest inclusion of sex workers in a picture book about how parents provide for their children by any means necessary would provoke the bowels of the internet so profoundly.  Claims that I—along with Hilary Clinton, mind you—am sex-trafficking my own child grace my timeline even three years after publication.  My inbox still tells me that I am a literal witch and devil worshipper—whatever the fuck that means.  Or, my favorite, that I am “communist whore filth.”  It’s easy to dismiss Q-anon and #PizzaGate believers as a handful of rabid, marginal cultists.  But these…exist on the same continuum with wine-sipping white ladies who think sex workers are a threat to their children…

The Punitive Mindset (#880) 

“Drugs” are a popular pretext for petty vindictiveness in US prisons:

Billy Steffey…is a former federal inmate…still trying to fight the BOP for stripping him of good behavior credits and throwing him in solitary confinement for five months based on…an unverified [drug] test with a well-established track record of leading to wrongful arrests…[such] tests…[a]re not admissible…in court; and the manufacturers explicitly warn that all tests should be sent to crime labs to be verified…Yet the federal Bureau of Prisons relies solely on such tests to pu[nish prisoners]…and strip them of…rights…with virtually no avenue for recourse…The issues with these tests have been known for decades and are easily verifiable…In December [2017] a [screw] opened a package…legal…papers [that he claimed] felt “unusually thick” and gritty and looked discolored…many…prisons have…bann[ed] physical mail and used book donations…[under the pretext that] they…are [used]…to…s[muggle] drugs…[screws] tested the…papers…[and claimed they saw evidence of] amphetamines…[then] linked the package to Steffey after [rooting in his] email…threw him in…solitary…for five months…and…stripped him of 41 days of “good time” credit…

A Moral Cancer (#1000)

Because obviously prohibition doesn’t ruin enough lives yet:

[Oregon governor] Kate Brown…[approved] a bill banning the online sale of nicotine-containing vaping products to state residents…despite convincing evidence that limiting access to e-cigarettes drives users, especially young people, to traditional cigarettes that pose greater health risks…as politicians eternally pretend to not understand, banning things doesn’t mean that people give up on them.  Instead, it drives them to legal substitutes that may pose different or greater risks, or else to black market suppliers who offer products of unknown quality and safety.  [When] San Francisco banned the sale of flavored tobacco products in 2018…92 percent of [users] continued their habits after the ban…[but] high school students’ odds of smoking conventional cigarettes doubled…The conclusion that prodding youthful users from vaping to cigarettes is a bad idea is not [even] controversial…

Micromanagement (#1012)

This would be better news if judges didn’t simply rubber-stamp cops’ warrant requests:

Maryland and Montana have become the first states to pass laws…requir[ing] police to have court authorization…[and] probable cause…[Maryland further requires that] the crime being probed must be a murder, a rape, a felony sexual offense, or a “criminal act involving circumstances presenting a substantial and ongoing threat to public safety or national security”…AncestryDNA and 23andMe both prohibit such investigations using an ordinary user profile.  But other companies, such as FamilyTreeDNA and GEDMatch…allow police to [root in] their databases…[at will]…

Devil’s Advocate (#1114) 

Your periodic reminder that a child-shaped toaster is still a toaster:

[Creepy weirdos] assigned to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s [Sympathetic Magic] Unit have arrested and charged a…man accused of possessing child[-shaped toasters]…in October 2020, [intrusive and unconstitutional surveillance revealed] that William Crowder…ordered a child[-shaped toaster] to be shipped to his home.  TBI agents subsequently [roo]ted…at Crowder’s residence and found at least six [toasters (it’s difficult to be sure because Tennessee cops can’t count that high)], several of them dressed in children’s clothing…Crowder [was charged] with six counts of [making toast in a way that upsets redneck busybodies]…

Stalkers in Blue (#1138)

Another cop demonstrating exactly what he is:

Minnesota State [pig] Albert Kuehne sat in his [pigmobile] in March 2020 and [rooted] through a phone belonging to a 25-year-old woman he’d just…[accused] of drunken driving…he [had no permission to even touch the phone, but] clicked through her photos [anyway].  Hours later, the woman’s boyfriend noticed something alarming on her MacBook, which was synced to her phone:  Outgoing text…messages to an unknown phone number with nude and partly clothed pictures of the woman attached.  When they called that unfamiliar number, Kuehne answered…Kuehne…[has finally] admitted that he sent himself three explicit photos of the woman, and then deleted the outgoing messages on the woman’s phone to try to cover his tracks.  Kuehne pleaded guilty…to a misdemeanor…

Dangerous Speech (#1138)

US “authorities” keep pretending “because sex” is an excuse for any tyranny:

During a June 7 status conference…in the Lacey/Larkin case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rapp…objected to the phrase “escort services” in a survey question about whether jurors had “strong feelings” concerning…the “legal adult entertainment industry”…Rapp [claimed] that the phrase is “a misnomer” for “prostitution services…[that] suggests that escort services [are] somewhat legal”…Whitney Bernstein, an attorney for Jim Larkin, [correctly responded] that escort services are…legal…in…many…states…[Judge] Brnovich…overruled Rapp, allowing the question to remain…

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