"Mr. Hart, do you contest the legitimacy of the federal government of the United States of America?"
That question was posed to former Idaho State Representative Phil Hart a few minutes into his February 3 federal bankruptcy hearing. By asking that question, ... (more)
Dover, DE -- Caught on dash cam video kicking a compliant man in the face and breaking his jaw, a police corporal announced his resignation from the department after the city agreed to pay him $230,000 over the next six years. Although the ex-cop is prohibited from returning to work at the Dover Police Department, the agreement does not prevent him from seeking employment with other law enforcement agencies.
In August 2013, Cpl. Thomas Webster of the Dover Police Department was ca... (more)
PHOENIX (CN) - Arizona State University's Police Department falsifies crime statistics to make the university seem safer than it is, and harassed officers who objected to the "culture of corruption," six officers claim in court.
Charles Cornfield et al. sued the Arizona Board of Regents, former ASU Police Chief John Pickens, current Police Chief Michael Thompson, and 10 other ASU employees on Feb. 17 in Maricopa County Court.
San Jose, California — Confrontational rhetoric that threatens the use of violence against police should be treated as a federal hate crime, insists the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). Explicit threats of lethal violence by police against their critics, however, are considered an exercise in constitutionally protected free speech. This helps explain why the San Jose Police Department has reinstated Officer Philip White, who had been fired following a series of tweets threatening activists... (more)
A massive bust of corrupt prison guards in Georgia, drug prosecutions halted over sleazy police tactics in Waco, a San Antonio cop gets his hand slapped for stealing from citizens, and more. Let's get to it:
In a lawsuit filed last month against Charlotte-Mecklenburg police in North Carolina, two men claim officers violated their civil rights by assaulting, kidnapping, and subjecting them to illegal searches.
According to the suit, Jeramie Barideaux and Jonathan Harris were sitting in a car outside the Rodeway Inn on Brookshire Boule... (more)
Britain First activists were reportedly threatened with a dawn raid and later arrested by police after they published a viral video which showed members of the group being confronted by Muslims in the town of Luton.
The original video, which attracted tens of millions of views on Facebook, shows Muslims embroiled in heated arguments with Britain First activists, vowing to "take over," as well as making violent threats... (more)
The government has made one last attempt to screw over a victim of an IRS bank account seizure. The screwing began in December of 2014, when the IRS -- despite stating it would not perform forfeitures if there was no clear evidence of wrongdoing -- lifted $107,000 from convenience store owner Lyndon M... (more)
Chattanooga, TN -- When 60-year-old Nancy Mason was in the process of being booked into the Hamilton County, Tennessee, jail on theft charges she refused to remove her earrings quickly enough setting off a violent chain of events. For not complying fast enough, Sheriff's Sergeant Rodney Terrell tased her -- sending the woman crashing to the ground, landing on and breaking her arm in the fall.
Before being booked, Mason is ordered to remove her jewelry but refuses to... (more)
More than two months after a California police officer was filmed shooting an unarmed man in the neck following a car wreck, he has finally been charged with involuntary manslaughter. In November, 26-year-old Andrew Thomas left a bar with his headlights off and was tailed by Paradise police officer Patrick Feaster, who suspected him of drunk driving.
All in all, this motion to suppress evidence worked out for the plaintiff, but it does little to address concerns that drug dogs are basically blank permission slips for inquisitive cops.
The defendant -- Emile Martin -- was in a vehicle driven by another person (simply referred to as "Montgomer... (more)
The last four remaining activists occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon hinterlands have surrendered, ending the 41-day standoff with local and federal authorities. One of them held out for two hours, rambling on the internet before surrendering.
David Fry of Ohio, Jeff Banta of Nevada, and Sean and Sandy Anderson of Idaho have insisted they would only surrender if the government did not press charges.
Negotiations over their surrender to the federal age... (more)
It's jail and prison guards gone wild this week! Most did their misdeeds for profit, but at least one did hers for love. Let's get to it:
In New York City, a Rikers Island jail guard was arrested Sunday on charges she smuggled marijuana in to an inmate and had sex with him. Guard Nicole Bartley, 30, went down when a drug-sniffing dog station... (more)
Add a runner who recently competed in an Escape from Alcatraz triathlon to the rogues gallery of NYPD cops who retired on a taxpayer-funded disability pension.
Rachel Niccoll, who spent 13 years on the force before retiring in 2009, receives the generous pension package that pays her $66,083 a year, plus benefits — and also regularly runs races in New York, records show.
A letter to the Daily News signed “concerned citizen” said Niccoll, 44, suff... (more)
After Buffalo, New York created its new "traffic violations agency" on July 1 of last year, the city has seen a substantial boon to its extortion racket. With the help of new software, ticketed drivers are now receiving an average of three citations per stop and the city has already moved to suspend the licenses of 4,400 drivers, an official said.
In the last six months of 2015, officers wrote 30,000 tickets, almost 10,000 more than during the same period in&n... (more)
A motorist accused of drunk driving walked away after cops in Chicago, Illinois refused to hand over video evidence of the incident. In a ruling last month, the Illinois Appellate Court said Richard Moravec was entitled not just to any dashcam videos of his arrest, but also relevant footage from the city's network of surveillance devices known as "police observational devices" or POD cameras.
In 2003, the Windy City installed remote-controlled cameras that could rotate 360 degrees... (more)
A Florida man says officers with the Ocoee Police Department opened fire on the home he shares with his wife and their 12-year-old son after mistakenly responding to a domestic violence call at the wrong residence. The unidentified man said he awoke at around 1 a.m. on Saturday to a loud banging on the door of his Belhaven Falls Drive house and asked ... (more)
Claudia Castillo posted video of herself pulling over a cop for speeding a week ago on YouTube. The video shortly thereafter racked up over a million views. In response to the controversial video, which has more down-votes than up-votes and people commenting on both sides, the Miami Fraternal Order of... (more)
The Texas Court of Appeals told local police officers last month that when the US Supreme Court says warrantless blood draws from motorists are unconstitutional, that means they need to get a warrant to perform a blood draw. Hurst Police Officer Brian Charnock did not believe the McNeely ruling applied to him as he ordered Laura Ann Swan to pull over in February 2012.
Officer Charnock had received a tip that the car belonging to Swan was swerving on... (more)
Chicago police officers implicated in the wake of a political scandal within the Chicago Police Department, or CPD, have retired, dodging disciplinary action while holding on to pensions worth more than $100,000 a year, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Nearly two months ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration received a report from the office of C... (more)
