Heroes

Investigations & Prosecutions of Terrorists in the Sequestration Era

by Diane Dimond on April 22, 2013

[caption id="attachment_6241" align="alignleft" width="150"] This is What Anti-AmericanTerror Looks Like[/caption]         "Make no mistake we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this and find out why they did this."-- President Barak Obama There will be no satisfying “why” at the end of the investigation into who placed bombs near the finish line of the Boston marathon. Just like there was no satisfying “why” following the massacres at Columbine High School or Virginia Tech. Nothing can ever adequately explain to normal thinking people how a gunman could hunt down tiny students at a Connecticut elementary school or exterminate innocents gathered at a Tucson parking lot to see their Congresswoman, Gabby Giffords. And so it will go with Boston. [caption id="attachment_6243" align="alignright" width="150"] Two Brothers - One (Left) is Dead the Other Captured[/caption] We quickly learned the identity of the persons who chose Massachusetts’ Patriot’s Day to make their treasonous statement about whatever perceived wrong had festered in their sick mind.  And, even in these early days of the investigation we already knew a lot about their personalities. These  bombers wanted to inflict as much death and destruction as they possibly could. And, by timing the bombs as they did – setting them to explode during the fourth hour of the marathon – they weren't targeting the premiere athletes who had finished an hour or more earlier. No, the demented mastermind of this event wanted to exact revenge on the less strong, the average runner, who would be struggling the hardest to make it across the finish line. Was the perpetrator trying to send a twisted message against America or was it just a depraved attempt to deny the exhausted runners the joy of reaching their goal? Not long after the dual bombings President Obama solemnly announced, “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.” [caption id="attachment_6246" align="alignleft" width="150"] So Many Victims Lost Legs in the Blast[/caption] Well, here’s a question. Given all the sequestration-caused furloughs within the ranks of federal investigators and prosecutors who exactly will provide the “weight” behind this promised justice? Our federal law enforcement forces are already stretched to the limit and their massive workloads and mandatory furlough days aren't going to suddenly disappear because there is a new case on the books. Someone who is on the front line of all this (and therefore must remain confidential) wrote me after the tragedy to express total frustration. “Myself and all ‘Feds’ feel like we are getting beaten down so bad we can barely breathe. No raises for years, no future raises and now a massive reduction in salary through sequester furloughs [mandatory unpaid leave, during which we are NOT PERMITTED TO WORK or even answer our cell or emails!!]” This is the weighty justice system our president promises will leap into action? [caption id="attachment_6247" align="alignright" width="150"] AG Holder Warned of Sequestration Layoffs[/caption] Just last month my confidential source’s boss, Attorney General Eric Holder, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the $1.6 billion dollar sequestration cut to the Justice Department’s budget could have a “profound” impact on America’s safety in the future. “Important law enforcement and litigation programs are being disrupted,” Holder said. “Our capacity - to respond to crimes, investigate wrongdoing, and hold criminals accountable - has been reduced.” Well, now the Justice Department has on its plate what will surely turn out to be a major and lengthy investigation into the Boston bombings. In addition, agents are being diverted with distracting events like the toxic ricin-laced letters sent to both the President and Senator Roger Wicker by a suspect in Mississippi. After several reports of suspicious packages at the U.S. Capitol Secret Service agents were called to supervise evacuations. In the New York metro area, there were dozens of citizen reports responding to the “If you see something, say something” command. The feds are surely monitoring those as well. [caption id="attachment_6250" align="alignleft" width="150"] The Anti-U.S. Terrorism Threat is Not Over[/caption] With depleted federal law enforcement ranks and morale about as low as it can go, what kind of progress can citizens expect on these investigations and prosecutions? And, here’s an even more ominous question posed by my confidential federal source. “Did someone who was on furlough, or perhaps even worse, who's morale is so devastated that s/he can no longer even focus on the mission, miss something? What if the dramatic reduction in resources and morale had an impact on the government's inability to prevent this horrible event??” That got me thinking. Did the CIA miss telephone or internet chatter that could have tipped us off to the bombings? If the FBI’s Boston office had all agents on full-time duty might they have been able to sniff out this deadly plot? Will the federal prosecutor who gets this case have enough resources to do an adequate job? [caption id="attachment_6252" align="alignright" width="150"] Let's Cut Federal Spending - But Wisely![/caption] On March 1st, when the mandatory 2% across-the-board federal budget cuts went into effect, I remember thinking, “Good! Make the federal government economize just like my family has to!” Now, I’m back to wishing that our elected officials in Congress and the White House could get it together long enough to figure out a way to cut the truly unnecessary spending within our bloated budget. The first mission of the federal government is supposed to be to insure our national defense. It doesn't make sense to cut law enforcement’s funding while bankrolling pie-in-the sky foreign aid programs like the $30 million spent on a program to spur mango production in Pakistan or the $207 million the Defense Department spent on a duplicative second engine design for the F-35 fighter. There is no denying there is evil in the world. There always has been and there always will be and civilized societies need to be able to forcefully fight against it. Those who brazenly plant bombs to kill innocent people are terrorists – plain and simple. Terrorists – homegrown or foreign born – deserve only one thing: swift and decisive punishment, nothing more and nothing less. I fear America is not in the best position to deliver that. home  

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Judges Act for Justice

by Diane Dimond on April 8, 2013

[caption id="attachment_6188" align="alignleft" width="150"] Judges CAN Right Judicial Wrongs[/caption] We often hear people associated with the criminal justice system complain about how it works – or fails to work. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, police and social workers all cite specifics that they believe tip the scales of fairness. Very rarely – if ever – do we hear from a judge. The ethics of their profession mandate they remain mum about public policy issues while on the bench. Even after they retire the public rarely gets the benefit of their insight. I think that is a shame. Who better to help teach the public about how politician’s laws – sometimes crafted and passed with headlines in mind – actually affect citizens? This is a story about not one -- but two -- judges from different states that came together to pro-actively help a woman they believed had been given a raw deal at sentencing. Their actions speak volumes about our justice system and proves there really is no such thing as a one-size-fits all sentencing. [caption id="attachment_6189" align="alignright" width="150"] Dallaire at Home-Thanks to New York Times[/caption] In 2003, Denise Dallaire, a college graduate, was convicted for possessing and selling a relatively small amount of crack cocaine in Rhode Island. Seven years earlier she had been arrested on a similar charge. (She explained she really wasn’t into drugs herself but enjoyed the money she could make selling them) When Dallaire attended college in Connecticut she had once thrown a glass and injured someone in a bar fight and had been arrested. By the time Dallaire, at age 26, came before Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Lagueux to face the last charge she had three strikes against her. Under mandatory sentencing laws she was automatically considered a “career criminal.” Judge Lagueux made it clear at sentencing that his hands were tied – he was forced by law to pass a stiff sentence. [caption id="attachment_6190" align="alignleft" width="150"] U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux[/caption] “This is one case where the guidelines work an injustice,” he said that day in 2003, “And I’d like to do something about it but I can’t.” Lagueux sentenced Dallaire to 15 years in prison. That moment bothered the judge for all the years Denise served her time at the federal prison for women in Danbury, Connecticut. Over the last decade Dallaire has been an exemplary inmate. She has made thousands of blankets, hats and pillows to donate to children suffering from cancer, she organized fellow inmates to decorate and sell Christmas trees on behalf of cancer charities. Dallaire admitted she deserved prison and that she had made, “a lot of stupid and ridiculous decisions,” in her early life. She seemed resigned to her fate and looked forward to her release in 2018. She had no possibility of early release. At Danbury Prison Denise Dallaire met another judge – U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson from Brooklyn. Every year Gleeson makes a pilgrimage to the prison so as to remind himself where he sends defendants. The judge takes his New York University Law School students and clerks with him. Gleeson got to know Denise and told the New York Times he came to realize her case was a textbook example of how mandated sentences do more to ruin lives than protect society. [caption id="attachment_6191" align="alignright" width="150"] Judge Gleeson Made it a Habit to Visit Prison[/caption] “There are a lot of people like Denise doing bone-crushing time under the old sentencing regime,” Judge Gleeson said. “We need to try to find ways to help them.” It is important to note that just two years after Denise was sentenced the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory sentencing guidelines, originally designed to target drug kingpins, were unconstitutional. Congress agreed and has twice passed laws to reduce sentences for crack cocaine convictions like Denise’s. Judge Gleeson wants to start what he calls, “The Mercy Project” wherein pro bono lawyers would help the hundreds of prisoners (thousands, by some estimates) languishing under antiquated sentences. With that in mind, Gleeson convinced a friend, a top New York lawyer named Jonathan Polkes, to seek a presidential pardon for Dallaire. Part of the process required them to go back to Judge Lagueux to sign-on to the idea. Lagueux earnestly wanted to help Denise but didn’t think the pardon idea would work. Instead, he pointed out a procedural flaw that he, himself, had made at sentencing that could be exploited. Lagueux suggested bringing the case back to Rhode Island on the basis of his self-reported mistake. [caption id="attachment_6195" align="alignleft" width="150"] Mercy for Dying Woman & Daughter[/caption] Last month, Denise Dallaire was brought before the now 81 year old judge who had sentenced her so many years earlier. “I felt bound by those mandatory guidelines and I hated them,” Judge Lagueux explained to the sobbing prisoner before him. “I’m sorry I sent you away for 15 years.” The judge then instructed that Dallaire be released on time served. He told her to hurry home to her sick mother in Groton, Connecticut. She was able to be with her mother for her final eleven days. As for her future, Denise says she wants to dedicate her life to helping others who are serving long sentences win commutation like she did. Certainly, mandatory sentencing has helped lock up many real career criminals for a long time. But over-sentencing the undeserving doesn’t keep us safer. Keeping them in prison long after the law that put them there has been struck down only adds to our mammoth prison costs. And, with every year that ticks by it eats away at the prisoner’s chance for re-claiming a productive life on the outside. I like Judge Gleeson’s idea of a selective Mercy Project to review the sentences of prisoners caught in the cracks like Denise. Any other justice-seeking judges out there interested? home  

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Hey, Steubenville: Where Was Everyone?

by Diane Dimond on March 25, 2013

[caption id="attachment_6163" align="alignleft" width="150"] Guilty: Trent Mays,17, (L) and Ma'Lik Richmond, 16[/caption]             “There are crimes very similar to this that occur every Friday night and every Saturday night in communities across this country….” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine  Many of us watched with interest the rape case that recently played out in Steubenville, Ohio. The two defendants, Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, were star members of the local high school’s football team and many in the community felt they had been maliciously targeted for prosecution because of their popularity. However, the evidence was overwhelming and both teens were convicted of sexually assaulting a female classmate. There was a video, still pictures and dozens of contemporaneous text and Twitter messages flying back and forth discussing details of the assault. The victim, a 16 year old girl, was so drunk (or perhaps drugged) that she was unconscious during much of the prolonged assault. Included in the torrent of more than 3 thousand tawdry messages read aloud to the court were those from eye-witnesses and classmates joking about the “dead-looking” victim and saying, “some people deserve” to be urinated upon. [caption id="attachment_6164" align="alignright" width="150"] An Example of Ugly Tweets[/caption] One text sent the day after the attack from defendant Trent Mays begged a friend to delete the video of the incident that had been posted on You-Tube and added, “Coach Sac knows about it. Seriously, delete it!” During the trial it was learned that football Coach Reno Saccoccia knew about the sexual assault and refused to suspend the defendants or other players who had knowledge of the incident until the season was nearly over. As I watched the case unfold – and read the un-varnished blog by former Steubenville resident Alexandra Goddard who had immediately captured the offending texts, video and pictures before they were deleted -- I couldn't stop thinking:  Where was everyone else as this crime was happening? As this young girl was being humiliated and brutalized, stripped of her clothing and carried around like a rag doll, what were her classmates doing?  Why didn't anyone step in to say, “Stop!”  Didn't other girls at the event feel her shame and move to help cover up her nakedness?  Where was the homeowner of the house where the party was being held?  What had the parents of these teenagers taught their children about coming to the aid of a fellow human being in trouble? [caption id="attachment_6166" align="alignleft" width="150"] Victim Carried By Defendants From Home to Home[/caption] None of my questions were part of the court proceedings, of course, but as Mike DeWine the Attorney General of Ohio said upon the conviction, “I'll guarantee that there are crimes very similar to this that occur every Friday night and every Saturday night in communities across this country where you have people, particularly young people, who are drinking too much and a girl is taken advantage of, and a girl is raped."  DeWine is right.  It is surely happening in your community and mine too. Yet DeWine believes that justice may not have been completely served in the Steubenville case.  His investigators interviewed 56 witnesses – from teenagers who attended the party to assistant football coaches and the high school principal – yet there were still 16 people with knowledge of the crime who have refused to talk.  So, DeWine will convene a Grand Jury next month to determine whether other people should also be charged in this case. Leave it alone, you say? The conviction of Mays and Richmond is enough?  I don’t think so. [caption id="attachment_6167" align="alignright" width="150"] Mass Protests Outside Jefferson County Court[/caption] Consider that even after the guilty verdicts some in that football crazed town were still not convinced the pair had done anything wrong and they turned their wrath on the victim.  After the guilty verdicts were announced two teenage girls were taken into custody for allegedly using Twitter and Facebook posts to threaten her with a “beating” and “homicide.” They now face felony counts of witness tampering among other charges.  After the girls arrest A.G. DeWine announced, “Let me be clear.  Threatening a teenage rape victim will not be tolerated. If anyone makes a threat … we will take it seriously, we will find you and we will arrest you.” Blogger Goddard reports she and her family continued to be harassed and maligned. She also had to fight back a defamation lawsuit filed against her and two dozen people who left comments on the case at her web site.  “Perhaps most ridiculously,” she wrote, “I was accused of ‘complicating’ the case because I posted the screen captures of content that these kids willingly posted themselves.”  Clearly, not all of Steubenville has learned the obvious lesson of this case. [caption id="attachment_6168" align="alignleft" width="120"] Blogger Alexandra Goddard[/caption] In the meantime, the victim’s mother told CNN, “We hope that from this something good can arise … (to) possibly change the mentality of a youth or help a parent to have more of an awareness (as) to where their children are and what they are doing. The adults need to take responsibility and guide these children." Yep. This is one of those teachable moments, the perfect time for folks to sit down with their kids and have a serious talk about the issues this case raised.  Drinking and drugs, athlete adoration, teen age sex and doing unto others as we would need them to do for us if we were in trouble.  It is also a good time for parents to re-examine where the circle of accountability begins and ends when one of our children is so publicly victimized. home  

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A Crime and Justice Wish List for 2013

by Diane Dimond on December 31, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5915" align="alignleft" width="120"] Hopes and Wishes for 2013[/caption] Where do I even begin with my annual Wish List for the New Year? Because the fog of despair still hangs over us from the elementary school shooting in Connecticut – and because the list of individually meaningless gun control ideas continues to grow – I’m compelled to start there. I fervently hope that we, as a nation, can come to an agreement on a whole package of anti-gun violence ideas to try to make this country safer. I hope the shrill hysterics – heard from both sides – can be tuned down in favor of common sense solutions. To those who think all we need to do is get rid of assault rifles, 30-bullet magazines or those video games youngsters spend so many hours playing I say: Don’t kid yourself. After Newtown, Connecticut there was another gun massacre in Webster, New York. I seriously doubt the shooter, William Spengler, who served 17 years in prison for beating to death his grandmother with a hammer, had ever played a violent video game. [caption id="attachment_5913" align="alignright" width="120"] Mass Murderer William Spengler[/caption] For some sick reason Spangler, 62, set fire to his home to lure volunteer firefighters and as they rushed in Spengler opened fire shooting four of them. Two died as did his elderly sister trapped in his house. As seven other houses were engulfed in flames the gunman committed suicide. Under law this mentally ill ex-con was not allowed to have a gun but he had three of them, a semi-automatic Bushmaster rifle, a .38-caliber revolver and a 12-gauge shotgun. Proof that mere law doesn't make us decent. My wish is for everyone – from the loudest activists on the gun issue to the most partisan politicians – to understand that only cooperation and compromise will make 2013 safer for everyone. If the senseless murders of brave firemen in New York and 20 first graders and seven adults in Connecticut is not the right time to find common ground on gun violence - tell me, when would be a better time? [caption id="attachment_5918" align="alignleft" width="150"] Washington Needs An Attitude Re-Adjustment[/caption] I wish for a major sea change in the way Washington works. I want policy and lawmakers to find the moral courage to stop operating for their party’s sake and consider what is truly best for the country. Massive financial problems lie ahead and most often the only thing we hear is that the other party is to blame. How about some solutions, Washington? Voters didn't elect the 535 members of Congress to bicker. We elected them to lead. I hope politicians stop wasting time talking about yesterday and, instead, think about an improved tomorrow. For the tens of thousands of returning veterans I wish a stress free repatriation. I hope both the military and the Veterans Administration really step up to help these warriors readjust to life back in the States. As America winds down 11 straight years of war, these heroes will need assistance with housing, higher education and job training. Many will need medical care, both physical and psychological. Some will get in trouble with the law and our special Veteran’s Courts will need to help them understand why. If America fails to help these brave souls, shame on us. [caption id="attachment_5919" align="alignright" width="150"] Returning Veterans Will Need Continuous Help[/caption] And one more military note: when a service member (male or female) makes an allegation against a colleague charging a sexual attack it must be investigated as seriously as if a civilian had made the report. I hope any superior who sweeps such a charge under the rug faces automatic court martial. I wish for all District Attorney’s offices to take a page from Detroit prosecutor Kym Worthy’s book. In 2012, she led a massive effort to investigate thousands of abandoned rape kits for DNA evidence and nearly two dozen serial rapists were identified. Worthy’s manhunt continues and I fervently hope her program spreads nationwide. Think of how many predators we could get off the streets if we just tested the evidence that is sitting there. I hope that following the crazy and destructive weather we suffered in 2012 that Mother Nature settles down. I hope municipalities devise better emergency plans. I wish to never read another story about thieving looters who took advantage of a crisis situation to rob homes and stores. I pray for judges to throw the book at these criminals. [caption id="attachment_5922" align="alignleft" width="150"] Honor the First Responders[/caption] For the first responders who help in times of emergency – from 911 operators, ambulance drivers, paramedics, police officers, firefighters and all the volunteers along the way – I hope in 2013 we stop to acknowledge how much they do to keep us safe. We've become such a divided country. I really wish that in the New Year we could re-embrace the idea that in America everyone is entitled to their own opinion without being berated, categorized or bullied. In the months ahead let’s all try tolerance. Keep an open mind about differing opinions. You can’t always be right. I wish everyone would pledge to commit at least one Good Samaritan act per week, preferably without bragging about it later. I hope everyone accepts that new state laws on same sex marriage and legalization of marijuana were passed because the majority of voters wanted it that way. The laws may not be to your liking but that’s our system. People who strongly believed in those issues worked hard for their cause. As anthropologist Margret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world.  Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Amen. home  

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America Left This Marine Behind

by Diane Dimond on December 17, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5869" align="alignleft" width="105"] U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jon Hamma[/caption]        Note: See UPDATES to this story below. By the time you read this I earnestly hope that ex-Marine Lance Corporal Jon Hammar is a free man. I hope that our State Department has stepped up to help this military hero in his time of need. I hope that politicians in his parent’s home state of Florida have tossed their weight around enough to end the madness that has enveloped young Hammar’s life. I’m not optimistic. For almost four months 23 year old Hammar has been held in a notoriously dangerous prison in Matamoros, Mexico on a trumped up charge that he tried to bring a military weapon into Mexico. (It was actually his great grandfather’s 100 year old bird hunting rifle.) The prison where Hammar is being held, known as CEDES, is populated by inmates tied to Mexico’s violent drug cartels and according to those in the know these gangsters literally run the institution. Once the thugs realized there was a prized American housed among them the beatings and extortion attempts began. [caption id="attachment_5870" align="alignright" width="120"] Olivia Hammar Still Gets Late Night Calls From Mexico[/caption] Jon’s parents, Olivia and Jon Sr., only recently decided to go public with their son’s plight out of sheer frustration. They had been scared into silence because shortly after Jon was arrested in mid-August they began receiving terrifying phone calls from inside the prison demanding money. Olivia recounted one call during a television interview this week. "They're saying, 'You need to wire us money or we're going to kill your son, we've already f---ed him up,' and initially I thought it was a scam, but then they put him on the phone and he was breathless and I knew they had." Olivia tearfully added that her son told her over the phone, “You need to do whatever they say. I'm so sorry. I'll pay you back." Hammar enlisted in the Marines at 18 because he believed he could make a difference. He proudly served for four years in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fighting he saw was so fierce and deadly - especially in Fallujah, Iraq – that upon coming home Jon needed help dealing with post-traumatic stress. He entered an intensive nine month program where he met another combat vet, Ian McDonough. [caption id="attachment_5871" align="alignleft" width="150"] The Marine Was Trying to Get His Life Back Together[/caption] Once they finished the PTSD course the outdoorsy Jon, along with his new pal, Ian, decided to buy an old Winnebago, toss in their surf boards and take some R & R in Costa Rica. As they prepared to cross the Texas border into Mexico a U.S. customs agent advised Jon that he needed to register the old rifle with Mexican authorities and gave him papers to fill out for that purpose. Once into Mexico the papers were presented and ignored. The two men were arrested on federal charges of having a weapon that is reserved for military use. Preposterous, that an old Sears and Roebuck .410 shotgun nearly a century old could be confused with a military firearm! Like the loyal Marine he is Hammar declared that the gun was his and his fellow veteran, McDonough, was released. Jon’s parents immediately notified the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros and hired a local lawyer who told ABC News he feared authorities wanted to, "make an example out of the gringo." The U.S. State Department was informed and helped only to the extent that they got Jon moved out of the general population. According to Olivia, however, her son was then chained to a bed in a small storage shed. The State Department now says they got the chains removed. [caption id="attachment_5877" align="alignright" width="120"] Demands Should Be Made To Mexico's New President[/caption] Okay, I’ll just say it. Why is the United States of America so wimpy when it comes to dealing with Mexico? I mean, for years now – through several Republican and Democratic Administrations – we have let Mexico’s problems fester and then ooze across our border nearly unchallenged. The illegal flow of people, guns, drugs and deadly violence seems never ending and in the meantime Washington acts like it is paralyzed. There is no better time than right now for President Obama to pick up the telephone and demand Mexico’s newly installed President Enrique Pena Nieto secure the release of this U.S. Marine. Pena Nieto just took office December first and from the get-go Mexico’s new leader should be put on notice that this country will not stand for an American citizen to be held on phony charges. It is way past time that America flex its considerable muscle with our nettlesome neighbor to the south. As my father used to say, “You only get the respect you demand.” We recently sent a Special Ops Seal Team into Afghanistan to rescue a doctor from Colorado who had been held by the Taliban for five days. Doesn’t a war veteran held just across our border deserve the same consideration? [caption id="attachment_5878" align="alignleft" width="120"] Rep. Ros-Lehtinen Urges State Dept - Where Are Other Lawmakers?[/caption] Unless there’s more to this story that’s unknown, it is also time for Congress to get involved. Only three Florida based politicians have stepped up to urge the State Department to do more: Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It is astounding to me that only three lawmakers find young Jon Hammar’s situation unacceptable. The Marine Corp has a sacred code. They don’t leave fellow warriors behind. American politicians should damn well make sure they don’t leave this Marine stranded in a country that is supposed to be our ally, a country where cartel ordered deaths are a daily occurrence. Now that Hammar’s plight has been made public, as his mother said, “We need this to end fast.” home Dec. 21:  News is that a Mexican Judge has dropped the gun charge and Hammar could be home for Christmas: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/21/178127/marine-veteran-jon-hammar-to-be.html Dec. 24: Hammar arrived at his parents home in Palmetto Bay, Florida just before noon today. His father had driven to the Texas/Mexican border and was there to pick him up when Mexican authorities dropped him there. Along the drive Hammar was briefly hospitalized in Louisiana. The full story here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/24/3156014/marine-veteran-jon-hammar-freed.html    

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Pregnancy in America Not So Jolly Good

by Diane Dimond on December 10, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5852" align="alignleft" width="150"] Preggers Kate - Wicked Bad Morning Sickness[/caption] Well, well, well. Kate Middleton, a.k.a. the Duchess of Cambridge, is expecting a baby! Her husband, Prince William is reported to be ecstatic. The people of Great Britain are utterly delighted that the Royal Family will be soon have a new heir. And they are sending up a collective prayer that the expectant mother will soon get over a bad case of hyperemesis gravidarum (a sort of extra wicked morning sickness) which caused Kate to be hospitalized. Isn't it sweet that a whole country is in such a jolly good mood since the baby news was announced! It seems the royal pregnancy is being celebrated all over the world. Let’s compare and contrast. The pampered Duchess won’t have to worry about health insurance, hospital costs or missing a paycheck during her pregnancy. Nope, she will be giving birth to the third in line for the royal throne so all the nuisance of medical paperwork and bills will be automatically taken care of by the British government. [caption id="attachment_5853" align="alignright" width="150"] Many Work Until Right Up to Due Date[/caption] Here in America things are very different for pregnant women. We don’t mollycoddle them much and it is not unusual to see an expectant mother continue to work until close to their due date – mostly for economic reasons. A law passed in 1993 (The Family and Medical Leave Act) protects the job of a new parent if they want to take un-paid leave after a birth or adoption. And, there is The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 that requires employers to treat pregnant mothers the same as they would any other employee with a temporary limitation. For example, if an employer grants lighter duty for a person with a temporary bad back or for someone who just returned to work after hernia surgery then it must also be granted to a pregnant woman.But guess what? There is little enforcement of the law. Employers fire pregnant women anyway by coming up with all sorts of dubious reasons. [caption id="attachment_5855" align="alignleft" width="150"] Yes We Can - And We Do - Even While Pregnant[/caption] It’s a shame because women currently make up about half the U.S. workforce and for an increasing number of families Mom is the primary bread winner. She’s also, of course, the one who delivers future new taxpayers to the nation. Among the horror stories: Victoria Seredny worked as the activity director in a nursing home. When her doctor ordered that she not lift heavy objects following a miscarriage scare – something she was required to do just a few minutes a day - her boss refused to allow other workers to help her, even the ones who volunteered their assistance. Victoria was fired for failure to perform her duties. Heather Wiseman’s pregnancy caused her to have recurring bladder infections and her doctor told her to be sure to stay hydrated all day. She began to carry a water bottle with her when she went to her job on the sales floor at Walmart. Her boss informed her that only cashiers were allowed to have water bottles and when she continued to show up with her doctor-ordered bottle she was fired for insubordination. [caption id="attachment_5857" align="alignright" width="120"] Fed Ex Sued For Pregnancy Discrimination[/caption] Peggy Young worked for United Parcel Services and, on occasion, her delivery duties required that she lift packages as heavy at 70 pounds. When she became pregnant she asked for a lighter assignment. UPS denied the request even though the company had accommodated other employees who had been injured in a car accident or lost their driver’s license due to a drunk driving conviction! These three women all sued their employers and lost. Appeals are underway. Enter now what seems to be a long over-due proposal law called The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. It was introduced in Congress earlier this year. It sounds good on paper but its language makes me cringe a bit. The proposal requires that employers offer pregnant employees the same kind of accommodation that disabled citizens get under the Americans With Disabilities Act unless, “The accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business.” Well, excuse me. As a formerly pregnant woman I didn't consider myself disabled. Fat, maybe, and like a sponge that had absorbed too much fluid – but certainly not disabled! [caption id="attachment_5858" align="alignleft" width="105"] Hello? Where's the Enforcement?[/caption] Why doesn't congress just enforce (or add amendments with some teeth) to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act? Or better yet, why doesn't the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Department of Justice step up and invoke Title VII, the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination? So many times we have laws in place that, if properly enforced, could fix a myriad of problems. Instead, some politician decides to write up a whole new law which, of course, takes forever to pass in our paralyzed-by-partisanship Congress. Does anyone really think that both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, consumed with fiscal cliffs and other major economic issues, will prioritize passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act? Yeah, me neither. Discrimination against pregnant mothers could end tomorrow if there was a concerted, unified effort to do so. Here’s a suggested message from Washington to employers: You are not legally entitled to fire a pregnant woman because she needs an extra bathroom break, can’t lift a heavy box or because she’s not the svelte figure you’d like greeting customers at the front desk. Case closed. Hey, isn't this the administration that boasted how much they do for women? Then prove it. home

{ 10 comments }

The Rise and Fall of a Patriot

by Diane Dimond on November 26, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5808" align="alignleft" width="120"] He Dedicated His Life to Serve America[/caption] In 1970, a diminutive 18 year old from rural Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. traveled nine miles south from his parent’s home and checked in at the front gate at what would be his new residence for the next four years. He had worked hard in high school to get the grades to qualify for this unique place and in return he had pledged an additional five years of service to the organization. The young man was David Petraeus and by walking through the front gate at the U.S. Military Institute at West Point he committed to spending the next nine years of his life connected to the United States Army. By the end of his military career he had served 37 years and reached the rank of four-star General. This country invested heavily in developing Petraeus into the successful and well-decorated military leader he became. We spent about a million dollars on his extensive education: West Point, Ranger School, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. In the mid-80’s Princeton University where he earned both a Masters and his PhD in International Relations. And during that time, according to military and West Point sources, Petraeus would have been receiving take home military pay of between $50,000 and $60,000 thousand a year. Low cost commissary goods and housing (or a housing allowance) was also part of the deal.  [caption id="attachment_5809" align="alignright" width="150"] What Happens to Our Investment Now?[/caption] Multiply this government support over 37 years and it is likely America has invested multiple millions of taxpayer dollars for the education, transportation and development of David Petraeus. To be sure this country got a considerable return on its considerable investment. Among his long list of accomplishments, General Petraeus commanded a division that helped liberate Iraq and he steered the course for America’s exit from the war in Afghanistan. As we all know, last September Petraeus resigned from the military to become Director of the CIA. And then he had a brief extra marital affair that forced him to resign as the nation’s top spy. The CIA director simply cannot compromise national security by allowing outsiders to get close to classified information, say, on his iPhone, laptop computer or briefcase. Even though Petraeus, now 60, was no longer operating under the military law that deems adultery a crime – he had to go. He fell back on the West Point Code of Honor which states that no cadet will lie, cheat or steal or tolerate anyone who does. Petraeus resigned from the CIA and it was the right thing to do. [caption id="attachment_5810" align="alignleft" width="150"] The General and His Wife, Holly - Married 37 Years[/caption] Where I have a problem, however, is the pious and sometimes vicious condemnation of the man. Words like, “Fraud”, “Scum, “Hypocrite,” and even “Traitor” have been used repeatedly to describe David Petraeus. Yes, he made a terrible mistake but let’s be honest. He succumbed to the most common and mundane of human weaknesses – a sexual affair with a thirty-something woman. When President Bill Clinton shamed the office by having sexual relations with a young woman not much older than his daughter – (and didn’t have the decency to resign after being impeached for lying about it under oath) – I was, personally, disgusted. Not so much with General Petraeus. A double standard? No, not really. There is no comparing a career politician to a career military patriot. Both pledged loyalty to America, of course, but in this equation only one has selflessly dedicated his whole life in service to the country. [caption id="attachment_5811" align="alignright" width="150"] Major Mike Lyons, West Point Graduate[/caption] Major Mike Lyons (Ret.) told me that David and Holly Petraeus moved 22 times in 30 years to keep up with his burdensome re-assignments. As a fellow West Point graduate Lyons is friendly with many inside Petraeus’s inner circle. He estimates that during the last six or seven years Petraeus spent about five years deployed abroad. The entire Petraeus family, according to Lyons, has endured, “tremendous instability,” on behalf of the country. Clinton, who deliberately never served a day in the military, seems to me to have been motivated more by his own personal goals and partisan politics. And unlike the head of the CIA, Clinton occupied the highest and most powerful position in the country – some would argue, in the world. So, for those so quick to condemn a man like Petraeus who briefly strayed outside his marriage I have to ask, shouldn’t we consider his whole life? Petraeus’s dedication to country for nearly four decades surely must count for something, right? [caption id="attachment_5812" align="alignleft" width="150"] Mistress Paula Broadwell & Her Book on Petraeus[/caption] When I expressed this feeling to a pal of mine – a former U.S. Marine – he sent me an eye-opening e-mail. “Our warriors all understand they are held to a higher standard and they accept that as a consequence of their service. We don't want people who compromise integrity or make excuses because we also have to rely on these extraordinary warriors to act with uncompromising valor on the battlefield.” He concluded by saying, “Only those who have served understand this, I guess.” Well, I have never served in the military but several members of my family have. And, I remember that awful time after Vietnam when America turned its back on brave warriors and called them names too. Remember “baby-killers?” If we respond to momentary lapses of judgment among our career military personnel with invectives like “psychotic” and “egomaniac,” (as I heard Petraeus described recently) then where will we find the next generation of 18 year olds knocking on West Point’s front gate? Let’s stop kicking the dog while he’s down, shall we? home

{ 15 comments }

Sniffing Out Justice – But is it Legal?

by Diane Dimond on November 12, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5776" align="alignleft" width="120"] Can a Sniff Be Unconstitutional?[/caption] Can a dog violate your constitutional rights? That’s right – I said a dog. No, this is not a trick question. It is borne of a law enforcement situation so serious that the state of Florida has been joined by more than 20 other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to render a decision on the matter. Here’s the deal. The high court recently agreed to hear two separate cases from Florida in which police dogs, trained to sniff out illegal drugs, alerted their human handlers to the presence of drugs. The question currently pending before the court is: were these drug busts conducted legally? One instance occurred outside a private home near Miami. Officers had gotten a tip that marijuana was being grown inside the home of Joelis [caption id="attachment_5777" align="alignright" width="112"] Jardines Case Goes All the Way to the SCOTUS[/caption] Jardine. After a K-9 unit Labrador retriever named Franky alerted at the front door one officer waited with the dog while the other went to get a search warrant. Inside, police found multiple pot plants. Jardines was arrested for possessing more than 25 pounds of marijuana and for illegally diverting the electricity needed to grow the plants under special lights. His lawyer argued that Jardines’s constitutional rights were violated by an illegal search and seizure. The Florida Supreme Court agreed. The second case involved a seemingly routine traffic stop in Bristol, Florida during which the police officer thought Clayton Harris seemed awfully sweaty and nervous. The police dog at this scene, a German Shepard named Aldo, did what is called “a free air sniff” around the outside of the truck and zeroed in on the driver’s side door handle. Inside the vehicle the officer found a couple hundred pseudoephedrine pills and 8,000 matches - ingredients for making methamphetamine. Harris, pleaded no contest but, ultimately the Florida Supreme Court ruled against the legality of the police search saying the state had failed to prove that Aldo the dog was a reliable drug detector or that his handler had enough experience with a K-9 partner. [caption id="attachment_5778" align="alignleft" width="120"] Harris Caught With Meth Ingredients[/caption] That wasn’t an issue with Franky’s situation at the house in Miami. That K-9 sleuth already had almost 400 positive alerts under his collar and had helped seize about a ton of marijuana and 34 pounds of cocaine and heroin. Good boy! (Although as regular readers know I advocate the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana.) The Florida Supreme Court found a completely different problem with Franky’s actions at the Jardines house. The state court ruled it wasn’t legal for a canine to sniff outside a home without his human getting a search warrant ahead of time. In other words, the Florida judges ruled, Franky’s very first sniff constituted a violation of the U.S. Constitution and Jardines’ fourth amendment rights governing search and seizure. They called it an, "unreasonable government intrusion into the sanctity of the home." So the two questions now before the United States Supreme Court in Washington: How qualified must a dog be to do a legitimate sniff and is a trained police dog allowed to sniff outside a home without a warrant? [caption id="attachment_5779" align="alignright" width="150"] SCOTUS Deems Dogs at Airports Are Legal[/caption] You might think these questions are somehow strange for our highest court in the land. They are not. In fact, the U.S. Supremes have already ruled on doggie-search-issues. They previously decided it is legal for dogs to sniff luggage at airports or open containers on street corners. But right outside someone’s private home? That may turn out to be completely different in their eyes. During the recent arguments on Franky and Aldo’s searches Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia had very pointed questions about home searches. Ginsburg asked Florida’s lawyer, Gregory Garre, what the next logical step might be if such police actions were allowed to continue. What would stop officers from taking their drug sniffing dogs into neighborhoods with drug problems and then going door to door to door to try to find illegal drugs? Justice Scalia reminded the lawyers about the rule that police are not supposed to come within the area immediately surrounding a home in order to get a better look inside, say, with a pair of binoculars. Why, he asked, was using a dog any different? Attorney Garre answered that the law allows a police officer to walk right up to the front door of a home, knock and talk to whoever is inside in an effort to uncover evidence of a crime. Why, he asked, is it any different if the officer has a dog come along? [caption id="attachment_5780" align="alignleft" width="120"] Give 'Em Kibble and They're Ready to Go[/caption] There’s no telling when the high court will make its final decision on these cases. In the meantime, it is safe to say the Attorneys General in more than 20 states are anxiously awaiting the final decision because with budget and staffing cutbacks K-9 units have become a necessary norm in police departments nationwide. I dare say, you would be hard pressed to find an officer who didn’t see these animals as full-fledged law enforcement partners and necessary tools in fighting crime. Dogs also cost a whole lot less to train and employ than human beings. Wonder if the court will take that into account when making their final decision? I’m no lawyer but I doubt there’s room in the legal discussion for any real-world considerations. home  

{ 18 comments }

Lessons From Mother Nature in Wake of Hurricane Sandy

by Diane Dimond on November 5, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5757" align="alignleft" width="150"] Super Storm Sandy Smashes the East[/caption] More than 110 people were killed but there was no crime. There were widespread blackouts yet there was no systematic looting. Police departments were run ragged but lawlessness seemed to take a vacation. This column isn't about crime this time. It is about how, in the the face of crisis crime is replaced by an overwhelming sense of fellowship and mutual survival. Thanks to Hurricane Sandy I am writing this not on my usual laptop computer but on a smaller iPad which is cumbersome to operate via candlelight. I had to slowly charge it to life via a cord plugged into my car's cigarette lighter. My family is among the almost five million Americans left without power by this monumental storm. We're told it could be 10 days before our Hudson River village, about 20 miles north of Manhattan will have electricity again. But we are alive and feeling so lucky. [caption id="attachment_5758" align="alignright" width="150"] Breezy Point Neighborhood's Double Whammy[/caption] Not far from us, in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens not only did massive quantities of floodwaters roar in so did a marauding fire that consumed more than 80 buildings leaving hundreds homeless. Firefighters battled neck-high floods, low water pressure and tons of Sandy's sludge for 12 hours to contain the blaze. This neighborhood has already had its share of tragedy. It has always been a close knit place populated by firemen and police officers many of whom lost their lives as first responders to the 9/11 terrorist attack. Just as we saw in the aftermath of September 11th first responders to Sandy's wreckage ran toward the calamity as the rest of us ran away to safety. All up and down the Eastern seaboard brave souls pitched in to help evacuate stranded residents and hospital patients. They worked tirelessly to clear debris, fallen trees and land-stranded boats from neighbor's yards. From Florida to Connecticut utility workers left their own families and fanned out en masse to help restore their fellow citizens gas lines and electric service. They battled dangerous live wires, rising tides that made flooding even worse and roadways with malfunctioning traffic lights and littered with obstacles. [caption id="attachment_5759" align="alignleft" width="150"] Clever Word Play But Not Funny[/caption] In the run-up warnings about the approaching storm the media had taken to calling Hurricane Sandy and its expected collision with a powerful northern cold front "The Frankenstorm." Creative word play and almost funny when I first heard it. But I'll bet rescue workers struggling in the thick of it weren't thinking of clever names to call the storm. In New Jersey, the state in which Superstorm Sandy made landfall, volunteers with operable boats and large trucks roared in to save total strangers. One was a petrified 85 year old woman who was coaxed onto the back of a jet-ski and taken to safety. On my battery powered radio I heard an emotional Governor Chris Christie describe what he had seen after taking a helicopter tour of his state. He described the devastation he had seen including acres of flooded neighborhoods, farm land, damaged rail roads and an exit off the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 280 that had simply disappeared in the storm surge. [caption id="attachment_5760" align="alignright" width="150"] NJ Governor Chris Christie Describes Damage[/caption] Christie sounded as though he might cry when he described the complete destruction of one of his favorite childhood spots - the Seaside Heights amusement park. Its rides were gone, he said, floating in the sea. "We will rebuild," a resolute Christie said. "But for those my age it will never be the same ... so much washed away into the Atlantic ocean." In New York, the other state that incurred the most damage from Sandy, the massive scale of destruction was hard to comprehend. The area in lower Manhattan where hundreds of thousands live was plunged into darkness. The sea wall surrounding the newly rebuilt Ground Zero site was compromised and Hudson River water began to pour in. Seven tunnels into New York City and hundreds of subway stations filled up with countless millions of gallons of water. Commuter train tracks from New Jersey and Connecticut were buried in Sandy's sludge and made inoperable. With transportation stalled in and out of the city commerce stopped, including Wall Street - the engine that runs so much of the American economy. [caption id="attachment_5761" align="alignleft" width="150"] Seawater Pours into Ground Zero Site[/caption] But no one gave up. The Coast Guard and the Red Cross were there to help. The financial sector re-grouped quickly and got back to work. The Army Corp of Engineers brought in enormous sump-pump devices and put them to work at the tunnels and rail hubs to undo what Sandy had done. The city offered free bus rides to get people back to work. There were no complaints from civil servants forced to work exhausting mandatory overtime with no immediate end in sight. These people did it because that's what we do in America. We gather up our can-do attitude and we get the job done. We don't let tragedy define us. It doesn't matter what we don't have - electricity to power our televisions and our habit-forming computer gadgets or heat for our homes in this chilly late-autumn weather - it is what we ARE that matters most. Compassionate, resolute, survivors. After slogging through the divisiveness of partisan politics for the last year it's heartwarming to see Americans being cohesive again - even if it is just a transitory phase.  Too bad it takes a crisis to remind us that we are all in this together. [caption id="attachment_5766" align="alignright" width="120"] Whitecaps on the Hudson River in Advance of Sandy[/caption] The Hudson River is three miles wide where we live and only a small two lane road lies between us and the water. I've grown accustomed to seeing it everyday outside my window. I sheepishly admit that I sometimes look at its usually placid flow with a sort of disinterest. Never again. This behemoth has commanded my eternal respect because I see now that this historic river is capable of terrible things when spurred on by Mother Nature. We have survived. The river will survive longer. home  

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BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION

by Diane Dimond on June 18, 2012

[caption id="attachment_5399" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Telling of Abuse Makes a Hero"] BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION, [/caption]

They’re all different, the men who come forward to tell their stories of childhood sexual abuse. But they all share a debilitating horror, buy AYGESTIN without a prescription. Purchase AYGESTIN online, Psychologists say it is difficult for any childhood victim of molestation to reveal what happened to them. But it is particularly tough for young males because it goes to the very core of their budding manhood, kjøpe AYGESTIN på nett, köpa AYGESTIN online. Where can i buy AYGESTIN online, Often, males choose to keep it secret rather than seek help to deal with the emotional problems that always occur, ordering AYGESTIN online.

So, when these victims muster up enough courage to speak I think it’s high time we start praising them, BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION. Purchase AYGESTIN, [caption id="attachment_5400" align="alignright" width="105" caption="Secrets Mean It Happens to Someone Else"][/caption]

They are the ultimate moral whistleblowers in our society helping to keep children safe by identifying, convicting and removing child molesters from our midst, AYGESTIN images. AYGESTIN use, I also think it’s time we understand what happens when these brave souls finally begin to talk. They reveal only when they feel safe and they disclose details of their abuse in stages, AYGESTIN pictures. Buy generic AYGESTIN, Every criminal trial I’ve covered involving an accused pedophile also has a defense attorney who pounces on the accuser for how their stories evolved once they began talking to people in authority – child protective services workers, police officers and Grand Juries, AYGESTIN australia, uk, us, usa. BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION, The defendant’s attorney criticizes because they know that in the beginning the victims are vulnerable. AYGESTIN from mexico, When the accusers first disclose they may say that only fondling occurred. The next time they are interviewed – if they feel safe with the interviewer – they will divulge more, AYGESTIN without a prescription. Buy cheap AYGESTIN no rx, They may subsequently admit there was oral activity or actual penetration. As time passes and they are able to mentally distance themselves from their molester their full story flushes out, AYGESTIN forum.

[caption id="attachment_5401" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Shame Keeps the Secret"][/caption]

et, in court the accusers are routinely attacked for not telling the whole story from the very beginning, BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION. AYGESTIN for sale, It’s just not fair and it’s counter-intuitive to the way the real-life world of victim reporting works. Experts will confirm abused and untrusting people never sit down and blurt out their whole horrible experience, online buying AYGESTIN hcl, AYGESTIN reviews, in part, because in the beginning they don’t understand it themselves, is AYGESTIN safe. AYGESTIN recreational, They ask themselves, “Why didn’t I scream, what is AYGESTIN, Buy AYGESTIN online cod, ‘No!’ from the get-go. Why did I voluntarily return to the abuser, AYGESTIN results. BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION, Why didn’t I seek protection from someone at home or school. AYGESTIN canada, mexico, india, What is the matter with ME?”

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[caption id="attachment_5402" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Charged With 52 Counts of Sex Abuse"][/caption]

At the Bellefonte, Pennsylvania trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky I’ve watched this legally sanctioned witness attack (disguised as cross examination) occur yet again. This is not to say I think accusers shouldn’t face tough questioning, BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION. Of course they should. But manufactured red herrings should be excluded.

I wish every child sexual abuse trial could begin with easy-to-understand expert testimony from mental health professionals so jurors could really understand a victim’s reporting mentality. Jurors should be made aware that evolving facts in a victim’s sworn statement should be put into perspective. BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION, And one more thing that, frankly, all of us need to understand. There is no one way a victim is supposed to act. You can’t always tell from the outside what a person is suffering on the inside.

[caption id="attachment_5403" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Ignoring the "Ugly" Insures it Continues"][/caption]

At the Sandusky trial there are no actual “victims” until the jury declares there are victims. There are only accusers at this stage of the game and Jerry Sandusky is to be considered completely innocent.

But I was struck by the different demeanor of each of those who took to the witness box, BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION. Some were feisty during their testimony; some were so quiet they were told to speak up so the jury could hear them.

And then there was the 18 year old young man who just graduated from High School who has been waiting three long years – and has testified at three Grand Jury proceedings – for his justice so he can get on with his life. The moment he stepped into the courtroom observers could tell from his tortured body language he was a damaged soul. He sobbed through his testimony, spoke of the anxiety attacks he suffers and I was among those in the gallery left wondering if he will ever mature into a complete and happy adult. BUY AYGESTIN NO PRESCRIPTION, He is a hero in my book.

[caption id="attachment_5404" align="alignright" width="120" caption="If We All Care It Can Be Curbed"][/caption]

We like to think we’ve got a handle on child molesters and their victims so we can wave our hands and declare that we need hear no more about it. Cases like the coach Sandusky trial are “too ugly to hear,” as I heard one network news executive say recently. As if it’s just not fashionable to discuss.

That is nonsense. This is very important stuff for generations to come. We can stamp out the cyclical scourge of pedophilia if we put our minds to it – but that will never be achieved if we keep burying our heads in the sand because it’s “too ugly.”

The pretty part of it comes when we realize we have a justice system that is more primed now than ever to deal with these cases. Let’s encourage everyone to understand it and use it so that everyone benefits.

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