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calparolelawyer · 4 months

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The Role of Mitigating Factors in California Parole Hearings

In the complex realm of California parole hearings, the role of mitigating factors cannot be overstated. As individuals navigate the intricate legal landscape seeking parole, the assistance of a knowledgeable California parole hearing lawyer becomes crucial. At www.calparolelawyer.com, our commitment is to provide unparalleled expertise, especially for those facing non-violent parole hearings. Let's delve into the significance of mitigating factors in this process and how our experienced team ensures the best possible outcome.

Mitigating Factors Defined:

Mitigating factors refer to circumstances or evidence presented during a parole hearing that can lessen the severity of the offense committed by an individual. These factors play a pivotal role in influencing the parole board's decision, demonstrating the rehabilitation and readiness of the petitioner to reintegrate into society.

The Expertise of a Non-Violent Parole Hearing Lawyer:

For those undergoing non-violent parole hearings, having a skilled attorney is imperative. At [Website], our seasoned non-violent parole hearing lawyers specialize in building compelling cases that highlight mitigating factors. They adeptly navigate the intricacies of the legal system, ensuring that every relevant detail is presented effectively.

Crafting a Persuasive Case:

Our approach revolves around a meticulous examination of the client's history, emphasizing rehabilitative efforts, and showcasing positive changes made during incarceration. The goal is to humanize the petitioner, illustrating a genuine commitment to personal growth and societal reintegration.

The Best Parole Attorney in California:

When seeking the best parole attorney in California, look no further than [Website]. Our team's dedication to staying abreast of parole laws and leveraging mitigating factors sets us apart. We prioritize quality over quantity, avoiding keyword stuffing to deliver informative content that genuinely addresses the concerns of our clients.

Conclusion:

At www.calparolelawyer.com, our commitment is to guide individuals through the process, ensuring that their parole hearings are backed by compelling cases that reflect genuine rehabilitation. Trust us to be your advocates, providing expert legal representation that focuses on the nuances of your unique situation.

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dweemeister · 3 years

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Kiss of Death (1947)

When 20th Century Fox put together the pieces to launch a production of film noir Kiss of Death, the picture was to be a vehicle for leading man Victor Mature. Mature had impressed Fox’s chief executive, Darryl F. Zanuck, in a supporting performance as Doc Holliday in My Darling Clementine (1946). Zanuck wished to reward the Fox contractee with a starring role, buying the rights to the film’s story with Mature in mind. But no one at Fox expected what would happen next: an actor debuting in his first film role would overshadow Mature. Kiss of Death marks the cinematic debut for Richard Widmark, best-known at the time for his Broadway work in pleasant, romantic comedy roles. For his first movie appearance, Widmark – and I don’t write something like this lightly – provides one of the most terrifying debuts in film history. This is not to downplay the performances (of Mature, Brian Donlevy, or fellow debutant Coleen Gray) or the filmmaking, but Widmark’s performance alone make Kiss of Death – directed by Henry Hathaway, from a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer – an essential film noir.

After a failed jewelry store robbery on Christmas Eve, ex-con Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is offered leniency from New York City Assistant District Attorney Louis D’Angelo (Brian Donlevy) if Nick can provide the names of his accomplices to the robbery. Against all common sense and in the belief his accomplices will take care of his wife and daughters, Nick refuses. He is handed a twenty-year sentence in Sing Sing. Several months into the sentence, he learns that his wife has committed suicide following a rape by one of his accomplices* and that his daughters have been handed over to an orphanage. Former babysitter Nettie Cavallo (Coleen Gray) divulges this news to Nick, who then indicates his desire to cooperate with the ADA. In an arrangement agreed to by D’Angelo and Nick’s lawyer, Earl Howser (Taylor Holmes), Nick becomes a jailhouse informant and is given the possibility of an earlier parole. While serving as a jailhouse informant, he will encounter Tommy Udo (Widmark) – who, eventually, uses any means at his disposal to keep Nick silent about his plans and partners-in-crime.

The film also stars Mildred Dunnock (appearing briefly in one of the most memorable scenes in any film noir), character actors Howard Smith and Millard Mitchell, and only the second credited film for eventual star Karl Malden.

Before commenting on how the performances heighten what could have been your run-of-the-mill film noir, Norbert Brodine’s (1938’s Merrily We Live, 1949’s Thieves’ Highway) cinematography and J. Watson Webb Jr.’s (1944’s The Lodger, 1952’s With a Song in My Heart) editing are superb. One only has to watch the opening moments of the film to witness the benefits of their collaboration. The failed robbery scene is a textbook example of economical filmmaking. Webb’s cutting neither lingers nor moves away too rapidly for the audience’s comprehension. Brodine’s strategic placements of his camera and use of blocking – of Mature, the supporting actors, extras, and the production design – ratchets up the tension, suggesting without any words how little room for error there is in this operation. Small details such as what level an elevator is on allow the audience to agonize – however much we do not want to see this robbery succeed – over the robbers’ wasted seconds. In Kiss of Death’s tensest scenes, this mercurial combination splices into moments that will shock and unnerve. Kiss of Death is an ideal counterargument to black-and-white film’s uninformed naysayers but, more compellingly, an entry point for film noir novices.

When complemented with Richard Widmark’s performance, Kiss of Death becomes horrifying. Widmark’s face often sports a toothy half-grin that only serves to intimidate. To make matters worse, as Tommy Udo, his staccato snigger accompanies a grin belying a man unhinged, delighting in his sadistic and psychopathic ways. Udo’s disconcerting voice and manner of speech reveals a character as slippery as a soapy eel. The way he tells a cop prodding for information that, “I wouldn’t give you the skin off a grape,” comes laced with dismissal, menace, and even playfulness.

It is difficult to watch the harm Tommy Udo brings to others. But Widmark is so convincing in the role, it is impossible to keep one’s eyes off of him. If you are aware about the basics of the Hays Code, you can easily guess Tommy Udo’s fate. But beyond the scope of the film’s narrative, the character inspired certain men in American colleges and universities to form Tommy Udo clubs or fraternities. These clubs and fraternities codified Udo’s disgusting male chauvinism – as if colleges and universities needed any more such behavior. It is a magnificent about-face from Widmark’s Broadway roles at the time; his actual off-screen persona (by all accounts, Widmark was one of the kindest people in Hollywood and was known to apologize for any hurtful words or behaviors he performed while in character on a film shoot); and many of the upstanding roles he would play later in his career.

Though outshone by Widmark, Mature strikes the balance of being a former hoodlum and caring parent. His physical acting cannot hide his character’s violent past, but – akin to his performance as Doc Holliday the previous year – there is ample room for melancholy and remorse. Mature pairs well with Coleen Gray, whose innocent demeanor recalls her later performances in Red River (1948) and other film noir projects.

Speaking of film noir, most noir is set in an urban environment and filmed on a soundstage. Kiss of Death is no exception to this rule, but a decent portion of the film was shot on-location in New York City and numerous interiors do not feel as if shot on a soundstage. The Bianco family home has a riverfront view in Queens and the interior and exteriors of the Chrysler Building (where the opening heist is filmed), Criminal Courts Building, Sing Sing (Hathaway had Mature and Widmark go through a simulation of convict processing to help them embody the mindset of a prisoner), among other locations. Quotations from the main theme of Alfred Newman’s score to Street Scene (1931) bolsters the authenticity of the film’s New York environment. In terms of backgrounds and production design, there is little sense of artificiality that might have emanated from an all-too-obvious soundstage. Hathaway’s direction posits Kiss of Death as documentary-like without ever quite crossing the lines of fiction and non-fiction. In combination with the performances, these decisions, in aggregate, elevate Kiss of Death from just another film noir. No disrespect intended to the esteemed and prolific screenwriters, Ben Hecht (1932’s Scarface, 1946’s Notorious) and Charles Lederer (1940’s His Girl Friday, 1960’s Ocean’s Eleven), but this was not their most original screenplay – ideologically, structurally, or in terms of character development.

Other reviewers have noted how Tommy Udo might have been influenced by the Joker from the Batman comics. Some go further, claiming that Widmark was a fan of Batman and based Udo’s persona on the Joker and that actor Frank Gorshin based his portrayal of The Riddler in the 1960s Batman television series on Udo. There are no primary sources to confirm any of these claims. If any prior narrative media influenced Widmark’s performance, I cannot confirm any such claims however convincing, on the surface, they might be. The provenance of the influences of and by this performance remains a mystery.

Kiss of Death derives its power almost solely from its performances and nail-biting action. The latter is almost entirely accomplished with slower and/or less motion than one might expect. It is another tribute to the editing’s manipulation of space and time that segments featuring a steady walk, a seemingly ordinary dinner table conversation, or a character sitting alone in darkness watching the movement across the street can leave viewers with wide eyes and goosebumps. Kiss of Death may not stake a claim to being one of the best examples of film noir. Yet through its incredible performances and dramatic ferocity, it will leave impressions that will jangle even the most composed viewers.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

* Actress Patricia Morrison (1943′s The Song of Bernadette, 1946′s Dressed to Kill... but better known for her stage performances) was cast as Nick Bianco’s wife. She filmed both the rape and suicide scenes, but both were cut in the final print. It is unknown who – Hathaway? Kohlmar? Zanuck? – made this decision. But I imagine that the Production Code Administration, applying the Hays Code which forbade such depictions, might have been instrumental in forcing Fox to drop the scenes.

#Kiss of Death #Henry Hathaway #Victor Mature #Richard Widmark #Brian Donlevy #Coleen Gray #Taylor Holmes #Ben Hecht #Charles Lederer #Norbert Brodine #J. Watson Webb Jr.#Fred Kohlmar #Darryl F. Zanuck #TCM #My Movie Odyssey

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creepingsharia · 5 years

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A Month of Islam in America: April 2019

April was a busy month. While the media was focused on their multi-year collusion with Democrats - a treasonous fraud perpetrated on the American people - Muslims were busy being Muslims.

After they took over the House in the 2018 elections, Democrats stopped producing the House Homeland Security monthly report on terror, aka the Terror Threat Snapshot, so most people, politicians included, are unaware of the ongoing threat.

This is our version with a focus on Islamization in the U.S. that is much broader than just terror (jihad). It's only what we had time to aggregate.

Click any hyperlink below to read the full story, then share to your social media sites using the buttons on the bottom of each post. Note: The sharia police at Wordpress did not want you to see this information so original links will not work until we have time to update them all.

Use the links in parenthesis or search the headline in any non-Google search engine.

Future generations will thank you!

April 2019

Jihad & Terror

Maryland: Muslim who harbored hatred for “disbelievers” planned to drive U-haul truck into crowds at National Harbor (DOJ)

Federal prosecutors say a man inspired by the Islamic State group stole a U-Haul truck with plans to drive it into a crowd at National Harbor, the popular dining and entertainment hang out just outside of Washington, D.C. 'For two years,

Rondell Henry, 28, has harbored ‘hatred’ (in his words) for ‘disbelievers’ who do not practice the Muslim faith.'

Montana: Albanian Muslim immigrant who discussed US attack arrested at gun range (NBC)

Fabjan Alameti, 21, an Albanian national who talked about joining ISIS and attacking random people to avenge a shooting at a New Zealand mosque was arrested at a gun range in Montana, authorities said Thursday.

Maryland: Muslim arrested after using car to strike and injure woman; kill woman in Virginia (MCP Press Release)

The Montgomery County Department of Police – 5th and 6th District Investigative Sections, have charged Muhammad Taha, age 29, of the 23300 block of Observation Drive in Clarksburg, with crimes related to two incidents occurring in Germantown and Gaithersburg. The same individual was arrested in Prince William County, Virginia, and charged with 2nd Degree Murder, Felony Hit & Run, and other charges for events that occurred on March 24, 2019, in the Manassas area.

California: Muslim arrested in planned attack on Santa Monica Pier, Long Beach rally as “retribution” for mosque attack (ABC)

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, was taken into custody Friday on domestic terrorism charges.

Domingo expressed “support for violent Jihad and an aspiration to conduct an attack in the Los Angeles area.” As part of the plot, Domingo allegedly purchased several hundred nails to be used as shrapnel inside the IED. “Domingo said he specifically bought three-inch nails because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs,” U.S. Attorney Nicola Hanna said.

Michigan: Dearborn Muslim charged with receiving terror training from ISIS (DOJ)

Islamic State fighters provided military-style training to a machine-gun toting Dearborn man captured on a Syrian battlefield last summer, prosecutors said Wednesday. Prosecutors leveled the allegations in a new indictment against

Ibraheem Musaibli, 28, who was brought back to Metro Detroit last year and charged with conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

Michigan: Muslim terrorist tells judge ‘still has jihad in his heart, regrets he didn’t kill cop, kill more people’; gets life sentence (WXYZ)

Fifty-one-year old Amor Ftouhi will spend the rest of his life in prison. Federal Judge Matthew Leitman imposed the sentence in Flint after hearing Ftouhi say he regrets he didn’t kill the cop, regrets he didn’t kill people, and regrets he couldn’t get a machine gun.

He told the judge he still had Jihad in his heart and Jihad in his blood.

Texas: Muslim teen pleads guilty to plotting mass shooting jihad at Frisco mall (DOJ)

A state judge sentenced Matin Azizi-Yarand to 20 years in prison Monday for solicitation of capital murder and making a terroristic threat, state and federal prosecutors announced. The 18-year-old is eligible for parole after serving 10 years.

Azizi-Yarand was arrested last May for plotting to shoot civilians and police at a Frisco mall in a rampage authorities said he was timing to coincide with Ramadan

Wisconsin: Muslim pleads guilty, faces 20 years in prison for attempt to join ISIS (DOJ)

Federal prosecutors said Yosvany Padilla-Conde, a Cuban national, agreed to assist Jason Ludke in an attempt to join ISIS by traveling from Wisconsin through Mexico to Syria and Iraq in order to work under ISIS’ direction and control.

New York: Muslim Sentenced to 20 Years Prison for Attempting and Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS (DOJ)

Adam Raishani, aka “Saddam Mohamed Raishani,” 32, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release for attempting to provide and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Illinois: Bosnian refugee woman pleads guilty to funding fellow Muslim who died waging jihad in Syria (DOJ)

An Illinois woman on Thursday pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists for her role in funding a St. Louis County man who fought and died in Syria.

Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 38, of Schiller Park, Illinois, agreed with prosecutors’ claims that she sent money via PayPal to co-defendant Ramiz Hodzic, who then used the money to buy supplies that he sent to Syria. Salkicevic could face up to 15 years in prison at her sentencing in June

Missouri: Muslim Refugee Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to Terrorists (DOJ)

Armin Harcevic, 41, pled guilty today to an indictment in this case that charged him with one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and one count of providing material support to terrorists.

Missouri: (Another) Muslim Refugee Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to Terrorists (DOJ)

Ramiz Zijad (aka Jihad) Hodzic, 44, of St. Louis County, Missouri, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and one count of providing material support to terrorists.

Wisconsin: Muslim woman pleads guilty to providing support to ISIS (DOJ)

Waheba Dais posted videos with instructions for making explosive vests and bombs — and exchanged information with other suspected ISIS sympathizers on how to make poison.

More Jihad in April

California man threatens to kill First Baptist Dallas pastor ‘in the name of Allah’ (Dallas News)

South Carolina: “Submit to God thru Islam” and “Muhammed is his prophet” spray painted on church on Palm Sunday (Charlotte Observer)

Last Two Muslim Terrorists Involved in Kidnapping and Beheading American Journalist Daniel Pearl Arrested in Pakistan (NY Times)

New York: Muslim Limo Company Operator Indicted in Crash That Killed 20 (NBC)

Minnesota: Somali used machete in string of Target store robberies in St. Paul (CBS)

Judicial Jihad and Dhimmitude in America

Feds Give Up – Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is Not A Federal Crime

Texas: DOJ Forces Islamic Cemetery on Farmersville, Against Citizens Wishes

San Francisco: Judge frees Muslim terror suspect who had one-way ticket, talked of killing U.S. soldiers

Michigan: Court affirms sharia, orders $50k payment in Islamic marriage agreement

Utah: Teen who left homemade bomb in high school, swapped school flag with ISIS flag, gets probation

Minneapolis: Judge sharply restricts media, public access to trial of Muslim cop who killed unarmed woman

Islamic Rape & Violence Against Americans

Texas: Muslim Couple Who Enslaved African Girl for 16 Years Get Just 7 Seven Years in Prison

Immigration Jihad in America

ICE: More Than 10,000 Illegals From Terror States Still in U.S. After Ordered Removed

California: How did a Muslim refugee – arrested for ISIS cop killing – get into the U.S.? (VIDEO)

Texas: Jordanian (Muslim) pleads guilty to smuggling Yemeni (Muslims) into the U.S.

California: Convicted Muslim terrorist-turned-US citizen to be deported following 9-month prison sentence

California: Muslim refugee researched deadly Islamic terrorist attack in N.Y. before running down Jews at L.A. synagogue

Sharia in Your Community

Philadelphia Int’l Airport submits, allows Muslim cabbies to keep makeshift (illegal?) mosque on property

New York: More on the NYPD-looking Islamic Patrols in Brooklyn

Illinois: Muslims unveil plans for new multi-million dollar mosque near golf club

Sharia in American Education

Detroit: Another school district will close for Muslim holiday, as Islamization continues

Utah: 50 Salt Lake City teachers to be “trained” by Islamic groups on ‘how to grasp the needs of Muslim students’

Minneapolis: Public elementary school kids get coloring project on anti-American Muslim Ilhan Omar

Kansas State University Muslim Group Hijacks Holy (Maundy) Thursday for “Hijab Day”

Islamic Jew Hatred in America

California: Muslim doctor who tweeted she’d purposely give all Jews wrong meds is fired by second hospital

CAIR Official: “i wish hitler was alive to f*** up the jewish ppl”

California: Muslim refugee researched deadly Islamic terrorist attack in N.Y. before running down Jews at L.A. synagogue

Sharia Adherents in Elected Office

Democrats Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris Want to Allow Islamic Terrorists Like Boston Bomber to Vote

More Terror-linked Muslim Groups on Capitol Hill as Rashida Tlaib and AOC Host AMP

Minnesota: Rep. Ilhan Omar pushes for release of jailed Muslim Brotherhood leader

Fraud for Jihad in America

Michigan: 4 Muslims charged in $70M health care fraud scheme

New Jersey: Muslim Couple Plead Guilty in Illegal $4M Food Stamp Fraud Scheme

Louisiana: Muslim husband and wife – who had multi-million dollar business – busted receiving Medicaid

Ohio: Muslim charged in illegal halal slaughterhouse, dumping animal blood in waterways

Video: New book exposes Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood’s financing and Islamization network

Victories Against Sharia in America

Oklahoma: CAIR dismisses lawsuit against “Muslim-Free” gun range

Minnesota: City of St. Cloud Orders Cease-and-Desist on Mosque’s Look-alike Police Car

And if that weren't enough - the Islamic invasion and the sharia supremacists leading it are targeting Utah this year:

Utah: Newly Formed Muslim Group Working to Elect…Muslims

=========================================

As we have been warning for 11 years, if the threat of sharia is not stopped in its tracks, you will lose your right to speak freely, and even commenting or criticizing Islam and Muslims will become a crime.

This has become such a reality that Wordpress has implemented sharia law and will not allow any criticism of Islam or reporting on terrorism committed by Muslims. Despite the sources of the information being the DOJ, FBI, CNN and other large media outlets.

Sharia law is in effect in America.

#Legal #Sharia #Immigration #Jihad #monthly #News #Politics

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mrjohnwilson · 4 years

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Are you someone willing to receive parole grants at your hearings? Well, you should make sure of looking forward to the best lawyer that would represent you. You can make the right decision to contact the Law Office of Michael Beckman that would help to meet your requirements without any worry.

#Three strikes parole attorney #non-violent second-strike parole lawyer #SB260 and SB261 Lawyer #California Youthful Offender Parole #youthful offender parole attorney

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furynewsnetwork · 7 years

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LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST:

By Kitty Testa

As I rode into work Friday morning, I switched on the radio and happened upon The Mike Gallagher Show. I caught him in mid-sentence, complaining about malcontents who criticize the police. He was discussing the fatal shooting of Justine Damond by Minneapolis police officer, Mohamed Noor. Apropos of nothing, Gallagher quickly pivoted to another story in the news, that of Officer Scott Naff of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, who was denied service at a McDonald’s drive-thru while he was in uniform. “This is the kind of thing that police have to put up with every day!” said Gallagher, as if suffering a slight at a McDonald’s drive-thru were the equivalent of losing one’s life to a police bullet. The Police State has its fans.

There is a dangerous hero-worship of police in particular and law enforcement in general, specifically among neoconservatives. The police are always right; the civilian is always wrong. When police kill or injure a civilian, the civilian had it coming, as if the proper role of police is to serve as holy agents of karma. When the actions of a police officer are ridiculously difficult to justify, the actions are excused because “police have a hard job.”

During Donald Trump’s campaign for president, the candidate made clear his affinity for the law-and-order crowd. He praised “our men and women in blue.” He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose treatment of prisoners in his Tent City Jail (which is currently being shuttered) has been inhumane. Using examples like the city of Chicago’s bloody street violence, Trump’s campaign speeches painted a horrific picture of escalating crime in America, despite the fact that, on the whole, violent crime has been decreasing overall.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was an early Trump supporter, and Trump praised him effusively during his campaign. It was obvious that Sessions would be granted a high-ranking position in Trump’s cabinet. I was hoping he might be named ambassador to Zanzibar or something equally innocuous, where the former senator and Alabama Attorney General could do little harm to the country. When Trump nominated Jeff Sessions as Attorney General I knew that Trump was serious about his unquestioning support for law enforcement, including its excesses.

About 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States in federal, state and local jails. About 20% of them have never been convicted of a crime and are simply unable to make bail. 35% of prisoners have been convicted of violent offenses, while 16% have convictions for drug offenses. The remaining 29% or so are split evenly between inmates who have been found guilty of property crimes, and those who were found guilty of public order offenses, including weapons charges. We have no idea how many are actually innocent, but both 2015 and 2016 were record years for proving wrongful convictions, and 2017 is proving to be on track to break those records.

Evidently there aren’t enough prisoners in the United States for Jeff Sessions.

Sessions has made it clear that he believes that many more of his countrymen deserve to be rotting away in prison, and given far longer sentences. As chief law enforcement officer of the United States, Sessions supports policies that will lead to more abuse by law enforcement across the country, more people charged with crimes, and more people in jail for non-violent offenses. Not one of these five policies will make us any safer, and may put innocent people at greater risk as they increase the power of police and threatens individuals’ rights.

1. Escalating the Failed War on Drugs

If you’re sitting in your living room enjoying a marijuana cigarette or a whiff of hash oil, Jeff Sessions believes you ought to be in prison. Seriously. He would think it perfectly reasonable to send a SWAT team into your home to terrorize you and your family. If they happened to kill you or someone else in your home, well, that would be your fault. Sessions is a drug warrior with a deep-seated hostility towards drug users. At a Senate drug hearing in April 2016, he stated, “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

I, myself, prefer scotch on the rocks or a classic gin martini, but my particular drug of choice doesn’t bother Mr. Sessions. When my kids were teenagers, I warned them about the dangers of drugs, specifically addictive drugs such as heroin and cocaine that they were certain to encounter. When it came to pot, I warned them about the dangers of the police. While the opioid epidemic was developing, with upper-middleclass teens overdosing on oxycodone and heroin, law enforcement’s response was to go after marijuana with a vengeance, as if picking up every kid with a pipe in his pocket was going to address the health crisis of addiction. Focusing on a non-causal correlation between cannabis users and heroin users, law enforcement determined that to save kids from heroin, we needed to save them from weed. Science does not back up this claim, and it has fallen out of favor with the populace, and now most Americans support decriminalization of marijuana.

The congress was so concerned about the AG’s belief in reefer madness that they specifically adopted a budget amendment that prohibited the Department of Justice from using any of its allocated funds to prevent any state “from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

In addition to Sessions’ irrational fear of pot, there are other reasons the War on Drugs has been maintained for so long. The myriad of government employees who work in law enforcement are now welcoming the AG’s position. Surely, some of them have good intentions, but many derive income and power from drug criminalization. Prohibition has been very profitable for many stakeholders. More drug laws means we need more cops. More prosecutors and defense attorneys. More judges. More courtrooms. More jails. More lab technicians. More probation and parole officers. More fines. More pharmaceuticals. The participants in the War on Drugs are in some ways no different than a pusher who wants to get you addicted. Both are in it for profit and neither cares if you’re a victim of their enterprise.

2. Supporting Civil Asset Forfeiture

Civil asset forfeiture may be the most un-American law on the books. First, for the state to lay claim to your assets, the state needn’t even charge you with a crime. Second, in the civil legal procedure, you are tasked to prove that you did not obtain your property through illicit means, i.e., you are presumed guilty. Also, if you cannot afford a lawyer, one will not be provided to you by the state, because the process is—quite cleverly—civil as opposed to criminal.

Civil asset forfeiture has been the Howitzer in the War on Drugs. The idea was simple: take drug money away from drug dealers and use it to fund police departments, who share in the proceeds of the property they lay claim to by mere suspicion. Who knew that a few decades on police departments would end up funneling billions of dollars in seized property to the Department of Justice? While the fight against illegal drugs was initially the rationale for those who supported the program, most certainly it’s been a cash cow, and they don’t want to give that up, including Jeff Sessions. While many states have been reforming their asset forfeiture laws to address abuses, the Attorney General issued a directive aimed to override such reforms.

So now, even if your state has curtailed or eliminated civil asset forfeiture programs, you are not safe from having your cash, car or house stolen by the police just because they happen to think you’re up to no good.

3. Seeking the Highest Possible Charges Against Suspects

Another of Sessions’ directives instructs US attorneys to pursue the highest charges possible against all indictable suspects. This is an about face from the Obama administration’s policy to avoid mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders. As a blanket policy, this may result in those who should be charged with manslaughter being charged with first-degree murder, or those who should be charged with assault being charged with battery, or a person who sells cannabis oil in one state to a sick relative in another state would be tried just as if he were a drug king pin.

This policy may, in fact, backfire. The DOJ may find that juries are not likely to concur with severe charges that result in extended, harsh sentences for people whom they feel may have had extenuating circumstances. They can’t count on every juror to be a fan of The Mike Gallagher Show.

Sessions’ directive also deprives prosecutors who are familiar with facts of a case of the ability to make a discretionary call about how to proceed with charges. It is a blanket push to put more people in jail for longer periods of time.

4. Pushing Mandatory Minimum Sentences

Along with pushing for the most severe criminal charges, Sessions also strongly supports mandatory minimum sentences which were introduced in the 1980s and were codified in 1994 at the federal level.

Mandatory minimum sentences were implemented to undercut judicial discretion as many felt that too many judges were soft on crime. The sentencing rules also include so-called three-strikes laws, where mandatory life sentences were established for those who received three felony convictions. Because many felony convictions are related to drug possession, many non-violent offenders have ended up serving life sentences.

The end result has been a massive increase in prisoners in the United States that is costly to taxpayers and has placed increased economic pressure on already impoverished communities. Despite the fact that crime is decreasing, AG Sessions, along with a lot of Americans, support these punitive policies against non-violent offenders, despite the fact that they don’t affect violent crime rates.

Ironically, neoconservatives who generally support lower taxes do not seem to see the connection between rising taxes and the costs of law enforcement from cops on the beat to housing the prison population.

5. Rejection of Forensic Science Reforms

The National Commission on Forensic Science was an advisory panel to the DOJ which was chartered in 2013 to address junk science used as forensic evidence, faulty interrogation techniques, and other procedural flaws in law enforcement. Sessions did not renew the commission when its second term expired in April.

It’s quite possible that the people who make up juries across the country have developed an admiration for forensic science from watching TV shows which have glamorized the profession, from the 1970s show Quincy, M.E. to the current iterations of CSI. In reality, forensic science is not fool-proof. Bite mark analysis, firearms identification, hair sampling, and a variety of other forensic methods are not scientifically validated.

According to The Innocence Project, the misapplication of forensic science is the culprit in 46% of wrongful convictions based on DNA evidence.

Still, many people are convicted based on faulty forensic evidence, and law enforcement clings dearly to these methods because it helps them do what they aim to do: put more people in jail.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is now the leader of the Prison Industrial Complex. He is hostile to individual rights, states’ powers to reflect their citizens’ views on law enforcement, and to any reforms that would improve our criminal justice system. Recently President Trump has expressed frustration with Sessions, not for the reasons outlined here, but because he did not believe that Sessions should have recused himself from the investigation into Russian influence during the 2016 election. Regardless of Trump’s reasons, Sessions was a poor choice to head the DOJ, and we will all be better served if Trump makes a call to Sessions and says, “You’re fired.”

WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO:

The post Top Five Ways Jeff Sessions is Expanding the Police State appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

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#IFTTT #Headline News – The Libertarian Republic

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