Abusing Authority



“ Ermir Spahiu was pulled over by police for his window-mounted GPS unit. For Tina Ross, it was her handicapped placard. And Mark Hubbard was nailed for an air freshener. All three Illinois drivers were stopped for what they thought were innocent items placed near their windshields. “It really threw me for a loop,” said Hubbard, recalling his 2008 encounter with Rolling Meadows police over a 2-inch scented medallion that dangled from his rearview mirror. An increasing number of drivers are being cited for windshield and window obstructions, which can include anything an officer deems to “materially obstruct” a driver’s vision. The only exceptions are government-issued items such as I-PASS boxes and parking stickers. Police handing out tickets for air fresheners — chicagotribune.com


reblogged from azspot
Fire chief shot by cop in Ark. court over tickets

azspot:

It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn’t hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps.

The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court.

Payne ended up in the hospital, but his shooting last week brought to a boil simmering tensions between residents of this tiny former cotton city and their police force. Drivers quickly learn to slow to a crawl along the gravel roads and the two-lane highway that run through Jericho, but they say sometimes that isn’t enough to fend off the city ticketing machine.

“You can’t even get them to answer a call because normally they’re writing tickets,” said Thomas Martin, chief investigator for the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department. “They’re not providing a service to the citizens.”



“ CBS 2 HD has discovered that since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him. Rangel-ing: Charlie Pays ‘Angels’ In Ethics Probe - wcbstv.com


reblogged from hilker
“ In an effort to teach people not to leave valuable items in their cars, police officers will be wandering the streets looking for stuff to steal. If you don’t have your doors locked, the cops will take your stuff. Because they’re cops, they’ll also be kind enough to leave a note explaining what happened, but the point is to teach people to be more responsible. U.K. Cops Will Rob You for Your Own Good - Asylum.com (via hilker)


“ When officers pulled Donald May over for an expired tag, they thought the mints he was chewing were crack and arrested him.
… . May was thrown in jail and was unable to bond out for three months. He didn’t get out until he received a letter from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office that test results showed no drugs were found.
… While May was behind bars, the Kissimmee Police Department towed his car and auctioned it off. He lost his job and was evicted. Mints Believed To Be Crack Land Man In Jail - Irresistible Headlines News Story - WFTV Orlando (h/t CNJ)


“ Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.

AP IMPACT: Dodd, Conrad told deals were sweetened

If Dodd is reelected, this country is hopeless.


“ Coming back on Route 50, the speed limit is 55 and I was pulled over by a Maryland State trooper,” Bonstrom said. “When I asked him why, he said I was going too slow and issued me an $80 ticket for going 58 in a 65.

I Can’t Drive 65! | NBC Washington

A trooper, trying to meet a quota, abusing authority.


“ Krister [Evertson] never had so much as a traffic ticket before he was run off the road near his mother’s home in Wasilla, Alaska, by SWAT-armored federal agents in large black SUVs training automatic weapons on him. Evertson, who had been working on clean-energy fuel cells since he was in high school, had no idea what he’d done wrong. It turned out that when he legally sold some sodium (part of his fuel-cell materials) to raise cash, he forgot to put a federally mandated safety sticker on the UPS package he sent to the lawful purchaser. Krister’s lack of a criminal record did nothing to prevent federal agents from ransacking his mother’s home in their search for evidence on this oh-so-dangerous criminal. The good news is that a federal jury in Alaska acquitted Krister of all charges. The jurors saw through the charges and realized that Krister had done nothing wrong. The bad news, however, is that the feds apparently had it in for Krister.

You’re (Probably) a Federal Criminal - FOXNews.com

Keep reading to see how the Feds finally nailed him.
“ Gov. Bill Ritter turned down a $75-an-hour offer from the Colorado attorney general’s office to handle legal matters regarding the disbursement of federal stimulus funds, instead hiring his former law partners for up to six times that cost. The governor’s lawyers told the attorney general’s office in February that they planned to hire outside counsel to help with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money. Deputy Attorney General Geoff Blue told them his office was willing to do it, but his offer was rejected. “They thought we didn’t have the expertise or manpower,” said Blue, who handles legal policy and government affairs. “We would’ve gotten the job done. But we told them, ‘That’s your call,’ and we had nothing more to do with it.” A few weeks later, Ritter hired Hogan & Hartson through a no-bid contract. So far, the firm has been paid $40,000 from federal funds. Guv rejected low offer in favor of former firm - The Denver Post


“ Sen. Edward Kennedy has introduced a bill granting Amgen and other biotech companies more than 13 years of marketing exclusivity for new “biologic” drugs, a class of protein-based drugs engineered from living cells. That’s nearly twice the seven years’ protection proposed by the White House; Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Henry Waxman have proposed five.
All parties to this disagreement are dedicated to the plight of the health care consumer, none more than Kennedy himself. Why, then, the difference? Reporting on the controversy in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Alicia Mundy suggests that Kennedy was trying to “keep the pharmaceutical industry on board” with the health care reform bill. Another possible reason—one Mundy fails to mention—is that Amgen has pledged $5 million to help create the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a pricey “Teddy Too” annex that Kennedy hopes to build alongside the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Why is Ted Kennedy being so kind to Amgen? - By Timothy Noah - Slate Magazine