By John Ingold (Denver Post) The passage of state medical-marijuana laws is associated with a subsequent drop in the rate of traffic fatalities, according to a newly released study by two university professors. The study — by University of Colorado Denver professor Daniel Rees and Montana State University professor D. Mark Anderson — found that [...]
Mayors and DHS coordinated attacks on Occupy camps
By Allison Kilkenny (In These Times) When a series of crackdowns on the Occupy camps suddenly occurred in, more or less, the same week, many observers wondered if perhaps the attacks had been coordinated at a national level. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan confirmed that suspicion during an appearance on the BBC – excerpted on The [...]
Former detective says NYPD planted drugs on people to meet arrest quotas
By Kristen Gwynne (AlterNet) The NYPD has been under fire in recent months for illegal searches resulting in thousands of low-level marijuana arrests, mostly of people of color. As corrupt as this practice is, testimony from Stephen Anderson, a former NYPD narcotics detective, shows it’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to Anderson, who [...]
Indiana man, 87, nabbed with 228 pounds of cocaine
By James B. Kelleher and Cynthia Johnston (Reuters) An 87-year-old Indiana man was arraigned on drug charges in federal court in Detroit on Monday after police found 228 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $2.9 million in his pickup following a routine traffic stop. via Indiana man, 87, nabbed with 228 pounds of cocaine, police say [...]
‘Bomb’ that shut down bridge was a city traffic counter
By Tamsin McMahon (National Post) The City of Saskatoon issued an apology this week to residents after police shut down one of the community’s main bridges for three hours so a bomb squad could probe a mysterious box chained to a lamp post that turned out to be a city-owned traffic counter. The hard plastic [...]
College loan enforcers hold man in handcuffs six hours while searching his home for his ex-wife
By Leigh Paynter (ABC News10) Kenneth Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts as a S.W.A.T team barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn. “He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there,” [...]
California Prison Academy — better than a Harvard Degree
By Allysia Finley (WSJ) If you want to earn big bucks and retire young, you’re better off becoming a California prison guard. The job might not sound glamorous, but a brochure from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations boasts that it “has been called ‘the greatest entry-level job in California’—and for good reason. Our [...]
Anti-pot lawmaker arrested for marijuana possession while driving
A high-ranking Rhode Island lawmaker who criticized the Legislature by invoking the image of pot-smoking immigrants is facing drug charges in Connecticut. Police in East Haven, Conn., say East Greenwich Republican Robert Watson, the House Minority Leader, was stopped at a police checkpoint Friday and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and driving [...]
Afghan police seek to stop illicit trade in uniforms
By Ray Rivera (NY Times) The police on Saturday ratcheted up enforcement on stores and tailor shops that illegally make and sell military and police uniforms after a string of attacks by insurgents dressed as Afghan service members that have cast suspicion on the country’s security forces. In the Kohan Froshi market, a sprawling open-air [...]
Right-winger + hard time = compassion?
By Justin Elliott (Salon) Some of the most eloquent advocates for prison reform are conservatives who find themselves behind bars Last week, disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham wrote a letter to several media outlets from the federal penitentiary where he has resided since 2006. In it, Cunningham, a conservative Republican who pleaded guilty in a [...]
