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Blog and Media Roundup - Monday, January 26, 2009; News Roundup
Topic Started: Jan 26 2009, 05:36 AM (392 Views)
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http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 26, 2009
Review: Race to Injustice

The newest book on the lacrosse case is now out. Edited by University of Florida law professor Michael Seigel, Race to Injustice: Lessons Learned from the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, in many ways captures the conventional wisdom of the case’s effects:

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in the law, a willingness to address the shortcomings that the case exposed, coupled with a renewed emphasis on the dangers of prosecutorial misconduct and civil liberties violations;

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in the academy and academic culture, an almost complete unwillingness to reconsider the dominant assumptions about race, class, and gender; or to ask hard questions as to how dozens of professors at a major university could have both rushed to judgment and then refused to reconsider their perspective as facts emerged undermining their initial assumptions.

Most of the law essays first are well-written and very much on point. The essays on eyewitness identification procedures by Gary Wells, Brian Cutler, and Lisa Hasel and on grand jury reform by editor Michael Seigel particularly stand out.

Wells, et al. walk readers through the myriad improprieties associated with the lineup procedures employed by Nifong and the DPD, which they deem “profoundly flawed, dangerous, and nondiagnostic of the guilt or innocence of the accused individuals.” The authors note that the Nifong/DPD procedures went against the guidance of not only DPD official policy but also the standards laid down by the American Psychology-Law Society, the National Institute of Justice, and the North Carolina Innocence Commission. “Identification procedures matters most,” Wells, et al, write, “when there are reasons to believe that the witnesses’ memory is weak”—as in the lacrosse case.

The trio adds that beyond all the other Durham improprieties, “the repeated presentation of certain suspects’ photos is particularly egregious”—36 lacrosse players were shown to Crystal Mangum twice, over a two week-span. That this issue received relatively little condemnation, the authors speculate, is “precisely because [condemnation] seems so obvious.”

Seigel’s essay points out that “all of the procedures designed to protect individuals suspected of committing a crime in North Carolina failed to prevent this travesty of justice”—in part because even the best procedural apparatus “will not stop a prosecutor who, for whatever reason, is not bothered by the prospect of breaking the law and covering up his breach.”

Seigel wonders whether grand jury reforms might prevent such obvious miscarrirages of justice as the lacrosse case. He points to two possibilities. First: abolishing the hearsay rule, thus requiring accusers to testify before the grand jury themselves (the lacrosse case grand juries heard only from Sgt. Gottlieb and Inv. Himan, and Gottlieb has admitted that he told the first grand jury false information). Seigel speculates, probably correctly, that no grand jury ever could have come back with an indictment after listening to Mangum spin what would have been by that point version number six or seven of the “attack.” Second: allowing grand juries to hear from the defendants. It is inconceivable that the lacrosse case grand jury would have brought back indictments had the lacrosse players been allowed to testify.

That said, Seigel notes that these reforms have their own problems—most notably, they would dramatically increase the workload of the grand jury system. As an alternative, he suggests requiring preliminary hearings. This procedure might not have worked in the lacrosse case, but only because of the inherently corrupt nature of Durham “justice.” (The judge that would have heard the preliminary hearing was none other than Nifong’s ex-boss, Ron Stephens, who would later serve as a character witness after the ex-DA was convicted of criminal contempt.) But perhaps even Stevens would have been shamed into dismissing the case after seeing a Mangum performance on the stand. As a second alternative, Seigel proposes a beefed-up grand jury process, to apply only to sexual assault cases, because of the opprobrium associated with a rape indictment.

Other well-done law essays examine the role of DNA in the case (Paul Giannelli writes that “the DNA did its job. Unfortunately, Mike Nifong did not do his,” and says he can’t fathom what could have motivated Brian Meehan to violate legal and professional standards); the specifics of Mike Nifong’s prosecutorial misconduct (a thorough summary by Kenneth Williams); the toxic effects of pre-trial publicity (Andrew Taslitz); and the dangers of unjust imprisonment to those who can’t afford first-rate attorneys (Rodney Uphoff).

The only disappointing legal essay came from Indiana University law professor Aviva Orenstein, whose CV shows an expertise in feminist jurisprudence. Unlike, say, Wendy Murphy or Catherine MacKinnon, Orenstein at least has pondered issues such as due process and fairness for the accused in sexual assault cases. Yet her chief goal regarding the Duke case appears to be ensuring that people ignore any (legal) lessons from it. Indeed, she can’t even bring herself to use Crystal Mangum’s name—she alternatively describes the false accuser as “the accuser,” “the alleged victim,” and, at least once (p. 361), as “the victim.” And in her general discussions of sexual assault law, her essay too easily interchanged between “accuser” and “victim” (p. 358), as if any woman who makes an accusation of rape can be deemed a “victim.”

Orenstein’s thesis:

I am concerned about deriving the wrong lessons from the Duke case. In hindsight, knowing that these innocent young men were subjected to a false accusation, it is tempting to over-read the Duke case as a cautionary tale about the dangers of legal reforms in sex-crime prosecutions. Over the last thirty years, changes to evidentiary rules and other legal doctrines have enabled women to come forward and testify about sex crimes with less fear and humiliation than in times past. For all the hardship that a man accused of rape may face, there are still powerful stories drawing on gender, racial, and socioeconomic stereotypes that make it difficult to convict even those guilty of rape.

How, then, should women who make “a false accusation” be weeded out before causing “hardship” to the men they falsely accuse? Orenstein’s essay is silent on the subject; such suffering, it seems, is a necessary byproduct to counter the “powerful stories drawing on gender, racial, and socioeconomic stereotypes.” But, of course, our entire system of justice supposedly is based on the premise that better nine guilty people go free than one innocent person go to jail.

In this respect, Orenstein’s essay reflects the fundamental flaw in feminist theory about sexual assault law. Feminists believe that “the problem with rape prosecutions is not false reporting, but underreporting.” And so they have championed what Orenstein delicately describes as “legal reforms in sex-crime prosecutions” to increase the likelihood that those charged with rape will be convicted of the crime, even if doing so requires weakening due process protections for the accused—under the assumption that more true victims will come forward if they believe they’re likely to win at trial. And so we have moved from a sexual assault system that, in the 1970s, was biased against the accuser to a contemporary system that is biased against the accused.

Orenstein also expresses concern with what she deems the troubling “narrative” associated with the case—“a tale of a drugged-out, black exotic dancer with a criminal record, class envy, and a chip on her shoulder—one who was lying, delusional, or both.” Such an image, she claimed, “can be traced back to the historical, generalized suspicion of women accusing someone of rape.” Yet Crystal Mangum, in fact, was “a drugged-out, black exotic dancer with a criminal record, class envy, and a chip on her shoulder—one who was lying, delusional, or both.” Should the lacrosse players and their attorneys have treated Mangum with kid gloves because she seemed to fit all the worst stereotypes of a false rape accuser, even if doing so increased the likelihood of their going to jail for a crime that never occurred? Again, Orenstein’s essay is silent on the subject.

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Seigel’s book also contains several essays that examine either the academic or the cultural legacy of the case. Most of these read as if caricatures of the race/class/gender-based scholarship that fueled the Group of 88’s fury.

Here’s University of Florida Law’s Sharon Rush (ironically, a former women’s lacrosse player):

Crystal Mangum did not deserve the maligning of her character by some of the partygoers or by many others who recounted what happened that night in Durham . . . Even though she lied about events in that evening, particularly the rape, it is worth exploring the damaging and hurtful assaults on her dignity in the process of exposing those lies.

Let’s be blunt here: Mangum is someone who, for more than a year, repeatedly lied with the goal of putting three people in jail for 30 years for a crime that never occurred. One wonders how those committed to “exposing those lies” should have treated her: perhaps the lacrosse players’ attorneys should have hailed her as an upstanding citizen of the Durham community?

Here’s University of Florida Law’s Michelle Jacobs, a specialist in critical race theory:

All of the risk factors that can lead to acquaintance rape, particularly of the gang-rape variety, were present that night [at the party]. Although theories explaining why college-age men rape vary, four factors can generally be used to identify a heightened risk for male sexual aggression: stereotypical views of male and female role orientation; membership in a male peer-support group; alcohol consumption; and lack of deterrence. It is clear that at least three of these factors were present in the Duke scenario.

Once again, bluntness is in order: there was no rape in the lacrosse case. So unless Jacobs is contending that the existence of these “risk factors” increases the likelihood of a false allegation of rape, it’s hard to see the relevance of her essay to an analysis of the lacrosse case.

Here’s University of Mississippi Law’s Michele Alexandre, a specialist in “feminist legal theory”:

The Duke lacrosse rape case is a story that is crucially centered on our inability to address and undo our longstanding assumptions about women of color’s bodies.

Again, let’s return to reality: a “woman of color” made a false accusation of rape against three “privileged” white men, and had her accusations not only taken seriously by local authorities, but saw these local authorities engage in grossly unethical practices to keep her case alive. Moreover, she received zealous, public support from dozens of the professors who taught these “privileged” white men, and, at least initially, from most of the mainstream media. This is hardly the record we would expect from a case “that is crucially centered on our inability to address and undo our longstanding assumptions about women of color’s bodies.”

The only academic/cultural essay that seems grounded in what actually occurred at Duke comes from Robert O’Neil, a specialist in academic freedom issues, former president of the University of Virginia, and director of The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.

O’Neill has little sympathy for the Group of 88’s performance. He writes,

Controversy over the “Group of 88” ad would have been intense under any conditions. But the level of concern was substantially heightened by the release of a later [January 2007] statement, signed by many of the original 88 and by other Duke professors as well. Given the steady erosion of the premises on which the lacrosse players’ guilt had been based at the time of the original ad, many in the Duke community expected the sequel to include, at the very least, a substantial recantation. The second letter did slightly qualify the 88’s original position, stating that ‘we do not endorse every demonstration that took place at the time.” it also sought to provide a broader and less passionate context for the Group of 88 ad, insisting that the earlier text had been distorted and misunderstood. Basically, however, the sponsors declined to apologize or retract, and essentially reaffirmed the position they had advanced nine months earlier.

O’Neil also dismisses the claims offered by some Group members that the administration should have openly defended them against their critics, while adding (correctly) that “in one specific respect, the administration exceeded any conceivable pre-existing obligation to safeguard the interests of its faculty,” when the administration shielded the faculty from lawsuits as part of the settlement with the three falsely accused players.

In a few other areas, however, O’Neil seems excessively willing to give the Group the benefit of the doubt. He faults Steve Baldwin, for instance, for behaving in an “uncollegial” fashion in his criticism of the Group—while leaving without mention the (false) assertion by Women’s Studies professor Robyn Weigman that Baldwin had used the “language of lynching.” Certainly, by any standard, a public, written, false allegation of racism against a colleague would qualify as “uncollegial” behavior.

More problematically, O’Neil seems to imply that an academic freedom exemption exists to the faculty’s requirements on treating students laid down in the Faculty Handbook and the student bulletin. Duke is, of course, a private institution, and if it wants to say that faculty members engaged in race/class/gender-based research have an academic freedom exemption to advance their pedagogical agenda by exploiting students’ hardships, the University has every right to do so. But, as now written, neither the handbook nor the bulletin contains such an exemption.

Finally, O’Neil paints an inaccurate picture of one element of the Group of 88 statement. He notes that the ad would have been improper had the signatories claimed to speak on behalf of Duke, but “nothing in the ad expressly claimed or even strongly implied departmental (much less university) endorsement. Even a casual reading of the text would have belied such nexus, given the critical tenor of the statements.”

Yet, of course, the wording of the ad expressly claimed official departmental endorsements. The bottom the text published in the Chronicle and then posted for 183 days on an official Duke departmental website contained the following passage:

We thank the following departments and programs for signing onto this ad with African & African American Studies: Romance Studies; Psychology; Social and Health Sciences; Franklin Humanities Institute; Critical U.S. Studies; Art, Art History, and Visual Studies; Classical Studies; Asian & African Languages & Literature; Women’s Studies; Latino/a Studies; Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Medieval and Renaissance Studies; European Studies; Program in Education; and the Center for Documentary Studies. Because of space limitations, the names of additional faculty and staff who signed on in support may be read at the AAAS website.

Moreover, as we now know, not even one of the departments listed as officially signing onto the ad ever formally voted on such an endorsement—an extraordinary violation of standard academic procedure, yet one for which the Duke administration appears not to have punished anyone associated with the ad.

One additional point on the book’s contents: the essays leave a glaring hole in coverage. How, one wonders, in the highest-profile case of prosecutorial misconduct in modern American history, did dozens of professors at a major university seem utterly indifferent to due process and almost eager to exploit their students’ difficulties? Perhaps, sadly, we’re at a point at which no one familiar with the academy even expects professors to defend due process if doing so contradicts the dominant assumptions on issues of race, class, and gender.

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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1080437.cfm

'This victory alone is not the change'
By Monica Chen : The Herald-Sun
mchen@heraldsun.com
Jan 26, 2009

DURHAM -- Less than a week after the inauguration of the first black president in the history of the U.S., the crowd attending the annual meeting of The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People harked to the call to keep fighting for change Sunday night.

William Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of NAACP, quoted President Obama at the meeting by saying, "This victory alone is not the change we seek."

"While some things have changed Tuesday," Barber said, "there are some people that are fighting change."

The N.C. NAACP's Action Plan for 2009 include three steps for the average citizen: Come to "HK on J3" on Valentine's Day, support the Public Campaign Fund, which pays for a voter guide in state elections and provides candidates with the option of using the fund, and follow civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s advice to become a political activist.

HK on J3 stands for Historic Thousands on Jones Street, a march in Raleigh to promote the NAACP's agenda.

Barber recounted stories from his childhood of a segregated kindergarten and the threats his parents faced working for integration.

"We are listening and living in a new season," Barber said.

On a personal level, Barber advised parents to teach their children not just to become Obama but to look closely at how he came to be the person he is today, how he overcame a broken family, how he made up for taking drugs, and most of all, how he looked past the golden ticket of a degree from Harvard University and became a community organizer after graduating.

As for politics, Barber urged the crowd to fight against state budget cuts that unduly burden the poor, and to fight for the continued need for affirmative action.

About 80 people attended the DCABP's meeting held at Immanuel Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church on Alston Avenue, among them many of the organization's new officers and local and state officials.

Unlike Barber's speech, which dealt with Obama and the continued need for change, DCABP's longtime Chairwoman Lavonia Allison emphasized local work in health care and education.

"We are excited about our new President Barack Obama, but we've got other things locally that we've got to do," Allison said.

Various newly elected state officials attended the meeting and introduced them to the crowd, including: State Treasurer Janet Cowell, State Auditor Beth Wood, State Superintendent June Atkinson and N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

Durham Mayor Bill Bell and City Councilman Mike Woodard were also in attendance.

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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1080387.cfm

Owen points a way toward peace
By KEITH UPCHURCH : The Herald-Sun
kupchurch@heraldsun.com
Jan 26, 2009

DURHAM -- Peace in Durham.

Ending violence in the Bull City may seem like an impossible dream, but one way it might become reality is to foster "uncommon relationships,' according to Marcia Owen, director of The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham.

"What I would like to see are more uncommon relationships, where people who would never know one another enter in one another's lives, share their experiences, share their lives, their stories, their souls, in the spirit of love and reconciliation,' she said.

"I really believe that violence is a symptom of an imbalance, and that imbalance is one of segregation, whether it's racial, economic or faith. There's just so many ways that we separate ourselves from one another, and I include myself in that.

"But one of the things that I feel is that people of faith, especially, feel called to the truth that we are all the same. We are different, but we are one.'

Owen doesn't believe violence in Durham is inevitable.

"It is in having relationships -- deep, honest, authentic, accepting relationships with one another -- that we will solve these problems," she said. "I think one reason that they seem so intractable is that we have not had the right composition of conversations. And through sharing our understanding of the problem, and sharing resources and respect, I really believe we can create peace in Durham.'

As President Barack Obama moves forward with his administration, Owen said she is increasingly optimistic.

"I'm profoundly grateful that he continues to say over and over again that we are our brothers' and sisters' keeper," she noted. "And there's nothing more true.

'[Obama] deeply understands the grace and peace that comes from recognizing that you belong to me, and that I belong to you, and that we are not going to solve this through professionals, or money.

"We're going to solve this through really just being humble and honest with one another, and listening. I really appreciate how he enjoys and seeks out the opposite opinion. That gives me the greatest hope of all.'
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsedits/56-1078575.cfm

Seeking progress toward big goal
Jan 26, 2009

In order to reach goals, we first have to set them.

That's why Durham joined nearly 350 other communities in a 10-year drive to end homelessness. The starting date was May 2007.

In truth, there will still be homeless people in Durham in May 2017. But that won't mean the effort was a failure. No, the idea is that by setting the goal high, we will be motivated to make great strides in helping homeless people by improving medical care, skills training, housing, etc.

Setting the goal is actually the easy part. Moving toward it takes commitment and hard work.

At a recent Joint City-County Committee meeting, elected officials heard an update on Durham's efforts. The officials' response was mixed.

As reported by The Herald-Sun's Ray Gronberg, City Councilwoman Cora Cole-McFadden was unhappy with the lack of details in a presentation by Anita Oldham, the director of the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition, and Edy Thompson, the director of the Ten-Year Plan.

Cole-McFadden wanted more demographic information about the homeless population so the City Council could keep better track of the program's success. That seems an appropriate request, especially considering the Council's oversight role. We hope that when the annual census of homeless people takes place this week, planners will try to beef up the depth of the data collected as Cole-McFadden suggested.

We also believe that some progress has been achieved. Rev. Herbert Davis, chairman of the executive committee overseeing the Ten-Year Plan, said key players have been brought together to focus on the issue. He also pointed to Project Homeless Connect, an annual event that connects homeless people with needed services.

Those are important first steps, but they are only first steps. All the groups fighting homelessness in Durham -- and there are many -- need to combine their efforts to work toward the goal. And when progress is made, officials need to be ready to describe it in detail and to celebrate it.

These are tough economic times, and even the most noble projects will need to show they are worthy of support.
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsletters/

Why didn't writer turn in the felon?

The Rev. Melvin Whitley is, no doubt, sincere in his desire to see violence in Durham abated.

But his recollection [Forum, Jan. 22] raises a few questions that need to be answered before it can be accorded credence.

* Why was Rev. Whitley so conveniently in that pawnshop?

* Who was the felon he saw purchasing the ammunition and did he report what he saw to law enforcement as a good citizen should?

* Since he assumes felons do not get guns through legal means, whatever gave him the idea that criminals would not also acquire ammunition illegally?

Giving Rev. Whitley the benefit of the doubt, he might have been in the pawn shop because his congregation was less generous than usual, given these are hard times. Perhaps he fears retribution from the felon, and so was afraid to act on his duty as citizen and either inform the clerk or report his observation to the police, thus abetting the crime. But wait, he wrote a column for the newspaper about it so how could that be?

I would expect Rev. Whitley to identify both the felon he claims to have seen purchase ammunition and the pawnshop to law enforcement. This is a great story for your newspaper to follow as it demonstrates how a responsible citizen can impact crime.

ROBERT L. PORRECA
Hillsborough
January 26, 2009
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/books/26masl.html

Books of The Times
Another Young Lawyer Is Served Up for Breakfast

snip

Kyle is a brash, attractive good guy. (Think back to “The Firm.” Mr. Grisham has.) Why would he agree to an about-face like that? Because he has to. Quicker than you can say, “Duke lacrosse team,” Bennie brings up an ugly college episode that involved Kyle, his Duquesne University fraternity brothers and a woman named Elaine who now claims to have been raped by four of them at a party. Bennie has a cell-phone video record of the incident that is remarkably clear, even though all participants were too drunk to remember whether the sex was consensual.

snip
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http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/duke/story/1382018.html

No. 1 isn't matter of fact for Duke

snip

:party: :party:
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http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1382027.html

Bill Clinton returns to area today

snip-
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http://www.timesleader.com/news/US_Attorney_Ciavarella_Conahan_agree_to_serve_87_months_in_prison_.html

U.S. Attorney: Ciavarella, Conahan agree to serve 87 months in prison

SCRANTON - Luzerne County judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan have agreed to plead guilty in connection to concealing $2.6 million from January 2003 to April 2007, and have agreed to serve 87 months - 7.25 years - in federal prison, Martin Carlson, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said.
Read more Luzerne County Judges articles

Related Document
Press Release from U.S. Attorney


Ciavarella and Conahan also agreed to resign as judges within 10 days of federal court approval of their plea agreements, Carlson said during a Monday afternoon news conference.

Carlson called the acts, "A scheme to defraud the citizens of Luzerne County and the people of Pennsylvania."

Carlson said the investigation, which is on-going, alleged Ciavarella and Conahan engaged in fraud by taking millions of dollars in construction, operation and expansion of the juvenile detention center in Pittston Township and juvenile facilities elsewhere.

Carlson further alleged Ciavarella and Conahan pressured the Luzerne County Juvenile Probation Department and juvenile probation officers to detains juveniles at the detention center, despite recommendations by juvenile probation officers that detention was not warranted.

Carlson claimed Ciavarella and Conahan had a financial interest in the juvenile detention facility, and failed to disclose their financial interests as required for elected officials.

Luzerne County Judge Chester Muroski is acting as president judge until the full bench of judges elect a president judge. That election has not been scheduled.

Muroski has imposed a hiring, transfer and wage freeze for all court personnel, and hopes the lawsuit filed by Ciavarella against Luzerne County commissioners in connection to the 2009 budget is terminated.

"We will reevaluate the positions that have been taken as for personnel, we will do everything we can do come into a conformity with a uniform budget and I believe that given an opportunity with county commissioners, we will be able to do this," Muroski said. "As quickly as possible, we will terminate the lawsuit."

"This is a day I have waited for with great patience," Ann Lokuta, embattled Luzerne County judge, said. "If I had to sacrifice my judicial career to shed light on the corruption under the courthouse dome, that is what I had to do."

The state Court of Judicial Discipline removed Lokuta from the bench in December and prohibited her from ever holding another judicial office. The court had previously found Lokuta violated the canons of judicial conduct through her behavior on the bench.
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http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/4398209/



CHICAGO — A 14-year-old aspiring police officer donned a uniform, walked into a Chicago police station and managed to get an assignment - patroling in a squad car for five hours before he was detected, police said Sunday.

The boy did not have a gun, never issued any tickets and didn't drive the squad car, Deputy Superintendent Daniel Dugan said.

Assistant Superintendent James Jackson said the ruse was discovered only after the boy's patrol with an actual officer ended Saturday. Officers noticed his uniform lacked a star that is part of the regulation uniform.

Police said they were investigating how the deception went undetected for so long in what they described as a serious security breach. Police said disciplinary steps are possible pending the outcome of the investigation.

Police didn't identify the boy because of his age. He has been charged as a juvenile with impersonating an officer.

Dugan said the boy looks older than 14 and was motivated by a desire to be an officer, not malice or "ill intent."

The boy once took part in a Chicago program for youth interested in policing, so he would have been familiar with some procedures, perhaps helping him blend in, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

:uhoh:
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http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/4404778/

Octuplets born 'screaming and kicking' in Calif.


BELLFLOWER, Calif. — A woman gave birth to eight babies in Southern California on Monday, the world's second live-born set of octuplets.

The mother, who was not identified, gave birth to six boys and two girls weighing between 1.8 pounds and 3.4 pounds, doctors at Kaiser Permanante hospital told KCAL9.

"It's a surprise," Dr. Karen Maples said. "Eight newborns are in stable condition and they're doing quite well."

Kaiser spokeswoman Myra Suarez said she could not release any information about the mother, including her condition or whether she used fertility drugs. Such drugs make multiple births more likely.

"They are all doing the best they can," Suarez told the AP.

Doctors estimated the delivery of the babies lasted five minutes.

"They were all screaming and kicking around very vigorously," Dr. Harold Henry told the TV station.

The first live-born octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, and one baby died about a week later. The surviving siblings - girls Ebuka, Gorom, Chidi, Chima and Echerem, and their brothers Ikem and Jioke - celebrated their 10th birthday in December.

Their parents, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi, said they are astonished and grateful that their children have grown up to be healthy and active kids who are now in the fourth grade.

Chukwu said the new parents have much to look forward to.

"Just enjoy it. It's a blessing, truly a blessing," Chukwu said. "We'll keep praying for them.


:thud:
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http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6625109

UNC on alert for peeper

UNC campus police are on the alert for someone who's apparently sneaking into women's dorm bathrooms to look at them in the shower.
UNC Public Safety confirmed it has reports of two incidents on the second floor of the Teague Residence Hall.
The first time it happened was in September. The second was on January 19.
Police are asking students to keep a look out for suspicious activity and to call 911 right away if they see something.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6625660

It was President Obama's first executive order: shutting down the prison camp for suspected terrorists at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
The President wants the detention center closed within a year. Now the search is on to find new places to hold detainees while they await trial.
One of the places under consideration is Fort Bragg. It's not hard to image the base being considered a possibly site to relocate Gitmo detainees. In the past, Bragg has sent PAO teams and military police units to the detention center in Cuba.
But bringing detainees here is another story.
North Carolina congressman David Price says the center should have been shut down long ago.
"it's just unacceptable to have that facility remaining open with people detained indefinitely with no resolution of their cases, no rights at all to even know what they're accused of," he offered.
But Price isn't sure that Bragg should be a serious consideration.
"It will have to be a very high security facility and my understanding of Fort Bragg is there is nothing like the kind of facility that would be required, but I don't know. I'm not going to presume what facilities will be chosen," he said.
Price is right. Right now, soldiers awaiting trial at Fort Bragg on a variety of charges are held in the Cumberland County detention center. Folks who live in Fayetteville have mixed views about bringing suspected terrorists to the community.
"That can be kind of scary actually... having that type of element here in our homeland and where we live," Offered resident Marco Clark.
"Well, we've got to put them some place and in that case Fort Bragg wouldn't be a bad idea," said David McCune.
Military leaders have a year to figure out where they're going to put the detainees. Sources say Camp Pendleton, Charleston Naval Base, and Fort Leavenworth might be better choices than Fort Bragg. Leavenworth may be the number one choice because it's the military's only maximum security prison.
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