| Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, March 13, 2010; News Roundup | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 13 2010, 06:56 AM (570 Views) | |
| abb | Mar 13 2010, 06:56 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/6701412/article-Chastened-Youngs-satisfy-court--beat-jail-rap?instance=homefourthleft Chastened Youngs satisfy court, beat jail rap 03.12.10 - 09:57 pm Edwards__02.JPG Judge clear that DA lurks in background if perjury is ever indicated BY BETH VELLIQUETTE bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632 PITTSBORO -- To the applause of family and friends, a judge purged Andrew and Cheri Young of contempt of court Friday, and the couple left the courtroom, free to go home. But the judge, Abraham Penn Jones, warned the couple that if he finds out they lied, they will pay the price. "I hope to God you're telling the truth, because if it turns out I'm wrong, you're going to pay for it," Jones warned. "If it comes out that you lied to this court, I want you to know that I still have the authority and discretion to refer this matter to the district attorney," Jones said, referring to a potential perjury charge in criminal court. Friday's proceedings in the Chatham County Courthouse were similar to Tuesday's hearing, with Rielle Hunter's attorneys trying to point out discrepancies in the Youngs' testimonies and saying the judge should not purge them of contempt, and the Youngs' attorneys saying that the couple had done everything they could to find and turn over every item in the court order. Rielle Hunter, who was John Edwards' mistress during his Democratic presidential campaign and bore an out-of-wedlock baby to the married former U.S. senator, filed and received a temporary restraining order on Jan. 20 ordering the Youngs to turn over a private and personal videotape and eight personal photographs. When a deputy went to their Orange County home, Andrew Young refused to turn over the items. Jones later found Young and his wife in contempt of court and said that if they didn't turn over the items, he would put them in jail for 75 days. During hearing after hearing, the Youngs slowly turned over the items, but the list of materials grew longer as it was revealed that the Youngs had made copies and shown the Edwards sex tape or portions of it to various news producers and writers. Through seven affidavits filed by Andrew Young, the story changed about where the items were located. For example, at first he said a copy of the sex tape was in an Atlanta lockbox, but it turned out it was in a closet in their home. On Tuesday, the Youngs were given one last chance to look for a copy of a flash drive and a disc containing personal photographs that Hunter took. On Friday, their attorney, Robert Elliot, told the judge that when they last had the flash drive in California, the Youngs were on the run with Hunter to hide from the media. "During all that time I'm talking about, their life was utter chaos," Elliot said. "He was being threatened, at least implicitly, by powerful people, and he didn't know what to do." Hunter's attorneys again questioned the Youngs while they were on the stand. At times, it got testy when attorney Alan Duncan asked Andrew Young why he didn't just give the photographs and videotape back to Hunter, especially now that his book had been published. "If your client and John Edwards are willing to take back that they called me a liar, I will be glad to walk away," Young said. "They started this fight." Young said Edwards and his wife Elizabeth and Hunter had gone out of their way to destroy him. He told Duncan that he wanted to keep the items because in two or three years, Edwards might come after him. However, when Cheri Young took the stand, she said she didn't want the photos or tapes anymore. During the examination, Young refused to say under oath that his book, "The Politician," was accurate. Young also said he had no plans to sell the sex tape, although he admitted at one point when they were especially angry at Edwards, that he considered it and even discussed it with potential buyers. But he said they had thought better of it and have no plan to sell the tape. "I had two years to sell this thing," he said. "I could have sold it for $2 million and I didn't." After the hearing, Young said he and his wife were happy with the judge's decision and eager to move forward in the case, where a jury will decide who actually owns the photographs and tape and whether he and his wife invaded Hunter's privacy. |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:01 AM Post #2 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/6693326/article-The-natives-are-incredulous?instance=columnists The natives are incredulous 03.12.10 - 03:00 pm By Cathy Davidson Guest columnist In "This Is Your Brain on the Internet," we had a hilarious discussion a few weeks ago when my students were moving from the cognition part of the course to the digital part of the course and discovered, for the first time, a whole literature that brands them "digital natives." One of my students wittily protested that here, on the first day of class, when they filled out an inventory of skills that they could contribute to our peer-taught classroom, she had, with some pride, mentioned all the various computational, social networking and social media skills that, she thought, she'd worked hard to perfect. Silly gal! Once she started reading the literature on digital natives, she learned she hadn't worked at this at all. It came "naturally" to her as someone born after 1989. It was practically a genetic inheritance, for goodness sake. As a digital native, she just knew html and various other skills by some kind of generational osmosis. My witty student also said that she wasn't even sure she wanted to be a "digital native." She'd worked hard to gain a passport into the digital nation and felt she'd earned her visa and, like many an immigrant (she happens not to have been born in the United States), she has a great deal of pride in her accomplishment, her rites of passage and her biculturalism and bilingualism. I happen to dislike that term, if you have not guessed: It had utility when it was first coined but now it obfuscates a range of differences. Another student was shocked to find out that his generation had a name (millenials, digital natives) and that it was the subject of some interest and attention by others. "You mean people get grants to study us?" he asked incredulously. Of course we turned this whole notion of the digital native into a subject for conversation ... and some levity. It's spring break now. When the class resumes, we have another field trip ahead -- this one to the Canine Cognition Center at Duke. Because dogs track affect in a way similar to the way humans do, we want to think about packs and bonding and will and communication using dogs, rather than some of the more miscreant primates, as guides to our thinking. Amazingly, the digital natives in my class seem to be inquisitive, engaged, and critical in their thinking -- not at all the unthinking technophiliacs that, in the literature, they are often assumed to be. In an inventory of their e-mail and text quotas, they lamented information overload. Several insisted they are not innately good multitaskers all the times at all things. And several said they looked forward to a Spring Break unplugged and off the grid. May their very un-nativist desires come true. Duke University Professor Cathy Davidson is a co-founder of HASTAC. http://www.hastac.org/history Edited by abb, Mar 13 2010, 07:04 AM.
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:07 AM Post #3 |
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http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/ Saturday, March 13, 2010 Williamson Appointed to Judgeship Governor Beverly Perdue has appointed to a vacant Superior Court judgeship Lane Williamson, who presided over the hearing that resulted in Mike Nifong's conviction on multiple ethics charges and subsequent disbarment. Based on Williamson's performance in the Nifong case, at least, it would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate choice, in terms of both intellect and judicial temperament. North Carolina is lucky to have him on the bench. |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:08 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/13/1310005/williamson-appointed-to-superior.html Williamson appointed to Superior Court Perdue picks Charlotte attorney for judge; will complete term of Robert Johnston, who resigned. By Gary L. Wright gwright@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010 Gov. Bev Perdue on Friday appointed F. Lane Williamson to a Mecklenburg Superior Court judgeship. He will fill the unexpired term of Robert Johnston, who resigned in January after 28 years on the bench. "Lane Williamson has earned the respect of the public and the legal community throughout the state, and I am confident that he will serve the residents of Mecklenburg County well as a resident superior court judge," Perdue said. Johnston's alcoholism and need for treatment prompted his abrupt decision to retire on Jan. 12, according to his good friend and colleague, Judge Nathaniel Poovey. Williamson is a partner in the firm of Garlitz & Williamson in Charlotte. His legal experience includes business and commercial litigation, personal injury litigation, construction litigation, real estate litigation and criminal defense. Williamson chairs the N.C. State Bar's disciplinary hearing commission and has presided over many hearings, including the one for former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong. Nifong was disbarred and jailed for his handling of the Duke lacrosse case, in which three lacrosse players were charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a team party in 2006. The charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. Williamson has been a pro bono volunteer for the Children's Law Center and Legal Services for the Southern Piedmont and is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs on legal ethics and attorney discipline. He earned his law degree from the law school at UNC Chapel Hill. |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:09 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.roxboro-courier.com/articles/2010/03/13/news/doc4b9aeb69c92cc009783334.txt Brewer had ‘no law enforcement authority’ Badge of former DA was not issued by Administrative Office of the Courts By TIM CHANDLER Courier-Times Editor tchandler@roxboro-courier.com Published: Saturday, March 13, 2010 5:15 AM CST “…We do not issue any kind of badge to anyone.” Dick Ellis, public information officer for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), spoke those words Friday when quizzed about a badge recently seized from former District Attorney Joel H. Brewer. Ellis was also questioned about any possible law enforcement authority held by Brewer while he was district attorney in District 9A, which serves Person and Caswell counties. “Let me first say that we are not an overseeing authority of the court system in North Carolina,” Ellis said. “That being said, I can tell you that we do not issue any kind of badge to anyone.” “According to state statutes, the district attorney has no law enforcement authority,” Ellis added. “He is to advise the officers of justice within his district. He is their lawyer, literally.” The gold badge, engraved with Brewer’s name and his district attorney title, were among items collected by State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Special Agent W.R. Myers when he executed a search warrant on Feb. 23. The warrant was executed at Brewer’s office in the Person County Courthouse. Ellis said AOC does “issue identification cards, but no badge of any type is issued.” The SBI investigation alleges Brewer impersonated a law enforcement officer and misused his authority while he was serving as district attorney for Person and Caswell counties. He retired from the position March 1. Following is an excerpt from North Carolina law pertaining to the duties of a district attorney: “The district attorney shall prepare the trial dockets, prosecute in a timely manner in the name of the State all criminal actions and infractions requiring prosecution in the superior and district courts of his prosecutorial district, advise the officers of justice in his district, and perform such duties related to appeals to the Appellate Division from his district as the Attorney General may require.” Portions of an affidavit from Myers were released Tuesday afternoon. An unnamed female citizen interviewed by Myers told him that she was stopped one day in the past five months “by a man driving a dark-colored Corvette, who flashed a gold/bronze badge and who represented himself as a law enforcement officer. “The man wanted to know if [the female] wanted a citation or a warning ticket for illegally passing him,” Myers wrote. “When [the female] protested that she had not passed the man, he then wanted to know if she wanted a citation or a warning ticket for following too close. “When [the female] challenged the man, he got back into the Corvette and left,” Myers continued. “[The female] obtained the Corvette’s license number and it was determined the Corvette was registered [to Brewer].” |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:17 AM Post #6 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/13/386139/judge-doesnt-jail-youngs.html Published Sat, Mar 13, 2010 04:38 AM Modified Sat, Mar 13, 2010 01:03 AM Judge doesn't jail Youngs PITTSBORO After five long hearings, hours of testimony and hundreds of pages of affidavits, briefs and complaints, Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones lifted his contempt order Friday against Andrew and Cheri Young. Jones said he found no conclusive evidence that the couple is hiding copies of a sex tape featuring former Sen. John Edwards and his mistress, Rielle Hunter. Lawyers for Hunter pushed Jones to have the Youngs charged with perjury, citing numerous examples where information the Youngs provided under oath about copies of the sex tape and other sensitive materials turned out to be untrue. Lawyers for the Youngs argued that those discrepancies were the result of faulty memories, rather than a willful attempt to deceive the court. Though the judge didn't follow through on his repeated threats to send one or both of the Youngs to jail, Jones did issue a stern warning to the couple from the bench. "I'm thoroughly convinced there are numerous discrepancies in affidavits filed with this court, and that is troubling," Jones said. "I'm not going to lock you up. ... But if it turns out that you have lied to me, I have the discretion to revisit this matter. I hope to God you're telling the truth." Jones' comments followed what turned out to be yet another preliminary salvo in Hunter v. Young, the coming high-stakes court battle to determine who owns the salacious materials the Youngs collected in the two years they conspired to help hide the extramarital affair of Edwards, then running for president, and the woman who would soon give birth to his child. With more than 15 lawyers involved in the case already, both sides appear poised to fight over the tapes and photos, no matter how long or how expensive that struggle might become. Hunter, a single mother with no publicly known source of income other than child support, has yet to appear in court. She has admitted in court filings that she made the tape of Edwards performing a sex act on a woman whose face is not visible, but contends the tape was stolen from her. Wade Barber, one of four lawyers in the courtroom Friday representing Hunter, made clear his side is ready to go to a jury trial to get the tape back. Asked whether Hunter was actually paying the fees for his services, Barber said he could not answer. "That's one of the things with my client that is the most privileged," he said. For the third time Friday, both Youngs were called to the witness stand to be grilled by Hunter's legal team. Alan Duncan, one of Hunter's lawyers, read from a lengthy list of questions aimed at highlighting discrepancies between Andrew Young's multiple affidavits and his best-selling tell-all book about the Edwards affair and coverup. "It's to the best of the author's recollection," Young said of his book. "It's not under oath." Duncan, who repeatedly called Young a liar during the court proceedings, then challenged the defendant to swear his book was completely factual. Young, a lawyer himself, declined to do so. "I'm not going to say anything absolute," he said. The long, and at times tedious, cross examination appeared aimed at highlighting concerns that copies of the sex tape and sensitive photos may still be unaccounted for and could someday become public. "I've had two years I could have sold this thing," Young said. "I could have sold it for millions of dollars. I didn't." Young, who at first took the fall for Edwards and claimed to be the father of Hunter's baby, said he originally kept the tape to protect himself. Edwards admitted paternity of his daughter with Hunter in January, shortly before Young's book was released. But the former aide made clear that the bad blood between the two camps was now about far more than possessing proof of a politician's dalliance. "If your client, and John Edwards, want to take back calling me a liar," Young said to Duncan, looking his interrogator in the eye, "I will walk away." michael.biesecker@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4698 |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:18 AM Post #7 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/13/386178/slow-justice-in-bailey-murder.html Published Sat, Mar 13, 2010 04:38 AM Modified Sat, Mar 13, 2010 12:55 AM Slow justice in Bailey murder HILLSBOROUGH Almost 18 months have passed since the Orange County Sheriff's Office charged six young men with murdering their 20-year-old friend Josh Bailey, and the case won't be resolved anytime soon. With time needed for interviews, evidence gathering, forensic lab tests and preparing each side's legal case, the typical murder case can take two years before a jury's reaching a verdict. "A year and a half is certainly not an aberration," said Bob Hurley, the state's capital defender. "There's nothing unusual about a murder case, particularly with that number of co-defendants, being that old." But the Bailey case is likely to stretch well beyond two years. Getting six murder defendants and their busy lawyers all in the same courtroom at the same time for multiple hearings and the trial figures to become a logistical puzzle. Three suspects charged as accessories and a young woman charged in a related kidnapping add more layers of complication. That's 10 different suspects charged in the same set of circumstances when the courts already have trouble scheduling cases because capital defenders are spread thin throughout the state. Prosecutors say the state needs more qualified defense attorneys available for first-degree murder cases. Defense attorneys say district attorneys need to charge fewer homicides as potential capital cases, thus lowering the standards for lawyers who can defend them. Hurley has a list of more than 300 lawyers approved to take on cases that might end in capital punishment. That's about one lawyer for every three such cases active at any one time. "There's no way around those [scheduling conflicts] because there's a limited number of lawyers in the state who can handle those kinds of cases," said Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall, who's responsible for scheduling the Bailey case. "Lawyers are spending literally hundreds of hours getting ready. A month, a month and a half before that case starts, that's all you do. You're spending 14, 15 hours a day leading up to the trial. ... That's on weekends and every night." As one example, Woodall cited Jim Glover, who had to delay representing Chatham County murder suspect Louis Ephraim Wilson III because he spent October through December defending Lawrence Donnell Flood Sr. in Alamance and needed time to recover and prepare for new cases. Glover also represents Brian Minton, whom authorities describe as the ringleader in the Josh Bailey murder. Is charge the problem? Defense lawyers say district attorneys turn too many second-degree or involuntary manslaughter cases into first-degree or capital cases. "If we did better weeding out of these cases at the beginning, we'd be in much better shape," said Tye Hunter, who heads the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham. Hunter cited a 2008 study by N.C. Indigent Defense Services, the agency that funds most murder defenses. Between 2001 and 2007 the study shows prosecutors charged nearly nine out of 10 intentional homicides as first-degree or undesignated murder. Those cases all require a qualified capital defense attorney because they could provoke the death penalty. Plus, if a prosecutor decides to pursue execution, the law requires Hurley to assign a second defender. Of those potentially capital cases, 83 percent ended up disposed as second-degree murder or a lesser charge. Among cases that prosecutors actually decided to try as capital offenses, a full 60 percent ended up with a conviction for second-degree or less. "They declare too many first-degree murder cases capital, and that ties up two attorneys, and after the cases languish for some period of time they reduce the charges," said Hurley, the state's capital defender. Glover expects Woodall will eventually lower the charges against some of the Bailey defendants as evidence becomes clearer or they agree to testify against the others. "He's got to make choices about who you resolve short of first-degree murder," said Glover. "That case involves a whole lot of conflicting stories." Brian Minton, Jacob Maxwell, Brandon Greene, Ryan Lee, Jack Johnson and Matt Johnson are all accused of interrogating and beating Josh Bailey in Minton's garage, taking him to a wooded area west of Carrboro, shooting him and burying him in a shallow grave in the summer of 2008. Authorities also say Minton's parents Greg and Mishele Minton and another friend, Chris Manley, helped the young men move Bailey's body to a second grave near Jordan Lake in Chatham County. Jack Johnson, Maxwell, Minton and 23-year-old Sarah Krombach are accused of kidnapping, beating and interrogating Matt Johnson, Bailey's alleged shooter, in a Pittsboro body shop three weeks after Bailey's murder. According to search warrants, someone bloodied both Bailey and Matt Johnson in Minton's garage before Johnson shot Bailey in the woods near Maxwell's house on Twisted Oak Drive in OrangeCounty. "It's going to be a challenge dealing with nine cases over the next year or so," Woodall said. "It's been a challenge being able to bring all the parties into a courtroom at one time." Lawyers assigned to the Bailey case will be busy this spring representing accused Wake-County serial killer Samuel Cooper, Orange County murder suspect Randall Standifer and John Edwards sex-scandal insiders Andrew and Cheri Young. Maxwell's attorney, Orange-Chatham chief public defender James Williams, is Glover's co-counsel in the case of Louis Wilson, charged with killing Tracy Lynn Baldwin, a woman he met at Alcoholics Anonymous. Glover and Williams were in Pittsboro Friday as Wilson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. After that hearing, they and Woodall planned to discuss scheduling in the Bailey case. "That case is going to have to wait its turn," said Glover. jesse.deconto@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8760 |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:19 AM Post #8 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/13/385803/lab-assignment.html Published Sat, Mar 13, 2010 02:00 AM Modified Sat, Mar 13, 2010 12:48 AM Lab assignment The big question facing two former FBI officials is this: Was the manipulation of evidence that tainted the 1993 murder trial of Gregory Taylor an aberration? Or did the State Bureau of Investigation systematically follow a flawed and unfair procedure for reporting test results from its crime lab? The worst-case scenario would be that many more cases besides Taylor's were affected - meaning that other people who were innocent, as Taylor recently was declared to have been, might also have languished in prison. They might be languishing there even now. Attorney General Roy Cooper, who has jurisdiction over the SBI, was commendably prompt in responding to the disclosures that came as Taylor's conviction was being reviewed under proceedings initiated by the state's Innocence Inquiry Commission. Cooper has tapped two former senior FBI agents to carry out the tedious but necessary work of reviewing records in thousands of previous prosecutions to see if they, too, might have been skewed by misleading evidence reports. The premise is that a defendant is entitled to an accurate report of crime lab findings, not one calculated to enhance appearances of his guilt. But that appears to be exactly what happened when Taylor was tried for the 1991 murder of Jacquetta Thomas of Raleigh. The SBI reported that blood had been found on Taylor's vehicle. The report turned out to have been based on a preliminary test whose positive result did not prove that blood had been present. Still, prosecutors referred repeatedly to the purported blood evidence during the trial. The SBI had not shared results of a necessary follow-up test that failed to confirm blood had been located. SBI director Robin Pendergraft, in office since 2001, has told The N&O that the agency's practice was to "report results of the most advanced test that yielded positive results for blood." That seems fundamentally shady. What should be reported are the most advanced results, period - positive or negative. The two former FBI officials who will dig through the records, Mike Wolf and Chris Swecker, seem highly qualified for the job. Wolf, for example, headed a team that corrected problems at the FBI's own crime lab, including manipulation of evidence reports to stack the deck against defendants. It causes shudders to think what they could turn up in North Carolina - but even if the truth hurts, justice demands that the truth be uncovered. Then, if improper conduct is disclosed, those responsible must be called to account even while the state tries to rectify what could have been grievous errors. Greg Taylor, now preparing to ask Gov. Beverly Perdue for a pardon and to seek $750,000 as compensation for wrongful imprisonment, can tell us more than we wanted to know about what can happen when a crime lab fails to play it straight. |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:20 AM Post #9 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/13/385802/bench-strength.html Published Sat, Mar 13, 2010 02:00 AM Modified Sat, Mar 13, 2010 12:43 AM Bench strength North Carolina has made some progress in at least refining its dubious custom of electing judges. Statewide judicial candidates who agree to fund-raising limits can gain access to public funds. The idea is to make those judges "voter-owned" as opposed to indebted to special interests. It's a good idea and may help the state avoid big-money races (judicial races in other states have been multimillion-dollar affairs) in these nonpartisan campaigns. But former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in Greensboro this week to speak at the Elon University School of Law, says the state should move toward not having elected judges. She said the overall quality of judges would improve, as it has in her home state of Arizona. "We are the only nation in the world that elects its judges," O'Connor said. North Carolina certainly improved its system with the public financing component, but even now judicial races sometimes become very political, and they are not supposed to be that. Judges should be selected on their experience, professional reputations and personal character. They should not campaign, for example, on promises to maintain the preferences of any special-interest group when it comes to the law. (Gun rights are, for example, an ongoing controversy in the judicial system.) Yes, there's a case to be made that judges at the district court level are held to high standards if they have to face the voters every four years, but even there, an appointed system, with periodic professional reviews by an independent commission, or "retention" elections as part of the mix, would work. The state has done well with its public financing. Justice O'Connor reminds us we could do better. |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:21 AM Post #10 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/13/385798/now-a-civilian-board.html Published Sat, Mar 13, 2010 02:00 AM Modified Sat, Mar 13, 2010 12:48 AM Now, a civilian board The decision to declare Greg Taylor innocent of a crime that our justice system convicted him of 17 years ago validates the need for Civilian Review Boards as relates to our law enforcement agencies. The idea of the Criminal Justice Study Commission by Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., which led to the formation of the Innocence Inquiry Commission, was visionary. This commission does not favor those convicted of crimes. It is not an indictment of our justice system structure of law enforcement officers, district attorneys, defense attorneys and the judiciary. However, we must all face the reality that our system is imperfect. In questionable situations, the commission should be construed as checks and balances, which I believe to be a crucial extension of our democratic foundation and principles. Let us not forget that ultimately the judiciary reversed the decision, not the commission. Due to fear and the desire for security, most of us have given law enforcement a blank check. A Civilian Review Board would not cancel this check, nor would it return it for insufficient funds; rather it would provide a fund reserve. I urge our City Council to remove the politics and establish a Civilian Review Board. Hardy R. Watkins, Pastor. Revelation MB Church, Raleigh |
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| abb | Mar 13 2010, 07:27 AM Post #11 |
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/lacrosse/bal-sp.loyolalax13mar13,0,3315124.story Loyola to open new lacrosse, soccer facility today $62M complex will see first action as Greyhounds host Duke in men's lacrosse By Kevin Van Valkenburg | kevin.vanvalkenburg@baltsun.com March 13, 2010 When you take the Cold Spring Lane exit west off the Jones Falls Expressway and weave your way up the hill toward the new Loyola University Ridley Athletic Complex for the first time, you can't help but be in awe as the 6,000-seat stadium comes into view. The $62 million lacrosse and soccer facility, which opens today when the Greyhounds men's lacrosse team plays host to Duke, looks a bit like a miniature replica of Camden Yards (especially at night) and a bit like a modern cathedral. It's a dream nearly 15 years in the making, and the Greyhounds are unabashedly giddy to see it finished. "When I was running for president of the school [in 2005], they drove me over to the site to look at it," said the Rev. Brian F. Linnane, Loyola's president. "It was nothing. It was a landfill. I couldn't imagine how this was going to be transformed into a state-of-the-art athletic complex. But to see it develop over time has just been incredible. I watched it from a distance, visited it in the summer, and I'd seen the drawings and models of it. But I hadn't been over there in awhile, and when I saw it for the first time, it just exceeded my wildest expectations. I'm immensely excited." The complex, in addition to having a 6,000-seat grandstand with lights, has a synthetic turf field, a video scoreboard, a practice field, a weight room, a locker room with a 65-inch flat screen television for the home team and the visitors, offices for the coaching staff; press, presidential and VIP boxes, and concession areas. It's the largest capital project in the history of Loyola University, and at least for lacrosse, there probably isn't anything like it in the country. "When I was walking away from it the other day, I thought, 'You know, there probably isn't a nicer place to play lacrosse in Division I,' " Loyola men's coach Charlie Toomey said. "John Hopkins certainly had tradition, and Syracuse has the big-time atmosphere of the Carrier Dome, but I believe we're going to have that big-time atmosphere now for Loyola." The idea for the privately financed complex, located about two miles west of the campus, can actually be traced to a conversation 15 years ago between former Loyola president the Rev. Harold Ridley and athletic director Joe Boylan. "This really was Father Ridley's vision," said Boylan, who has been the athletic director since 1991. "He was determined to make sure athletics were an important part of the university, but he also wanted to enhance the academic side of it, too. He knew this would free up four acres in the middle of campus for future academic buildings." The university purchased the land for the facility in 1998, but the project took awhile to get going. The school had to convince the city and the surrounding neighborhoods it was a good idea. "I think I went to 48 community meetings before we got city approval," Boylan said. "And it cost us a lot more than we thought it would in 1998." At one point, the school's Board of Trustees - which included Linnane before he became president - decided to revisit the project to see whether the school could really afford to spend that much money on an athletic complex. "We really had to revisit it because it was such a huge commitment," Linnane said, adding that the project eventually did come in on budget. "We had to ask the question: Are we really going to do this? But in the end, we all felt very strongly that if we let this opportunity slip through our fingers, we'd really regret it." Ridley died in 2005, but the school - and an anonymous donor who contributed $5 million in Ridley's name - felt compelled to see his vision through, which is why the stadium is named after the former president. "Father Ridley was very concerned that we needed adequate facilities for our athletic teams, but also that we were rapidly outgrowing our campus," Linnane said. "So this is a good win all around for us. We are a very sports-minded, athletic campus. We feel it's a big part of the education environment in terms of developing leadership and team skills, plus creating in an atmosphere on campus with the appropriate spirit." Toomey said the new facility has already given Loyola a recruiting advantage it didn't previously have. "It's going to impact our program, and we've already seen that locally," Toomey said. "Recruits drive up the hill, and you can see their eyes just pop. The scoreboard looks like a mini Camden Yards. I think it really shows a commitment to athletics by the university. We've always talked about it, but now the proof is in the pudding. We just played a game at M&T Bank Stadium, and I can tell you our kids weren't as starry-eyed there as they were the first time they saw our new facility." For now, the Greyhounds' old field will remain untouched and will still be named after former women's lacrosse coach Diane Geppi-Aikens, who died of cancer in 2003. "We don't have immediate plans to do anything there yet, but I think eventually the school will find an appropriate way to continue to memorialize Coach Geppi-Aikens and her significant contributions," Linnane said. |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Mar 13 2010, 07:35 AM Post #12 |
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7226693/ — A person died after a shooting involving two Duke University police officers outside the front entrance of Duke Hospital around 1 a.m. Saturday. University police have not said whether the victim was an employee, patient or visitor. They declined to release more details, citing ongoing investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation and the university police department. University police said the hospital has been secured and patient care has not been interrupted. "There is no ongoing safety or security issue at Duke University Hospital as this was an isolated incident that occurred outside the facility," a statement from police said. The main hospital entrance at Erwin Road and Fulton Street has been blocked off, and employees and visitors are using a different entrance. Durham police have set up a mobile command center at the intersection, and crime scene investigators are at the scene. |
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| Quasimodo | Mar 13 2010, 08:42 AM Post #13 |
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Doesn't this also show that Nifong, when he took over control and directed the DPD during the biggest case in Durham's history, was acting outside his authority as DA? Do we need any further proof that the plaintiffs in the civil suits have abundant grounds to proceed with their suits? Was there ever any need to wait nearly 900 days to arrive at this conclusion? (If a plaintiff in NC can't afford to wait 900 days even to get to the discovery phase, can a person of limited means ever bring a suit in NC? Is that the state of federal jurisprudence?) |
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| Quasimodo | Mar 13 2010, 08:47 AM Post #14 |
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Sounds fine on paper, but NC's legal community doesn't have a good record in policing itself (Alan Gell comes to mind). And Jefferson thought judges should be from the local community and subject to re-election every six months (IE, the people retain the power of the government in their own hands). |
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7:13 PM Jul 10