Sudden Stop

Shoot first, reason later: lies from the left

This scenario posed by bluemassgroup.com

A husband is beating up his wife. She escapes to the bedroom, locks the door, and dials 9-1-1. As the police arrive at the front door, the hysterical wife tells the dispatcher that her husband is trying to kill her. She’s in the bedroom screaming. The abusive husband, who has taken a breather, is sitting in the living room when  the police still hearing screams knock down the door. The husband, believing that the police are unlawfully entering his house, shoots the first officer dead.

Thanks to the National Rifle Association, Gov. Mitch Daniels, and the Republican legislators, this scenario and other variations are not only possible but legally defensible in Indiana.

Question, should self - defense in fact, be possible in the scenario?  Then, allow the judge or jury decide if it is  justification?

The actual facts were these,

In an appeal of a criminal conviction Barnes v. State, in May 2011, Richard Barnes argues against his conviction for a 2007 incident where the police responded to a domestic violence 911 call.  Barnes argued with the police through a closed door and the wife pleaded to let the police in.  Barnes was arrested, charged and convicted for various charges, among them battery on a police officer. He appealed, arguing that the police illegally entered and he was allowed to use force to prevent their entry.

Indiana Supreme Court could have said that the circumstances allowed the police to enter based on the sounds and the wife's cry for help.   But, the court instead found that there is no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police.

Get that?  Police, rightly or wrongly bust through your door and you have no right whatsoever in your trial to claim self defense or defense of others if you resist.

Forfeit til it hurts

Facts are these.  Guy owns hotel.  Criminal rents room and sells drugs; gets busted. Government seizes hotel.  (WBUR.org)

“The Motel Caswell is a place people go to distribute, buy and use illegal drugs,” federal prosecutor Sonya Rao told a judge. It is a “dangerous property.”

...

U.S. Attorney Ortiz said through a spokeswoman last week that the government wanted to send a message by going after the motel. But just up the street from the Caswell, the Motel 6, Walmart and Home Depot have all experienced a similar rate of drug crimes on their properties over the years, according to Caswell’s attorneys.

...

Should the government win its case, it will sell off Caswell’s property and give the Tewksbury Police 80 percent of the take.

This case is only one.  After all, Massachusetts apparently leads the nation in shakedowns.  Is this statistic actually one of which we should be proud?

...U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced today that the District of Massachusetts collected over $8.8 billion in FY 2012 related to criminal and civil actions, which accounts for over 67% of the total nationwide actions.  Of this amount, over $1.3 billion was collected in criminal actions and over $7.5 billion was collected in civil actions.  Additionally, the office collected over $61 million in criminal and civil forfeitures.

Massachusetts: Scandals R Us

There's the Probation Department scandal:

Acting Commissioner of Probation Ronald P. Corbett Jr., who took control of the state probation system in the wake of a job-rigging scandal that led to criminal charges against top probation officials, will leave office in 2013, the court system announced.

Three former members of the scandal-plagued Probation Department are now under federal indictments, according to US Attorney Carmen Ortiz' office.

A former acting chief probation officer was arrested and charged with intimidating and harassing a witness as part of the federal investigation of the patronage hiring scandal at the state Probation Department

et cetera

 

There's the oops we have a drug lab killing people scandal:

Federal agents on Tuesday raided the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a
widespread meningitis outbreak that has killed 16 people and sickened more than
200 others, federal prosecutors said.

And then there's the crime lab scandal

BOSTON - Massachusetts officials continue to scramble this weekend with a crime
lab scandal that puts more than 1,000 convictions in doubt. The tainted test
results are all being blamed on a single crime lab chemist.

 To summarize, even if the drug lab is charged with any criminal misconduct we can't reliably prove it using government forenics and even if someone is convicted don't count on the Probation Department properly watching over the convicted criminal.

Post Election Globe and Pre Election Globe

What does the Globle know now that they didn't know then?

Front page "Road may get rocky for Patrick".  This generally unfavorable portrait of a lame duck govenor, too much out of state and too much out of touch.

With scandals engulfing two state agencies, shuffling of key staff, severe fiscal problems, and the potential for a tax ­increase, Patrick will have to draw on his leadership skills to navigate what could be a hazardous political landscape.

The thing is, that all this isn't news but rather was news well before the election. 

Globe waits to publish anti-democrat articles until after elections!  Yeah, that's not news either.

Related:  Brian McGrory, "Our governor's turmoil". 

We have dead people in one drug crisis, freed criminals in another, and maybe this a good time to mention the rising unemployment rate and the falling tax revenues in Massachusetts.

 

Safely directing donations to the Democratic Pary

Seems the only qualifications Sheila Burgess had as the State's highway safety director was safely directing donations to various politician:  A Shameful Act of Patronage.  But get this, even after being exposed as a political hack unqualified for her position, the Patrick administration is simply moving her.  Says Patrick, she may be a hack, but she's our hack.

It’s disturbing enough when powerful politicians use their influence to find sinecures in state government for unqualified political supporters. But steering such patronage hires into public safety jobs shows an utter lack of regard not only for taxpayers’ wallets but their physical safety as well.

On Monday, the Patrick administration announced the removal of Sheila Burgess from her $87,000-a-year position as state highway safety director following a Globe report on her abysmal driving record, which includes seven accidents, four speeding violations, and two failures to stop. Burgess is currently on medical leave after an August one-car accident in Milton.

Yet even if she had a spotless driving record before her appointment, Burgess was not qualified for the job. Her professional background shows no experience in public safety, transportation, or government administration. But Burgess, a former aide to the late Representative Joseph Moakley, was rich in experience when it came to raising funds through her consulting firm. Her client list includes Democratic politicians, including Representative James McGovern, Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, and Senator John Kerry. In 2007, McGovern recommended Burgess for a position somewhere in state government.

Burgess’s appointment should be seen through the dirty lens of the “friends and favors’’ culture that permeates Beacon Hill. Had the search for a highway safety director centered on talent and experience, it’s impossible to think she would have received an interview, never mind landed the job. It’s the same insidious system that placed Matthew McLaughlin — whose license was suspended for failing to take a breathalyzer test — into a $60,000-a-year job on a state board that hears appeals from drunken drivers. Murray, who is widely perceived as a major conduit for patronage jobs, recommended McLaughlin. McGovern sponsored Burgess. And despite his expressions of anger, the ultimate responsibility for the patronage system rests with Patrick. All three politicians should be embarrassed.

Massachusetts has a miserable record for seatbelt use and ranks only in the middle of the pack on general ratings for traffic safety. One reason is that the police here cannot pull over drivers solely for failing to buckle up. A credible and knowledgable highway safety director might have guided stricter enforcement measures through the Legislature. Burgess, it turns out, wasn’t much of a role model for the cause. Her driving transgressions include a violation for driving without a seatbelt.

Incredibly, the Patrick administration is trying to find another job for Burgess in the state’s public safety hierarchy. This is the same administration that defends its patronage system by insisting that qualifications come before connections. The Burgess hiring gives lie to that claim; keeping her on the payroll in another capacity would be a further insult to taxpayers.

 

Post election surprise - Part III, the robust tax hike

The surprise that's not a surprise at all:  Massachusetts democrat Governor Deval Patrick plans to deliver a proposal by January 7 calling for "robust taxes". Surprising that it was such a good idea that it didn't come up prior to the election.

Boston.com

Post election surprise - II

Connecticut's Democrat Governor Malloy estimated the State's deficit at $60 million before the election.  Turns out it's more like $365 million. Pity the poor Nutmeggers

Post election surprise - I

Tax collections for fiscal 2013 for Massachusetts slowing, well under the benchmark and also less than the same period, fiscal 2012.

“October is a relatively small month because no quarterly estimated payments are due for individuals or corporations and it is traditionally the largest corporate and business refund month of the year,” Commissioner Pitter said, noting that Massachusetts, like many other states, is beginning to see a slowdown in the pace of recovery from the recession.

October 2012, fiscal 2013

Education up; students down

From the Pioneer Institute, a report finding that Massachusetts public school enrollment has dropped by 4% since 2003, the result of fewer birth plus more migration from the state. 

Despite the decline in students, for the same period education spending has increased significantly and the per pupil spending ballooning.  Spending per pupil was $10,223 in 2003 and in 2011 was $13,361.

Download 121112_Enrollment (Pioneer Institute)

The declining number of students will have its own effect, but the decline itself is but one affect of the overall larger problem that Massachusetts population is declining relative to the US.  Meanwhile. its government debt and spending increase.

 

Massachusetts Teachers Association

Download Mta_990_2011

Scraping by on a teacher's salary, staggering sums for execs of this defacto wing of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, this, from the latest filing by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, total compensation:

Paul Toner-$134,494

Ann Clarke-$1,107,180

Anne Wass-$167,415

Timonthy Sullivan-$53,358

Susan Lee Weissinger-$607,543

Richard Sanders-$303,928

James Sacks-$145,347

Sandra Quinn-$144,515

Joann Blum-$148,327

Theiss Winkler-$146,674

Kathleen Conway-$144,318