Favorite Quotes
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
NH- House Bill 145, would allow citizens to videotape police officers without fear of arrest.
In New Hampshire, citizens have been arrested for recording police officers performing their duties — including several publicized cases in Weare, Nashua, Manchester, Portsmouth and Keene.
For the past three legislative sessions, bills have been introduced to make it clear citizens have a right to record police officers performing their duties in public places, but to date none have become law.
Rep. Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 145, which is still in the Senate Judicial Committee after it passed the House this session. The Senate will act on the bill in January.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Fenton Groen, R-Rochester, said he will propose an amendment that changes police officers to all public officials, requires the person doing the recording to notify police or public officials they are being recorded and clarifies that the recording is the private property of the person who made it.
Link:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110831/NEWS07/708319991
For the past three legislative sessions, bills have been introduced to make it clear citizens have a right to record police officers performing their duties in public places, but to date none have become law.
Rep. Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 145, which is still in the Senate Judicial Committee after it passed the House this session. The Senate will act on the bill in January.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Fenton Groen, R-Rochester, said he will propose an amendment that changes police officers to all public officials, requires the person doing the recording to notify police or public officials they are being recorded and clarifies that the recording is the private property of the person who made it.
Link:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110831/NEWS07/708319991
New Temple university study reveals that elected coroners are more susceptible to political pressure regarding their findings.
The political element of those jobs might be reducing the number of reported suicides, according to a new study by researchers at Temple University. The sociologists found that jurisdictions where elected officials run death investigations have “slightly lower official suicide rates” than areas served by appointed medical examiners and coroners.
“The significant, albeit small, effects of office type on official suicide rates in our results support the notion that elected coroners are more susceptible to pressure from family or friends to report the death as something other than suicide and that medical examiners’ greater professionalism shields them from such influences," the report states.
The Temple University research, presented last week at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting, examined mortality data nationwide from 1999 to 2002. It found statistically significant shifts in manner-of-death rulings that suggest elected officials chose natural or accidental when it could have been suicide.
“If office type is affecting misreporting, our results suggest that female suicides are being misclassified most often as deaths from illness, and, to a lesser extent, car accidents and possibly (although not plausibly) non-firearm homicides, while male true suicides are being misclassified most frequently as car accidents,” the report said.
Report:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/238975-role-of-medico-legal-systems-in-suicide-rates.html
Link:
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/elected-coroners-less-likely-call-deaths-suicide-study-finds-12319
“The significant, albeit small, effects of office type on official suicide rates in our results support the notion that elected coroners are more susceptible to pressure from family or friends to report the death as something other than suicide and that medical examiners’ greater professionalism shields them from such influences," the report states.
The Temple University research, presented last week at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting, examined mortality data nationwide from 1999 to 2002. It found statistically significant shifts in manner-of-death rulings that suggest elected officials chose natural or accidental when it could have been suicide.
“If office type is affecting misreporting, our results suggest that female suicides are being misclassified most often as deaths from illness, and, to a lesser extent, car accidents and possibly (although not plausibly) non-firearm homicides, while male true suicides are being misclassified most frequently as car accidents,” the report said.
Report:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/238975-role-of-medico-legal-systems-in-suicide-rates.html
Link:
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/elected-coroners-less-likely-call-deaths-suicide-study-finds-12319
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Skype reveals it monitors peoples contacts, does it monitor video conferences as well?
From: Alan Sondheim...
THIS IS THE "NEW" SKYPE INTERFACE ON MY MACHINE!
Note: First of all, the statement at the bottom: "Your contacts have not been very active recently..." Really? What business is it of Skype? Maybe they haven't been active just with me? Maybe they're calling me on the phone, we're meeting for lunch? This isn't funny - it's a hideous invasion of privacy.
It's also telling me: MY CONTACTS SHOULD BE ACTIVE AND SHOULD BE ACTIVE WITH ME. It's social engineering at it's worst. Look at the chummy slot above: "Tell your friends what you've been up to" - again, what business is it of theirs? And so many of us use these applications as if they're neutral or helpful, whatever.
Skype started off like a lot of these things as bare-bones (think of Facebook, MySpace, etc.), and slowly began to take over our lives. And all of us good little theorists (included) just use these things as if we're REALLY saying something.
On a personal level, I can't stand this presumed chumminess; I'm using the phone or IM outside of Skype when I can. But this stuff goes on and on. We can't communicate without consulting our goddamn Iphones, we can't listen to music without ITunes maximum-prophet interface, we buy into Facbook's "friends" or +'s "circles" - and since when in the past million years have we quantified or classified our friends (well maybe in grade school).
Go back and read Sartre on seriality and authenticity - my complaint is nothing new here, but what surprises me is how we accept all of this along with Wired mag's hyperbole, etc.
Link: http://cryptome.org/0005/sup.htm
THIS IS THE "NEW" SKYPE INTERFACE ON MY MACHINE!
Note: First of all, the statement at the bottom: "Your contacts have not been very active recently..." Really? What business is it of Skype? Maybe they haven't been active just with me? Maybe they're calling me on the phone, we're meeting for lunch? This isn't funny - it's a hideous invasion of privacy.
It's also telling me: MY CONTACTS SHOULD BE ACTIVE AND SHOULD BE ACTIVE WITH ME. It's social engineering at it's worst. Look at the chummy slot above: "Tell your friends what you've been up to" - again, what business is it of theirs? And so many of us use these applications as if they're neutral or helpful, whatever.
Skype started off like a lot of these things as bare-bones (think of Facebook, MySpace, etc.), and slowly began to take over our lives. And all of us good little theorists (included) just use these things as if we're REALLY saying something.
On a personal level, I can't stand this presumed chumminess; I'm using the phone or IM outside of Skype when I can. But this stuff goes on and on. We can't communicate without consulting our goddamn Iphones, we can't listen to music without ITunes maximum-prophet interface, we buy into Facbook's "friends" or +'s "circles" - and since when in the past million years have we quantified or classified our friends (well maybe in grade school).
Go back and read Sartre on seriality and authenticity - my complaint is nothing new here, but what surprises me is how we accept all of this along with Wired mag's hyperbole, etc.
Link: http://cryptome.org/0005/sup.htm
Global businesses are marketing drugs in the guise of supplements with questionable ingredients.
Pai You Guo, a supposedly natural weight-loss supplement from China that, according to federal authorities, has tested positive in the past for containing two hazardous drugs, including a suspected carcinogen. The product was recalled in 2009. One of Dr. Cohen’s patients in the Boston area ended up in the hospital last year with a range of ailments after taking Pai You Guo, a brand-name that, loosely translated from Chinese, means “the fruit that eliminates fat.”
Marketing drugs in the guise of supplements is illegal in the United States. Tainted Pai You Guo is just one small part of that global business. Federal authorities are struggling to identify and intercept these black-market goods, which, they warn, pose grave health risks.
The makers of legal dietary supplements — the kind found at GNC, for example — acknowledge they are reluctant to raise too many alarms. Even though there is little evidence that many dietary supplements provide real health benefits, legal supplements, from multivitamins to ginkgo biloba, are a big and growing business. Americans spent $28.1 billion on them last year, up from $21.3 billion five years ago, according to estimates from Nutrition Business Journal, a market research firm.
Many millions more are also being spent annually on black-market products, particularly those marketed for weight loss, bodybuilding and sexual enhancement. Some of these products, according to the F.D.A., contain amphetamines, synthetic steroids, laxatives and compounds like the active drug in Viagra. Officials say such products can cause heart attacks and strokes, and can damage the kidneys and liver. A few people in the United States, they say, have died after taking them.
Tainted products are not merely a fringe problem. Major chains like GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe, for example, withdrew a weight-loss brand called StarCaps from their stores three years ago after reports surfaced that the product, marketed as a papaya-based supplement, contained a powerful diuretic drug.
Meanwhile, many companies promote genuine dietary supplements with enthusiastic claims that resemble those of adulterated products, regulators say, making it hard for consumers to distinguish between the legal and the illegal, the harmless and the potentially dangerous.
Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/business/supplement-drugs-may-contain-dangerous-ingredients.html?_r=2&hpw
Marketing drugs in the guise of supplements is illegal in the United States. Tainted Pai You Guo is just one small part of that global business. Federal authorities are struggling to identify and intercept these black-market goods, which, they warn, pose grave health risks.
The makers of legal dietary supplements — the kind found at GNC, for example — acknowledge they are reluctant to raise too many alarms. Even though there is little evidence that many dietary supplements provide real health benefits, legal supplements, from multivitamins to ginkgo biloba, are a big and growing business. Americans spent $28.1 billion on them last year, up from $21.3 billion five years ago, according to estimates from Nutrition Business Journal, a market research firm.
Many millions more are also being spent annually on black-market products, particularly those marketed for weight loss, bodybuilding and sexual enhancement. Some of these products, according to the F.D.A., contain amphetamines, synthetic steroids, laxatives and compounds like the active drug in Viagra. Officials say such products can cause heart attacks and strokes, and can damage the kidneys and liver. A few people in the United States, they say, have died after taking them.
Tainted products are not merely a fringe problem. Major chains like GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe, for example, withdrew a weight-loss brand called StarCaps from their stores three years ago after reports surfaced that the product, marketed as a papaya-based supplement, contained a powerful diuretic drug.
Meanwhile, many companies promote genuine dietary supplements with enthusiastic claims that resemble those of adulterated products, regulators say, making it hard for consumers to distinguish between the legal and the illegal, the harmless and the potentially dangerous.
Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/business/supplement-drugs-may-contain-dangerous-ingredients.html?_r=2&hpw
NYPD police commissioner admits a CIA officer is working in their department.
New York's police commissioner confirmed Thursday that a CIA officer is working out of police headquarters there, after an Associated Press investigation revealed an unusual partnership with the CIA that has blurred the line between foreign and domestic spying. But he and the CIA said the spy agency's role at the department is an advisory one.
Speaking to reporters in New York, commissioner Raymond Kelly acknowledged that the CIA trains NYPD officers on "trade craft issues," meaning espionage techniques, and advises police about events happening overseas. Kelly also said he was unaware of any other U.S. police department with a similar relationship with the CIA.
"They are involved in providing us with information, usually coming from perhaps overseas and providing it to us for, you know, just for our purposes," Kelly said.
CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said the agency does not spy inside the United States and also described the relationship with the CIA as collaborative.
"Our cooperation, in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is exactly what the American people deserve and have come to expect following 9/11," she said.
A months-long investigation by the AP, published Wednesday, revealed that the NYPD has dispatched teams of undercover officers, known as "rakers," into minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program, according to officials directly involved in the program. They've monitored daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs. Police have also used informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. NYPD officials have scrutinized imams and gathered intelligence on cab drivers and food cart vendors, jobs often done by Muslims.
Many of the operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPD's intelligence unit after the September 2001 terror attacks.
Link:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/25/police-commissioner-confirms-cia-officer-working-out-nypd-headquarters/#ixzz1WQyg02S9
Speaking to reporters in New York, commissioner Raymond Kelly acknowledged that the CIA trains NYPD officers on "trade craft issues," meaning espionage techniques, and advises police about events happening overseas. Kelly also said he was unaware of any other U.S. police department with a similar relationship with the CIA.
"They are involved in providing us with information, usually coming from perhaps overseas and providing it to us for, you know, just for our purposes," Kelly said.
CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said the agency does not spy inside the United States and also described the relationship with the CIA as collaborative.
"Our cooperation, in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is exactly what the American people deserve and have come to expect following 9/11," she said.
A months-long investigation by the AP, published Wednesday, revealed that the NYPD has dispatched teams of undercover officers, known as "rakers," into minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program, according to officials directly involved in the program. They've monitored daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs. Police have also used informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. NYPD officials have scrutinized imams and gathered intelligence on cab drivers and food cart vendors, jobs often done by Muslims.
Many of the operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPD's intelligence unit after the September 2001 terror attacks.
Link:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/25/police-commissioner-confirms-cia-officer-working-out-nypd-headquarters/#ixzz1WQyg02S9
Monday, August 29, 2011
Qik.com allows you to store your smart phone videos, they're instantly uploaded to the web for sharing or safe-keeping.
Qik.com allows you to store your smart phone videos, they're instantly uploaded to the web for sharing or safe-keeping. When you record a video it’s immediately stored on a website under your own account, username and password protected, your video is safely stored on the website for you to download or share.
Link: http://qik.com/
Link: http://qik.com/
Ask tough questions of your congressman and you might be put on a "Watch List."
In recent weeks GOP congressmen have resorted to all sorts of underhanded schemes to avoid interacting with their angry constituents back home over August recess. Now two Republican freshmen, Reps. Daniel Webster (R-FL) and Tim Griffin (R-AR), are taking this trend one step further, using disturbing intimidation tactics and “watch lists” to discourage constituents from asking them questions:
Rep. Webster’s Winter Garden, Florida district office gave out a “Watch List” of six Floridians who had asked questions at Webster’s previous town halls. The list, with the header “For the Media,” included names, photographs, and questions that members of the media should ask them.
The Watch List itself doesn’t contain any information on who wrote it or where it comes from.The memos surfaced in Arkansas in connection to the office of Rep. Tim Griffin, and were traced back to Rep. Webster’s office.
With black and white photos that resemble police surveillance, some of them pulled from the individuals’ Facebook profiles, the memo is clearly meant to intimidate these six people and anyone else who might stand up and ask a question of their elected representative. At a Griffin town hall, staffers were handing out the Watch List to attendees, calling it their “homework.” Griffin staffers were also spotted taking photos and shooting video of attendees, creating an extra layer of intimidation.
While Webster and Griffin are ostensibly making these lists to screen out paid activists, the people they are targeting are regular constituents who have simply spoken up and expressed their disagreement about important policy decisions. Nevertheless, Webster staffers clearly went out of their way to investigate the backgrounds of these individuals and insinuate people like them are not welcome at future town halls.
In April, ThinkProgress reported from Webster’s home district about a town hall where he faced a barrage of criticism for defending his support for tax breaks for the rich and the Medicare-ending Paul Ryan budget. One of the constituents ThinkProgress interviewed, Tamecka Pierce, ended up as #5 on the “Watch List.”
Link:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/26/305501/webster-town-hall-watchlist/
Rep. Webster’s Winter Garden, Florida district office gave out a “Watch List” of six Floridians who had asked questions at Webster’s previous town halls. The list, with the header “For the Media,” included names, photographs, and questions that members of the media should ask them.
The Watch List itself doesn’t contain any information on who wrote it or where it comes from.The memos surfaced in Arkansas in connection to the office of Rep. Tim Griffin, and were traced back to Rep. Webster’s office.
With black and white photos that resemble police surveillance, some of them pulled from the individuals’ Facebook profiles, the memo is clearly meant to intimidate these six people and anyone else who might stand up and ask a question of their elected representative. At a Griffin town hall, staffers were handing out the Watch List to attendees, calling it their “homework.” Griffin staffers were also spotted taking photos and shooting video of attendees, creating an extra layer of intimidation.
While Webster and Griffin are ostensibly making these lists to screen out paid activists, the people they are targeting are regular constituents who have simply spoken up and expressed their disagreement about important policy decisions. Nevertheless, Webster staffers clearly went out of their way to investigate the backgrounds of these individuals and insinuate people like them are not welcome at future town halls.
In April, ThinkProgress reported from Webster’s home district about a town hall where he faced a barrage of criticism for defending his support for tax breaks for the rich and the Medicare-ending Paul Ryan budget. One of the constituents ThinkProgress interviewed, Tamecka Pierce, ended up as #5 on the “Watch List.”
Link:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/26/305501/webster-town-hall-watchlist/
The LAPD research paper “Fighting crime in the information age: The promise of predictive policing.”
Public Intelligence.net posted the LAPD Research Paper “Fighting Crime in the Information Age: The Promise of Predictive Policing.”
Link: http://info.publicintelligence.net/LAPD-PredictivePolicing.pdf
Link: http://info.publicintelligence.net/LAPD-PredictivePolicing.pdf
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police dept. predictive crime analytics presentation.
Public Intelligence.net posted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police dept. predictive crime analytics presentation.
Link:
http://info.publicintelligence.net/CMPD-PredictiveAnalytics.pdf
Link:
http://info.publicintelligence.net/CMPD-PredictiveAnalytics.pdf
Informative story about private investigators in the UK.
There are between 4,000 and 5,000 of them now active. The stereotype is of the disgraced police officer, thrown off the force, all grubby raincoat and cigarette dangling from his lower lip; or the lithe, brooding, silent panther, with eyes in the back of his head, capturing the bad guys. Neither is quite right, nor quite wrong.
Despite our insatiable appetite for the PIs of stage and screen, it is their factual counterparts who are back in the spotlight due to the News International scandal. They are not pleased about it. One PI who agreed to speak to me anonymously said he was disgusted by what he had read. “I cannot believe that any decent detective would work with the tabloids in this manner,” he said. “Hacking into people’s private messages is the lowest of the low. If we can’t get what we need to know through legal methods then we are no good at our job.”
At present, there is no regulation of the private investigation industry. “It is a scandal,” says experienced and world-renowned investigator Ken Gamble, “that anyone can become a PI, whatever their skills or lack of them.” The IPI runs a professional and private investigation training course, but there is no legal requirement in the UK to undergo any kind of training.
Link:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8fb55d2e-cea1-11e0-a22c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1WFLVz3Ef
Despite our insatiable appetite for the PIs of stage and screen, it is their factual counterparts who are back in the spotlight due to the News International scandal. They are not pleased about it. One PI who agreed to speak to me anonymously said he was disgusted by what he had read. “I cannot believe that any decent detective would work with the tabloids in this manner,” he said. “Hacking into people’s private messages is the lowest of the low. If we can’t get what we need to know through legal methods then we are no good at our job.”
At present, there is no regulation of the private investigation industry. “It is a scandal,” says experienced and world-renowned investigator Ken Gamble, “that anyone can become a PI, whatever their skills or lack of them.” The IPI runs a professional and private investigation training course, but there is no legal requirement in the UK to undergo any kind of training.
Link:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8fb55d2e-cea1-11e0-a22c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1WFLVz3Ef
Match.com pledges to perform security background checks on all current and future members after settling a lawsuit.
Online dating giant Match.com settled a lawsuit Tuesday with a rape victim by committing to perform security background checks on all current and future members.
Hollywood screenwriter and author Carole Markin sued the leading Internet matchmaker after it linked her up last year with Alan Paul Wurtzel of Pacific Palisades, who had at least six previous sexual assault convictions.
Her attorney, Mark Webb, predicted a "domino effect" among other match-making services and social networking sites. Indeed, online dating services eHarmony and Zoosk confirmed Tuesday that they, too, were checking members against criminal databases to enhance security for their members.
A spokeswoman for Zoosk said the company was still evaluating screening options and had not yet begun vetting members.
Link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/matchcom-sex-offenders.html
Hollywood screenwriter and author Carole Markin sued the leading Internet matchmaker after it linked her up last year with Alan Paul Wurtzel of Pacific Palisades, who had at least six previous sexual assault convictions.
Her attorney, Mark Webb, predicted a "domino effect" among other match-making services and social networking sites. Indeed, online dating services eHarmony and Zoosk confirmed Tuesday that they, too, were checking members against criminal databases to enhance security for their members.
A spokeswoman for Zoosk said the company was still evaluating screening options and had not yet begun vetting members.
Link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/matchcom-sex-offenders.html
Saturday, August 27, 2011
MA - U.S. Court of Appeals says state law used to ban recording of police officers in public is unconstitutional.
In its ruling, which lets Simon Glik continue his lawsuit, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said the way Glik was arrested and his phone seized under a state wiretapping law violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights:
The First Amendment issue here is, as the parties frame it, fairly narrow: is there a constitutionally protected right to videotape police carrying out their duties in public? Basic First Amendment principles, along with case law from this and other circuits, answer that question unambiguously in the affirmative. It is firmly established that the First Amendment's aegis extends further than the text's proscription on laws "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press," and encompasses a range of conduct related to the gathering and dissemination of information. As the Supreme Court has observed, "the First Amendment goes beyond protection of the press and the self-expression of individuals to prohibit government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw."
Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting "the free discussion of governmental affairs."
The court noted that past decisions on police recording had involved fulltime reporters, but said the First Amendment does not apply just to professional news gatherers.
Moreover, changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.
Excerpts from the ruling:
• "Is there a constitutionally protected right to videotape police carrying out their duties in public? Basic First Amendment principles, along with case law from this and other circuits, answer that question unambiguously in the affirmative."
• "Glik filmed the defendant police officers in the Boston Common, the oldest city park in the United States and the apotheosis of a public forum. In such traditional public spaces, the rights of the state to limit the exercise of First Amendment activity are 'sharply circumscribed.'"
• "A citizen's right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment."
• "Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting 'the free discussion of governmental affairs."
The Court also rejected any distinction of those cases based upon the fact that Glik was not a reporter, holding that "the First Amendment right to gather news is, as the Court has often noted, not one that inures solely to the benefit of the news media" and noting the importance of citizen journalists:
Changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.
Court Ruling: http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/10-1764P-01A.pdf
Links: http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2011/victory-recording-public
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/court-says-state-law-banning-recording-police-offi
The First Amendment issue here is, as the parties frame it, fairly narrow: is there a constitutionally protected right to videotape police carrying out their duties in public? Basic First Amendment principles, along with case law from this and other circuits, answer that question unambiguously in the affirmative. It is firmly established that the First Amendment's aegis extends further than the text's proscription on laws "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press," and encompasses a range of conduct related to the gathering and dissemination of information. As the Supreme Court has observed, "the First Amendment goes beyond protection of the press and the self-expression of individuals to prohibit government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw."
Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting "the free discussion of governmental affairs."
The court noted that past decisions on police recording had involved fulltime reporters, but said the First Amendment does not apply just to professional news gatherers.
Moreover, changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.
Excerpts from the ruling:
• "Is there a constitutionally protected right to videotape police carrying out their duties in public? Basic First Amendment principles, along with case law from this and other circuits, answer that question unambiguously in the affirmative."
• "Glik filmed the defendant police officers in the Boston Common, the oldest city park in the United States and the apotheosis of a public forum. In such traditional public spaces, the rights of the state to limit the exercise of First Amendment activity are 'sharply circumscribed.'"
• "A citizen's right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment."
• "Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting 'the free discussion of governmental affairs."
The Court also rejected any distinction of those cases based upon the fact that Glik was not a reporter, holding that "the First Amendment right to gather news is, as the Court has often noted, not one that inures solely to the benefit of the news media" and noting the importance of citizen journalists:
Changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.
Court Ruling: http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/10-1764P-01A.pdf
Links: http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2011/victory-recording-public
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/court-says-state-law-banning-recording-police-offi
A new study claims 83 percent of US Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use social networks.
Half of US adults are using social networks such as Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.
The survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project found that 65 percent of adult Internet users in the United States use social networks.
65% of adult internet users now say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 61% one year ago. This marks the first time in Pew Internet surveys that 50% of all adults use social networking sites.
The frequency of social networking site usage among young adult internet users under age 30 was stable over the last year – 61% of online Americans in that age cohort now use social networking sites on a typical day, compared with 60% one year ago. However, among the Boomer-aged segment of internet users ages 50-64, social networking site usage on a typical day grew a significant 60% (from 20% to 32%).
Pew said 83 percent of US Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use social networks, 70 percent of 30 to 49 year olds, 51 percent of 50 to 64 year olds and 33 percent of those aged 65 and older.
Link:
http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP-SNS-Update-2011.pdf
The survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project found that 65 percent of adult Internet users in the United States use social networks.
65% of adult internet users now say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 61% one year ago. This marks the first time in Pew Internet surveys that 50% of all adults use social networking sites.
The frequency of social networking site usage among young adult internet users under age 30 was stable over the last year – 61% of online Americans in that age cohort now use social networking sites on a typical day, compared with 60% one year ago. However, among the Boomer-aged segment of internet users ages 50-64, social networking site usage on a typical day grew a significant 60% (from 20% to 32%).
Pew said 83 percent of US Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use social networks, 70 percent of 30 to 49 year olds, 51 percent of 50 to 64 year olds and 33 percent of those aged 65 and older.
Link:
http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP-SNS-Update-2011.pdf
Friday, August 26, 2011
MA- The state Appeals Court said yesterday that the government cannot unilaterally decide to keep DNA profiles of civilians who are not accused of any crimes.
The state Appeals Court said yesterday that the government cannot unilaterally decide to keep DNA profiles of civilians who willingly provide genetic information to law enforcement as police try to solve crimes.
In a unanimous ruling, the court revived a lawsuit filed by Keith Amato against Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe and the State Police for keeping his DNA profile, which was collected to help authorities solve the slaying of Truro fashion writer Christa Worthington, an Amato acquaintance.
“DNA information is highly sensitive,’’ Judge David A. Mills wrote for the court. “Citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such information. . . . We are not convinced [O’Keefe and State Police] have acted reasonably as a matter of law.’’
Amato voluntarily gave a biological sample in 2002, and has fought for years for the removal of his genetic profile from State Police files, particularly since Christopher McCowen was convicted of murdering Worthington and his conviction was upheld.
Amato has since recovered the biological sample. But his genetic profile, which is developed by processing the sample, is still in government hands, though he has not been convicted of a crime.
Links:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20110825court_allows_dna_lawsuit_in_cape_cod_slay_case/srvc=home&position=recent
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/08/appeals-court-says-cape-prosecutors-must-show-they-need-dna-profiles-worthington-witnesses/VDFsHvpTgMJTJLks6UGCuN/index.html
In a unanimous ruling, the court revived a lawsuit filed by Keith Amato against Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe and the State Police for keeping his DNA profile, which was collected to help authorities solve the slaying of Truro fashion writer Christa Worthington, an Amato acquaintance.
“DNA information is highly sensitive,’’ Judge David A. Mills wrote for the court. “Citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such information. . . . We are not convinced [O’Keefe and State Police] have acted reasonably as a matter of law.’’
Amato voluntarily gave a biological sample in 2002, and has fought for years for the removal of his genetic profile from State Police files, particularly since Christopher McCowen was convicted of murdering Worthington and his conviction was upheld.
Amato has since recovered the biological sample. But his genetic profile, which is developed by processing the sample, is still in government hands, though he has not been convicted of a crime.
Links:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20110825court_allows_dna_lawsuit_in_cape_cod_slay_case/srvc=home&position=recent
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/08/appeals-court-says-cape-prosecutors-must-show-they-need-dna-profiles-worthington-witnesses/VDFsHvpTgMJTJLks6UGCuN/index.html
MA- Debra Marquis filed a class action law suit against Google for scanning emails sent to gmail accounts.
Debra Marquis of Boxford, MA has filed a class action law suit claiming Google Inc. violated state privacy laws by scanning email messages between users of the search giant’s Gmail service and users of other providers, like AOL, and using the information to place online advertisements.
The complaint was filed July 29 in Suffolk Superior Court, is intended to be a class action suit. Complainant Debra Marquis is seeking other people who don’t use Gmail accounts, but have dispatched emails to Gmail users, to join the action.
Marquis claimed in the suit that non-Google email users did not authorize the company to have their messages scanned. Through its Gmail service, Google’s technology examines e-mail transmissions of its users to find keywords or content to present advertising that may be of interest to Gmail account holders.
Marquis’s attorney alleged that Google violated her privacy and cited the Massachusetts Wiretapping Act, a law that states it is illegal to record “any wire or oral communication” without the consent of all parties involved.
Google uses automated technology to scan emails sent through the Gmail system to serve relevant advertisements to Gmail users. Users signing up for a Gmail account must consent to such scanning in order to register. In the complaint, the plaintiff stated that as a non-Gmail user, she never gave Google her consent to scan emails she sent to recipients with Gmail addresses, and that her “personal or property interests or privacy” were violated by Google’s automated email scanning. The plaintiff seeks the maximum damages allowable under the statute, including liquidated damages at a rate of $100 per day of violation or $1000 (whichever is higher), punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. MGL Ch. 272 § 99(Q)
Complaint:
http://www.zwillgenblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Marquis-v-Google1.pdf
Link:
http://www.zwillgenblog.com/2011/08/23/google-sued-in-massachusetts-for-scanning-emails-sent-to-gmail-account/
The complaint was filed July 29 in Suffolk Superior Court, is intended to be a class action suit. Complainant Debra Marquis is seeking other people who don’t use Gmail accounts, but have dispatched emails to Gmail users, to join the action.
Marquis claimed in the suit that non-Google email users did not authorize the company to have their messages scanned. Through its Gmail service, Google’s technology examines e-mail transmissions of its users to find keywords or content to present advertising that may be of interest to Gmail account holders.
Marquis’s attorney alleged that Google violated her privacy and cited the Massachusetts Wiretapping Act, a law that states it is illegal to record “any wire or oral communication” without the consent of all parties involved.
Google uses automated technology to scan emails sent through the Gmail system to serve relevant advertisements to Gmail users. Users signing up for a Gmail account must consent to such scanning in order to register. In the complaint, the plaintiff stated that as a non-Gmail user, she never gave Google her consent to scan emails she sent to recipients with Gmail addresses, and that her “personal or property interests or privacy” were violated by Google’s automated email scanning. The plaintiff seeks the maximum damages allowable under the statute, including liquidated damages at a rate of $100 per day of violation or $1000 (whichever is higher), punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. MGL Ch. 272 § 99(Q)
Complaint:
http://www.zwillgenblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Marquis-v-Google1.pdf
Link:
http://www.zwillgenblog.com/2011/08/23/google-sued-in-massachusetts-for-scanning-emails-sent-to-gmail-account/
NY- A 400 pound man goes free because of an unfair police lineup procedure.
At 400 pounds, the scales of justice had to tip in his favor.
A convicted robber got a massive break today when an appeals court overturned his conviction, finding the lineup he was picked out of was unfair because it didn't include any other 400-pound men.
Eric Kenley, 48, was "charged with two robberies that occurred on the same morning" in Lower Manhattan in 2007, the Appellate Division decision recounts.
The corpulent con was identified as the driver of the getaway car in both robberies. According to his criminal complaint, when the victim in the second robbery looked at him, he pulled out a handgun and told the person "to look straight ahead."
The Appellate Division ruling says "the witnesses to the robberies described the driver of the getaway car, respectively, as 'a huge, big, fat, black guy,' 'a real big, real huge black guy,' and 'very heavyset and large'" - descriptions that certainly fit the 6-foot-4-inch Kenley.
However, those descriptions didn't fit the other people in the lineup, none of whom were are as supersized as Kenley, the appeals court found.
"Although the fillers were large men, there was a very noticeable weight difference between defendant and the fillers," the ruling said - so much so that normal police tricks for dealing with such problems didn't work.
"While the lineup participants were seated, and this can sometimes satisfactorily minimize differences in weight, it is clear from the photo that there was a marked difference between defendant and the fillers," and that difference was too big for the appeals court to overlook.
"Instead, this situation would call for the use of some kind of covering to conceal the weight difference."
Link:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/lack_of_pounders_in_lineup_gets_j0zmhPjkfePjU5GbB6lS1J
A convicted robber got a massive break today when an appeals court overturned his conviction, finding the lineup he was picked out of was unfair because it didn't include any other 400-pound men.
Eric Kenley, 48, was "charged with two robberies that occurred on the same morning" in Lower Manhattan in 2007, the Appellate Division decision recounts.
The corpulent con was identified as the driver of the getaway car in both robberies. According to his criminal complaint, when the victim in the second robbery looked at him, he pulled out a handgun and told the person "to look straight ahead."
The Appellate Division ruling says "the witnesses to the robberies described the driver of the getaway car, respectively, as 'a huge, big, fat, black guy,' 'a real big, real huge black guy,' and 'very heavyset and large'" - descriptions that certainly fit the 6-foot-4-inch Kenley.
However, those descriptions didn't fit the other people in the lineup, none of whom were are as supersized as Kenley, the appeals court found.
"Although the fillers were large men, there was a very noticeable weight difference between defendant and the fillers," the ruling said - so much so that normal police tricks for dealing with such problems didn't work.
"While the lineup participants were seated, and this can sometimes satisfactorily minimize differences in weight, it is clear from the photo that there was a marked difference between defendant and the fillers," and that difference was too big for the appeals court to overlook.
"Instead, this situation would call for the use of some kind of covering to conceal the weight difference."
Link:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/lack_of_pounders_in_lineup_gets_j0zmhPjkfePjU5GbB6lS1J
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Chicago- Tiawanda Moore was acquitted of eavesdropping charges against two police investigators.
A Cook County jury today a woman of criminal eavesdropping charges after she had secretly recorded an interview with two Chicago police internal affairs investigators.
Tiawanda Moore testified she decided to record the meeting when the investigators tried to talk her out of following through on her complaint of sexual harassment against a patrol officer who had come to her home on a domestic disturbance.
The Criminal Court jury took less than an hour to acquit Moore, 20, a former stripper, on the two felony counts. She had faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-acquitted-of-criminal-eavesdropping-of-police-20110824,0,7262030.story
Tiawanda Moore testified she decided to record the meeting when the investigators tried to talk her out of following through on her complaint of sexual harassment against a patrol officer who had come to her home on a domestic disturbance.
The Criminal Court jury took less than an hour to acquit Moore, 20, a former stripper, on the two felony counts. She had faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-acquitted-of-criminal-eavesdropping-of-police-20110824,0,7262030.story
What's the point of using your browser's "Do- Not -Track" setting?
Judging by the frenzied claims of lawmakers like US representative Jackie Speier, enabling the Do Not Track feature ranks up there with locking doors and shredding credit card statements. “People have a right to surf the web without Big Brother watching their every move and announcing it to the world,” Speier said last February,when she introduced a bill to regulate online tracking.
DNT settings, which ask ad networks and the websites you visit not to track you, are the brainchild of security and privacy rabble-rouser Christopher Soghoian. His idea was to port the functionality of the Do Not Call list to the Internet, without forcing users to figure out cookies or register their computers in a national database. Firefox, IE9, and Safari all offer the option.
But none of that really matters, since the setting has no legal muscle. Websites are free to ignore it. And they do. As of June, only five had pledged to follow it—the Associated Press plus four of the hundreds of behavior-tracking ad networks whose raison d’èAtre is figuring out how you view the web.
“Companies are building detailed dossiers on consumers based on their browsing behavior,” Soghoian says. “The DNT header protects you by sending a clear, unambiguous signal that you don’t want to be tracked.”
Link: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/pr_burning_donottrack/
DNT settings, which ask ad networks and the websites you visit not to track you, are the brainchild of security and privacy rabble-rouser Christopher Soghoian. His idea was to port the functionality of the Do Not Call list to the Internet, without forcing users to figure out cookies or register their computers in a national database. Firefox, IE9, and Safari all offer the option.
But none of that really matters, since the setting has no legal muscle. Websites are free to ignore it. And they do. As of June, only five had pledged to follow it—the Associated Press plus four of the hundreds of behavior-tracking ad networks whose raison d’èAtre is figuring out how you view the web.
“Companies are building detailed dossiers on consumers based on their browsing behavior,” Soghoian says. “The DNT header protects you by sending a clear, unambiguous signal that you don’t want to be tracked.”
Link: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/pr_burning_donottrack/
Lawsuit claims credit reporter Infotrack Information Services misidentified 'hundreds or thousands' as sex offenders.
CHICAGO - A federal class action claims that consumer credit agency Infotrack Information Services falsely identified "hundreds or thousands of consumers as sex offenders in consumer reports provided to employers."
Lead plaintiff Samuel D. Jackson claims that "Infotrack created a consumer report erroneously indicating that Jackson was a registered sex offender and that he had committed heinous criminal acts" and sent "that consumer report to Jackson's prospective employer."
"This was not a one-time mistake on Infotrack's part," the complaint states. "Infotrack reports sex offender information about consumers whenever the consumer's first and last name matches the first and last name of any sex offender in its national sex offender database. Moreover, it never checks to determine whether the consumer's date of birth - or other personal identifying information - matches the date of birth of the actual sex offender. The failure to implement such basic cross-checking procedures has resulted in the erroneous labeling of hundreds or thousands of consumers as sex offenders in consumer reports provided to employers."
When he called Infotrack to report the inaccurate information, Jackson says, the company told him "that the company's consumer reports frequently contain inaccurate sex offender information when the consumer has a common first and last name and that consumers frequently complain about the problem."
He says that "Infotrack's consumer reports are incomplete with respect to the sex offender information that they report because the consumer reports omit important information such as the actual sex offender's age, height, weight, and whether the sex offender is currently incarcerated."
He seeks punitive damages for Infotrack's failure to follow "reasonable procedures" to ensure accuracy in its reports and for reporting "sex offender information in consumer reports likely to have an adverse effect on a consumer's employment, while excluding from those consumer reports a great deal of personal indentifying information."
Lawsuit:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/25/Infotrack.pdf
Lead plaintiff Samuel D. Jackson claims that "Infotrack created a consumer report erroneously indicating that Jackson was a registered sex offender and that he had committed heinous criminal acts" and sent "that consumer report to Jackson's prospective employer."
"This was not a one-time mistake on Infotrack's part," the complaint states. "Infotrack reports sex offender information about consumers whenever the consumer's first and last name matches the first and last name of any sex offender in its national sex offender database. Moreover, it never checks to determine whether the consumer's date of birth - or other personal identifying information - matches the date of birth of the actual sex offender. The failure to implement such basic cross-checking procedures has resulted in the erroneous labeling of hundreds or thousands of consumers as sex offenders in consumer reports provided to employers."
When he called Infotrack to report the inaccurate information, Jackson says, the company told him "that the company's consumer reports frequently contain inaccurate sex offender information when the consumer has a common first and last name and that consumers frequently complain about the problem."
He says that "Infotrack's consumer reports are incomplete with respect to the sex offender information that they report because the consumer reports omit important information such as the actual sex offender's age, height, weight, and whether the sex offender is currently incarcerated."
He seeks punitive damages for Infotrack's failure to follow "reasonable procedures" to ensure accuracy in its reports and for reporting "sex offender information in consumer reports likely to have an adverse effect on a consumer's employment, while excluding from those consumer reports a great deal of personal indentifying information."
Lawsuit:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/25/Infotrack.pdf
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
NY Judge rules a warrant is required to obtain cell phone location data.
In recent years, the courts have struggled to decide whether the government needs a warrant to access historical records about a cell phone user's location. Some courts have found that when users turn on their cell phones, they "voluntarily" transmit their location to their cell phone providers and thereby waive any expectation of privacy.
On Monday, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York soundly rejected this line of reasoning. The federal government had asked the courts to order Verizon Wireless to turn over 113 days of location data about a suspect's cell phone. It did so under a provision of the Stored Communications Act that only requires law enforcement to show that the records are "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."
Does the government violate the Constitution when it obtains location data without meeting the Fourth Amendment's "probable cause" standard? Some courts have found that it does not. But in a 22-page opinion, Judge Garaufis analyzed and rejected these other courts' arguments, holding that law enforcement needs a warrant to obtain months of location data.
"The fiction that the vast majority of the American population consents to warrantless government access to the records of a significant share of their movements by 'choosing' to carry a cell phone must be rejected," he wrote. "In light of drastic developments in technology, the Fourth Amendment doctrine must evolve to preserve cell-phone user's reasonable expectation of privacy in cumulative cell-site-location records."
Some judges have tried to shoehorn cell phone location data into this analytical framework. But Judge Garaufis refused to do so, ruling that the distinction between content and non-content information didn't make sense in this context. "There is no meaningful Fourth Amendment distinction between content and other forms of information, the disclosure of which to the Government would be equally intrusive and reveal information society values as private," he wrote.
Instead, he offered two reasons to think the Fourth Amendment protects cell phone location data. First, the third-party doctrine should not apply to "widely used communication technologies in which service-provider intermediaries receive and store private user information incident to the service."
And second, "established normative privacy considerations support the conclusion that the reasonable expectation of privacy is preserved here." In other words, when a user signs up for a cell phone, he's not consenting to his cell phone provider disclosing a complete record of his movements to the government.
The decision is a refreshing change from the long line of cases that have tried to apply decades-old Fourth Amendment principles to 21st Century communications technologies. The extent of tracking enabled by cell phones was unthinkable when those earlier cases were decided. Judge Garaufis recognized that the legal standards need to evolve along with changing technologies. We hope other judges will follow his lead.
Judge's Decision:
http://ia600309.us.archive.org/33/items/gov.uscourts.nyed.312774/gov.uscourts.nyed.312774.6.0.pdf
Link:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/judge-says-warrant-required-for-cell-phone-location-data.ars
On Monday, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York soundly rejected this line of reasoning. The federal government had asked the courts to order Verizon Wireless to turn over 113 days of location data about a suspect's cell phone. It did so under a provision of the Stored Communications Act that only requires law enforcement to show that the records are "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."
Does the government violate the Constitution when it obtains location data without meeting the Fourth Amendment's "probable cause" standard? Some courts have found that it does not. But in a 22-page opinion, Judge Garaufis analyzed and rejected these other courts' arguments, holding that law enforcement needs a warrant to obtain months of location data.
"The fiction that the vast majority of the American population consents to warrantless government access to the records of a significant share of their movements by 'choosing' to carry a cell phone must be rejected," he wrote. "In light of drastic developments in technology, the Fourth Amendment doctrine must evolve to preserve cell-phone user's reasonable expectation of privacy in cumulative cell-site-location records."
Some judges have tried to shoehorn cell phone location data into this analytical framework. But Judge Garaufis refused to do so, ruling that the distinction between content and non-content information didn't make sense in this context. "There is no meaningful Fourth Amendment distinction between content and other forms of information, the disclosure of which to the Government would be equally intrusive and reveal information society values as private," he wrote.
Instead, he offered two reasons to think the Fourth Amendment protects cell phone location data. First, the third-party doctrine should not apply to "widely used communication technologies in which service-provider intermediaries receive and store private user information incident to the service."
And second, "established normative privacy considerations support the conclusion that the reasonable expectation of privacy is preserved here." In other words, when a user signs up for a cell phone, he's not consenting to his cell phone provider disclosing a complete record of his movements to the government.
The decision is a refreshing change from the long line of cases that have tried to apply decades-old Fourth Amendment principles to 21st Century communications technologies. The extent of tracking enabled by cell phones was unthinkable when those earlier cases were decided. Judge Garaufis recognized that the legal standards need to evolve along with changing technologies. We hope other judges will follow his lead.
Judge's Decision:
http://ia600309.us.archive.org/33/items/gov.uscourts.nyed.312774/gov.uscourts.nyed.312774.6.0.pdf
Link:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/judge-says-warrant-required-for-cell-phone-location-data.ars
The reliability of eyewitness identification is an issue in a case set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in November.
WASHINGTON — Every year, more than 75,000 eyewitnesses identify suspects in criminal investigations. Those identifications are wrong about a third of the time, a pile of studies suggest.
Mistaken identifications lead to wrongful convictions. Of the first 250 DNA exonerations, 190 involved eyewitnesses who were wrong, as documented in “Convicting the Innocent,” a recent book by Brandon L. Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia.
Many of those witnesses were as certain as they were wrong. “There is absolutely no question in my mind,” said one. Another was “120 percent” sure. A third said, “That is one face I will never forget.” A fourth allowed for a glimmer of doubt: “This is the man, or it is his twin brother.”
In November, the Supreme Court will return to the question of what the Constitution has to say about the use of eyewitness evidence. The last time the court took a hard look at the question was in 1977. Since then, the scientific understanding of human memory has been transformed.
Indeed, there is no area in which social science research has done more to illuminate a legal issue. More than 2,000 studies on the topic have been published in professional journals in the past 30 years.
What they collectively show is that it is perilous to base a conviction on a witness’s identification of a stranger. Memory is not a videotape. It is fragile at best, worse under stress and subject to distortion and contamination.
The unreliability of eyewitness identification is matched by its power.
ACLU Petitioners Brief: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/previewbriefs/Other_Brief_Updates/10-8974_petitioner.authcheckdam.pdf
New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/us/23bar.html?_r=1#
Mistaken identifications lead to wrongful convictions. Of the first 250 DNA exonerations, 190 involved eyewitnesses who were wrong, as documented in “Convicting the Innocent,” a recent book by Brandon L. Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia.
Many of those witnesses were as certain as they were wrong. “There is absolutely no question in my mind,” said one. Another was “120 percent” sure. A third said, “That is one face I will never forget.” A fourth allowed for a glimmer of doubt: “This is the man, or it is his twin brother.”
In November, the Supreme Court will return to the question of what the Constitution has to say about the use of eyewitness evidence. The last time the court took a hard look at the question was in 1977. Since then, the scientific understanding of human memory has been transformed.
Indeed, there is no area in which social science research has done more to illuminate a legal issue. More than 2,000 studies on the topic have been published in professional journals in the past 30 years.
What they collectively show is that it is perilous to base a conviction on a witness’s identification of a stranger. Memory is not a videotape. It is fragile at best, worse under stress and subject to distortion and contamination.
The unreliability of eyewitness identification is matched by its power.
ACLU Petitioners Brief: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/previewbriefs/Other_Brief_Updates/10-8974_petitioner.authcheckdam.pdf
New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/us/23bar.html?_r=1#
Attempt to record police abuse in Chicago and you'll be prosecuted and may serve 15 years in prison.
A former stripper who is accused of illegally recording a conversation with two Chicago police internal affairs detectives cried on the witness stand Tuesday as she admitted being mad at the time because she thought her sexual harassment complaint wasn’t being taken seriously.
Tiawanda Moore, 20, is charged with two felony counts of eavesdropping on a public official for allegedly recording a four-minute portion of the Aug. 18, 2010, interview on her BlackBerry, which she had hidden in her lap.
Moore, of Hammond, Ind., was being interviewed at police headquarters about her complaint that a patrol officer had grabbed her breast and given her his phone number when he came to her boyfriend’s South Side apartment on a domestic disturbance call.
On the muffled recording, which was played for the jury Tuesday, Internal Affairs Officer Luis Alejo can be heard explaining to Moore that if she dropped the complaint, they could “almost guarantee” that the harassment would not happen again. He also suggested that going that route might save her the time and aggravation of a full investigation
Under Illinois’ eavesdropping law, making an audio recording a law enforcement officer or court official without the consent of all parties is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The law does provide an exception allowing citizens to obtain evidence through a recording device if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that a crime is about to be committed.
The case against Moore has caught the attention of civil libertarians who believe the law is unconstitutional. Earlier this month, a group called the Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls and Young Women submitted a petition with more than 3,000 signatures demanding that Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez drop the charges.
Link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-recorded-cops-after-harrassment-claims-ignored-20110823,0,2282406.story
Tiawanda Moore, 20, is charged with two felony counts of eavesdropping on a public official for allegedly recording a four-minute portion of the Aug. 18, 2010, interview on her BlackBerry, which she had hidden in her lap.
Moore, of Hammond, Ind., was being interviewed at police headquarters about her complaint that a patrol officer had grabbed her breast and given her his phone number when he came to her boyfriend’s South Side apartment on a domestic disturbance call.
On the muffled recording, which was played for the jury Tuesday, Internal Affairs Officer Luis Alejo can be heard explaining to Moore that if she dropped the complaint, they could “almost guarantee” that the harassment would not happen again. He also suggested that going that route might save her the time and aggravation of a full investigation
Under Illinois’ eavesdropping law, making an audio recording a law enforcement officer or court official without the consent of all parties is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The law does provide an exception allowing citizens to obtain evidence through a recording device if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that a crime is about to be committed.
The case against Moore has caught the attention of civil libertarians who believe the law is unconstitutional. Earlier this month, a group called the Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls and Young Women submitted a petition with more than 3,000 signatures demanding that Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez drop the charges.
Link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-recorded-cops-after-harrassment-claims-ignored-20110823,0,2282406.story
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Theft of children's social security numbers are on the rise.
Experts say children represent an emerging market for identity thieves who steal their Social Security numbers because they offer clean slates that can be used to commit fraud for years without detection. Many victims don't learn about the crime until they are young adults and find their credit in tatters as they are rejected for student loans, jobs and places to live.
Even as recent data breaches at large corporations have raised awareness about safeguarding consumer information, children's Social Security numbers are lying around little-guarded places not accustomed to fearing cyber-attacks -- like schools and pediatric centers -- constituting a goldmine for criminals seeking untainted identities.
If left unchecked, child identity theft poses risks not only to young adults, but also to the financial system by eroding confidence that loans will be repaid, experts say.
With increasing frequency, cyberthieves are hijacking those futures, tapping the pristine Social Security numbers of children for adult purposes, enabling undocumented immigrants to gain employment and people with tainted credit to secure credit cards, mortgages and car loans, experts say.
In the largest study on child identity theft to date, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that 10 percent of children were victims of identity theft, compared with less than 1 percent of adults.
Though not scientific, the study, which was published this spring, analyzed more than 800,000 records, including 40,000 belonging to minors, that were compromised by data breaches in 2009 and 2010. The information was provided by Debix, which sells identity theft services and offers free scans for parents who want to find out if a credit file exists on their child.
The stolen identities were used to purchase homes and cars, open credit card accounts, gain employment and obtain driver's licenses, the report found. The youngest victim was five months old. In one case, eight people are suspected of opening 42 accounts and incurring more than $725,000 in debt using a 17-year-old's Social Security number.
Many child identity thefts begin with a cyber attack, according to Bo Holland, chief executive of Debix. Hackers are now using computer viruses and botnets, or networks of infected computers, to search for specific documents on computers such as tax records and health records, which contain children's Social Security numbers, Holland said.
Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/21/child-identity-theft_n_931485.html
Even as recent data breaches at large corporations have raised awareness about safeguarding consumer information, children's Social Security numbers are lying around little-guarded places not accustomed to fearing cyber-attacks -- like schools and pediatric centers -- constituting a goldmine for criminals seeking untainted identities.
If left unchecked, child identity theft poses risks not only to young adults, but also to the financial system by eroding confidence that loans will be repaid, experts say.
With increasing frequency, cyberthieves are hijacking those futures, tapping the pristine Social Security numbers of children for adult purposes, enabling undocumented immigrants to gain employment and people with tainted credit to secure credit cards, mortgages and car loans, experts say.
In the largest study on child identity theft to date, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that 10 percent of children were victims of identity theft, compared with less than 1 percent of adults.
Though not scientific, the study, which was published this spring, analyzed more than 800,000 records, including 40,000 belonging to minors, that were compromised by data breaches in 2009 and 2010. The information was provided by Debix, which sells identity theft services and offers free scans for parents who want to find out if a credit file exists on their child.
The stolen identities were used to purchase homes and cars, open credit card accounts, gain employment and obtain driver's licenses, the report found. The youngest victim was five months old. In one case, eight people are suspected of opening 42 accounts and incurring more than $725,000 in debt using a 17-year-old's Social Security number.
Many child identity thefts begin with a cyber attack, according to Bo Holland, chief executive of Debix. Hackers are now using computer viruses and botnets, or networks of infected computers, to search for specific documents on computers such as tax records and health records, which contain children's Social Security numbers, Holland said.
Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/21/child-identity-theft_n_931485.html
Monday, August 22, 2011
How long before your car spies on your driving habits?
Car insurance companies want you to install a new device in your car so they can track how you drive and when you drive. The companies say this could reduce your insurance rates, but there is more to the story.
The data that are collected by the insurers don't stay with the insurers and won't be used only to calculate rates. Police could get access to your driving habits, as could state agencies.
Most critically, these data could be used in claims disputes by the insurer and others against you. That means that the auto insurer's "black box" in your car could become Exhibit A in a case against you.
Collecting better data about accidents is important for auto safety, but fairness remains a critical concern if drivers are told they have to accept the determination of an insurance company. One survey of nearly 700 crashes involving vehicles with manufacturer-installed "event data recorders" (similar to the devices insurers want to put in cars), found that there were problems retrieving the data in almost 40% of the cases.
Also, the insurers are not the only ones who want to spy on you. The federal government is considering mandating event data recorders in all vehicles — the Transportation Department already requires EDRs for long-haul vehicles, including those operated by independent owners.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2011-08-18-car-insurance-monitors-driving-snapshot_n.htm
The data that are collected by the insurers don't stay with the insurers and won't be used only to calculate rates. Police could get access to your driving habits, as could state agencies.
Most critically, these data could be used in claims disputes by the insurer and others against you. That means that the auto insurer's "black box" in your car could become Exhibit A in a case against you.
Collecting better data about accidents is important for auto safety, but fairness remains a critical concern if drivers are told they have to accept the determination of an insurance company. One survey of nearly 700 crashes involving vehicles with manufacturer-installed "event data recorders" (similar to the devices insurers want to put in cars), found that there were problems retrieving the data in almost 40% of the cases.
Also, the insurers are not the only ones who want to spy on you. The federal government is considering mandating event data recorders in all vehicles — the Transportation Department already requires EDRs for long-haul vehicles, including those operated by independent owners.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2011-08-18-car-insurance-monitors-driving-snapshot_n.htm
Advertisers & private companies are starting to use facial recognition software on the public.
Picture this: You stop in front of a digital advertising display at a mall and suddenly an ad pops up touting makeup, followed by one for shoes and then one for butter pecan ice cream.
It seems to know you're a woman in your late 20s and, in fact, it does. When you looked at the display, it scanned your facial features and tailored its messages to you.
Once the stuff of science fiction and high-tech crime fighting, facial recognition technology has become one of the newest tools in marketing, even though privacy concerns abound.
The Venetian resort, hotel and casino in Las Vegas has started using it on digital displays to tailor suggestions for restaurants, clubs and entertainment to passersby.
Privacy advocates worry the technology is one more way for companies to quietly gather data about people without their permission or even knowledge. In June, Facebook Inc. rolled out a facial recognition feature worldwide that could pinpoint individuals. It was used to automatically identify friends when you uploaded photos of them onto the social network.
When members realized this was happening, many loudly objected, calling it creepy and invasive. The feature still exists, but the company apologized and made it more clear how users can opt out.
The nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center said such uses of facial recognition have the potential to violate civil liberties and give governments too much power.
"What if the government starts compiling a database of everyone who shows up to protests?" asked Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the group. "There are so many 1st Amendment and human rights concerns. It's a slippery slope.
Link:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facial-recognition-20110821,0,7327487.story
It seems to know you're a woman in your late 20s and, in fact, it does. When you looked at the display, it scanned your facial features and tailored its messages to you.
Once the stuff of science fiction and high-tech crime fighting, facial recognition technology has become one of the newest tools in marketing, even though privacy concerns abound.
The Venetian resort, hotel and casino in Las Vegas has started using it on digital displays to tailor suggestions for restaurants, clubs and entertainment to passersby.
Privacy advocates worry the technology is one more way for companies to quietly gather data about people without their permission or even knowledge. In June, Facebook Inc. rolled out a facial recognition feature worldwide that could pinpoint individuals. It was used to automatically identify friends when you uploaded photos of them onto the social network.
When members realized this was happening, many loudly objected, calling it creepy and invasive. The feature still exists, but the company apologized and made it more clear how users can opt out.
The nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center said such uses of facial recognition have the potential to violate civil liberties and give governments too much power.
"What if the government starts compiling a database of everyone who shows up to protests?" asked Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the group. "There are so many 1st Amendment and human rights concerns. It's a slippery slope.
Link:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facial-recognition-20110821,0,7327487.story
Friday, August 19, 2011
MA- The ACLU files a lawsuit against the Boston police for access to their surveillance documents.
BOSTON -- In a move to compel disclosure of information that has been withheld from the public about the Boston Police Department's expanded surveillance operations, including the scope of its monitoring of political activities, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts have filed suit on behalf of eight Boston-area political groups and four individual activists, seeking public disclosure of records detailing the BPD's practice of monitoring political organizations and activists.
The suit, filed under the Massachusetts Public Records law, seeks disclosure of BPD records regarding the Department's surveillance and recording of protest activities and assemblies, the monitoring of political groups and activists, as well as records relating to the collection and sharing of information with the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies.
"There have been significant changes in the surveillance operations of the BPD," said Laura Rótolo, ACLU of Massachusetts staff attorney. "For years, the BPD has conducted surveillance of political protests, openly recording legal rallies, marches and demonstrations in public areas. But now that information can be centrally monitored, indexed, and stored electronically, and shared through state and national surveillance networks. We brought this suit because we believe the public should know what information is being collected about political activities, how it is being used, and what policies, if any, are in place to protect privacy and individual liberty."
The public has a right to know the scope of surveillance of protected First Amendment activity," said David Kelston, an attorney who represents the National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts and represented the four individual activists who were detained and questioned. "The BPD's claim that they have no record of interrogating these activists defies belief and must be challenged."
This action seeks information on the surveillance policies and practices of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), which was created by the BPD and federal Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice in 2005, ostensibly to collect and share information on terrorist threats and subversive activities in Boston. It also seeks public information on the BPD's participation in the FBI's so-called "Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative", a pilot program that directs local police officers to collect and share information on broadly defined "suspicious activities" that may include lawful political activity and protected political speech. It does not seek information on individual cases or investigations.
"Boston is using tax dollars to participate in what is billed as a 'pilot program' that authorizes local police to create dossiers on ordinary citizens, essentially criminalizing protected political activities, so why is all information about this test program hidden from the public?" said Thom Cincotta, an attorney and researcher with Political Research Associates, a Somerville-based research organization.
"Democracy dies behind closed doors," said the ACLU's Rótolo. "Shedding sunlight on police surveillance practices is the best way to guard against abuses of power and to ensure that law enforcement doesn't hide behind anti-terrorism rhetoric to justify programs and practices that chill legal dissent and quash protected political speech and assembly."
Link: http://aclum.org/news_8.18.11
ACLU Complaint: http://aclum.org/sites/all/files/legal/aclu_v_davis/complaint.pdf
ACLU Exhibits: http://aclum.org/sites/all/files/legal/aclu_v_davis/complaint_exhibits.pdf
The suit, filed under the Massachusetts Public Records law, seeks disclosure of BPD records regarding the Department's surveillance and recording of protest activities and assemblies, the monitoring of political groups and activists, as well as records relating to the collection and sharing of information with the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies.
"There have been significant changes in the surveillance operations of the BPD," said Laura Rótolo, ACLU of Massachusetts staff attorney. "For years, the BPD has conducted surveillance of political protests, openly recording legal rallies, marches and demonstrations in public areas. But now that information can be centrally monitored, indexed, and stored electronically, and shared through state and national surveillance networks. We brought this suit because we believe the public should know what information is being collected about political activities, how it is being used, and what policies, if any, are in place to protect privacy and individual liberty."
The public has a right to know the scope of surveillance of protected First Amendment activity," said David Kelston, an attorney who represents the National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts and represented the four individual activists who were detained and questioned. "The BPD's claim that they have no record of interrogating these activists defies belief and must be challenged."
This action seeks information on the surveillance policies and practices of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), which was created by the BPD and federal Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice in 2005, ostensibly to collect and share information on terrorist threats and subversive activities in Boston. It also seeks public information on the BPD's participation in the FBI's so-called "Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative", a pilot program that directs local police officers to collect and share information on broadly defined "suspicious activities" that may include lawful political activity and protected political speech. It does not seek information on individual cases or investigations.
"Boston is using tax dollars to participate in what is billed as a 'pilot program' that authorizes local police to create dossiers on ordinary citizens, essentially criminalizing protected political activities, so why is all information about this test program hidden from the public?" said Thom Cincotta, an attorney and researcher with Political Research Associates, a Somerville-based research organization.
"Democracy dies behind closed doors," said the ACLU's Rótolo. "Shedding sunlight on police surveillance practices is the best way to guard against abuses of power and to ensure that law enforcement doesn't hide behind anti-terrorism rhetoric to justify programs and practices that chill legal dissent and quash protected political speech and assembly."
Link: http://aclum.org/news_8.18.11
ACLU Complaint: http://aclum.org/sites/all/files/legal/aclu_v_davis/complaint.pdf
ACLU Exhibits: http://aclum.org/sites/all/files/legal/aclu_v_davis/complaint_exhibits.pdf
Police Chief Jim McDonnell states all police departments now consider photography & note taking suspicious activity.
Police Chief Jim McDonnell has confirmed that detaining photographers for taking pictures "with no apparent esthetic value" is within Long Beach Police Department policy.
"If an officer sees someone taking pictures of something like a refinery," says McDonnell, "it is incumbent upon the officer to make contact with the individual." McDonnell went on to say that whether said contact becomes detainment depends on the circumstances the officer encounters.
McDonnell says that while there is no police training specific to determining whether a photographer's subject has "apparent esthetic value," officers make such judgments "based on their overall training and experience" and will generally approach photographers not engaging in "regular tourist behavior."
This policy apparently falls under the rubric of compiling Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) as outlined in the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order No. 11, a March 2008 statement of the LAPD's "policy … to make every effort to accurately and appropriately gather, record and analyze information, of a criminal or non-criminal nature, that could indicate activity or intentions related to either foreign or domestic terrorism."
Among the non-criminal behaviors "which shall be reported on a SAR" are the usage of binoculars and cameras (presumably when observing a building, although this is not specified), asking about an establishment's hours of operation, taking pictures or video footage "with no apparent esthetic value," and taking notes.
McDonnell says that LBPD policy is "on-line" with all instructions contained in Special Order No. 11, "as is everyone else [i.e., other police departments] around the country."
Link: http://www.lbpost.com/life/greggory/12188
"If an officer sees someone taking pictures of something like a refinery," says McDonnell, "it is incumbent upon the officer to make contact with the individual." McDonnell went on to say that whether said contact becomes detainment depends on the circumstances the officer encounters.
McDonnell says that while there is no police training specific to determining whether a photographer's subject has "apparent esthetic value," officers make such judgments "based on their overall training and experience" and will generally approach photographers not engaging in "regular tourist behavior."
This policy apparently falls under the rubric of compiling Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) as outlined in the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order No. 11, a March 2008 statement of the LAPD's "policy … to make every effort to accurately and appropriately gather, record and analyze information, of a criminal or non-criminal nature, that could indicate activity or intentions related to either foreign or domestic terrorism."
Among the non-criminal behaviors "which shall be reported on a SAR" are the usage of binoculars and cameras (presumably when observing a building, although this is not specified), asking about an establishment's hours of operation, taking pictures or video footage "with no apparent esthetic value," and taking notes.
McDonnell says that LBPD policy is "on-line" with all instructions contained in Special Order No. 11, "as is everyone else [i.e., other police departments] around the country."
Link: http://www.lbpost.com/life/greggory/12188
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Private companies can purchase personal information from state driver's license databases in bulk.
Seattle, WA- Federal law does not prohibit private companies from purchasing personal information from state driver's license databases in bulk, the 9th Circuit ruled.
The federal appeals court in Seattle affirmed the dismissal of two cases that questioned the legality of such purchases under the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), which defines how drivers' personal information can be used.
Four plaintiffs in Oregon and Washington filed proposed class actions against Oregonian Publishing, Criminal Information Services, Western Mercantile Agency and other businesses that have purchased entire state driver's license databases. The plaintiffs alleged that the privacy law does not allow such "stockpiling" of information.
District Courts in both states dismissed the cases for failing to state a valid claim. The appeals were consolidated, and on Monday a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit agreed with the lower courts, finding that buying in bulk does not necessarily lead to stockpiling, and that the "allegation that defendants obtained the information for the improper purpose of stockpiling misconstrues the meaning of 'purpose.'"
"By purchasing the entire database in bulk rather than waiting to obtain individual records when they were needed, defendants no doubt wanted to make their access to the information easier when the time came to use it and probably hoped to get the information at less cost as compared with the expenses of requesting one record at a time," Judge Richard Clifton wrote for the unanimous panel. "But that was not, in any real sense, the 'purpose' for obtaining the information.
Court ruling: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/08/15/10-35751.pdf
The federal appeals court in Seattle affirmed the dismissal of two cases that questioned the legality of such purchases under the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), which defines how drivers' personal information can be used.
Four plaintiffs in Oregon and Washington filed proposed class actions against Oregonian Publishing, Criminal Information Services, Western Mercantile Agency and other businesses that have purchased entire state driver's license databases. The plaintiffs alleged that the privacy law does not allow such "stockpiling" of information.
District Courts in both states dismissed the cases for failing to state a valid claim. The appeals were consolidated, and on Monday a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit agreed with the lower courts, finding that buying in bulk does not necessarily lead to stockpiling, and that the "allegation that defendants obtained the information for the improper purpose of stockpiling misconstrues the meaning of 'purpose.'"
"By purchasing the entire database in bulk rather than waiting to obtain individual records when they were needed, defendants no doubt wanted to make their access to the information easier when the time came to use it and probably hoped to get the information at less cost as compared with the expenses of requesting one record at a time," Judge Richard Clifton wrote for the unanimous panel. "But that was not, in any real sense, the 'purpose' for obtaining the information.
Court ruling: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/08/15/10-35751.pdf
MA- DA refuses to charge Tyrisha Greene with illegal wiretapping after videotaping a police officer.
CHICOPEE - A Springfield police officer was denied a criminal complaint against a woman who videotaped him standing by as a colleague allegedly brutally beat a black motorist with a flashlight during a traffic stop in 2009.
Tyrisha Greene, 29, of Springfield, was summonsed to Chicopee District Court Wednesday for a hearing to explore whether an illegal wiretapping charge against her was warranted - at officer Michael Sedergren’s request.
Sedergren filed an application for a criminal charge against Greene for videotaping the Nov. 27, 2009, alleged beating of Melvin Jones III, through her window on Rifle Street.
State law prevents secret audiotaping. However, there must be an expectation of privacy to fall within the law, according to Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni.
Assistant Clerk Magistrate Joanne M. McCarthy rejected the application after a short closed-door hearing. The Republican unsuccessfully petitioned to open the hearing to the public. McCarthy denied the petition based on Sedergren’s objection, according to those present.
“We expected a fair hearing and we received one,” David B. Kelly said outside the courtroom on Wednesday. “We felt as though there was no evidence against Ms. Greene for wiretapping.”/b>
Had McCarthy opted to issue the complaint, Mastroianni said he likely would not have prosecuted the case at any rate.
“I’m leaving the door open if there is more evidence presented to me, but as I understand the facts now, this case falls far short of the wiretapping statute,” he said.
The fact that Sedergren failed to criminalize Greene on wiretapping charges for videotaping him could set precedent in a state where the precedent hasn’t been very clear, meaning his retaliatory attempts may have backfired.
Link:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/officer_michael_sedergren_fall.html
Tyrisha Greene, 29, of Springfield, was summonsed to Chicopee District Court Wednesday for a hearing to explore whether an illegal wiretapping charge against her was warranted - at officer Michael Sedergren’s request.
Sedergren filed an application for a criminal charge against Greene for videotaping the Nov. 27, 2009, alleged beating of Melvin Jones III, through her window on Rifle Street.
State law prevents secret audiotaping. However, there must be an expectation of privacy to fall within the law, according to Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni.
Assistant Clerk Magistrate Joanne M. McCarthy rejected the application after a short closed-door hearing. The Republican unsuccessfully petitioned to open the hearing to the public. McCarthy denied the petition based on Sedergren’s objection, according to those present.
“We expected a fair hearing and we received one,” David B. Kelly said outside the courtroom on Wednesday. “We felt as though there was no evidence against Ms. Greene for wiretapping.”/b>
Had McCarthy opted to issue the complaint, Mastroianni said he likely would not have prosecuted the case at any rate.
“I’m leaving the door open if there is more evidence presented to me, but as I understand the facts now, this case falls far short of the wiretapping statute,” he said.
The fact that Sedergren failed to criminalize Greene on wiretapping charges for videotaping him could set precedent in a state where the precedent hasn’t been very clear, meaning his retaliatory attempts may have backfired.
Link:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/officer_michael_sedergren_fall.html
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
10 new ways that the U.S. government will be spying on people.
Are you ready for Big Brother 2.0? If you think that the hundreds of ways that the government watches, monitors, tracks and controls us now are bad, just wait until you see what is coming. We live in an age when paranoia is running wild. As technology continues to develop at an exponential pace, governments all over the globe are going to discover a multitude of new ways to spy on us and control our behavior. In a world where everyone is a "potential terrorist", we are told that things like liberty, freedom and privacy are "luxuries" that we can no longer afford.
We are assured that if we just allow the government to watch all of us and investigate all of us that somehow that will keep us all safe. But it isn't just the government that is watching us. Now we are being taught to spy on one another and to report any trace of "suspicious activity" to the government immediately. The entire civilized world is being transformed into one giant prison grid, and many of the new technologies that are now being introduced are going to make things even worse.
This world is headed toward a very dark place. These "Big Brother" technologies are going to become even more pervasive and even more oppressive. If this trend is not stopped now, someday these technologies will get into some very evil hands, and then all hell will be unleashed.
Follow the link below to view the 10 new ways that the government will be spying on people:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/big-brother-2-0-10-new-ways-that-the-government-will-be-spying-on-you-and-controlling-your-behavior
We are assured that if we just allow the government to watch all of us and investigate all of us that somehow that will keep us all safe. But it isn't just the government that is watching us. Now we are being taught to spy on one another and to report any trace of "suspicious activity" to the government immediately. The entire civilized world is being transformed into one giant prison grid, and many of the new technologies that are now being introduced are going to make things even worse.
This world is headed toward a very dark place. These "Big Brother" technologies are going to become even more pervasive and even more oppressive. If this trend is not stopped now, someday these technologies will get into some very evil hands, and then all hell will be unleashed.
Follow the link below to view the 10 new ways that the government will be spying on people:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/big-brother-2-0-10-new-ways-that-the-government-will-be-spying-on-you-and-controlling-your-behavior
Bay Area Rapid Transit authorites knew denying cell phone service might be unconstitutional.
SAN FRANCISCO - The idea to cut wireless communications to quell a brewing protest - a tactic that has put San Francisco's subway system in the middle of a global free speech debate - first came to the agency's chief spokesman in the middle of the night.
Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Linton Johnson said Tuesday that he was lying awake early Thursday when he was struck by the thought of shutting off power to the agency's wireless networks.
He sent an e-mail to BART police, who had asked employees for all ideas -"good or bad, constitutional or unconstitutional," Johnson said.
BART Police Deputy Chief Ben Fairow responded that he liked the idea, and interim general manager Sherwood Wakeman, formerly the agency's top lawyer, signed off on the plan, Johnson said.
Links:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRANSIT_PHONE_JAMMING?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-16-20-23-50
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/08/bart-pulls-mubarak-san-francisco
Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Linton Johnson said Tuesday that he was lying awake early Thursday when he was struck by the thought of shutting off power to the agency's wireless networks.
He sent an e-mail to BART police, who had asked employees for all ideas -"good or bad, constitutional or unconstitutional," Johnson said.
BART Police Deputy Chief Ben Fairow responded that he liked the idea, and interim general manager Sherwood Wakeman, formerly the agency's top lawyer, signed off on the plan, Johnson said.
Links:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRANSIT_PHONE_JAMMING?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-16-20-23-50
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/08/bart-pulls-mubarak-san-francisco
A recent study revealed false confessions may be more prevalent than previously thought.
SINCE 1992 the Innocence Project, an American legal charity, has used DNA evidence to help exonerate 271 people who were wrongly convicted of crimes, sometimes after they had served dozens of years in prison. But a mystery has emerged from the case reports. Despite being innocent, around a quarter of these people had confessed or pleaded guilty to the offences of which they were accused.
It seems hard to imagine that anyone of sound mind would take the blame for something he did not do. But several researchers have found it surprisingly easy to make people fess up to invented misdemeanours. Admittedly these confessions are taking place in a laboratory rather than an interrogation room, so the stakes might not appear that high to the confessor. On the other hand, the pressures that can be brought to bear in a police station are much stronger than those in a lab. The upshot is that it seems worryingly simple to extract a false confession from someone—which he might find hard subsequently to retract.
All of which is both strange and rather alarming. Dr Kassin suggests that participants may have the naive—though common—belief that the world is a just place, and that their innocence will emerge in the end, particularly in the case of the alleged video evidence. One participant, for example, told him, “it made it easier to sign the confession because I had nothing to hide. The cameras would prove it.”
In cases like that, confession is seen as a way to end an unpleasant interrogation. But it is a risky one. In the real world, such faith can be misplaced. Though a lot of jurisdictions require corroborating evidence, in practice self-condemnation is pretty damning—and, it seems, surprisingly easy to induce.
Link: http://www.economist.com/node/21525840
It seems hard to imagine that anyone of sound mind would take the blame for something he did not do. But several researchers have found it surprisingly easy to make people fess up to invented misdemeanours. Admittedly these confessions are taking place in a laboratory rather than an interrogation room, so the stakes might not appear that high to the confessor. On the other hand, the pressures that can be brought to bear in a police station are much stronger than those in a lab. The upshot is that it seems worryingly simple to extract a false confession from someone—which he might find hard subsequently to retract.
All of which is both strange and rather alarming. Dr Kassin suggests that participants may have the naive—though common—belief that the world is a just place, and that their innocence will emerge in the end, particularly in the case of the alleged video evidence. One participant, for example, told him, “it made it easier to sign the confession because I had nothing to hide. The cameras would prove it.”
In cases like that, confession is seen as a way to end an unpleasant interrogation. But it is a risky one. In the real world, such faith can be misplaced. Though a lot of jurisdictions require corroborating evidence, in practice self-condemnation is pretty damning—and, it seems, surprisingly easy to induce.
Link: http://www.economist.com/node/21525840
The FBI press release about the alleged "Dirty Cop" and his friend, the private investigator.
Here's a press release from the FBI, it outlines the indictment of former Contra Costa County Drug Cop Norm Wielsch & his friend, former Concord Private Investigator Chris Butler.
The FBI has outlined the maximum penalty for each count against Wielsch & Butler, which is interesting.
SENIOR CONTRA COSTA COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL AND CONCORD PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR INDICTED
CNET Commander Norman Wielsch and PI Christopher Butler Alleged to Have Engaged in a Spectrum of Corrupt Activities, Including Stealing Methamphetamine and Marijuana from Evidence and Selling It For Profit, Protection of a Prostitution Establishment, and Armed Robberies of Prostitutes.
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Norman Wielsch of Antioch, Calif., and Christopher Butler of Concord, Calif., on Aug. 8, 2011, for federal narcotics offenses, civil rights violations, and extortion, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
According to the indictment, Wielsch, 50, and Butler, 50, are alleged to have participated together in criminal activities made possible by Wielsch's position as the commander of the Contra Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET). The indictment alleges the following abuses of Wielsch's position, in which Butler, a private investigator based in Concord, participated and assisted.
Link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/incontracosta/detail?entry_id=95521
The FBI has outlined the maximum penalty for each count against Wielsch & Butler, which is interesting.
SENIOR CONTRA COSTA COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL AND CONCORD PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR INDICTED
CNET Commander Norman Wielsch and PI Christopher Butler Alleged to Have Engaged in a Spectrum of Corrupt Activities, Including Stealing Methamphetamine and Marijuana from Evidence and Selling It For Profit, Protection of a Prostitution Establishment, and Armed Robberies of Prostitutes.
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Norman Wielsch of Antioch, Calif., and Christopher Butler of Concord, Calif., on Aug. 8, 2011, for federal narcotics offenses, civil rights violations, and extortion, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
According to the indictment, Wielsch, 50, and Butler, 50, are alleged to have participated together in criminal activities made possible by Wielsch's position as the commander of the Contra Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET). The indictment alleges the following abuses of Wielsch's position, in which Butler, a private investigator based in Concord, participated and assisted.
Link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/incontracosta/detail?entry_id=95521
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Police to begin using facial & Iris recogntion Apps. which can also read fingerprints.
American Police Beat:
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, dozens of law-enforcement agencies from Massachusetts to Arizona are preparing to equip their officers with controversial hand-held facial-recognition devices as soon as this month.
The device in question is an iPhone app and associated device made by BI2 Technologies of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
With the device attached to an iPhone, an officer can take a picture of a face from up to five feet away, or scan a person's irises from up to six inches away. Officers can then use that data to do a search to see if there is a match with a database of people suspected of terrorism or to see if they have criminal records.
The new gadget even collects fingerprints.
Like a lot of police gear, the device is a military hand-me-down to domestic law enforcement.
The portable technology has mostly been limited to military uses in Iraq and Afghanistan to identify possible insurgents.
The product rollout has raised concerns among some privacy advocates. They say there are questions to be answered about whether or not using the device in certain ways would constitute a "search" that requires a warrant.
Cops, unlike civilians, are free to record any individual in a public space.
But if a law enforcement officer stops or detains someone, then different standards apply, and officers might be required to get a warrant.
Due to the fact that facial and iris-recognition technology hasn't been put to the test of court challenges, it remains "a gray area of the law," says Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University with an expertise in search-and-seizure law.
BI2 says it has agreements with about 40 agencies to deliver roughly 1,000 of the devices, which cost $3,000 apiece.
Animetrics Inc., a facial-recognition company based in Conway, N.H., that focuses on the law-enforcement and security industries, launched a free app for the iPhone called FaceR Celebrity that allows users to match their face to a star. The application, which has been downloaded about 30,000 times, uses the same facial-recognition technology deployed by local law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, says Animetrics CEO Paul Schuepp.
Indeed, the fast-growing pervasiveness of face-identification technologies
raises privacy concerns. Privacy advocates question what information these
companies collect about people and how it could be used. The new technologies raise fears that face information about people could be used for surveillance, and wonder whether consumers would be able to opt out of the tracking. Just this week, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh unveiled a study that revealed they could identify people in photos about one-third of the time using face-recognition technologies.
The application makers say that they don't collect or store face information
about their users.
Links:
http://apbweb.com/policy-updates-news-menu-25/1995-with-new-gadgets-cops-will-never-forget-a-face.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576488273434534638.html
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, dozens of law-enforcement agencies from Massachusetts to Arizona are preparing to equip their officers with controversial hand-held facial-recognition devices as soon as this month.
The device in question is an iPhone app and associated device made by BI2 Technologies of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
With the device attached to an iPhone, an officer can take a picture of a face from up to five feet away, or scan a person's irises from up to six inches away. Officers can then use that data to do a search to see if there is a match with a database of people suspected of terrorism or to see if they have criminal records.
The new gadget even collects fingerprints.
Like a lot of police gear, the device is a military hand-me-down to domestic law enforcement.
The portable technology has mostly been limited to military uses in Iraq and Afghanistan to identify possible insurgents.
The product rollout has raised concerns among some privacy advocates. They say there are questions to be answered about whether or not using the device in certain ways would constitute a "search" that requires a warrant.
Cops, unlike civilians, are free to record any individual in a public space.
But if a law enforcement officer stops or detains someone, then different standards apply, and officers might be required to get a warrant.
Due to the fact that facial and iris-recognition technology hasn't been put to the test of court challenges, it remains "a gray area of the law," says Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University with an expertise in search-and-seizure law.
BI2 says it has agreements with about 40 agencies to deliver roughly 1,000 of the devices, which cost $3,000 apiece.
Animetrics Inc., a facial-recognition company based in Conway, N.H., that focuses on the law-enforcement and security industries, launched a free app for the iPhone called FaceR Celebrity that allows users to match their face to a star. The application, which has been downloaded about 30,000 times, uses the same facial-recognition technology deployed by local law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, says Animetrics CEO Paul Schuepp.
Indeed, the fast-growing pervasiveness of face-identification technologies
raises privacy concerns. Privacy advocates question what information these
companies collect about people and how it could be used. The new technologies raise fears that face information about people could be used for surveillance, and wonder whether consumers would be able to opt out of the tracking. Just this week, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh unveiled a study that revealed they could identify people in photos about one-third of the time using face-recognition technologies.
The application makers say that they don't collect or store face information
about their users.
Links:
http://apbweb.com/policy-updates-news-menu-25/1995-with-new-gadgets-cops-will-never-forget-a-face.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576488273434534638.html
Are field sobriety tests designed for failure?
Roadside field sobriety tests ("FSTs") are commonly used by police officers in DUI investigations to determine whether a driver is under the influence of alcohol. Typically, they consist of a battery of 3-5 excercises, such as walk-and turn, one-leg stand, "nystagmus" ("follow the pencil with your eyes"), finger-to-nose, alphabet recitation, "Rohmberg" (eyes-closed-position-of-attention), etc. The officer may subjectively decide whether the individual "failed", or he may decide after applying federal so-called "standardized" scoring.
These DUI tests have an aura of scientific credibility. Unfortunately, however, they have no real basis in science and are almost useless in a drunk driving case.
First, as any traffic officer or DUI attorney knows, the decision to arrest is made shortly after the stop at the driver’s window; the FSTs given supposedly to determine probable cause to arrest are actually for the purpose of gathering evidence to support the officer’s opinion.
Second, since the officer has already made up his mind, his subjective decision as to whether a person passed or failed field sobriety tests is suspect: as with any human, he will "see" what he expects to see.
Third, the conditions under which the field sboriety tests are given almost guarantee failure: usually late at night, possibly cold, along a graveled or sloped roadside, with bright headlights from passing cars (setting up wind waves), the officer’s flashlight and patrol car’s strobe and headlights providing the lighting — and given to a person who is nervous, frightened, completely unfamiliar with the tests, and with unknown physical limitations.
Fourth, field sobriety tests are irrelevant and, in fact, designed for failure. What scientific basis exists to validate FSTs in a DUI investigation? Only a single "study" by a private business firm, the "Southern California Research Institute", with a grant from the federal government to find a "standardized" battery of usable DUI tests.
To earn their federal money, SCRI came up with three tests which, they said, were not foolproof but were much better than all of the other FSTs that were being used. Yet after some study even this company concluded that, using the three standardized tests, 47 percent of the subjects tested would have been arrested for DUI — even though they were under the .10% limit. (Burns and Moskowitz, Psychophysical Tests for DWI Arrest: Final Report, DOT-HS-802-424, NHTSA, 1977.)
The company was sent back to the drawing board and, in 1981, came up with some better figures: only 32 percent of those who "failed" the tests were actually innocent. (Tharp, Burns and Moskowitz, Development and Field Sobriety Test of Psychophysical Tests for DWI Arrests: Final Report, DOT-HS-805-864, NHTSA, 1981.)
Clearly, SCRI was paid to put their stamp of approval on a set of field sobriety tests.
But what has been the reaction of the (non-profit) scientific community? In 1991, Dr. Spurgeon Cole of Clemson University conducted a study on the accuracy of FSTs. His staff videotaped individuals performing six common field sobriety tests, then showed the tapes to 14 police officers and asked them to decide whether the suspects "had too much to drink and drive". Unknown to the officers, the blood-alcohol concentration of each of the 21 DUI subjects was .00%.
The results: the officers gave their opinion that 46% of these stone sober people were too drunk to drive! In other words, the field sobriety tests were hardly more accurate at detecting intoxication than flipping a coin. Cole and Nowaczyk, "Field Sobriety Tests: Are they Designed for Failure?", 79 Perceptual and Motor Skills Journal 99 (1994).
Link:
http://www.duiblog.com/2011/07/28/are-field-sobriety-tests-designed-for-failure/
These DUI tests have an aura of scientific credibility. Unfortunately, however, they have no real basis in science and are almost useless in a drunk driving case.
First, as any traffic officer or DUI attorney knows, the decision to arrest is made shortly after the stop at the driver’s window; the FSTs given supposedly to determine probable cause to arrest are actually for the purpose of gathering evidence to support the officer’s opinion.
Second, since the officer has already made up his mind, his subjective decision as to whether a person passed or failed field sobriety tests is suspect: as with any human, he will "see" what he expects to see.
Third, the conditions under which the field sboriety tests are given almost guarantee failure: usually late at night, possibly cold, along a graveled or sloped roadside, with bright headlights from passing cars (setting up wind waves), the officer’s flashlight and patrol car’s strobe and headlights providing the lighting — and given to a person who is nervous, frightened, completely unfamiliar with the tests, and with unknown physical limitations.
Fourth, field sobriety tests are irrelevant and, in fact, designed for failure. What scientific basis exists to validate FSTs in a DUI investigation? Only a single "study" by a private business firm, the "Southern California Research Institute", with a grant from the federal government to find a "standardized" battery of usable DUI tests.
To earn their federal money, SCRI came up with three tests which, they said, were not foolproof but were much better than all of the other FSTs that were being used. Yet after some study even this company concluded that, using the three standardized tests, 47 percent of the subjects tested would have been arrested for DUI — even though they were under the .10% limit. (Burns and Moskowitz, Psychophysical Tests for DWI Arrest: Final Report, DOT-HS-802-424, NHTSA, 1977.)
The company was sent back to the drawing board and, in 1981, came up with some better figures: only 32 percent of those who "failed" the tests were actually innocent. (Tharp, Burns and Moskowitz, Development and Field Sobriety Test of Psychophysical Tests for DWI Arrests: Final Report, DOT-HS-805-864, NHTSA, 1981.)
Clearly, SCRI was paid to put their stamp of approval on a set of field sobriety tests.
But what has been the reaction of the (non-profit) scientific community? In 1991, Dr. Spurgeon Cole of Clemson University conducted a study on the accuracy of FSTs. His staff videotaped individuals performing six common field sobriety tests, then showed the tapes to 14 police officers and asked them to decide whether the suspects "had too much to drink and drive". Unknown to the officers, the blood-alcohol concentration of each of the 21 DUI subjects was .00%.
The results: the officers gave their opinion that 46% of these stone sober people were too drunk to drive! In other words, the field sobriety tests were hardly more accurate at detecting intoxication than flipping a coin. Cole and Nowaczyk, "Field Sobriety Tests: Are they Designed for Failure?", 79 Perceptual and Motor Skills Journal 99 (1994).
Link:
http://www.duiblog.com/2011/07/28/are-field-sobriety-tests-designed-for-failure/
Massachusetts guide to public records by Commonwealth Magazine.
It's a simple equation: Transparency is only as good as the access available to public documents.
With this in mind, CommonWealth Magazine has set up an information page to help residents wade through the state’s public records request system. Here you’ll find detailed information on making public records requests, links to records available online at state websites, as well as links to CommonWealth’s own growing public records database.
Link:
http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/Programs/Full-Disclosure.aspx
With this in mind, CommonWealth Magazine has set up an information page to help residents wade through the state’s public records request system. Here you’ll find detailed information on making public records requests, links to records available online at state websites, as well as links to CommonWealth’s own growing public records database.
Link:
http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/Programs/Full-Disclosure.aspx
Mexico Court Records Website
Excerpt From Their Website In The About Us Section:
The two principals of mexicocourtrecords.com each have over twenty-five years experience in international data collection and analysis, financial services, investigation, linguistics and litigation with the world's leading financial institutions and consulting firms; Chase, Citibank, Coopers & Lybrand, Coutts, Kroll Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers and UBS.
Our Editor and Publisher, a former private and investment banker, is an international collection data expert and Harvard-trained professional linguist who has lived and worked extensively in Latin America and Europe. Our President, a lawyer and professional investigator, has assisted clients with many high profile, and high value international due diligence, risk management and investigation assignments.
There is no substitute for practical experience; we understand our client's need for instant access to critical data sets. Mexicocourtrecords.com' libraries provide instant access to court, prosecutorial and corporate data previously only available through clumsy and time-consuming hand searches. At mexicocourtrecords.com we are committed to the continued expansion our collection of instantly accessible international data.
Link: https://www.mexicocourtrecords.com/docs/login.jsp
The two principals of mexicocourtrecords.com each have over twenty-five years experience in international data collection and analysis, financial services, investigation, linguistics and litigation with the world's leading financial institutions and consulting firms; Chase, Citibank, Coopers & Lybrand, Coutts, Kroll Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers and UBS.
Our Editor and Publisher, a former private and investment banker, is an international collection data expert and Harvard-trained professional linguist who has lived and worked extensively in Latin America and Europe. Our President, a lawyer and professional investigator, has assisted clients with many high profile, and high value international due diligence, risk management and investigation assignments.
There is no substitute for practical experience; we understand our client's need for instant access to critical data sets. Mexicocourtrecords.com' libraries provide instant access to court, prosecutorial and corporate data previously only available through clumsy and time-consuming hand searches. At mexicocourtrecords.com we are committed to the continued expansion our collection of instantly accessible international data.
Link: https://www.mexicocourtrecords.com/docs/login.jsp
Atlanta- Hundreds of police officers' certifications have lapsed and the arrests they've made could be dismissed.
CBS Atlanta News has learned a major mistake within the Atlanta Police Department could set countless violent criminals free. Hundreds of officers' certifications have lapsed and the arrests they've made could be dismissed.
Chief Investigative Reporter Wendy Saltzman has learned about 50 officers' arrest powers were pulled as a result of the training lapses. According to defense attorneys, that could call into question the legality of arrests made by these officers, warrants they've served and the future of criminals who are perhaps illegally locked up behind bars.
"What if one of these officers arrested someone for murder, a murder they did not witness?" Saltzman asked defense attorney Dan Grossman.
"It would be an unauthorized arrest," Grossman said.
According to sources close to the city's investigation, years of arrests by officers in the police department may be illegal because the officers who made them lacked the proper certification and arrest powers.
"Certain people who should perhaps be in prison might not be because of the Atlanta Police Department's lack of training," Grossman said.
Grossman sued the Atlanta police following an illegal raid at the Atlanta Eagle, involving officers who were later also found not to have been properly trained.
"There is no excuse to have officers who are not trained. That is a danger to the citizens and it is a danger to police officers," he said.
The city's audit has found mistakes in the certification of more than 200 officers. The lapses extend as far back as 1990, and confessions and evidence collected by those uncertified officers over the last 20 years could be thrown out.
Link:
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/15271201/atlanta-police-powers-revoked-convictions-could-be-overturned
Chief Investigative Reporter Wendy Saltzman has learned about 50 officers' arrest powers were pulled as a result of the training lapses. According to defense attorneys, that could call into question the legality of arrests made by these officers, warrants they've served and the future of criminals who are perhaps illegally locked up behind bars.
"What if one of these officers arrested someone for murder, a murder they did not witness?" Saltzman asked defense attorney Dan Grossman.
"It would be an unauthorized arrest," Grossman said.
According to sources close to the city's investigation, years of arrests by officers in the police department may be illegal because the officers who made them lacked the proper certification and arrest powers.
"Certain people who should perhaps be in prison might not be because of the Atlanta Police Department's lack of training," Grossman said.
Grossman sued the Atlanta police following an illegal raid at the Atlanta Eagle, involving officers who were later also found not to have been properly trained.
"There is no excuse to have officers who are not trained. That is a danger to the citizens and it is a danger to police officers," he said.
The city's audit has found mistakes in the certification of more than 200 officers. The lapses extend as far back as 1990, and confessions and evidence collected by those uncertified officers over the last 20 years could be thrown out.
Link:
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/15271201/atlanta-police-powers-revoked-convictions-could-be-overturned
Questionable field drug test kits are putting people behind bars when they test postive for drugs.
In April, Janet Goodin of Warroad, Minn., was crossing into Canada for an evening of bingo with her daughters when an officer with the Canadian Border Service conducted a routine search of her van. The officer found an old bottle of motor oil, did a field test and told her that it contained heroin.
"I can't even describe the feeling of amazement," Goodin, 66, said in an interview. "I said, 'That's not possible, it's leftover oil.'"
The bottle was re-tested, and agents said it again revealed the presence of heroin. Goodin was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail, where she was strip-searched. The motor oil was sent to a Canadian federal laboratory, which eventually determined there was no heroin in it. After 12 days behind bars, Goodin was released.
Goodin's case has been seized upon by critics who question the reliability of field drug-test kits, which are used widely by law enforcement.
"She is what you call collateral damage in the drug war," said former FBI special agent Frederic Whitehurst, a North Carolina attorney and forensic consultant with a Ph.D. in analytic chemistry, who has publicly raised concerns about field drug-test kits. "When you run the tests, you run into all sorts of problems from overzealous cops."
Goodin was actually arrested twice: first by the Border Service, which performed the field test, and then by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which took over her case from the Border Service.
The Border Service won't explain how they made the mistake.
Field drug-test companies defend their product. Jack Thorndike, a sales and training representative in North Carolina for Nark field drug tests, says that when the tests are properly conducted, they can be used by law enforcement as confirmation of probable cause of illicit drugs. Both Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis use Nark products, but the Canadian Border Service uses a different brand, Thorndike said.
Field tests are reliable, he said, but they are insufficient evidence for conviction and require follow-up lab tests.
Link: http://www.startribune.com/local/127660733.html
"I can't even describe the feeling of amazement," Goodin, 66, said in an interview. "I said, 'That's not possible, it's leftover oil.'"
The bottle was re-tested, and agents said it again revealed the presence of heroin. Goodin was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail, where she was strip-searched. The motor oil was sent to a Canadian federal laboratory, which eventually determined there was no heroin in it. After 12 days behind bars, Goodin was released.
Goodin's case has been seized upon by critics who question the reliability of field drug-test kits, which are used widely by law enforcement.
"She is what you call collateral damage in the drug war," said former FBI special agent Frederic Whitehurst, a North Carolina attorney and forensic consultant with a Ph.D. in analytic chemistry, who has publicly raised concerns about field drug-test kits. "When you run the tests, you run into all sorts of problems from overzealous cops."
Goodin was actually arrested twice: first by the Border Service, which performed the field test, and then by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which took over her case from the Border Service.
The Border Service won't explain how they made the mistake.
Field drug-test companies defend their product. Jack Thorndike, a sales and training representative in North Carolina for Nark field drug tests, says that when the tests are properly conducted, they can be used by law enforcement as confirmation of probable cause of illicit drugs. Both Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis use Nark products, but the Canadian Border Service uses a different brand, Thorndike said.
Field tests are reliable, he said, but they are insufficient evidence for conviction and require follow-up lab tests.
Link: http://www.startribune.com/local/127660733.html
Monday, August 15, 2011
Lawrence, MA- Police continue to pay the salary of convicted criminal and ex-police officer Daron Fraser.
LAWRENCE — In a city where street lights were shut off to save police jobs, a cop has been paid nearly $64,000 to stay off the job for more than a year.
Daron Fraser, 39, an 11-year officer, was convicted of domestic assault and battery six months ago and police Chief John Romero recommended almost immediately he wanted Fraser fired. But Mayor William Lantigua, who has the final say in the hiring and firing of police officers, has taken no action on Fraser's termination.
And nobody else, from city councilors to fellow police officers, seems to know why Fraser continues to be paid while he's off the job and convicted of a crime.
According to payroll and internal affairs records obtained through a public records request, Fraser hasn't worked since July 15, 2010 when he was arrested in Haverhill and placed on paid administrative leave. He was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend Feb. 9, 2011. From July 15, 2010 until July 15, 2011, Fraser collected $63,576 without working a day and $23,760 of that came following his February conviction.
Detective Alan Andrews, president the Lawrence patrolmen's union, said he has not spoken with Fraser recently and the union is not actively involved in discussions about his job. The patrolmen's contract does not require the city to continue paying an officer's salary when they are placed on administrative leave and found guilty of a crime.
After a two-day trial, Fraser was found guilty of putting his knee on his former girlfriend's throat and gagging her. At the time, Fraser's girlfriend, Odris Severino, told The Eagle-Tribune this was not a case of domestic violence, rather a "giant misunderstanding." She also testified in court that she and Fraser were "just playing."
The six-member jury took 45 minutes to find Fraser guilty of the misdemeanor charge.
Link:
http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1533028983/Cop-paid-to-stay-off-the-streets
Daron Fraser, 39, an 11-year officer, was convicted of domestic assault and battery six months ago and police Chief John Romero recommended almost immediately he wanted Fraser fired. But Mayor William Lantigua, who has the final say in the hiring and firing of police officers, has taken no action on Fraser's termination.
And nobody else, from city councilors to fellow police officers, seems to know why Fraser continues to be paid while he's off the job and convicted of a crime.
According to payroll and internal affairs records obtained through a public records request, Fraser hasn't worked since July 15, 2010 when he was arrested in Haverhill and placed on paid administrative leave. He was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend Feb. 9, 2011. From July 15, 2010 until July 15, 2011, Fraser collected $63,576 without working a day and $23,760 of that came following his February conviction.
Detective Alan Andrews, president the Lawrence patrolmen's union, said he has not spoken with Fraser recently and the union is not actively involved in discussions about his job. The patrolmen's contract does not require the city to continue paying an officer's salary when they are placed on administrative leave and found guilty of a crime.
After a two-day trial, Fraser was found guilty of putting his knee on his former girlfriend's throat and gagging her. At the time, Fraser's girlfriend, Odris Severino, told The Eagle-Tribune this was not a case of domestic violence, rather a "giant misunderstanding." She also testified in court that she and Fraser were "just playing."
The six-member jury took 45 minutes to find Fraser guilty of the misdemeanor charge.
Link:
http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1533028983/Cop-paid-to-stay-off-the-streets
Fullerton, CA- The death of Kelly Thomas sparks weekly protests over possible police abuse.
Kelly Thomas was an often-seen fixture in this Southern California college town, a schizophrenic drifter described by his parents as easygoing and non-violent.
His death after being taken into custody by six police officers at a public transit station last month is the object of federal and local investigations, sparking weekly protests outside the police station and drawing concern from mental health experts who want better training for cops in dealing with the mentally ill.
Six Fullerton police officers have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation by the county district attorney, and the family has filed a legal claim against the city. A spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles office, Ari Dekofsky, says agents are investigating "whether Kelly Thomas' civil rights have been violated."
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said last week he has seen no evidence the officers intentionally tried to kill Thomas and that his investigators have not determined if the officers used excessive force.
Ron Thomas, Kelly's father, a former investigator for the Orange County sheriff's department, wants murder charges filed. He said doctors showed him MRI scans revealing Kelly Thomas suffered two severe types of brain injury, one a lack of oxygen because his heart stopped, and the other blunt-force trauma.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-08-14-fullerton-police-brutality-mentally-ill_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip
His death after being taken into custody by six police officers at a public transit station last month is the object of federal and local investigations, sparking weekly protests outside the police station and drawing concern from mental health experts who want better training for cops in dealing with the mentally ill.
Six Fullerton police officers have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation by the county district attorney, and the family has filed a legal claim against the city. A spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles office, Ari Dekofsky, says agents are investigating "whether Kelly Thomas' civil rights have been violated."
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said last week he has seen no evidence the officers intentionally tried to kill Thomas and that his investigators have not determined if the officers used excessive force.
Ron Thomas, Kelly's father, a former investigator for the Orange County sheriff's department, wants murder charges filed. He said doctors showed him MRI scans revealing Kelly Thomas suffered two severe types of brain injury, one a lack of oxygen because his heart stopped, and the other blunt-force trauma.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-08-14-fullerton-police-brutality-mentally-ill_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip
MA- Two more people are charged with wiretapping after recording the police.
A Whitman man charged with using a hidden cell phone to record an argument with a Whitman police officer is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in Brockton District Court on Oct. 12.
Robert E. Mansfield, 44, of 27 Old Colony Way, was arraigned Aug. 2 on a charge of felony wiretapping, a court official said.
“It is against the law to audio-record anyone without their knowledge – anyone,” Police Chief Christine May-Stafford said.
Police say the charge stems from a traffic stop on June 30 over Mansfield’s prior refusal to remove a tinted license plate cover.
May-Stafford said Mansfield argued with the officer, who issued Mansfield a citation for a license-plate obstruction.
Mansfield later went into the police station asking police to rescind the citation and was refused. At that point, he informed officers he had recorded the prior argument on his cell phone, police said.
Police searched his pickup truck, seizing two cell phones as evidence.
Mansfield told police he did not know that recording a conversation without the other person’s knowledge or consent was illegal.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in state prison, 21/2 years in the House of Correction, or a $10,000 fine.
Man charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - and wiretapping:
A man being arrested Saturday for the third time in recent months on assault and battery charges was also formally accused of wiretapping when he refused a request from Boston Police to stop videoing them with his cell phone as they took him away to booking.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, when officers arrived at 4 Glenway Street, they found Fidelito Lledin's girlfriend lying on the ground outside their apartment. She quickly told them Lledin had smashed a bottle over her head, the DA's office says. Lledin, clad only in boxer shorts, at first yelled at officers, but then led them to the broken beer bottle in their kitchen, according to a police report read at Lledin's arraignment in Dorchester District Court on Monday. He also called 911 on his cell phone in a vain attempt to get State Police to intervene, the report says.
Once in the cruiser, officers discovered Lledin was using the phone to video them, Judge Kenneth Desmond heard. When they told him to stop, he refused, so in addition to booking Lledin for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, they added a charge of wiretapping, under a state law that makes it illegal to make an audio recording of people without their consent.
Links:
http://www.tauntongazette.com/state_news/x386655423/Hearing-set-for-man-who-used-cell-phone-to-record-cop
http://www.dotnews.com/2011/man-charged-assault-and-battery-dangerous-weapon-and-wiretapping
Robert E. Mansfield, 44, of 27 Old Colony Way, was arraigned Aug. 2 on a charge of felony wiretapping, a court official said.
“It is against the law to audio-record anyone without their knowledge – anyone,” Police Chief Christine May-Stafford said.
Police say the charge stems from a traffic stop on June 30 over Mansfield’s prior refusal to remove a tinted license plate cover.
May-Stafford said Mansfield argued with the officer, who issued Mansfield a citation for a license-plate obstruction.
Mansfield later went into the police station asking police to rescind the citation and was refused. At that point, he informed officers he had recorded the prior argument on his cell phone, police said.
Police searched his pickup truck, seizing two cell phones as evidence.
Mansfield told police he did not know that recording a conversation without the other person’s knowledge or consent was illegal.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in state prison, 21/2 years in the House of Correction, or a $10,000 fine.
Man charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - and wiretapping:
A man being arrested Saturday for the third time in recent months on assault and battery charges was also formally accused of wiretapping when he refused a request from Boston Police to stop videoing them with his cell phone as they took him away to booking.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, when officers arrived at 4 Glenway Street, they found Fidelito Lledin's girlfriend lying on the ground outside their apartment. She quickly told them Lledin had smashed a bottle over her head, the DA's office says. Lledin, clad only in boxer shorts, at first yelled at officers, but then led them to the broken beer bottle in their kitchen, according to a police report read at Lledin's arraignment in Dorchester District Court on Monday. He also called 911 on his cell phone in a vain attempt to get State Police to intervene, the report says.
Once in the cruiser, officers discovered Lledin was using the phone to video them, Judge Kenneth Desmond heard. When they told him to stop, he refused, so in addition to booking Lledin for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, they added a charge of wiretapping, under a state law that makes it illegal to make an audio recording of people without their consent.
Links:
http://www.tauntongazette.com/state_news/x386655423/Hearing-set-for-man-who-used-cell-phone-to-record-cop
http://www.dotnews.com/2011/man-charged-assault-and-battery-dangerous-weapon-and-wiretapping
Long Beach, CA- Police Chief Jim McDonnell confirms detaining photographers is department policy.
CA- Police Chief Jim McDonnell has confirmed that detaining photographers for taking pictures "with no apparent esthetic value" is within Long Beach Police Department policy.
McDonnell spoke for a follow-up story on a June 30 incidentin which Sander Roscoe Wolff, a Long Beach resident and regular contributor to Long Beach Post, was detained by Officer Asif Kahn for taking pictures of a North Long Beach refinery.
"If an officer sees someone taking pictures of something like a refinery," says McDonnell, "it is incumbent upon the officer to make contact with the individual." McDonnell went on to say that whether said contact becomes detainment depends on the circumstances the officer encounters.
McDonnell says that while there is no police training specific to determining whether a photographer's subject has "apparent esthetic value," officers make such judgments "based on their overall training and experience" and will generally approach photographers not engaging in "regular tourist behavior."
This policy apparently falls under the rubric of compiling Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) as outlined in the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order No. 11, a March 2008 statement of the LAPD's "policy … to make every effort to accurately and appropriately gather, record and analyze information, of a criminal or non-criminal nature, that could indicate activity or intentions related to either foreign or domestic terrorism."
Among the non-criminal behaviors "which shall be reported on a SAR" are the usage of binoculars and cameras (presumably when observing a building, although this is not specified), asking about an establishment's hours of operation, taking pictures or video footage "with no apparent esthetic value," and taking notes.
Link:
http://www.lbpost.com/life/greggory/12188
McDonnell spoke for a follow-up story on a June 30 incidentin which Sander Roscoe Wolff, a Long Beach resident and regular contributor to Long Beach Post, was detained by Officer Asif Kahn for taking pictures of a North Long Beach refinery.
"If an officer sees someone taking pictures of something like a refinery," says McDonnell, "it is incumbent upon the officer to make contact with the individual." McDonnell went on to say that whether said contact becomes detainment depends on the circumstances the officer encounters.
McDonnell says that while there is no police training specific to determining whether a photographer's subject has "apparent esthetic value," officers make such judgments "based on their overall training and experience" and will generally approach photographers not engaging in "regular tourist behavior."
This policy apparently falls under the rubric of compiling Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) as outlined in the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order No. 11, a March 2008 statement of the LAPD's "policy … to make every effort to accurately and appropriately gather, record and analyze information, of a criminal or non-criminal nature, that could indicate activity or intentions related to either foreign or domestic terrorism."
Among the non-criminal behaviors "which shall be reported on a SAR" are the usage of binoculars and cameras (presumably when observing a building, although this is not specified), asking about an establishment's hours of operation, taking pictures or video footage "with no apparent esthetic value," and taking notes.
Link:
http://www.lbpost.com/life/greggory/12188
Thursday, August 11, 2011
MA- Tyrisha Greene videotaped three police officers beating Melvin Jones III and now the police want to charge Greene with illegal wiretapping.
SPRINGFIELD, MA. – The amateur videographer with the colorful vocabulary who memorialized the alleged 2009 police beating of Melvin Jones III during a traffic stop may be charged with illegal wiretapping.
One of four police officers disciplined for the incident on Nov. 27, 2009, Michael Sedergren, has filed an application for a criminal complaint against videographer Tyrisha Greene. Sedergren, who was suspended for 45 days, claims it was illegal for Greene to videotape him without his consent.
The officer at the center of the controversy is now-retired patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, a lightning rod when he was on the police force with a past history of allegations of police brutality.
Asher was fired from the police force a day after he received a disability pension from the state. He also faces criminal charges in Chicopee District Court; his trial is pending.
Three other officers, including Sedergren, were disciplined in connection with the incident. Sedergren did not appeal his suspension but filed his own complaint against Greene in District Court in late July, alleging improper interception of wire and oral communication.
A so-called “show cause” hearing during which a clerk-magistrate will vet the alleged evidence against Greene is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Chicopee District Court.
Greene has been a reluctant witness, according to court records, and could not be reached for comment. However, her lawyer, Daniel D. Kelly, said Sedergren sought the complaint under a state law aimed at organized crime-fighting tactics.
“Even a cursory review of the law would show that the Legislature took the time to insert a preamble into the statute showing that it is specifically aimed at organized crime prosecutions,” Kelly said. The law specifically prohibits secret audiotaping without a person’s consent.
Link:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/videographer_of_alleged_melvin.html
One of four police officers disciplined for the incident on Nov. 27, 2009, Michael Sedergren, has filed an application for a criminal complaint against videographer Tyrisha Greene. Sedergren, who was suspended for 45 days, claims it was illegal for Greene to videotape him without his consent.
The officer at the center of the controversy is now-retired patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, a lightning rod when he was on the police force with a past history of allegations of police brutality.
Asher was fired from the police force a day after he received a disability pension from the state. He also faces criminal charges in Chicopee District Court; his trial is pending.
Three other officers, including Sedergren, were disciplined in connection with the incident. Sedergren did not appeal his suspension but filed his own complaint against Greene in District Court in late July, alleging improper interception of wire and oral communication.
A so-called “show cause” hearing during which a clerk-magistrate will vet the alleged evidence against Greene is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Chicopee District Court.
Greene has been a reluctant witness, according to court records, and could not be reached for comment. However, her lawyer, Daniel D. Kelly, said Sedergren sought the complaint under a state law aimed at organized crime-fighting tactics.
“Even a cursory review of the law would show that the Legislature took the time to insert a preamble into the statute showing that it is specifically aimed at organized crime prosecutions,” Kelly said. The law specifically prohibits secret audiotaping without a person’s consent.
Link:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/videographer_of_alleged_melvin.html
Hacking home automated systems is on the rise.
Hacking the grid took on new meaning at the DefCon hacker conference on Friday when two independent security researchers demonstrated two tools they designed to hack home and business automation and security systems that operate though power lines.
The automation systems let users control a multitude of devices, such as lights, electronic locks, heating and air conditioning systems, and security alarms and cameras. The systems operate on Ethernet networks that communicate over the existing power lines in a house or office building, sending signals back and forth to control devices.
The problem is that all of these signals are sent unencrypted, and the systems don’t require devices connected to them to be authenticated. This means that someone can connect a sniffer device to the broadband power network through an electrical outlet and sniff the signals to gather intelligence about what’s going on in a building where the systems are installed – such as monitor the movements of people in houses where security systems with motion sensors are enabled. They can also send commands through the network to control devices that are connected to it — for example, to turn lights on or off or to disable alarms and security cameras.
“None of the manufacturers have implemented really any security whatsoever on these devices,” said Dave Kennedy, one of the researchers. “It’s such an immature technology.”
Thieves could monitor a house to determine when the occupants are generally gone based on signals indicating when lights are turned off, doors and windows are closed and the alarm system is enabled. Then they could send out jamming signals from the tool to disable motion sensors and alarms before breaking into the house. They could also completely fry the system by overloading it with rapidfire commands, though Kennedy acknowledged that this could potentially cause a fire.
Link:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/hacking-home-automation/
The automation systems let users control a multitude of devices, such as lights, electronic locks, heating and air conditioning systems, and security alarms and cameras. The systems operate on Ethernet networks that communicate over the existing power lines in a house or office building, sending signals back and forth to control devices.
The problem is that all of these signals are sent unencrypted, and the systems don’t require devices connected to them to be authenticated. This means that someone can connect a sniffer device to the broadband power network through an electrical outlet and sniff the signals to gather intelligence about what’s going on in a building where the systems are installed – such as monitor the movements of people in houses where security systems with motion sensors are enabled. They can also send commands through the network to control devices that are connected to it — for example, to turn lights on or off or to disable alarms and security cameras.
“None of the manufacturers have implemented really any security whatsoever on these devices,” said Dave Kennedy, one of the researchers. “It’s such an immature technology.”
Thieves could monitor a house to determine when the occupants are generally gone based on signals indicating when lights are turned off, doors and windows are closed and the alarm system is enabled. Then they could send out jamming signals from the tool to disable motion sensors and alarms before breaking into the house. They could also completely fry the system by overloading it with rapidfire commands, though Kennedy acknowledged that this could potentially cause a fire.
Link:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/hacking-home-automation/
Drug corporations spend billions a year promoting their pills to children.
Drug giants spend billions a year promoting their pills to children. Johnson & Johnson even advertises its latest anti-psychotic on Legos, ignoring evidence that the drug causes early diabetes, wild weight gain and breast milk in both boys and girls.
In the past decade, America's pharmaceutical industry has knowingly marketed dozens of dangerous drugs to millions of children, a group that executives apparently view as a lucrative, untapped market for their products. Most kids have no one to look out for their interests except anxious parents who put their trust in doctors. But that trust is often misplaced. Big Pharma spends massive amounts to entertain physicians, send them on luxury vacations, and ply them with an endless supply of free products. As a result, hundreds of thousands of American kids—some as young as three years old—have become dependent on amphetamines like Adderall and a pharmacopeia of other drugs that are meant to treat depression, insomnia, aggression and other mental health disorders.
The fact that none of these powerful mood-altering medications have been approved by the FDA to treat children under 10 has posed no obstacle to the industry's marketing masterminds. They've waved off objections by some some doctors who wonder how these complex drugs will affect the vulnerable brains and bodies of their young patients. Other experts have warned that children exposed to this multi-molecular barrage on their central nervous systems could potentially be at much higher risk of becoming adults who are addicted to chemicals, prescription and otherwise. But thanks to a billion-dollar advertising campaign, millions of kids across the nation are now taking pills to control a long litany of "behavioral problems."
In fact this code of misconduct is what we have come to expect from the pharmaceutical industry: Always put profits first, break the law now, pay the fine years later. Given the high-risk nature of drug development—a novel compound costs close to $1 billion and a decade to get to market—Big Pharma has tried all manner of dark arts to increase its odds. Criminal activity, once largely limited to the sales divisions, has overtaken the entire endeavor. Clinical trials that produce negative data—including health risks—are hidden from the FDA. Early signals of serious side effects are covered up, as are promised follow-up studies upon which approval is conditioned. Like other industries, pharma and its lobbyists have regulators and Congress by the balls.
Link: http://www.thefix.com/content/jj-sued-illegal-promotion-drugs-kids
In the past decade, America's pharmaceutical industry has knowingly marketed dozens of dangerous drugs to millions of children, a group that executives apparently view as a lucrative, untapped market for their products. Most kids have no one to look out for their interests except anxious parents who put their trust in doctors. But that trust is often misplaced. Big Pharma spends massive amounts to entertain physicians, send them on luxury vacations, and ply them with an endless supply of free products. As a result, hundreds of thousands of American kids—some as young as three years old—have become dependent on amphetamines like Adderall and a pharmacopeia of other drugs that are meant to treat depression, insomnia, aggression and other mental health disorders.
The fact that none of these powerful mood-altering medications have been approved by the FDA to treat children under 10 has posed no obstacle to the industry's marketing masterminds. They've waved off objections by some some doctors who wonder how these complex drugs will affect the vulnerable brains and bodies of their young patients. Other experts have warned that children exposed to this multi-molecular barrage on their central nervous systems could potentially be at much higher risk of becoming adults who are addicted to chemicals, prescription and otherwise. But thanks to a billion-dollar advertising campaign, millions of kids across the nation are now taking pills to control a long litany of "behavioral problems."
In fact this code of misconduct is what we have come to expect from the pharmaceutical industry: Always put profits first, break the law now, pay the fine years later. Given the high-risk nature of drug development—a novel compound costs close to $1 billion and a decade to get to market—Big Pharma has tried all manner of dark arts to increase its odds. Criminal activity, once largely limited to the sales divisions, has overtaken the entire endeavor. Clinical trials that produce negative data—including health risks—are hidden from the FDA. Early signals of serious side effects are covered up, as are promised follow-up studies upon which approval is conditioned. Like other industries, pharma and its lobbyists have regulators and Congress by the balls.
Link: http://www.thefix.com/content/jj-sued-illegal-promotion-drugs-kids
NY- The NYPD and other police departments are forming social media units to monitor citizens.
The NYPD has formed a new unit to track troublemakers who announce plans or brag about their crimes on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.
Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O'Connor, one of the department's online and gang gurus, has been put in charge of the new juvenile justice unit. He and his staff will mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem, sources said.
CONROE, TX. - Facebook is doing more than keeping people connected. In Conroe, it's helping police to fight crime.
The Conroe Police Department has only been using Facebook for two months and officers tell us their new Facebook friends are already helping them catch crooks.
Facebook is known as a hot spot for people to catch up with friends and it's become a hot, new crime fighting tool for Conroe police.
"It works. The witnesses are looking at it and they are giving us information," said Sgt. Joe Smart of the Conroe Police Department.
Sergeant Smart says Conroe police have been using its Facebook page to profile suspects and criminals since May -- like a woman accused of stealing credit cards, masked gunmen caught on tape burglarizing a local store and a suspected computer thief, who the department's Facebook friends just helped police catch.
"We put the video on our Facebook page and within a week, a citizen appeared and said, 'Hey I know who that is,'" said Sgt. Smart.
Links:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/10/2011-08-10_nypd_forms_new_social_media_unit_to_mine_facebook_and_twitter_for_mayhem.html
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8271766
Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O'Connor, one of the department's online and gang gurus, has been put in charge of the new juvenile justice unit. He and his staff will mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem, sources said.
CONROE, TX. - Facebook is doing more than keeping people connected. In Conroe, it's helping police to fight crime.
The Conroe Police Department has only been using Facebook for two months and officers tell us their new Facebook friends are already helping them catch crooks.
Facebook is known as a hot spot for people to catch up with friends and it's become a hot, new crime fighting tool for Conroe police.
"It works. The witnesses are looking at it and they are giving us information," said Sgt. Joe Smart of the Conroe Police Department.
Sergeant Smart says Conroe police have been using its Facebook page to profile suspects and criminals since May -- like a woman accused of stealing credit cards, masked gunmen caught on tape burglarizing a local store and a suspected computer thief, who the department's Facebook friends just helped police catch.
"We put the video on our Facebook page and within a week, a citizen appeared and said, 'Hey I know who that is,'" said Sgt. Smart.
Links:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/10/2011-08-10_nypd_forms_new_social_media_unit_to_mine_facebook_and_twitter_for_mayhem.html
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8271766
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Westport, MA- Officer Francis Napert III agreed to pay $50,350 to Carl Conforti to settle a civil rights lawsuit.
WESTPORT, MA — A Westport police officer has settled a civil rights lawsuit filed against him by a man who alleged the officer falsely arrested him and used excessive force last year.
Officer Francis Napert III agreed to pay $50,350 to Carl Conforti of Berkley, who filed the federal lawsuit June 28 in U.S. District Court in Boston, said David Milton, Conforti's attorney.
"The fact that they settled so quickly is a rarity for a civil right lawsuit to settle. We take that as an acknowledgement that this was unacceptable, even if officially they say (Napert) did nothing wrong," Milton said.
“There was no justification for Officer Napert’s actions. He abused his authority,” Milton said.
Conforti “remains angry and upset at not only the unprofessional and out-of-control behavior of Officer Napert but also the fact that the town of Westport investigated the matter and found Officer Napert did nothing wrong,” Milton said.
Westport Police Chief Keith A. Pelletier said in a prepared statement that the town's insurance carrier decided to settle the case.
"These decisions are made by weighing the cost involved between preparing for trial versus settling the case prior to that date," Pelletier said.
"We're confident Officer Napert did the right thing, but the insurance company decided it was more cost-effective to resolve the matter," said Leonard H. Kesten, Napert's attorney.
Links:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110809/NEWS/108090327/-1/NEWS10
http://www.crookedsapd.com/2011/08/westport-officer-francis-napert-iii-settles-civil-rights-lawsuit-alleging-excessive-force/
Officer Francis Napert III agreed to pay $50,350 to Carl Conforti of Berkley, who filed the federal lawsuit June 28 in U.S. District Court in Boston, said David Milton, Conforti's attorney.
"The fact that they settled so quickly is a rarity for a civil right lawsuit to settle. We take that as an acknowledgement that this was unacceptable, even if officially they say (Napert) did nothing wrong," Milton said.
“There was no justification for Officer Napert’s actions. He abused his authority,” Milton said.
Conforti “remains angry and upset at not only the unprofessional and out-of-control behavior of Officer Napert but also the fact that the town of Westport investigated the matter and found Officer Napert did nothing wrong,” Milton said.
Westport Police Chief Keith A. Pelletier said in a prepared statement that the town's insurance carrier decided to settle the case.
"These decisions are made by weighing the cost involved between preparing for trial versus settling the case prior to that date," Pelletier said.
"We're confident Officer Napert did the right thing, but the insurance company decided it was more cost-effective to resolve the matter," said Leonard H. Kesten, Napert's attorney.
Links:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110809/NEWS/108090327/-1/NEWS10
http://www.crookedsapd.com/2011/08/westport-officer-francis-napert-iii-settles-civil-rights-lawsuit-alleging-excessive-force/
The federal courts are destroying millions of judicial case records in an effort to save money.
The federal courts are destroying millions of judicial case records that have been stored in the Federal Records Centers of the National Archives for decades, all in an effort to save money.
The plan is to destroy all records on cases that did not go to trial that were filed between 1970 and 1995. For other records, the federal judiciary has reduced the current record retention time from 25 to 15 years in an effort to cut costs. All cases that went to trial or were filed before 1970 will be kept.
When a federal case is filed, it is held in the U.S. District Court of record for a period of time, but is ultimately transferred to one of the Federal Records Centers in 17 cities around the country. The National Archives charges the courts a storage fee for holding these documents; last year the fee was over $6.2 million.
The new retention plan will help save $7.7 million over the next 10 years.
However, the decision to destroy 79,000 boxes filled with civil cases, 43,000 boxes of criminal cases and over 500,000 bankruptcy records is cause for concern among legal historians and advocates for public access to information.
“On one hand I recognize that the NARA faces a real-world problem of storing a large volume of records that are not in the digital form, but the problem is the public does not have any access to this information once it is destroyed,” said Anne Weismann , chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. She is also president of The American Society of Access Professionals, an organization that provides education on FOIA and Privacy Act laws and regulations.
Link:
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/08/02/5456/millions-federal-court-records-are-being-destroyed-save-money
The plan is to destroy all records on cases that did not go to trial that were filed between 1970 and 1995. For other records, the federal judiciary has reduced the current record retention time from 25 to 15 years in an effort to cut costs. All cases that went to trial or were filed before 1970 will be kept.
When a federal case is filed, it is held in the U.S. District Court of record for a period of time, but is ultimately transferred to one of the Federal Records Centers in 17 cities around the country. The National Archives charges the courts a storage fee for holding these documents; last year the fee was over $6.2 million.
The new retention plan will help save $7.7 million over the next 10 years.
However, the decision to destroy 79,000 boxes filled with civil cases, 43,000 boxes of criminal cases and over 500,000 bankruptcy records is cause for concern among legal historians and advocates for public access to information.
“On one hand I recognize that the NARA faces a real-world problem of storing a large volume of records that are not in the digital form, but the problem is the public does not have any access to this information once it is destroyed,” said Anne Weismann , chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. She is also president of The American Society of Access Professionals, an organization that provides education on FOIA and Privacy Act laws and regulations.
Link:
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/08/02/5456/millions-federal-court-records-are-being-destroyed-save-money
Judge, issued a "stay" of the Renton police cartoon search warrant.
RENTON, Wash. -- The judge who signed a criminal cyber-stalking search warrant, seeking the name of an anonymous cartoon animator mocking the Renton police department, has apparently changed his mind.
King County Judge James Cayce, issued a "stay" of the search warrant Tuesday, pending full court hearing on the matter scheduled for August 19. The ruling is in response to a ‘motion to quash’ filed by a Seattle first amendment rights attorney.
It's possible Cayce could decide the warrant's ultimate fate before the formal hearing.
The request for a stay was filed on Aug. 9 in King County Superior Court by Harish Bharti, a Seattle trial lawyer.
City Attorney Larry Warren pointed out the motion didn't disclose a client, which means "we really don't know if they have standing to bring the motion or not."
Ronald Collins, a professor of law in the University of Washington Law School who has worked on First Amendment issues for 25 years, said in an interview Tuesday that Renton prosecutors, Judge Cayce and the Police Department are "all acting unconstitutionally."
It's hard to imagine, he said, that the cyberstalking statute was written with the Renton situation in mind. "They were more concerned about abuses against private individuals," he said, and not politicians.
Anyone is free to go to the town square and embarrass a public official from morning to night, he said, as long as they aren't a nuisance. But he relates that same scenario to the animated videos.
"Is something I can do in public all of a sudden something I can't do in cyberspace?" he asks.
To view all nine videos go to this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc6-vlJG1W0
Links: http://www.kirotv.com/news/28815941/detail.html
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/sound/article/Judge-puts-hold-on-cyberstalking-warrant-1840577.php
King County Judge James Cayce, issued a "stay" of the search warrant Tuesday, pending full court hearing on the matter scheduled for August 19. The ruling is in response to a ‘motion to quash’ filed by a Seattle first amendment rights attorney.
It's possible Cayce could decide the warrant's ultimate fate before the formal hearing.
The request for a stay was filed on Aug. 9 in King County Superior Court by Harish Bharti, a Seattle trial lawyer.
City Attorney Larry Warren pointed out the motion didn't disclose a client, which means "we really don't know if they have standing to bring the motion or not."
Ronald Collins, a professor of law in the University of Washington Law School who has worked on First Amendment issues for 25 years, said in an interview Tuesday that Renton prosecutors, Judge Cayce and the Police Department are "all acting unconstitutionally."
It's hard to imagine, he said, that the cyberstalking statute was written with the Renton situation in mind. "They were more concerned about abuses against private individuals," he said, and not politicians.
Anyone is free to go to the town square and embarrass a public official from morning to night, he said, as long as they aren't a nuisance. But he relates that same scenario to the animated videos.
"Is something I can do in public all of a sudden something I can't do in cyberspace?" he asks.
To view all nine videos go to this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc6-vlJG1W0
Links: http://www.kirotv.com/news/28815941/detail.html
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/sound/article/Judge-puts-hold-on-cyberstalking-warrant-1840577.php
How can discredited testimony convict Leigh Stubbs and many others in Mississippi?
Prosecutors in the U.S. often decry what is sometimes called the "CSI Effect." Movies and TV crime dramas like the popular "CSI" franchise on CBS can fill jurors' heads with unrealistic expectations about forensic science. But there's also a flip side to the CSI Effect: Because jurors are ready to believe the fantastical feats preformed by the wondrous forensics computers they see on screen, an unscrupulous prosecutor armed with an expert willing to offer otherwise dubious forensics on the witness stand can cause a lot of damage.
Witness Michael West. In the early 1990s, West, a dentist in Hattiesburg, Miss., was one of country's most prolific forensic odontologists, or bite mark specialists. West claimed to have perfected a new method of identifying bite marks on human skin, saying he could then match them to the teeth of a criminal suspect. Conveniently, West often testified that only he could perform this new analysis, which he called the "West Phenomenon."
Over the years, West broadened his areas of claimed expertise, testifying in at least 10 states as a wound pattern expert, a trace metals expert, a gun shot residue expert, a gunshot reconstruction expert, a crime scene investigator, a blood spatter expert, a "tool mark" expert, a fingernail scratch expert and an expert in "liquid splash patterns." He also got himself elected coroner of Forrest County, Miss. Though West was discredited in a number of national media reports beginning in the mid-1990s, he continued to testify in Mississippi courtrooms until just a few years ago.
Mississippi prosecutors no longer use West as a witness, but state Attorney General Jim Hood continues to defend convictions won because of his testimony. And Mississippi's appeals courts continue to uphold them. There are still dozens of people still in prison thanks either to West's testimony or his forensics reports, and Mississippi officials don't seem particularly concerned about them. One of those people is Leigh Stubbs, now 10 years into a 44-year prison sentence.
From there, the case against Leigh Stubbs only grew more bizarre. On the night of the alleged attack, the Comfort Inn had a security camera camera trained on its parking lot. Lampton sent the grainy VHS tape, which was taken after nightfall, to the FBI for analysis. The agency's report found nothing incriminating in the footage. It repeatedly points out that the quality of the recording is insufficient to tell for certain how many people are depicted in the video, much less determine their identities or what sort of clothing they're wearing. The report also makes no mention of anyone moving a "body."
Though he was obligated by law to do so, Lampton never turned that FBI report over to Stubbs' defense attorney. But he sent the video to Michael West, who, now donning his "video enhancement expert" cap, claimed he was able to enhance the video and capture still photos from those enhancements incriminating Stubbs and Vance for Williams' injuries.
The ability to "enhance" security camera footage beyond its resolution is a Hollywood-perpetuated myth so common that mocking it has become a running pop culture meme. Yet West testified in court that he could do exactly that. West and Lampton both knew that the FBI itself was unable to glean anything useful from the video, according to this correspondence, in which West references the FBI's examination of the tape. They kept that correspondence from the defense and the jury.
The Mississippi Innocence Project is representing Stubbs in her post-conviction petition. "The use of Michael West as an expert at any point in time was inexcusable," the organization's director, Tucker Carrington, says. "There was never any basis for his work to be considered valid as a forensic science. But using him in this case in 2001, after his work had been discredited, and after the FBI's experts had reported that they could not see anything in that videotape, that's really a new low."
Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/leigh-stubbs-michael-west-forensics-discredited-testimony_n_922219.html?page=1
Witness Michael West. In the early 1990s, West, a dentist in Hattiesburg, Miss., was one of country's most prolific forensic odontologists, or bite mark specialists. West claimed to have perfected a new method of identifying bite marks on human skin, saying he could then match them to the teeth of a criminal suspect. Conveniently, West often testified that only he could perform this new analysis, which he called the "West Phenomenon."
Over the years, West broadened his areas of claimed expertise, testifying in at least 10 states as a wound pattern expert, a trace metals expert, a gun shot residue expert, a gunshot reconstruction expert, a crime scene investigator, a blood spatter expert, a "tool mark" expert, a fingernail scratch expert and an expert in "liquid splash patterns." He also got himself elected coroner of Forrest County, Miss. Though West was discredited in a number of national media reports beginning in the mid-1990s, he continued to testify in Mississippi courtrooms until just a few years ago.
Mississippi prosecutors no longer use West as a witness, but state Attorney General Jim Hood continues to defend convictions won because of his testimony. And Mississippi's appeals courts continue to uphold them. There are still dozens of people still in prison thanks either to West's testimony or his forensics reports, and Mississippi officials don't seem particularly concerned about them. One of those people is Leigh Stubbs, now 10 years into a 44-year prison sentence.
From there, the case against Leigh Stubbs only grew more bizarre. On the night of the alleged attack, the Comfort Inn had a security camera camera trained on its parking lot. Lampton sent the grainy VHS tape, which was taken after nightfall, to the FBI for analysis. The agency's report found nothing incriminating in the footage. It repeatedly points out that the quality of the recording is insufficient to tell for certain how many people are depicted in the video, much less determine their identities or what sort of clothing they're wearing. The report also makes no mention of anyone moving a "body."
Though he was obligated by law to do so, Lampton never turned that FBI report over to Stubbs' defense attorney. But he sent the video to Michael West, who, now donning his "video enhancement expert" cap, claimed he was able to enhance the video and capture still photos from those enhancements incriminating Stubbs and Vance for Williams' injuries.
The ability to "enhance" security camera footage beyond its resolution is a Hollywood-perpetuated myth so common that mocking it has become a running pop culture meme. Yet West testified in court that he could do exactly that. West and Lampton both knew that the FBI itself was unable to glean anything useful from the video, according to this correspondence, in which West references the FBI's examination of the tape. They kept that correspondence from the defense and the jury.
The Mississippi Innocence Project is representing Stubbs in her post-conviction petition. "The use of Michael West as an expert at any point in time was inexcusable," the organization's director, Tucker Carrington, says. "There was never any basis for his work to be considered valid as a forensic science. But using him in this case in 2001, after his work had been discredited, and after the FBI's experts had reported that they could not see anything in that videotape, that's really a new low."
Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/leigh-stubbs-michael-west-forensics-discredited-testimony_n_922219.html?page=1
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Smartphones store sensitive personal user information while offering minimal security features.
An uncomfortably large percentage of mobile applications are storing sensitive user account information unencrypted on owners’ smartphones, according to a new survey of 100 consumer smartphone apps.
Some 76 percent of the apps tested stored cleartext usernames on the devices, and 10 percent of the tested applications, including popular apps LinkedIn and Netflix, were found storing passwords on the phone in cleartext.
Conducted by digital security firm ViaForensics, the testing occurred over a period of over eight months and spanned multiple categories, ranging from social networking applications to mobile banking software. The firm tested apps only for iOS and Android, the market’s leading mobile platforms.
“If I get my hands on someone’s lost phone, it could take me ten minutes to find an account username and password,” said Ted Eull, techology services vice president at ViaForensics, in an interview.
ViaForensics sells mobile security tools and services to corporations, attorneys and government agencies.
User names ranked highest on the list of discoverable data. App data — the term ViaForensics uses for private information exchanged using the applications — came in second place, with such data recovered from 69 percent of tested apps.
Mint.com’s iPhone and Android apps — which are used for maintaining financial account information — were found to store user transaction history and balance information on the phone. The Android version of the Mint app stores the user’s PIN on the phone unencrypted, ViaForensics found.
With two lucrative emerging mobile platforms, early traction is crucial for app developers competing for space. Apple’s App Store menu is closing in on a half-million applications available for download; add the Android Market to that, and you’ve got another 250,000 titles. App developer teams aren’t always focused on security first, especially when some of them consist of a handful of engineers.
“The main thing lacking in mobile development is approaching the platform with the understanding that these are essentially small computers,” Eull said. “Computers that are easily lost, and can travel through countless hands afterwards.”
Though as Ivan Sze noted in an Android forum post, a lock screen PIN isn’t the end-all be-all for a dedicated data thief: “Lock screen password entries aren’t designed to be formidable security barriers — it’s just to make it inconvenient for regular people.”
“It is entirely possible to develop secure mobile apps,” said Andrew Hoog, chief investigative officer at ViaForensics. “But it takes the time, energy and resources to do it.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/smartphone-local-data-storage/
Some 76 percent of the apps tested stored cleartext usernames on the devices, and 10 percent of the tested applications, including popular apps LinkedIn and Netflix, were found storing passwords on the phone in cleartext.
Conducted by digital security firm ViaForensics, the testing occurred over a period of over eight months and spanned multiple categories, ranging from social networking applications to mobile banking software. The firm tested apps only for iOS and Android, the market’s leading mobile platforms.
“If I get my hands on someone’s lost phone, it could take me ten minutes to find an account username and password,” said Ted Eull, techology services vice president at ViaForensics, in an interview.
ViaForensics sells mobile security tools and services to corporations, attorneys and government agencies.
User names ranked highest on the list of discoverable data. App data — the term ViaForensics uses for private information exchanged using the applications — came in second place, with such data recovered from 69 percent of tested apps.
Mint.com’s iPhone and Android apps — which are used for maintaining financial account information — were found to store user transaction history and balance information on the phone. The Android version of the Mint app stores the user’s PIN on the phone unencrypted, ViaForensics found.
With two lucrative emerging mobile platforms, early traction is crucial for app developers competing for space. Apple’s App Store menu is closing in on a half-million applications available for download; add the Android Market to that, and you’ve got another 250,000 titles. App developer teams aren’t always focused on security first, especially when some of them consist of a handful of engineers.
“The main thing lacking in mobile development is approaching the platform with the understanding that these are essentially small computers,” Eull said. “Computers that are easily lost, and can travel through countless hands afterwards.”
Though as Ivan Sze noted in an Android forum post, a lock screen PIN isn’t the end-all be-all for a dedicated data thief: “Lock screen password entries aren’t designed to be formidable security barriers — it’s just to make it inconvenient for regular people.”
“It is entirely possible to develop secure mobile apps,” said Andrew Hoog, chief investigative officer at ViaForensics. “But it takes the time, energy and resources to do it.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/smartphone-local-data-storage/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)