Cases We Should Pay Attention To

Heartless? The Case Of Anna Brown

Neglectful? Inconsiderate? Heartless? Who, knows if these are the adjectives that should be used to describe the people responsible for the care of a 29 year old woman that died of blood clots on Thursday March 29^th 2012, in a Missouri jail, but we do know that they ignored her call for help.  This woman was seeking care at a St Louis Hospital when it was deemed by the hospital that she was trespassing, therefore they called the police.  Soon she was incarcerated for seeking care for a sprained ankle and later she died in a jail cell soon after being booked?  Sounds like a movie but this actually happened to 29 year old Anna Brown.  Anna died because doctors failed to detect blood clots in her leg and these blood clots soon traveled to lungs, causing her to have fatal breathing problems and she soon died.

 

But who is Anna Brown?  Anna was a 29 year old African American, homeless woman, who became homeless when her house was hit by a tornado and she was forced to move into another home.  This other home was one she could not afford and one where the landlord made promises to fix malfunctioning equipment in the house but he never did.  Because the landlord was reluctant to fix household items the house soon became ran down.  Soon, this lady could not afford to pay the utilities so her kids were left in a house without electricity among other non-working household items.  Once the utilities went off, her home was no longer suitable for her children so, they were soon taken from her by children services.

 

Sources

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57406467-504083/mo-homeless-woman-died-in-jail-hours-after-hospital-arrest-is-anyone-to-blame/

 

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10926817-hospital-mom-booted-from-er-who-died-in-jail-was-treated-appropriately

 

 

Howard Morgan

 

How many people would fear the cops if they were pulled over by the police and then shot?  This a question many people are pondering after the shooting of Howard Morgan.  Howard was stopped by police on February 21, 2005, for allegedly going the wrong way down a one way street and soon after this routine traffic stop smoke and gunfire filled the air.  28 shots to the body later, Howard Morgan laid slumped over in his car.  The ironic thing about this case is the identity of Mr. Morgan and the trial after the incident. 

So who was Howard Morgan?  Howard Morgan was a veteran Chicago police officer serving 13 of his years for the Burlington North Santa Fe railroad.  Mr. Morgan did not have a history of violence, no prior cases that showed he had anger or depression problems.  On February 21^st eye witnesses say that Howard let a police car pass by him, when he noticed that he was being stopped for a violation.  Witnesses say that Howard identified his self as a cop, but he was still forced from his own car and shot 21 times to the back of his body and 7 times in the front. 

After the incident Mr. Howard was taken to a hospital and was chained to his hospital bed for months as he recovered.  On February 21, 2007 Mr. Howard went to trial where he faced several counts of attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault and for shooting his weapon.  Soon, Howard was found not guilty for aggravated and for discharging his weapon, and this is where the case gets weird.  The jury could not come to a conclusion onto whether or not Mr. Howard should be convicted for attempted first degree murder so the judge declared a mistrial.   Now how could a person say that you are not guilty for battery and not guilty of firing your weapon, and be confused on whether or not you should be guilty of attempted murder?  How did Howard attempt to murder the officers arresting him if he did not fire his own weapon?  Because of the jury’s indecisiveness the judge elected a new jury, with a new trial where Howard was found guilty on all charges.  Howard’s sentencing was delayed until April 5^th, because of the support of people aware of this case, packing the courtroom full of anger and disgust because of the magnitude of the injustice displayed. 

 

Sources

http://occupychi.org/direct-action/event/rally-free-howard-morgan-campaign

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://jessemuhammad.blogs.finalcall.com/2012/01/case-of-howard-morgan-black-policeman.html&sa=U&ei=2zJ2T5nVI8jItgfI2bjtDg&ved=0CCQQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNGpIyN202HPw4pYh3O0w8ipFNkiPA

 

Bo

Once word of the police being called spread through the party everyone decided to scram in a hurry.  These kids had to move fast because alcohol was being served at this party and hardly anyone was of age.  Bo Wisconsin minor was no exception, as he ran out the house he decided to hide in the backyard of a house that was close by.  During Bo’s run to the backyard he made loud noises that alarmed the homeowner of the house he was hiding at.  The homeowner grabbed his gun, assuming there was an intruder close by.  By this time Bo could see the homeowner with his gun, so he started to walk towards him with his hands in the air.  Bo startled the homeowner so the owner shot one shot towards Bo, hitting him in the chest, killing him on impact.  Bo, 20 years old was found dead on March 3rd of 2012.  The owner was not charged or arrested because of Wisconsin’s Castle law that protects homeowners in these types of situations.

Sources

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/03/27/wisconsin-death-unarmed-black-youth-draws-trayvon-martin-comparisons

http://www.taylorforassembly.com/category/news/

http://news.yahoo.com/wisconsin-shooting-puts-castle-law-under-scrutiny-021356052.html

 

Price

Going to see your loved ones is supposed to be a joyous occasion, one filled with love not hate, and it should not involve violence.  This was soon challenged on March 1, 2012, where Dayton, Ohio security guards turned into Dayton Ohio gunmen.  Attempting to visit his child and his girlfriend Dante Price was shot and killed by two security guards from Ranger Security.  The guards say that Dante charged at them and tried to hit them with his car, thus they had to shoot him.  These two security guards remain free from police custody and are uncharged.

 

Sources

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/courthouse-rally-seeks-to-spotlight-dante-price-shooting-1352488.html

 

 

Trayvon

 

After a trip to the store a seventeen year old boy, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed by a member of a neighborhood watch association. The outrage over this killing has sparked numerous opinions on why he was shot, why national coverage took so long, and whether their was police negligence involved. There is a huge public outcry over this case and many people don’t know why.   I want to examine the facts that we do know about the case and let the public decide for themselves why there is such an outcry of injustice involving this case.

I have heard all types of reasons why Trayvon was shot which  include:

He was shot because he had on a hooded sweat shirt.
He was shot because he was black.
The shooter was racist and that’s why he shot Trayvon
Travon was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
He was shot because Americans are socially conditioned to believe blacks are criminals and are violent thus the shooter was scared and thought Trayvon was displaying suspicious behavior.

Role of Police

The police are supposed to protect our rights, help enforce our laws and ensure people are following the laws.   Many people claim that the police did not do their job properly so I wanted  to see if that was true.  Since the shooting happened in Florida I wanted to view the standards Florida sets for their law enforcement agencies and I found their Law Enforcement Office ethical Standards of Conduct.

Law Enforcement Officer Ethical Standards of Conduct

Purpose

This policy defines conduct unbecoming a police officer. This policy supplements the ethical standards contained in the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, a copy of which has been included following this policy.

Policy

Law enforcement effectiveness depends upon community respect and confidence. Conduct which detracts from this respect and confidence is detrimental to the public interest and should be prohibited. The policy of this Department is to investigate circumstances suggesting an officer has engaged in unbecoming conduct, and impose disciplinary action when appropriate.
Principle Two

Police officers shall refrain from any conduct in an official capacity that detracts from the public’s faith in the integrity of the criminal justice system.

Rationale

Community cooperation with the police is a product of its trust that officers will act honestly and with impartiality. The police officer, as the public’s initial contact with the criminal justice system, must act in a manner that instills such trust.

Rules

2.1 Police officers shall carry out their duties with integrity, fairness and impartiality.

Police Reaction

The police interviewed the shooter of Trayvon, Mr. Zimmerman, but they did not arrest and charge him.  Mr. Zimmerman was taken into police custody for questioning, but he claimed that he shot his gun at Trayvon out of self defense.  This was not believed by the lead detective of the case who wanted to arrest and charge Mr. Zimmerman.  But the police were told not to charge Mr. Zimmerman by the Florida State Attorney General. The Attorney General was deferring to the Florida Statue of Justifiable Use of Force, in reference to Mr. Zimmerman and his actions.  Below is the statue that the Attorney General used to save Mr. Zimmerman from being charged.

JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE

776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—
(1) A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another:

The police seem to be using impartiality  and fairness with one group of people and not using it with another.  We see that even the Attorney General of Florida gives Mr. Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt even though one of his officers wants to charge Mr. Zimmerman. The officer clearly thinks that this was not a case for self defense but, the Attorney General wants to defer to the Justifiable Use Of Force statue. We don’t see many African Americans getting the same use of impartiality in the eyes of the law and statistics show this.

Statistics

Statistics show that blacks are approximately 12 to 13 % of the US population but account for approximately 45% of all murder victims in the United States. African Americans are approximately 6 times more likely to be arrested and convicted than other races in the United States, because they are arrested and convicted more often. So based on these statistics it should not be surprising that Mr. Zimmerman a person that is not African American, was not arrested. It is also not statistically surprising that the victim is African American, as African Americans are more likely to be murdered than are other races in the United States. Statistics do not tell us how reasonable the arrest, trial, plea bargain, or conviction will be.

Before we jump to the conclusion that Blacks should just accept the fact that they are just committing more crimes than other races, thus they should be arrested and convicted more often. We must remember that there are plenty of people, minority and non-minority people that are questioned by the police and are let go, for a plethora of reasons. There are plenty of court cases that get thrown out, charges are dropped, charges are lessened, convictions overturned. So it seems that minority legal cases (especially when the suspect is African American), are less likely to be thrown out, overturned, found not guilty, or have charges lessened. It also seems that when minorities are questioned (especially African Americans) by authorities they presumed guilty thus they are arrested and taken into custody more often than other races.
The law enforcement code of conduct says that officers are supposed to use fairness and impartiality when making arrests or interpreting the law. If law enforcement agents are using impartiality then why do we continue to see high percentages of African Americans, and Hispanics being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. Is it something in a minority’s genetic makeup that predisposes them to be criminals? I would say no because a crime is something that we as a society has defined, society gives crime its parameters, therefore crime does not just naturally exist. Humans have to create the definition of crime, list out different crimes and agree that there are consequences for committing crimes. Humans are not ideas; we are a living breathing thing, so it would be hard to prove that a human is naturally a criminal.

The questions we all need to ask is, how we are going to change these negative perceptions and negative statistics involving minorities, how will we choose to view the world around us, and how will we positively change the world around us. Staying silent about issues just perpetuates the idea that the issue does not exist and more people will be negatively affected by it.

How does the media help to shape the opinion of the public?
Where did the police go wrong in this case?
Was race a factor in this case?
Why do we have high conviction rates and arrest rates in the African American community?

Sources
From the Florida Dept of Justice- http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/CJST/Menu/Officer-Requirements-Main-Page/LE-Ethical-Standards-of-Conduct.aspx
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.013.html
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/trayvon-martin-police-report-released-lead-detective-wanted-george-zimmerman-arrested-20120328
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0008.htm

Too Small to Live So Large…..

Craving  a delicious salad, my wife had spotted a Salad Creations restaurant not too far from our residence. While on a weekend outing with our kids, we decided that this would be a satifying lunch for the afternoon. As we pulled up to the small salad shop, we notice a hand written note on the door…. “Due to lack of business we will now be closed on Sundays, and will also be closing early Monday through Saturday at 6pm”. We both kinda looked at each other and shook our heads.

While at Salad Creations, my mind wondered back a few days to my job at CSL Plasma.  It was my turn to pick up the company lunch. The cuisine for the day would be authentic mexican. While waiting on the placed order I noticed a plaque on the wall with a picture of the restaurant located behind the glass. It was a news clipping which I though would be a tribute to the delightful little restaurant. No, instead it was a very candid article outlining the obesity striking the community and the statistics that this community holds as the number 1 obese city in our nation. To have this type of information on display could only lead me to believe that management at this restaurant was [proud of the notable disturbing press that the small restaurant had received. Is all press (good or bad) really good press… I think not!

How many healthy fast food places to people know exist?  For the ones that do exist , how successful can they be in a fast food world of greasy pizza and burgers?  An even better question is how available and affordable are foods that are healthy to people throughout the world?  What if a person lives in a city where the nearest “store” is a corner store, how likely is fresh fruit and vegetables going to be available in these corner stores, not very likely?  I think it is important to state this fact.  It took, less than 10 minutes for the Salad Creations shop to prepare 2 freshly made, tossed and plated salads, the cost…..19.00 dollars.  Compare this to 2 combo meals ordered at your fast food restaurant of choice….  price and time will be parallel.  And yes it is about choices.  No one can tell you what to eat and how to spend your hard-earned money, but a community should at least be knowledgeable of the alternate choices.  It literally took us 10 minutes just to figure out where in the mass shopping plaza the Salad Creations shop was.  No large signage, no dancing  salad bowl outside, no grand fanfare, just a really great salad awaiting you!!! 

However, no matter what major street I drive down, my kids can spot the golden arches from a mile away.  I will not act as if a happy meal has never touched their lips, but can this be the only option recognizable for substance.   But what affects people’s choices when it comes to food?  Does the government have anything to do with the availability of fresh foods in stores or the affordability of healthy foods? Yes.  The government gives money to farmers to grow and harvest certain foods, so that its cheaper to make certain products.  For many farmers its corn, so the government will pay you money to grow corn, making it cheaper to grow corn.  Since corn is more affordable to make than other foods, companies started using corn for things they did not do before corn became so affordable.  For example corn is becoming the main product used to feed grass-fed animals, like cows.  Feeding corn to cows makes it cheaper to raise cows but it has nasty side affects for cows and the people who consume the cow parts.

 For most children their parents are going to give their children the most affordable food that’s going to fill their child up.  Also parents are busier than ever so they have to find foods that are prepared fast and usually these are the foods that are not healthy.  That’s why: 

• Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years.
• The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period.
• In 2008, more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.^1,2
• Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors.³ Obesity is defined as having excess body fat.⁴
• Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.^5,6

^{Why do communities not pressure the Chamber of Commerce to promote and spport the growth of healthier food chains?}

^{Do we have enough information as a society on dietery consequences, short and long term?  if so then at what point are we passing this knowledge onto our youth?}

^{Should we care what we put in our bodies?}

^{Should we push for all food items to put dietary information on their products, especially alcoholic products?}

Its The Same Right?

The police got news of a crime being committed so they quickly proceeded to the scene of the crime.  Locked doors was not an obstacle for the cops as they went right into the house eager to stop this detestable act.  As the police fumbled though the neatly organized residence they found what they were looking for, the bedroom door.  As they opened the door to their horror they saw Mildred and Richard Love in the bed sleeping, a black woman and a white man violating Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act.

Mildred just wanted to marry the love her life Richard.  She wanted to spend every last waking and sleeping moment with him.  Time apart was not acceptable for Richard either, so they decided to drive to the District of Columbia to get married.  But the state of Virginia did not care about their love, they sentenced the couple to a 1 year prison sentence.   Soon the Supreme Court was involved and years later the couple was able to return to Virginia as one loving, married couple.  The Love’s fight to stay together in Virginia lasted from 1958-1965, but similar injustices continue to exist today.

Democracy is great for the majority, but even the majority have to be responsible with the power they hold.   The majority will tell you whom you can marry, what rights you have, and what your life is worth.   The majority have the power to give you rights and take them away.  Even if federal laws are changed to protect the minority the majority can enact certain state laws to make it extremely difficult for minority.  The majority and ruling class have said these things in the past to African-Americans, women, Asian Americans, Hispanics and now homosexuals of the present.

Democracy is great when the majority acts responsibly.  Slavery and the reconstruction era of America are examples of the majority acting irresponsibly.  After slavery was over, the majority of the people in power in the south ,created laws and policies that kept African-Americans disenfranchised even though they were legally free.   If a majority of people thinks a certain way, and this majority has the power to establish laws, then it goes without saying that they will not be establishing laws for the betterment of a minority group that it will directly  and indirectly affect.

Do people really care who someone has sex with?  Why does it matter if a person marries someone of the same-sex, how does that devalue marriages? Do we really believe God hates homosexuals?  I did not think God hated anyone, God is supposed to be about love.  So if God hates a group of people I need to be better informed of this fact.   And if religion is an argument used to decide the validity of a law, we need to get rid of that argument.  Many people believe people are making conscious choices to be homosexual, that it’s a personal choice.

According to National Geographic there are examples of animals exhibiting homosexual behavior throughout the animal kingdom.  The African Bonobo an ape that is considered to be in close relation to humans, has a population that is almost all bi-sexual.  These Bonobo’s engage in sexual activity that is approximately 75% non-productive in nature.  So it seems that its possible that heterosexuality is not as natural as we thought it might be.

How does homosexual marriages devalue marriage?

Why should we deny homosexuals the same rights as heterosexuals?

How is this any different than denying Blacks, Hispanics, or women rights?