The Family of a Black Teen Shot to Death by Palm Beach County Police Wants Answers

Broward Palm Beach Blog

It was December 13, 2012, when 40-year-old Sunjee Louissaint, a soft-spoken woman with gentle eyes, looked across the front yard of her West Palm Beach home and saw two green-and-gold-striped Palm Beach County Sheriff's cruisers. 

Two deputies had pinned her 17-year-old son, Devin, to the ground. She heard a bang and, suddenly, his body shook violently.

Louissaint thought he had been hit with a Taser. Then she saw the blood. He's been shot, she thought.

"I ran over and put my face on the ground," she recalls, "because his face was on the ground, and I saw his eyes were dilated. He was gone."

Devin Jolicoeur died of gunshot wounds in the early evening that Thursday. Four bullets pierced his chest and one his hand. Not only his mother, but also his grandmother, aunt, and best friend were there. So were several other family friends and neighbors who had come out to see why police were questioning the teen.

After a brief investigation, Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg ruled the shooting justified. Josh Kushel, the deputy who had fired the gun that killed Devin, claimed the kid had pointed a gun at his partner, Sgt. James Hightower.

But many questions remain unanswered. Several witnesses said they never saw the boy draw a gun. Officers seemingly contradicted one another in testimony after the shooting. And they either lied or were mistaken about the presence of marijuana, which they used as a basis for the interrogation.

"They murdered my son, and then they lied about him," Louissaint insists. "It just didn't happen like they said it did. Not at all."

DOJ Memo: No Civil Rights Charges Brought Against Darren Wilson

ColorLines

The Department of Justice is reportedly preparing a memo recommending that no civil rights charges be brought against Darren Wilson. Anonymous sources, The New York Times reports, say that the completed investigation “found no evidence” to support charges against the white police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown on August 9 2014. Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Brown’s family, has withheld comment until the Justice Department issues a formal decision.

The DOJ’s “pattern or practice” investigation into the majority white Ferguson police department continues. The force faces allegations of excessive force and discriminatory traffic stops.

Florida prisons chief asks for $30mn to reform ‘abuse culture’ after 346 inmate deaths

BlackListed News

Florida’s new Department of Corrections head is asking the state for nearly $30 million to institute badly needed reforms as federal and state offices investigate Florida prisons, which began after multiple reports of torture and inmate deaths surfaced. Julie Jones, the fourth permanent Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary under Republican Gov. Rick Scott, testified in front of the state’s Senate Criminal Justice Committee just a few weeks into her tenure, which began on December 10. She answered tough questions from lawmakers regarding a systemic culture of torture and abuse, as well as crumbling infrastructure throughout the Florida prison system, the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday.

[white supremacy = double standard] Charlie Hebdo Fired ‘Anti-Semitic’ Cartoonist For Ridiculing Judaism In 2009

AnonHq

The cartoon world’s double standards on freedom of speech…

Charlie Hebdo mocks the prophet Muhammad through insulting cartoons and calls it satire. As a result, half of the magazine’s staff is wiped out by terrorists in the name of Allah. The massacre raises questions about “freedom of speech.” The cartoon world, media, governments and intellectuals all have double standards regarding the answer.

When the world was condemning the January 7th attack on the satirical magazine, Muslim heroes were being applauded and world leaders and dignitaries were walking in a march for unity, although it was not shoulder to shoulder:

Critics suggest images show dignitaries ‘didn’t lead march’ after all, but many still speak positively about display of global unity

Then came the breaking news – a reminder that 80-year-old Maurice Sinet, political cartoonist with Charlie Hebdo for 20 years, was fired in 2009 for his anti-Semitic cartoons mocking the relationship of former French President Sarkozy’s son with a wealthy Jewish woman.

Maurice Sinet, known to the world as Siné, faced charges of “inciting racial hatred” for a column he wrote in July 2009. “L’affaire Sine,” followed the engagement of Jean Sarkozy to Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, the Jewish heiress of a major consumer electronics company, the Darty Group. Commenting on rumours that Jean intended to convert from Catholicism to Judaism (Jessica’s religion) for social success, Siné quipped, “He’ll go a long way in life, that little lad.”

It didn’t take long for Claude Askolovitch, a high-profile political journalist, to accuse Siné of anti-Semitism. Charlie Hebdo‘s editor, Philippe Val, who re-published Jyllands-Posten’s controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in the name of ‘freedom of press’ in 2006, agreed that the piece was offensive and asked Siné to apologize. Siné refused, saying, “I’d rather cut my balls off.” He was fired and taken to court by the Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et l’Antisémitisme (LICRA), an organization which works to promote racial tolerance. In December 2010, Siné won a €40,000 court judgment against his former publisher for wrongful termination.

Charlie Hebdo publishes cartoons insulting Islam and Muslims as well as Jesus and Christianity, and tags them as “freedom of speech.” However, in the case of Siné, it failed to stand firm on its provocative “freedom of speech” stance.

Carlos Latuff, a world renowned Brazilian cartoonist, told Daily Sabah, “It is an everlasting discussion, because what is freedom of speech and what is hate speech? Why are some subjects protected by freedom of speech and others not? Why can we mock some issues and cannot do so with others? Should Holocaust denial, for example, be included as freedom of speech, or racial hatred? See, for example, the treatment given by the Western mainstream media to Muhammad cartoons and the Holocaust cartoons.”

Latuff added that the motive behind the urge to mock Islam remains unknown. “Who knows? Hatred against Muslims, testing the limits of freedom of speech, mocking Muslims just for fun, who knows? However, the fact is that they [Charlie Hebdo editors] died not for a good cause, what could be seen as noble, but for provoking Muslims and feeding the hatred against Islam.”

These are some of Latuff’s cartoons that speak a thousand words: [MORE]

NYPD Says Eric Garner Memorial Burned Down & Destroyed on MLK Day was an Accident [racists luv to do foul shit on MLK day, that's their thing; provocation]

DiversityInc

On July 17, one bleak moment in the fight for civil rights occurred on Bay Street in Staten Island.

On a day to celebrate civil rights, another bleak moment happened in the same spot.

Shortly after 10 p.m. on Monday—Martin Luther King Jr. Day—the FDNY responded to the memorial at the spot Eric Garner was killed after a report of a “rubbish fire.” The memorial was destroyed.

Erica Garner, the slain man’s daughter, said that she had stopped by the memorial earlier in the day. She tweeted that she believes vandals were to blame, and vowed to rebuild.

The NYPD, however, said it doesn’t believe any criminality occurred at the scene and that a candle accidentally fell over and burned down the memorial.

Rallies protesting the NYPD, police brutality and racial profiling have exploded across the city, and around the country, since Garner was put in a chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo last summer, repeatedly stating “I can’t breathe” as he collapsed to the ground and died.

They only grew stronger after a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s support of the #ICantBreathe and #BlackLivesMatter protests has led to a fractured relationship with the NYPD. Officers turned their back on him several times following the assassination of two NYPD patrolmen, gunned down in their car by a man claiming to avenge the deaths of Garner and Michael Brown, and have drastically reduced their ticketing as part of a citywide slowdown.

A report earlier this month by the NYC Department of Investigation and the NYPD’s Office of the Inspector General revealed that chokeholds by officers routinely go unpunished.

DC Protesters Shut Down Streets, Demand End to Police Brutality

Sputnik 

Several hundred protesters have marched peacefully through the streets of Washington, DC calling for an end to police brutality and blocking street intersections.

"No justice, no peace. No racist police," the protesters shouted Thursday. "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now. If we don't get it we are going to shut it down."

The protesters — young and old, black and white — are among thousands that came out to march Thursday night following Wednesday's grand jury decision that a white police officer, responsible for the death of Eric Garner in a chokehold, would not be indicted. Garner's last words caught on video by a bystander were "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

"If I can't breathe, you can't breathe," was a common slogan throughout the night, as DC protesters proceeded to block intersections starting from the US Justice Department building as they marched to the White House, where the annual Christmas tree lighting festival and concert was underway. In stark contrast to the festivities on the other side of the police line, the crowd continued their chants, "Hey hey, ho ho, these killer cops have got to go!"

One of the leaders of the protest repeatedly reminded protesters and passersby that every 28 minutes a black person is killed at the hands of police, a startling statistic he said CNN and Fox News do not report on.

Die-ins, where protesters lie on the ground symbolizing the dead at the hands of police, occurred throughout the protests. Protesters staged a die-in at an intersection a block from the White House, blocking traffic for thousands of feet, before continuing across the 14th Street Bridge.

Getting Paid Off White Supremacy: The FCC Looks into the Prison Telephone Racket

MarshallProject

On November 21, the Federal Communications Commission published 28 pages of fine print that could overhaul the way prisons operate their calling plans. Until last year, prison phone systems — known within the industry as “inmate calling services,” or ICS — were “a dark little backwater of telecommunication that the FCC was not paying attention to,” says Peter Wagner of Prison Policy Initiative, an advocacy group.

With no regulation, telecom contractors in prisons and jails could charge whatever they wanted for a phone call and tack on fees without limit. In some states, a 15-minute phone call costs as much as $17. Inmates and their families spend $1.2 billion a year on phone calls.

That began to change in 2003, when Martha Wright, a grandmother from Washington, D.C. filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the phone company at the private prison where her grandson was incarcerated charged “exorbitant and unconscionable long-distance rates, which severely burden communication between inmates and their family members and counsel.”

“It’s been times when she did have to choose over paying for her medication in order to talk to me,” said her grandson Ulandis Forte, who ultimately served 18 years for assault before his release in 2012.

The courts ruled that the proper jurisdiction for Wright’s suit was the FCC and transferred it there as a petition, where it languished for a decade. Then in 2013, the FCC, in its own words, “took long overdue steps to provide relief to the millions of Americans paying unjust and unreasonable interstate inmate phone rates.” The most important of the preliminary rule changes that went into effect earlier this year was a rate cap on interstate calls. The FCC said companies could not charge more than 21 or 25 cents a minute, depending on the type of call.

But this ruling did not affect calls placed within a state, which account for many of calls the placed from inside prisons. Now the FCC is considering rate caps on intra-state calls, as well as other regulations and restrictions that would “ensure that ICS rates are just, reasonable, fair, and accessible to all Americans,” according to their proposed rule change.

Calling services from inside a facility are usually provided by a single contractor selected by the corrections department through a competitive bid. In bidding for these contracts, companies typically promise to pay a certain percentage of their profits back to the department. The average “site commission” is 48 percent, but it can be much higher: in a new Arizona contract, the telecom company CenturyLink agreed to pay a 94 percent commission rate, according to a Prison Legal News analysis.

These payments create “reverse competition,” the FCC says, in which the financial interests of corrections departments are aligned with the seller (the companies) rather than the consumer (the inmates). FCC calls these kickbacks “the main cause of the dysfunction of the ICS marketplace” because they drive up per-minute rates and cause companies to look for other ways to make money, like fees. These can include costs to deposit money in an inmate’s account; monthly account maintenance fees; fees to connect each call; and fees to have a balance refunded when the inmate leaves prison or transfers between facilities. [MORE]

Anonymous Promises Major Cyber-Attacks and Protests At Homes of ‘Killer Cops’ In #OpAnonVerdict

AnonHQ

Court rejects Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s drug testing of welfare applicants

Miami Herald

A federal appeals court on Wednesday dealt another blow to Gov. Rick Scott’s crusade to conduct drug tests on welfare applicants when it upheld a lower court ruling that the practice was unconstitutional.

The unanimous ruling from a bipartisan panel of judges concluded that the state failed to show any evidence as to why it was necessary to force applicants seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to surrender their constitutional rights as a condition of receiving the aid.

“We have no reason to think impoverished individuals are necessarily and inherently prone to drug use, or, for that matter, are more prone to drug use than the general population,” the court said in its 54-page ruling.

Proponents hailed the decision, which came just two weeks after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case, and predicted it would have broader impact in protecting the rights of people receiving a wider range of government benefits — from Bright Futures scholarships to driver’s licenses.

“This should be the end of the road for the governor’s crusade,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, which sued the state. “The opinion says that people cannot be forced to surrender constitutional rights as a condition of any government benefit — driver licenses, library cards, student loans and farm subsidies.”

The Scott administration is “reviewing the ruling,” said the governor’s spokeswoman, Jackie Schutz.

[Live Streaming] Protests Erupt in New York City and Around the Country Following Eric Garner Ruling

AntiMedia

LiveStream

Detroit Won't be "Dark" for Long: False Flag in Motor City, so corporatists can privatize government supplied services

From [HERE] A power outage has been affecting several government buildings in Detroit and left some areas without working traffic lights. Detroit Public Schools says it's dismissing students at mid-day Tuesday because of the outage, which happened around 10:30 a.m. Detroit's public lighting department, which serves areas affected by the outage, says "a major cable failure" [?!?] caused the city's aging grid to lose power.

All customers of the municipal power system affected by the outage had their power back, the city announced at 5:15 p.m. The outages happened around 10:30 a.m.

The new white Mayor (Detroit is 95% non-white) Mike Duggan said the power grid hasn't been modernized in decades in Detroit, which is emerging from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. DTE Energy Co. is taking over the department and spending hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading the system over four years. [MORE]

People Walk Out Of Work, School in Ferguson Protests

ABC

Protesters across the country walked out of jobs or school today to honor Michael Brown, the unarmed teenager killed this summer by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Many of the walkouts happened at 12:01 p.m. CT, the exact time Brown was shot on Aug. 9. The movement gained steam on social media with the hashtag #HandsUpWalkOut, and organized protests happened in dozens of cities.

At universities from New York to Los Angeles, students marched holding signs saying "Black Lives Matter" and demanding "justice" for Brown.

In some parts of the country, the protesters even included middle school students.

Michael Eric Dyson on Ferguson, Police Brutality and Race

[Appearance of] Justice Is Swift as Petty Crimes Clog Courts Cases Adjudicated in Minutes or Less, Often Without Lawyers

WSJ

For the millions of Americans charged each year with misdemeanor crimes, justice can be blindingly swift.

Michigan bills would bring change to criminal justice system

Freep.com

Michigan lawmakers are considering changes in the state’s criminal justice system, including a fairer path to parole for prisoners and a data-driven effort to rewrite sentencing guidelines for certain crimes.

The case is being made by a western Michigan Republican, Rep. Joe Haveman of Holland, who believes millions of dollars could be saved in the years ahead without threatening public safety. The four-bill package could get a vote as early as this week.

“What could be the outcome of having less people in prison? Of having less crime? Of having revenue that we could spend on schools and roads instead of locking people up?” Haveman said. “We cannot continue to imprison citizens for longer and longer sentences with no positive outcomes.”

Few people would oppose putting more money into roads and schools. But even a perception that officials are being soft on criminals in exchange can be a spoiler. Haveman has been working with prosecutors, judges, sheriffs and defense lawyers on a compromise that satisfies many parties.

“We’ll get the votes in the House. We’re going to get something done,” he said in an interview.

Haveman cautioned that many provisions still were being drafted before Thanksgiving, but he said there’s a consensus that the parole process needs more transparency. Prisoners would know what’s required to be released after serving the minimum sentence. The parole board likely would be required to disclose more information about why parole was denied.

“Under current law, the parole board’s discretion is whatever it wants it to be,” said Margaret Raben, a defense lawyer involved in the negotiations.

“There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of people, still in prison despite the fact that they’re past” their earliest release date, she said.

Indeed, the Corrections Department pegged it at 5,485 in April. A number of factors can affect parole decisions, especially conduct in prison.

Attorney General Bill Schuette is urging lawmakers to postpone any action in December, despite Haveman’s efforts to craft the bills with input from key people in the criminal justice system. Schuette warns that public safety could be compromised.

Separately, Haveman’s bills would create a commission to analyze the impact of Michigan’s sentencing guidelines on jails, prisons and courts. The 15-member commission would recommend changes in the guidelines, especially for crimes that aren’t as serious as violent ones. A similar group was disbanded in 2002.

After peaking at 51,554 in 2007, Michigan’s prison population consistently dropped until 2012. There were 43,704 inmates at the end of 2013. The House Fiscal Agency said $20 million can be saved for every 1,000 prison beds that are retired.

“I don’t see immediate money savings” from the legislation, Haveman said. “You don’t save significant amounts of money until you’re able to close a facility. That’s done when population is down significantly.”

Muskegon County prosecutor D.J. Hilson, who has participated in the negotiations, said the bills are moving quickly.

“We want to make sure that we keep track of public safety and victims’ rights, and make sure those don’t get lost in the shuffle,” he said. “Everybody does recognize there are some areas of the system that could be tweaked.”

System Rigged: Study finds courts give prosecutors leeway on disclosing evidence

SF Chronicle 

More than 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court said prosecutors, who have much more access to crime-scene evidence than defense lawyers, must turn over any information they find that might help the defendant. But when they fail to turn over favorable evidence, courts these days seldom do anything about it, according to a new study co-authored by a Santa Clara University law professor.

Farrakhan: Remembering a hero and champion: Marion S. Barry Jr.

Final Call

Statement from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on the passing of the Honorable Mayor Marion S. Barry, Jr.

 Marion S. Barry Jr., former four-time District of Columbia Mayor and three term Ward 8 Council member, died early Nov. 23 at the District’s United Medical Center, after he was released earlier in the evening from Howard University Hospital.

The legendary political icon was admitted Nov. 20 to Howard Hospital because he was not feeling well, according to his D.C. council spokeswoman LaToya Foster.

Mr. Barry was discharged Nov. 22 and reported that he was in good spirits. He went home, watched TV and went out to get something to eat. He returned home where he collapsed while getting out of his vehicle. He was 78.

Reflections and memories were still pouring in from around the country at Final Call press time including sentiments from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. Minister Farrakhan released a statement extending condolences to the family while praising the life, legacy and work of Mr. Barry as a giant in the liberation struggle of Black people. (Please see page 23 for Min. Farrakhan’s statement in its entirety.) 

Mr. Barry was a steadfast supporter and advocate whose intervention was invaluable to the success of the Million Man March in 1995 held in the Nation’s Capital.

“Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city,” Mayor Vincent Gray said in a statement. “He loved the District of Columbia and so many Washingtonians loved him.”

Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser called Mr. Barry an “inspiration to so many people and a fighter for people.” Mr. Gray ordered flags at all D.C. buildings to be flown at half-staff.

“From my earliest encounter with Marion Barry, when he was the first chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee until I came back home and found him mayor of my home town, I have seen Marion take hold and write his signature boldly on his own life and times and on the life of the nation’s capital,” D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a statement.

“Many took his struggle to personify in some way their own, endearing him and making him a larger-than-life figure as he became a creator of post-home-rule D.C.,” she said.

President Barack Obama also issued a statement expressing sadness on behalf of himself and Mrs. Obama which said in part:

“During his decades in elected office in D.C., he put in place historic programs to lift working people out of poverty, expand opportunity, and begin to make real the promise of home rule. Through a storied, at times tumultuous life and career, he earned the love and respect of countless Washingtonians, and Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathies to Marion’s family, friends and constituents today.”

Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), issued a statement on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus in which she serves as chair. Mr. Barry leaves a legacy and passion that will not be forgotten said Rep. Fudge.

“A hero of the Civil Rights Movement and a longtime leader in the District of Columbia, (Mr.) Barry’s personal demons could not obscure his deep and abiding love for the city and its people,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Chair of the Democratic National Committee said. “His voice and his constant presence will be missed by the people of Ward 8 and residents across the District,” said Rep. Schultz.

Mr. Barry battled kidney problems stemming from diabetes and high blood pressure and underwent a kidney transplant in February 2009. He served as a member of the D.C. council since 2005, winning re-election twice. He was still often referred to by his admirers all over the city and the country as “Mayor Barry” despite not having held that office since 1999.

Mr. Barry was first elected mayor in 1978 after building a political career as an official of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and as a local activist in Washington. He was re-elected in 1982 and 1986, and again in 1994.

“I want to take the boards off of houses and put people in them,” Mr. Barry said shortly after being sworn in in 1979. “I want to provide minimal care for all people, regardless of their financial situation. And I want to live out (Dr. Martin Luther) King’s legacy of peace, brotherhood and survival.”

Despite embarrassing episodes because he was a self-described “night owl,” and because of a misdemeanor drug conviction after a multi-million dollar investigation and sting in a downtown hotel in 1993, Mr. Barry is remembered most for being a “champion” who opened the door to Blacks in the D.C. government; for establishing a popular summer job program which guaranteed work for every high-school-age youth in the city; for advocating on behalf of and delivering city services to the elderly and to citizens returning from incarceration.

Marion Barry’s death at age 78, is clearly the end of an era, because, as he said of himself, he was a voice for the “last, the lost, and the least.”

AIDS campaigners say pandemic has finally reached tipping point

Aljazeera

For the first time since the HIV virus started spreading across the globe 30 years ago, the world has reached “the beginning of the end of AIDS,” a leading campaign group said on Monday, while cautioning that further concerted efforts are needed to control the disease worldwide.

In a study to mark World AIDS Day, the advocacy group ONE Campaign reported that for the first time since the pandemic began, the number of HIV-infected people added to antiretroviral treatment in 2013 was greater than the number of people newly infected with the deadly virus.

UNAIDS, the United Nations AIDS agency, says that by June 2014, some 13.6 million people globally had access to AIDS drugs, a dramatic improvement on the 5 million who were getting treatment in 2010.

The AIDS pandemic that began more than three decades ago has killed up to 40 million people worldwide.

"We've passed the tipping point in the AIDS fight at the global level, but not all countries are there yet, and the gains made can easily stall or unravel," said Erin Hohlfelder, ONE's director of global health policy.

Supreme Court to hear First Amendment case on violent Facebook rap lyrics

AlJazeera

The Supreme Court on Monday was set to hear arguments on violent rap lyrics posted to Facebook — a case that could redraw the boundaries between protected free speech, criminal threats made over social media and the latitude that is often granted for artistic expression.

The case involves Pennsylvania resident Anthony Elonis, who was sentenced to four years in prison for posting explicit rap lyrics in which he threatened to murder his estranged wife, shoot up elementary schools and slit the throat of an FBI agent who was investigating his case. He was convicted in federal court on five counts of transmitting interstate threats — over the Internet, in this case — “to injure the person of another.”

"The Appearance of Justice" Department to issue new guidance on racial profiling

AlJazeera

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that he will soon unveil long-planned Justice Department guidance aimed at ending racial profiling.

Holder traveled to Atlanta to meet with law enforcement and community leaders for the first in a series of regional meetings around the country. The president asked Holder to set up the meetings in the wake of clashes between protesters and police in Ferguson, Missouri.

"In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement. This will institute rigorous new standards — and robust safeguards — to help end racial profiling, once and for all," Holder said.

Tensions between police and the community in Ferguson boiled over into violent confrontations in August after a white police officer shot a black teenager. Protests turned violent again last week after a grand jury declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Holder's meeting in Atlanta included a closed roundtable discussion with law enforcement and community leaders followed by a public interfaith service and community forum.

The meeting came after President Barack Obama's request to federal agencies Monday for recommendations to ensure the U.S. isn't building a "militarized culture" within police departments. The White House also announced it wants more police to wear cameras that capture their interactions with civilians. The cameras are part of a $263 million spending package to help police departments improve their community relations.