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NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans are in for a cyber-surprise on Wednesday: They'll be able to plug family names into an online 1940 U.S. census and come up with details about the lives of New Yorkers - from Joe DiMaggio and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy to their own relatives....

Most Americans are familiar with, and enjoy hearing, Lee Greenwood's patriotic song that includes the famous line "God bless the U.S.A." The Greenwood song had been scheduled to be sung by the kids at an assembly at Stall Brook Elementary School in Bellingham, Massachusetts. The school administrators decided to censor God out of the song and replace Him with "We love the U.S.A." This is Phyllis Schlaflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930380089191812969noreply@blogger.com1

Plaintiff was arrested and detained for 224 days for a sexual assault charge that was ultimately dismissed. He had a prosthetic lower leg and had prostate surgery that made it impossible for him to ejaculate, two things not mentioned anywhere in the investigation. “[I]t is not clear that individuals have a constitutional right to a reasonable post-arrest investigation.” Barham v. Town of Greybull Wyo., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 11306 (10th Cir. June 5, 2012)*:

We turn next to Plaintiff's argument that his constitutional rights were violated by his 224-day detention on charges that were later dismissed. He contends there were problems with the alleged victims' stories, particularly relating to Plaintiff's inability to ejaculate semen, and he argues a reasonable law enforcement officer would have investigated these problems and attempted to obtain Plaintiff's release earlier. As we stated in Romero, it is not clear that individuals have a constitutional right to a reasonable post-arrest investigation. See Romero, 45 F.3d at 1478. To the extent there is such a right, it must be based on "facts that, at a minimum, demonstrate Defendants acted with deliberate or reckless intent." Id. After thoroughly reviewing the record, we conclude that the officers' post-arrest investigation was, at most, negligent. Thus, Plaintiff has not shown the officers' conduct during his detention violated any potential constitutional right to a reasonable post-arrest investigation.

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is delivering a strong defense of the U.S. use of drones to kill insurgents in Pakistan, telling an audience next door in India on Wednesday that America has made it clear to Islamabad it will continue to target al-Qaida leaders in that country....

Plaintiffs’ strip search claim on arrest without booking permitted on motion to amend; it was not futile. Sorrell v. Inc. Vill. of Lynbrook, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77303 (E.D. N.Y. June 4, 2012).*

There was probable cause for defendant’s arrest for murder for hire by payment of a snowmobile. State v. Santiago, 2012 Conn. LEXIS 218 (May 29, 2012).*

In litigation over a 1991 search warrant in 2012, the seizure under the search warrant was somewhat excessive, but it was not reason to suppress the whole search under Andersen. United States v. Persico, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77298 (E.D. N.Y. June 1, 2012).*

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- The lawyers set to argue the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case are in court to complete jury selection....

HONOLULU (AP) -- Filtering the sun's light to a minuscule fraction of its true power allowed sky-gazers over the world to watch a silhouetted Venus travel across Earth's closest star, an extremely rare spectacle that served as a reminder of how tiny our planet really is....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans are in for a cyber-surprise on Wednesday: They'll be able to plug family names into an online 1940 U.S. census and come up with details about the lives of New Yorkers - from Joe DiMaggio and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy to their own relatives....

Zero Hedge | Jon Hilsenrath said the market can stop falling as the Fed was "considering" sterilized QE, or more Twist.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A guard held hostage at a South Carolina high security prison was rescued early Wednesday after a standoff of more than six hours, a corrections department spokesman said....

A “checkpoint,” without hardly tell us what for, was valid where it snared the defendant, an habitual driving offender with no license. Desposito v. Commonwealth, 2012 Va. App. LEXIS 185 (June 5, 2012):

Appellant's challenge to the validity of the checkpoint is limited to two points: (1) the supervisor's direction that the checkpoint should be conducted "during the lunchtime" leaves the officers with unbridled discretion as to the time of operation; and (2) the plan is flawed because while it requires a 30-minute minimum operational duration, the plan does not establish a maximum time, thus allowing the officers at the checkpoint to determine the duration of the operation. These omissions, appellant contends, render the checkpoint constitutionally unsound, thus violating his Fourth Amendment rights.

"As a preliminary matter, checkpoints with the primary objective of enforcing safety requirements are constitutional." Wright v. Commonwealth, 52 Va. App. 263, 268, 663 S.E.2d 108, 111 (2008) (citing Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 658 (1979)); see also Palmer v. Commonwealth, 36 Va. App. 169, 172, 549 S.E.2d 29, 30 (2001) (holding the purpose of a checkpoint was valid when officers stopped vehicles to look for "any violations on the vehicles, such as drivers' license, equipment, [or] inspection").

. . .

The reasonableness of such seizures, which are less intrusive than a traditional arrest, depends "on a balance between the public interest and the individual's right to personal security free from arbitrary interference by law officers." Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 50-51 (1979) (citing Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 109 (1977)). In considering the constitutionality of these seizures on appeal, we must weigh "the gravity of the public concerns served by the seizure, the degree to which the seizure advances the public interest, and the severity of the interference with individual liberty." Id. at 51.

What is the public interest in stopping everybody to look for a driver's license? Bank robbers, kidnapers [Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 183 (1949) (Jackson, J., dissenting)], DUIs? Yes. General crime control, no. I just cannot accept that a driver's license checkpoint is constitutional under Edmund or Sitz. And, yes, Prouse was decided in 1979, and its throwaway reference to driver's license checkpoints was wrong then and its still wrong. If SCOTUS is concerned about "it could happen to us," then they might now agree. To quote "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Uh, what country do you think this is?" American highways are not constitution free zones.

Please, somebody, take this up.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Gov. Scott Walker, fresh from becoming the nation's first governor to survive a recall election, wants to go about mending Wisconsin's political divide in an egalitarian way: over brats and beer....

Paul Joseph Watson | Four separate hotel staff report seeing presidential candidate.

Infowars.com | Aajonus Vonderplanitz was a fake name used by a man who had a fake Ph.D., some people claimed.

Infowars.com | Vice-Presidential frontrunner Marco Rubio told the elitist Council on Foreign Relations during an event last week that the American people should be prepared for a war with Iran.

The Economic Collapse | All over America tonight there are people that believe that their lives are over.

Infowars.com | In another stupendous incident of comical over-reaction, the TSA ordered the evacuation of two airport terminals in Minneapolis after a water purification device was found in a woman’s luggage.

The American Dream | Once upon a time, the open highways of America were one of our greatest symbols of liberty and freedom.

Infowars.com| It is with great sadness that we learned today of the passing of Bob Chapman, a true patriot and a frequent guest on the Alex Jones Show whose insight on the global economy was second to none.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Decisive victories for ballot proposals cutting retirement benefits for government workers in two of the largest cities in the U.S. emboldened advocates seeking to curb pensions in state capitols and city halls across the nation....