VoteKansas.org

Cardiovascular Medications Useless for Majority of Diabetic Patients 9-4-10

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum responds to whether or not he'd force a brokered convention.

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Can someone please explain to me why the Republican Party in Florida allowed Rep. Allen B. West to be gerrymandered out of his congressional district?

Mr. West is the most prominent and best-spoken elected conservative in the United States. He's a motorcycle-riding war hero, a passionate Christian and a ...

DENVER (AP) — Angeline Chilton says she can't drive unless she smokes pot.

The suburban Denver woman uses medical marijuana to ease multiple sclerosis symptoms and says she never would get behind the wheel right after smoking. But her case underscores a problem that no one's sure how to solve: ...

We possess a dual nature that includes selfish striving and a nobler "groupishness": 90% chimp and 10% bee. Gary Rosen reviews "The Righteous Mind."

Mitt Romney called Sunday for three of President Barack Obama's top energy or environment officials to resign or be fired for contributing to rising gas prices through what the Republican presidential hopeful labeled failed energy policies.

While inventory does not permit forcing open locked compartments in a car, the finding of ammunition in this car justified a further search for a gun. That was inevitable discovery. Essentially, where there's ammunition there's probably a gun. United States v. McCullum, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5584 (4th Cir. March 15, 2012) (unpublished):

Although the policy did not permit officers to force open a locked glove compartment during an inventory search, the ammunition discovered in the trunk would have provided probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the vehicle for the gun associated with the seized ammunition. See Michigan v. Thomas, 458 U.S. 259, 260-62 (1982) (explaining that evidence seized during an inventory search of a vehicle can provide probable cause to search elsewhere in the vehicle for additional contraband). The scope of that warrantless search would have included "every part of the vehicle and its contents that may [have] conceal[ed] the object of the search." United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 825 (1982). Because a glove box can conceal a gun, the glove box of the Cadillac was obviously within the scope of the warrantless probable cause search. The fact that the glove box was locked would not prevent us from upholding the lawfulness of its search. "[I]f the police have probable cause to believe that there is contraband . . . anywhere in the car they can search for it even if it is in a ... locked compartment such as the glove compartment ...." United States v. Mazzone, 782 F.2d 757, 760 (7th Cir. 1986); see also Ross, 456 U.S. at 823 ("The scope of a warrantless search based on probable cause is no narrower ... than the scope of a search authorized by a warrant supported by probable cause."). Accordingly, we affirm the district court's denial of the motion to suppress because the marijuana, the clip of ammunition, and the gun would have been inevitably discovered.

A consent to search for firearms includes checking clothing hanging in a closet. The consent was obtained for a parole search. United States v. Anderson, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5506 (8th Cir. March 16, 2012)*:

Even assuming a reasonable officer would have interpreted the consent as limited in scope to a search for firearms, the search was within the scope of such consent. United States v. Dinwiddie, 618 F.3d 821, 831 (8th Cir. 2010) ("The scope of consent for a search is limited to what a reasonable person would have understood by the exchange between the investigating officer and the person to be searched."). Firearms easily could be located in clothing hanging in a closet, particularly in outerwear such as a coat, jacket, or vest, and most particularly in a blaze orange hunting vest. See United States v. Lopez-Mendoza, 601 F.3d 861, 867 (8th Cir. 2010) ("The scope of a search is generally defined by its expressed object ..."). Further, the testimony supports the conclusion that the searching officer identified the ammunition without delving into spaces, pockets, or containers smaller than might hold a firearm.

NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of police officers cleared the park where the Occupy movement was born six months ago and made several arrests after hundreds of protesters returned in an anniversary observance and defiantly resisted calls to clear out.

Some demonstrators locked arms and sat down in the middle ...

NYPost.com: Law office of accused madam's upstate neighbor raided by cops by Jeane MacIntosh, Laura Italiano and Antonio Antenucci:

The probe of accused madam Anna Gristina widened today as cops descended on the downtown offices of a criminal defense lawyer who is her upstate neighbor — and the registered agent for Gristina's pig rescue farm house.

The lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, confirmed this afternoon that several cops were in his office at 225 Broadway, going through files.

Asked what they were looking for, he said, "I have no idea."

Prosecutors have claimed that Gristina had a "lawyer friend" who helped her invest and launder her money.

Law office searches are scary for both the target and the police because they're so easy to screw up. If you're a law enforcement officer reading this, get a special master involved ASAP, preferably before the search or at least before records are reviewed. In this case, the key is the fourth paragraph referring to money laundering. Lawyers are not immune from searches for money laundering. Clients, however, have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their lawyer's files and they have every right to challenge the PC and the execution.

Bob Greene says visiting an exhibit on Nixon's early life as son, student, suitor gives context--and raises questions--about the enigmatic and controversial president

Mitt Romney will win the Puerto Rico primary, CNN projects. Because he's projected to take more than 50% of the vote on the island, he'll claim all 20 of the U.S. territory's delegates.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal government decision to allow a Wyoming tribe to kill two bald eagles for a religious ceremony is a victory for American Indian sovereignty as well as for long-suppressed religious freedoms, the tribe says.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted a permit March 9 to ...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gunfire erupted as throngs were celebrating a mild St. Patrick's Day along a popular downtown canal in Indianapolis, and at least five teenagers were wounded by shots, two critically, police said.

The shots rang out Saturday night near the Downtown Canal on the west side of this ...

My servers experienced some trouble, as you may have noticed, resulting in the loss of some posts and comments over the past month. Things seem to be settled down and mostly backup and running. Feel free to repost any comments that got lost and I apologize for the crash and burn. Ironically, it happened right after I made backup but before I had downloaded the backup to my local computer which is why as much was lost as there was.

-Walter

[New York Monday March 19]

Our photographer ZD Roberts was beaten by New York City cops with nightsticks while covering Occupy Wall Street's attempt to re-take Zuccotti Park Saturday night.

Zach yelled several times, “I’m PRESS! PRESS!” yet was slammed on the head twice after he’d been thrown to the ground when the police shoved back the protesters. Zach, whose photos of Occupy Wall Street have been seen all over the world on the front page of The Guardian, showed his press badge, an act for which his hair was grabbed, head pulled back and slammed again with a club.

If you remember, Zach was arrested while covering the story three months ago. His trial is coming up (he refused to cop a plea).

We’ve covered the world … but who thought that the toughest combat assignment would be New York?

Here’s Zach story and comment in his own words and photos:

My head hurts. The NYPD did this to me.

3 months after my arrest during an Occupy Wall St. protest on #D17 and two days away from my meeting with the Assistant DA about said arrest - I got beaten by cops just outside of Zuccotti Park.

I wasn't the only one, and I have no doubt I won't be the last. The NYPD has complete authority in this town - I hate using the word police state, but when I saw a girl thrown from a bus, in handcuffs, having a seizure being tossed to the ground - I really am at a loss for any other words.

Cameras documented it. Here's one of the photos I took. There's tons of video. I can tell you from being there that there wasn't a single police officer with a look of concern on his/her face as the girl continued having a seizure on the hard pavement of Broadway.

It took 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. I'm told 5 minutes is the usual response time in this part of town.

This is Commissioner Ray Kelly's city, we just live here.

There was no ambulance needed for me. I was lucky… or maybe just stupid.

After the second cleansing of Zuccotti Park, Saturday night, the police continued their pushback under the guise of 'safety concerns' - basically a standard operating procedure to keep protesters and journalists from being allowed to witness arrests and to disperse the crowd in different directions.

It works quite well, that is until it doesn't. The thing is, when you're pushing back with billy clubs and metal barricades, sometimes people can't move back quick enough. Or sometimes, people refuse to move from a public sidewalk. Well as a photographer, I get caught in the middle quite often - usually I'm deft enough to get out of the way - this time I wasn't.

I fell back, and while trying to get up - there was another push from the police - they saw me fall, mind you. Just didn't care.

Two or three people made it over me without falling as well, using me as their sidewalk (they didn't have any other choice) - but then came the rush - four or five people fell on top of me.

The police kept pushing. Then came the batons. I couldn't see if the people that were on top of me previously got hit at all but I certainly did, twice to the back and once on the head.

I'm not quite sure what the logic is of literally beating a man when he's down. But once he saw that his baton beating wasn't getting me going he decided to try to pick me up by my hair. That didn't work either - but by then I was up enough to get my footing under me as I continued screaming "PRESS!!! PRESS!!!" That was enough to get the beating to stop - but I still was pushed/thrown back into the crowd, again almost losing my footing as I had to leap over a pile of garbage into the street.

Checking my bag and camera for damage I moved outside of the crowd to compose myself before pushing back in.

Read the rest at SuicideGirlsblog.com later tomorrow and visit our facebook page for some exclusive photos from the raid.

Please support our kickstarter campaign to support the research and filming of a DVD and book on Billionaires and Ballots.

Greg Palast is the author of Vultures' Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates and High-Finance Carnivores.

ShareThis

When the officer approached this stopped vehicle, he smelled marijuana. When defendant was ordered out of the car, the officer saw hollowed out blunts and loose tobacco which told him that the blunts were to be packed with marijuana. That justified a search of the trunk because that’s a place marijuana could be kept. State v. Morris, 2011 S.C. App. LEXIS 419 (November 2, 2011), substituted for opinion filed August 17, 2011.

The defendant juvenile’s car was stopped because of the pointing of a rifle at a law enforcement officer. The police used a dog to sniff the trunk to see if a person was hiding there, but they stopped because the dog was distracted. Finally, they just opened the trunk as “SOP.” There were no exigent circumstances justifying a search of the trunk under New Mexico law. The search of the trunk also failed as a “protective sweep” looking for a person, but the evidence did not support that either. State v. Leticia T., 2012 N.M. App. LEXIS 12 (March 13, 2012).*

One officer was writing a traffic ticket for the defendant when another officer asked for consent to search the car. Since the request did not extend the stop any, it was valid. State v. Nims, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 266 (March 14, 2012).* [Oregon website has no March cases posted yet.]

Defendant was stopped for a traffic offense, and he had a bandana with a marijuana leaf design hanging from the mirror. The officer asked for consent to search his person and then called for back up. He then asked for consent to search the car. The court holds there is no right under state law to have the Fourth Amendment read more broadly to require that juveniles get a warning of a right to refuse a search of a car. State v. Carlos A., 2012 N.M. App. LEXIS 13 (March 13, 2012).*

Police stopped behind defendant’s car which was double parked in front of a garage at 3 a.m. They had a CI’s report, and the car matched a radio call of it being involved in an incident. The occupant made a furtive movement toward the floor. On the totality, they had reasonable suspicion. United States v. Parker, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5509 (3d Cir. March 16, 2012) (unpublished).*

Defendant failed to show that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hotel room of another that was searched. He was neither the renter nor the additional guest, but he had a key. It was not shown that the key was to that room. “In any event, as he concedes, possession of a key to a hotel room, without more, does not establish a reasonable expectation of privacy in the room. Cooper, 203 F.3d at 1286 n.7 (citing United States v. Conway, 73 F.3d 975, 980 (10th Cir. 1995)). Nor did Bushay prove that the vehicle he was operating was a vehicle that was ‘registered’ for room 308.” He was not an overnight guest, and he lacked standing to contest a search that produced a gun associated with him. United States v. Bushay, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33653 (N.D. Ga. January 24, 2012).*

20 years ago, first lady-to-be Hillary Clinton's "cookies" comment roiled moms and stoked political debate, Kirsten Swinth says. But in hindsight, it reflected the dawn of the working family

Dean Obeidallah says stifling political comedians risks chilling free expression