sabrina 1
sabrina 1's JournalThe Ferguson Prosecutor, McCullough, 'Failed' to get a GJ Indictment. How rare is this?
According to Nate Silver's Blog, author Ben Casselman, failure to get a Grand Jury Indictment is statistically very, very rare!
It's Incredibly Rare For A Grand Jury To Do What Ferguson's Just Did
Or at least, they nearly always do so in cases that don’t involve police officers.
Former New York state Chief Judge Sol Wachtler famously remarked that a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.” The data suggests he was barely exaggerating: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. attorneys prosecuted 162,000 federal cases in 2010, the most recent year for which we have data. Grand juries declined to return an indictment in 11 of them.
......
“If the prosecutor wants an indictment and doesn’t get one, something has gone horribly wrong,” said Andrew D. Leipold, a University of Illinois law professor who has written critically about grand juries. “It just doesn’t happen.”
This is true, in fact, the frequency with which Prosecutors get indictments from GJs has been the topic of controversy for a long time.
Except in the cases of Police Officers. Why are GJs less likely to indict Police Officers?
Iow, the system itself is responsible for the lack of justice in cases of cop killings.
A Grand Jury Indictment is Extremely Common
"A riot is the language of the unheard." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Stop calling the protests in Ferguson "riots." These are the protests of those who have gone unheard, who deserve justice and receive tear gas. These are the protests of people who know that what happened to Michael Brown - and Trayvon Martin, and Oscar Grant, and Amadou Diallo, and Sean Bell, and Kendrec McDade, and so many others - will happen again and again, and that no one will be brought to justice for the killing of their sons, fathers, husbands, brothers, friends.
Black lives matter. The people of Ferguson deserve to be heard. Hear them.
Read the statement from Michael Brown's family, and follow the fight to require all police officers to use body-worn cameras.
They 'system' did work. The Prosecutor, McCullough was acting as a Defense Attorney for Wilson from what I heard from him.
So who was representing Mike Brown?
A Plea to Riot Police, Robo Cops, the National Guard and to Governor Nixon tonight.
We are asking that you refrain from violence against US Citizens when the verdict from the GJ is announced tonight.
Please remember that the US Citizens assembled, not just in Ferguson, but across the country, are exercising their 1st Amendment Rights to peacefully assemble to air their grievances against actions they believe taken by those who work for them, are not in their best interests.
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And remember that these protesters are not armed. They are American Citizens who have every right to be where they are tonight.
We ask you also, to stop arresting Reporters for doing the job Journalists in a Democracy are expected to do.
We noted the arrest of such a journalist last night after a ruling that made it illegal for you to inhibit journalists in the course of their duty:
.@stlcountypd your arrest of @TreyYingst directly violates of yesterday's federal court ruling which prohibits inhibiting media. #Ferguson
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Yes the ruling came down yesterday. And from the ACLU who are tireless in their efforts to ensure the rights granted in the US Constitution to the citizens of this country:
Sad that it was needed, isn't it, since we thought we already had the right to a free and open press.
So, to all the Riot Police, Robo Cops, Military Personnel sent out to, well, whatever it is you are being sent to do, let's not have a repeat of the violence you engaged which caused the near deaths of two US Veterans and thousands of illegal arrests during the OWS protests.
The world will be watching tonight. Please try, hard though it may be, to control the violence against US Citizens that is becoming all too familiar to those watching all over the world.
Why is #Ferguson important? Because war torn countries are sending messages of hope to US citizens.
New Grassroots Climate Change Group Endorse 17 Candidates in 2014 Midterms - Wins 11 races, loses 6!
Climatehawksvote 2014 endorsementsI had not heard of this, apparently new, Grassroots Group.
They seem to be doing what we are interested in doing, identifying and/or choosing candidates which they then support, who are 'hawks' on Climate Change.
The website linked above, explains how they went about accomplishing their goals in this last election, so I thought it might interesting to this Group.
Btw, I do recognize the author of the Home Page as a long time member of Daily Kos.
From the Site's Homepage, after the 2014 election where they, imo, scored a major victory, 11 out of 17 candidates endorsed, that seems like a 'win' to me.
http://www.climatehawksvote.com/2014
Our goal remains steadfast: to elect climate hawk leaders - those who prioritize and speak on the climate crisis. Simply put, climate change is the greatest threat facing the next few generations of humanity, not just another Democratic issue, but too many politicians are afraid to talk about it.
Waffling on carbon pollution and voting for fossil fuels should be as unacceptable as voting against a woman's right to choose. We don't tolerate elected officials and candidates taking money from tobacco companies who profit from human suffering and death; we shouldn't tolerate them taking money from coal, oil, and gas companies whose business plan is to cook the planet.
We're proud of every candidate we endorsed, no matter what the result - whether solar solutionistas or energy efficiency evangelists, all our candidates were no-compromises climate hawks. We're a grassroots-funded organization seeking to elect only those politicians who show leadership on climate change.
It is well worth reading their Endorsement link, especially the analysis of the races they lost , because even the losses show that a small group like this who are committed to changing the way the system works, CAN change the numbers.
More from the link where I found them on Daily Kos. What is interesting is that they used the SOCIAL MEDIA to great effect, and very little MONEY:
We Won The Final Tally For Climate Change Hawks Votes 2014 Races
Primaries:
Endorsed Brian Schatz and Stanley Chang in Hawaii-Senate and Hawaii-01. Local organizers registered voters, made thousands of calls, hosted debate watch parties, appeared at candidate events. Schatz won by 1600 votes (later won general election); Chang came in 3d in a 7-way primary.
Endorsed Ruben Gallego in Arizona-07. Local organizer appeared at candidate events, organized a rally, outreach to environmental groups. National blogging work to expose opponent's dependence on coal money became a race meme. Collected hundreds of local signatures on petition to local newspapers to cover candidates' climate position. Won primary (later won general election).
General election, in order purely alphabetical:
Endorsed Shenna Bellows, Maine-Senate. Local organizer registered voters and engaged targeted low-turnout student voters in person; phonebanking. National blogging to expose opponent's policy homeopathy. Lost, but hopeful that Collins won't be considered a moderate environmental Republican any longer.
Endorsed Lois Capps, California-24. Social media. Won.
Endorsed in Michigan: Paul Clements, MI-06 and Gary Peters, MI-Sen. Clements lost; Peters won. Registered voters, voter registration rally in Benton Harbor, phonebanking, national blogging, substantial earned media, coordinated events with local NAACP, boosted turnout in six targeted precincts by nearly 40%; details here.
Endorsed Heidi Hall, CA-01. Social media. Lost.
Endorsed Mike Honda, CA-17. Social media - educated fellow Kossack and local activist Glen The Plumber re Mike's high score on the Climate Hawks Vote scorecard and general record on climate; said local activist cited by Ro Khanna in concession speech. Won.
Endorsed Ted Lieu, CA-33. Social media, local speeches, outreach. Won.
Endorsed Jeff Merkley, Oregon-Senate. Social media. Won.
Endorsed Scott Peters, CA-52. Local organizer targeted low-turnout youth voters: spoke and tabled at all colleges in district; spoke to local climate activists re Peters' political courage; spoke to local Democratic clubs re Peters' climate record; spoke at local movie nights; tabled at farmers' markets, sustainable food businesses, and other public spaces chosen for emphasis on climate-friendly voters; appeared at rallies; leafleted; extensive social media. Won.
Endorsed Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire-Senate. Social media. Won.
Endorsed Tom Udall, New Mexico-Senate. Social media. Won.
Endorsed carbon price in the human forms of Chris Van Hollen, MD-08 and Dave Peiser, CA-49. Social media. Won MD-08, lost CA-49.
Endorsed Rick Weiland, South Dakota-Senate. National blogging; worked with South Dakota NDN PAC to get out the vote on reservations, targeting reservations where opposition to Keystone XL pipeline is strongest. Lost.
grassroots peregrine CHVNow it's time to start planning work for 2015. Do we get involved in Presidential politics? Score bills and alert media, as I did with Mary Landrieu and the Keystone XL pipeline vote? Take on the hard task of recruiting candidates for 2016? and if so, where? Stick to the basics of updating and upgrading our sophisticated scorecard measuring not just votes, but leadership on climate? Something else?
Emphasis mine
Seem like they did this with no Commercial Ads, mostly using Social Media and Activists knocking on doors.
Very impressive work imo. I will follow them on Twitter to keep up with their activities.
The Power of the Minority! The Silver Lining of lost Elections.
I don't know about anyone else, but from the time Dems gained the majority in the House and Senate, and won the WH, putting the GOP in the minority, I remember that we have been told over and over again how POWERFUL the Minority Party was.
We, the people who thought that when a Party WINS, they get to call the shots, were admonished and even attacked at times, for insisting that the point of winning was to get some of what you worked so hard for.
No, we were told, the Minority is so powerful that they will NOT let anything we want, mostly concerning Progressive issues, PASS.
They will stop all of our nominations and they simply won't allow us, the MAJORITY to get ANYTHING done.
Well, we did get two things done without them, Bailing out Wall St crooks and the ACA, which btw we were told we had to compromise on in order to get some of them on board, which never happened airc .... but I am digressing ...
So, looking for a silver lining, I remembered how often I was told of the enormous Power of the Minority and have concluded that the Good News is that Dems will now have all the power of the Minority to Block Every Right Wing Piece of Legislation that THEY had when THEY were in the Minority.
Some possible opportunities for the Minority to use their power:
Will the Majority try to pass the Keystone Pipeline Legislation? No problem, Dems can STOP them!
How about the Chained CPI/Cuts to SS? A GOP Dream?? Again, no need to worry, Dems now have the power of the Minority to get that Piece of Right Wing garbage OFF the Deficit Table.
How about GOP nominees? No problem, Dems can hold them up forever until we get back in power.
Obstruct and prevent any Right Wing legislation. The Minority has the Power to do so!
And now we will get to see who actually USES that power we have been told so much about to stop Cuts to SS eg, and who doesn't!
Am I wrong about this? Will the Minority lose its power now, or take advantage of it?
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
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