Blog Archives
Former Tulsa Sheriff Found Guilty Of Violating Elliott Williams’ Civil Rights
Does the name Stanley Glanz ring a bell? What about the names Eric Harris and Robert Bates?
Robert Bates was a Tulsa, Oklahoma reserve deputy when he was part of a sting operation. Bates fatally shot unarmed Eric Harris, and said that he mistook his gun for his taser. Eric was restrained when Bates shot him.
On April 2, 2015, a jury found Bates guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison. After serving 497 days, the 76-year-old Bates was released from the North Fork Correctional Center. He will serve probation for the remainder of his sentence.
In March 2018, Tulsa County agreed to pay a $6 million settlement to Eric Harris estate’s excessive force lawsuit. If you would like to read more about that case and Bate’s trial, please click this link.
Former Tulsa, OK Sheriff Stanley Glanz
So, who is Stanley Glanz? Glanz was Sheriff of Tulsa. Eric Harris’ death uncovered a law enforcement agency in disarray. Glanz and Bates were fishing buddies. In September 2015, Glanz was indicted for failing to release a 2009 internal report that raised serious concerns about Bates’ ability to do his job. Glanz eventually pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a year of jail time, which was suspended.
Glanz was also named as a defendant in a civil suit filed by the family of Elliott Williams. Elliott Williams, 37 years old and a veteran, was taken to the Tulsa jail in October 2011 after being arrested in Owasso in the lobby of a Marriott hotel for misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer. Rather than going through the jail’s screening process, Elliott was taken directly to a holding cell.
Shortly after being placed in the cell, Elliott rammed his head into the door and fell to the ground. An inmate seeing what happened called for help, and Elliott told detention officers he had broken his neck and couldn’t move.
Detention officers did nothing. Elliott died at the Tulsa Jail on Oct. 27, 2011, after living on the floor of his cell for five days with a broken neck. He was unable to reach food or water. The jail did not send him to the hospital or provide treatment because nurses and the psychiatrist said he was faking paralysis.
Elliott’s family filed a civil lawsuit in 2012. In 2016, a federal court ruled that the case could proceed. At trial, former Sheriff Stanley Glanz testified that Elliott didn’t undergo a mental health assessment upon his arrival at the Tulsa Jail because he was “acting up.” He told jurors that because of Elliott Williams’ behavior, he didn’t have a problem with him not being evaluated.
Glanz also defended his use of racial slurs, saying that they were used by the FBI in written reports in the 1960’s.
Asked how often inmates fail to go through the booking process and lay in their own feces for 10 hours while yelling for help, Glanz responded that it happens “two to three times a week in that facility.” He stated that many are intoxicated and some of the jail staff believed that Elliott was intoxicated.
Joshua Lanter, who oversees the Tulsa branch of the state Medical Examiner’s Office, also testified at the civil trial. He told jurors that no one at the Sheriff’s Office informed him of Elliott’s complaints of a broken neck and paralysis before his initial autopsy. Read the rest of this entry
Parkland School Shooting Victim Files Legal Notice Of Suit Against Local Government
By Tina Bellon (Reuters) – A lawyer for a student wounded in February’s mass shooting at a Florida high school on Monday filed a legal notice of intent to sue the county sheriff’s office and the school district for failing to protect the students. The lawsuit would be the first for the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which a gunman killed 17 people and wounded or injured more than a dozen others.
The notice of intent to file a claim is required by Florida law before a lawsuit can be brought against government entities.
It would be brought on behalf of 15-year-old Anthony Borges and his family. Borges was shot five times during the massacre, suffering life-threatening injuries, and remains hospitalized, according to the notice.
“The failure of Broward County public schools, and of the principal and school resource officer to adequately protect students, and in particular our client, from life-threatening harm were unreasonable, callous and negligent,” the family’s lawyer, Alex Arreaza, said in the notice.
via Florida school shooting victim files legal notice to sue local government — The Crusader Journal
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Black Lives Matter Movement and DeRay
(Published using Press This)
(Reuters) – A Louisiana police officer cannot sue Black Lives Matter because it is a social movement, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday, finding the campaign could not be held responsible for injuries he got at a protest.
The unidentified officer sued Black Lives Matter and an activist involved in a July 2016 protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the officer was struck by a rock.
AP Photo/Max Becherer
The Black Lives Matter movement began with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media in 2012 after black high school student Trayvon Martin was shot dead in Sanford, Florida, by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter.
It grew into a nationwide movement in response to the use of excessive force by police, particularly against black men.
“‘Black Lives Matter,’ as a social movement, cannot be sued, however, in a similar way that a person cannot plausibly sue other social movements such as the Civil Rights movement, the LGBT rights movement or the Tea Party movement,” Chief Judge Brian Jackson of a U.S District Court in Baton Rouge wrote in a 24-page ruling. Read the rest of this entry
White Nationalist Organizers and James Alex Fields Sued for $3 Million
Tadrint and Micah Washington, the owners of the car struck in the protests held in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend, have filed a lawsuit in the Charlottesville, VA circuit court.
James Alex Fields He drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer
James Alex Fields has been arrested and charged with one count of second degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of failing to stop at an accident that resulted in a death. Fields was a participant in the “United the Right” demonstration organized by White Nationalists in Charlottesville, VA.
Fields allegedly drove his car into a group of counter-protesters. At his appearance on Monday in court, Fields told Chief Judge Robert H. Downer Jr. that he cannot afford a lawyer. The 20-year old Fields has been assigned court appointed attorney Charles Weber. Fields’ next court appearance is on August 25, 2017. He is currently held in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail and was denied bond.
The Washington’s allege in court documents that they were driving home when Fields drove through a group of people, ramming their vehicle from the back injuring them.
The lawsuit names Fields, “Unite the Right” rally organizer Jason Kessler and about two dozen alt-right leaders and organizations as defendants. Read the rest of this entry
Ferguson Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed By Michael Brown’s Parents
Michael Brown
In 2015, Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, the parents of 18-year Michael Brown, filed a suit against the city of Ferguson, MO, the former Police Chief Tom Jackson and former police officer Darren Wilson. Today, the city settled that lawsuit.
Terms of the wrongful death settlement were not disclosed. United States District Court Judge E. Richard Webber approved the settlement and ordered it sealed, writing;
“The gross settlement amount is fair and reasonable compensation for this wrongful death claim and is in the best interests of each plaintiff.”
In 2014, Michael Brown was shot multiple times, with the fatal wound being to the top of his head, spilling his brains onto the street. His body laid in the street for more than 4 hours. A grand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson, and the DOJ began a probe that found systematic racial discrimination in Ferguson that targeted Black residents and created a “toxic environment.” The report said the city overwhelmingly arrested and issued traffic citations to Blacks to boost city income, and used the police as a collection agency. Read the rest of this entry
SAN FRANCISCO SUES TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION
As I understand it, each state has rights to legislate their own laws, and each of the states give municipalities the right to pass their own ordinances. This is going to be a most interesting case. May our constitution prevail.
By:Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare
On Tuesday, the city of San Francisco became the first so-called “Sanctuary City”, to sue the Trump Administration, after his executive order to defund cities that he claims protects illegal immigrants.
Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco, said : ” the misguided executive order makes our cities less safe, and we believe is unconstitutional.”
Mayors from other major cities like New York and Chicago, promised to defy the president’s executive order, the ACLU, also plans to file a lawsuit against Trump’s administration.
For additional information use link below:
Baton Rouge Settles Case With Black Lives Matter Protesters
Activist Deray McKesson arrested in Baton Rouge. AP Photo/Max Becherer
In response to the killing of Alton Sterling on July 5, 2016, Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in the streets of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Police arrested 92 protesters. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III said his office would not prosecute the protesters. However, those arrested incurred bond, administrative fees and court costs in order to be released. To have those arrests expunged requires more money.
Activist DeRay McKesson was among those arrested.
A federal class-action lawsuit was filed alleging that the militarized police were aggressive in their response to protesters and used “unconstitutional tactics” to infringe upon the protesters’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Fewer than 10 percent of the protesters in the class-action lawsuit were from out of town. Read the rest of this entry
What Happens When the Miami-Dade Corrections Dept Doesn’t Think You Look Like A Woman
Fior Pichardo de Veloz
Fior Pichardo de Veloz is a lawyer. She is also a local elected official in the Dominican Republic. In November 2013, she flew into the Miami International Airport in Florida to witness the birth of her grandchild. She was taken into custody on a federal, 1988 warrant for a drug charge in a case that she thought had been resolved.
That was two years ago, and on September 13, 2016, Fior filed a lawsuit in federal court; not because of the mix-up with the warrant, but because a nurse at the Miami-Dade jail assumed that Fior had been born male and had her placed in a general holding cell with 40 men.
According to her lawyers, Fior was initially placed into a jail cell as a woman, but a nurse alleged to evaluating her for exhibiting “non-traditional male characteristics.” The nurse alleged that she determined Fior had male reproductive organs and she was then sent to Metro West Detention Center, a male-only facility. Read the rest of this entry
Lawsuit Filed Against Facebook For Text Messages
So you had a cell phone, and a Facebook Page, and you agreed to receive text messages from Facebook. Then, you exchanged, lost, or cancelled your cell phone account. For whatever the reason, you now have a new cell phone number. Your old phone number is assigned to someone else and guess what? They are now receiving text messages from Facebook intended for you.
They new owner of the phone number wants Facebook to stop sending them text messages intended for you, but Facebook doesn’t stop. The owner of the Facebook page has to confirm that they no longer want text messages sent to their old cell phone number. You’re not the owner of the Facebook page and cannot make changes to the Facebook account that belongs to someone else.
Last year, Facebook settled a case filed by a Florida woman who sued them for unwanted texts. This time around, lawyers are seeking to certify a class. Read the rest of this entry
Off Duty Atlanta Cop Attacks Man at Walmart Over False Accusation
This off-duty Atlanta Cop walks up and attacks a man leaving a Walmart, then charges him with resisting arrest for a crime the man did not do.
Cop not only need to lose his badge, but spend a year or two in jail.
Atlanta cop in ‘Robocop mode’ caught on tape breaking man’s leg — over a Walmart tomato
An Atlanta man is suing a local police officer for attacking him over a tomato inside a local Walmart, WSB-TV reported.
“As he’s grabbing me, he’s beating me at the same time, [saying] ‘Get on the ground,’” Tyrone Carnegay said of his encounter with Officer Trevor King. “Beating me at the same time.”
Security footage of the October 2014 encounter shows King approach Carnegay as he is walking out of the store. A manager accused Carnegay of stealing the tomato from the store. King quickly takes his baton out and begins hitting…
View original post 146 more words
Woman Borrows $200 From Payday Loan. Guess What Happened Next?
I’ve heard so many stories about people who take out payday and title loans, and how the interest is worst than borrowing from a loan shark.
Some years ago, I was called upon to do some research by an attorney to get information about a title loan company to see if they used what is called a “list serve” to serve them with summons. What I found is that the owners of the company, in Illinois, also own a used car lot in the State of Georgia. Title loan companies make loans that people cannot repay because of the high interest, then take possession of the vehicle. So, it seems that this one such company was creating inventory for its own used car business.
In other words, I learned that such companies can be shady.
After watching David Allen’s video (posted below), I did a Google search and found a site titled Consumer Affairs with stories by people who made payday loans, and the low things that they pull on people. It saddens me that companies stoop that low, but also saddens me that the general population does not know enough about the law so they do not become emotionally distressed when getting those calls. Read the rest of this entry
Twitter Class Action Lawsuits
If you or someone you know is a resident of the State of California as of October 27, 2015, and had a Twitter account on or before November 2009, you might want to know the following.
Twitter has been sued, and agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that it violated user’s privacy rights by disclosing the full names provided by users without warning. The lawsuit also alleges that Twitter shared users’ public tweets and public profile information with third parties without providing adequate disclosure, and by failing to adequately inform its users that their tweets would be public by default.
The class action lawsuit was filed by a former Twitter user who opened an account in September 2009. The plaintiff, known as Jane Doe, alleges breach of contract, invasion of privacy, wrongful publication of private facts, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, misappropriate, and violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Unfair Competition Law. The lawsuit is captioned Jane Doe v. Twitter Inc., et al., Case No. CGC-10-503630, and is filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco. Read the rest of this entry
Family Is Awarded $500,000 Default Judgment in Barking Dog Lawsuit
Here’s attorney David Allen again. In this video, he addresses default judgments, prove-up’s, and attachments to collect the judgment. Essentially, what attorney Allen says is that if you (speaking in general) are ever served with a summons and complaint, do not think that ignoring it makes the case go away.
Gun Store Found Liable in $6 Million Lawsuit
Milwaukee police officers Graham Kunisch and Bryan Norberg
A Milwaukee, Wisconsin jury had to decide if a gun store was liable for a straw purchase that resulted in the gun being used in the shooting of two police officers. After 12 hours of deliberations, the jury decided that the gun store is liable.
In 2009, Milwaukee police officers Graham Kunisch and Bryan Norberg approached 18-year-old Julius Burton for riding his bike on the sidewalk. They struggled and Burton pulled a gun. Kunisch was shot 5 fives, including in the face, losing an eye. Part of his brain was removed. Norberg was shot in the mouth and still has bullet fragments in his cheek. Burton was arrested and charged.
Surveillance video showed that Burton and a friend went to Badger Guns a month before the shooting. Burton gave his friend $40.00 to purchase the gun for him. Court records state that Burton gave that money to his friend to buy the gun because he was underage. The store clerk appears to help the friend fill-out the paperwork.
Burton testified at trial via video from the state prison. He testified that he went to Badger Guns for a handgun because “everyone” knew that was the place to go. Read the rest of this entry
Muslim Free Zone is Unconstitutional
Andy Hallinan, owner of the Florida Gun Supply
It started with the press announcing that George Zimmerman did a painting of the confederate flag because a Florida gun shop owner is being sued. Zimmerman wants to sell prints of the painting and split the money with the gun shop owner.
Twenty-eight year old Andy Halliman, owner of Florida Gun Supply in Inverness, Florida, is being sued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, (CAIR).
Hallinan calls himself a “patriot” and thinks that his unlawful discrimination protects America. Previously, Hallinan allowed American-Muslims customers to take his gun safety course and purchase from him if they told him they had served the country and didn’t believe in the caliphate or in killing non-believers. He made them take an oath. Read the rest of this entry
‘Muslim-Free’ Gun Store Now Selling George Zimmerman’s Confederate Flag Paintings
So, he paints a Confederate flag over an American flag that he painted. That speaks volumes.
CREDIT: JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/ASSOCIATED PRESS In this July 9, 2013, file photo, George Zimmerman leaves the courtroom for a lunch break during his trial in Seminole Circuit Court, in Sanford, Florida.
THE HUFFINGTON POST
George Zimmerman, who rose to national notoriety in 2012 after shooting and killing unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, is now selling prints of a Confederate flag painting, in part to benefit a Florida gun store owner who is facing a lawsuit after declaring his business “Muslim-free.”
The prints — copies of an original work hand-painted by Zimmerman — are available for about $50 each at Florida Gun Supply in the city of Inverness. Andy Hallinan, the store’s owner, declared his store a “Muslim-free” zone in a July YouTube video, on the grounds that he did not want to “arm and train those who wish to do harm to my fellow patriots.”
The Council on American-Islamic…
View original post 316 more words
Roseanne Barr Wins Lawsuit Against George Zimmerman’s Parents
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Seminole Circuit Judge Melanie Chase didn’t elaborate on her ruling but said, “This court finds there is no disputed issue of material fact and that the defendant, Roseanne Barr, is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Robert Sr. and Gladys Zimmerman, parents of George Zimmerman, sued Roseanne Barr for tweeting out the address to their home. This happened while George Zimmerman was in hiding after killing unarmed 17-year old Trayvon Martin, and before George’s arrest.
Attorneys for Barr argued that she cannot be held culpable for republishing already publicly available information. To make the case, they showed pages from a phone book found in a library that contained the address.
Barr’s attorney, David Fink, said that Barr sharing her opinion on social media did not meet the high threshold of intentionally inflicting emotional harm. Read the rest of this entry
Lawsuit Cites Report That 20 Percent of Guns Recovered At Crime Scenes in Chicago Are Purchased Outside of Chicago
With Illinois conceal carry going into effect, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was faced with federal lawsuits from gun activists because Chicago had banned businesses from selling guns and ammunition within its borders. In 2014, a federal court decided that the city failed to prove that banning the sale of guns by licensed dealers was necessary to reduce gun violence. Still, some gun dealers say that Chicago has ordinances that require them jump through hoops.
Illinois doesn’t license and regulate gun dealers. The state leaves it up to municipalities to regulate gun stores doing business in their towns. For example, Chicago can have different regulations for gun shops located in Chicago than Cicero, Peoria, Lyons, etc. One town requires that gun dealers be licensed by the federal government.
When straw purchasers are identified and denied sales in Chicago, they can drive the Illinois highways to other towns until they find a gun shop that will sell to them.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, left, and the Rev. Michael Pfleger attend the Stop Bad Apple Gun Dealers protest at Chuck’s Gun Shop on June 6, 2015, in Riverdale. (Jeff Schear, Getty Images)
Reverend Michael Pfleger and Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, announced that many of the guns recovered from Chicago crime scenes came from stores located in Lincolnwood, Lyons, and Riverdale, Illinois. Today, a lawsuit was filed by Lawyers for the Coalition for Safe Chicago Communities against the aforementioned Chicago suburban villages for their failure to regulate gun shops. Read the rest of this entry
Attorney General Loretta Lynch Vows to Investigate John Crawford’s Shooting Death in Walmart
I certainly hope that the DOJ looks into the man who made the 911 call, because it could be pretext to violate John’s civil rights because of his race.
Four Journalists Sue St. Louis County, St. Louis County Police and 20 Police Officers
Journalists Ansgar Graw, Frank Hermann, Lukas Hermsmeier, and Ryan Devereaux, have filed a lawsuit that alleges battery by the police, false arrest and unreasonable search and seizure. The journalists were covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri following the killing of Michael Brown.
“This unlawful conduct was undertaken with the intention of obstructing, chilling, deterring, and retaliating against Plaintiffs for engaging in constitutionally-protected speech, newsgathering, and recording of police activities,” the complaint reads.
Two of the journalists, Devereauz and Hermsmeier, allege that they were shot with rubber bullets after they had raised their hands in the air and identified themselves as members of the press. Devereaux was hit once in the back and Hermsmeier was hit twice by the officers’ shots. They were arrested and charged with refusal to disperse. They were left hand-cuffed in plastic ties for hours. Allegations in the lawsuit include that the journalists still suffer physical injury from having their hands tied tight for hours. Read the rest of this entry
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 