JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

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Tuesday, June 07, 2011

D DAY+1

By the time you read this, it will be June 7, 2011. On June 7, 1944 150,000 allied troops had already landed in Normandy and were engaged in vicious fighting hedgerow to hedgerow trying to break out beyond the German lines. Some units had advanced less than a mile in shore and the invasion of nazi occupied France was less than a sure thing on June 7 and for many more days to come.

Remember our heroes as you all (prosecutors, defense attorneys, clerks, probation officers, police officers, and yes even you robed readers) go about administering justice in a system that would not even be in existence without their bravery. They were truly the greatest generation.

We are fortunate enough to have received part of an advanced copy of some thoughtful words that the former Governor of Alaska who quit her job in the middle of her term will say in reflection of D-Day:

Sarah Palin: "We remember DDay as the time when the allied allies had to go all the way to France to warn the Germans that the French were re-arming in a blatant attempt to stop american from freedoms and from Ronald Reagan enacting his tax cuts which also freed us from taxes. Boy those French and Germans had a lot in store for them when Ronald Reagan freed us from them when he tore down the wall that the Russians had put in Germany to stop the French from helping us or in other words stoping our freedoms. And Ronald Reagan too."

Rumpole Says: Wonderful words from the woman John McCain felt deserved to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

We're all doomed.

But until then.....

We neglected to mention the passing of two important Americans recently.
Dr. Jack Kevorkian died last week, and we are confident that he was a man way ahead of his time. History will show that his actions and his desire to help those near death die in a peaceful and humanitarian way will one day be recognized as acts of wisdom and compassion. Shame on a legal system that prosecuted and incarcerated him.

Last week also saw the passing of Elmer Pratt a/k/a Geronimo Ji Jaga.
If you don't think this country has political prisoners, then you don't know the story of Mr. Pratt. Read the wiki entry here.

Pratt was a member of the Black Panthers Party who was falsely accused and convicted of murder on the most flimsy of evidence. He was wrongfully incarcerated for 27 years. He spent 8 years in solitary confinement.

Pratt was a war hero in Vietnam. He received a bronze star for bravery and a purple heart. Upon returning to the US he used the GI bill to go to college where he studied political science. Pratt joined the Black Panthers at a time when a large segment of white america was worried about the violent overthrow of the government. In response, the FBI developed a campaign to infiltrate the Black Panthers. The campaign included using informants recruited from one of the two sections of the party that were feuding.

In 1968 A woman was killed in a robbery and her husband who witnessed the shooting originally identified another individual. But the FBI stepped in and used an informant from an opposing faction of the Black Panthers who had a grudge against Pratt. Pratt was represented by a young Johnny Cochran who assured his client the charges would be dropped once he spoke with the prosecution about the fact Pratt was 350 miles from the crime at the time and unbiased witnesses would testify to that.

The case was not dropped and it was later learned that the FBI and prosecution used additional moles and informants to provide them information on Cochran's defense.

Pratt's case was a setup from the get go. He was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned because he was an activist who vocally exercised his right to challenge the very existence of government he saw as corrupt.

Eventually freed after an appeals court confirmed that the government had failed to disclose exculpatory evidence, Pratt emigrated to Tanzania where he lived out the rest of his life. Who could blame him for losing faith in this country?




16 comments:

Scott Saul said...

We, as attorneys (especially "defense attorneys") think of ourselve's as the "protectors of freedom". I , sometime get caught up in my own arrogant crap.

The reality is that the generation that fought in WW II were incompareable to us spoiled, rotten whiners.

We owe everything to those brave Americans who fought and stormed the beach. We get to prance around like we are somebody special because of those incredible sacrifices that people my age couldn't relate to in a million years.

For all of my so-called, self- percieved accomplishments, I could never come close to standing in the shoes of those bold Americans that stormed that beach.

Anonymous said...

wish i knew who angry gurl was. she sounds like she is pura sucia in bed

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

Palin is truly scary.

First she gives that ridiculous answer about Paul Revere ...

She recounted Paul Revere’s famous ride this way:

"He who warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms, by ringing those bells, and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free."

Then, when asked about it, she first says that she got the answer right, but then claims it was a "gotcha question" ....

"And in a shout-out, gotcha-type of question that was asked of me, I answered candidly."

So, which is it Ms. Palin - did you get the answer right or you got it wrong because it was a "gotcha question".

By the way, the gotcha question that was asked:

“What have you seen so far today and what are you going to take away from your visit?”

Firing warning shots and ringing bells - I could have sworn that the whole point of the mission was secrecy.

(And if you missed Stephen Colbert's reinactment of Palin's version from last night's show, please try and catch it online at:

http://www.colbertnation.com/
full-episodes/mon-june-6-2011-werner-herzog

(the part begins at the 6:30 mark of the show)

Cap Out .....

Phil R said...

Well said Scott. My sentiments as well.

Anonymous said...

Well said Captain. My sentiments as well

Anonymous said...

My sentiments on Palin--

The fact still remains that the story of Paul Revere that Americans know and love is one of Revere riding across the countryside alerting the colonists that the redcoats were coming.

I mean, surely Palin could have hired a few tutors between the 2008 debacle and now, right? Does she really honestly think she can just scrape by without spending any time off the publicity circuit or a few hours in a library?

Just to clarify, my broader point is that Palin neither described the famous legend of Paul Revere as told in Longfellow’s poem, or the actual historical events. She mangled the facts (and mangled the syntax much more ferociously) and now her defenders are digging up an obscure story not even relevant to the history itself and holding it up as though Palin knew exactly what she was talking about. This is ludicrous.

BTW-- Is iit me or is she is being coy about her One Nation Tour, calling it a family vacation. Mighty fancy wheels for a one week vaca. Yes, a tour bus shrink wrapped and emblazoned with her name on it, the name of the tour – who names a family vacation? – and her website address, complete with an enormous pictorial of the constitution and the Liberty Bell. Yep, that’s the way most people travel with their family for a one week sightseeing getaway. I know that’s how we do it.

THE TRIALMASTER said...

I am Liberty's Last Champion. I am the TRIALMASTER...

Pardo said...

Scott,
Well said.
Bob P.

Anonymous said...

If Palin could put together an English sentence, the world would not be so confused. She just can't articulate, and when she is asked a question, gets so nervous of having to sound like she knows what she is talking about, that she hems, haws and couches her terms, pausing with an "um" at every other word, and no one has a clue what she actually has said, and she can then spin it any direction needed to cover her sorry ass. Where did she obtain her degree- The Alaskan Potato Head College.

BTW-- Sarah Palin also believes that Harry Potter, Alice and the Mad Hatter took part in that notorious Tea Party that Paul Revere had organized at – um – Philadelphia or somewhere around there.

Anonymous said...

Let's go Heat!

Kissimmee Kid said...

You know who protected our freedoms? The Black Panther party! Their armed march on the California state house was the high-water mark of individual freedom.

It freaked out the oligarchs when black men took up arms in self-defense.

You could look it up, but the oligarchs have pushed the event down the memory hole, but, all of those cracker politicians remember.

Free Angela Davis!

Anonymous said...

Both Neptune and Overlord are referenced in The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

JUDGE KASTRENAKES ...4TH DCA ....MOTION TO SUPPRESS

The 4th DCA ruled in a case this week on the issue of the 4th amendment in a oxycodone trafficking case involving doctor shopping.

Kastrenakes suppressed the
defendant’s patient contracts and statements from his doctors, which a police officer obtained without a subpoena or warrant.

Jeffrey Sun was arrested after he was accused of obtaining multiple prescriptions by seeing several physicians.

The means by which the detective acquired the evidence was the subject of the Motion To Suppress. The detective in charge of the investigation simply called the doctors' offices and asked the doctors' questions about the defendant's medical history. No warrant, no supboena.

The 4th DCA, citing to Article One, Section 23 of the Fla. Const., "right to privacy" and FS 456.057, "doctor-patient confidentiality", ruled that Kastrenakes was correct in his ruling in suppressing the information obtained by the detective.

Read it all here:

http://www.4dca.org/opinions/
June%202011/06-01-11/4D10-3514.op.pdf

Cap Out .....

Anonymous said...

I liked John K when he was an ASA in Miami. He was a decent guy and became a very decent federal prosecutor.

Good for him.

John McCain said...

Plain and simple, Sara Palin is an idiot. I have said it since she was first interviewed by Katie Couric, she was too stupid to even lie and think of the name of a newspaper to answer the question regarding what she reads. Who is so poorly informed that they couldn't even think to say "Washington Post," "NY Times", or even say you don't read them because you hate the liberal mainstream media.

I have never seen any potential presidential candidate who was so uninformed or misinformed as the former "Governor." it is scary that there are people with the power to vote who may cast a ballot for her. Imagine her meeting with heads of state. Imagine her taking the Queen or England bear hunting.

She could have never been elected in a state where the ratio of men to women were closer to even. If you lived in the frozen tundra, and never saw a women for months at a time, I guess you would vote for anything with a uterus.

The only thing more appalling than her stupidity is her ability to make herself a victim every time she opens her mouth.

And even after making such a clear and obvious blunder that any third grader would have avoided, she doesnt have the courage to just say, yes, I screwed that one up.

I would like her to go hunting with Chaney, hopefully one would not come back alive.

Grey Tesh said...

Kastrenakes is one of the best judges we have in Palm Beach county. Most judges don't have the guts to grant a motion to suppress. A true pleasure trying a case in front of him.