Bryan Strawser

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Archives for July 2004

Sentences

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As a Criminal Justice professional, I have a strong interest in news about crime and sentencing. I’ve always felt that judges should be provided with wide discretion in sentencing. Granted that this often means that the public may not be happy when a judge chooses to be lenient – but it also means that judges get to drop the hammer on someone when circumstances warrant – rather than having to use calculus to come up with a sentencing structure. Specifically, the federal courts and Massachusetts’s Criminal Courts use a sentencing matrix – and this drives me absolutely crazy.

I have a professional interest in this in the areas of identity theft, felony and misdemeanor (petty theft in Massachusetts) theft, and related crimes that I deal with at work. But that’s not my point.

Indiana doesn’t use a sentencing matrix or any crap like that – and thus we get wonderful sentences like this one, reported in yesterday’s Indianapolis Star:

Anthony Keith Brown and two of the police officers he tried to kill stared at each other in a Marion County courtroom Friday.

“You wasn’t laughing that night, was you?” Brown said, after the judge and most of the spectators had left the courtroom.

“I am now,” Officer Andy Lamle replied.

Officer Frank Miller II got in the last word as deputies ushered Brown away to begin serving a 126-year prison sentence:

“Enjoy your cage,” Miller said.

Brown led police on a car chase in December 2002, then unleashed a barrage of bullets at three Indianapolis Police Department officers.

Judge Sheila Carlisle of Marion Superior Court sentenced Brown on Friday for the attempted murders of Miller, Lamle and Officer Linda Jackson, who did not attend the sentencing.

Carlisle said a long prison term was the only way to protect society from the 26-year-old Brown.

“He clearly has a pattern of three things: guns, drugs and disregard for police authority,” Carlisle said in court. “If Mr. Brown is out in our community, or any other community, he’s going to get involved in criminal activity.”

A jury convicted Brown on May 12 of three counts of attempted murder, dealing cocaine and other crimes.

Brown repeatedly fired a rifle at the police officers during the Dec. 21, 2002, shootout.

“This defendant is an animal and deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life,” Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said after the hearing.

After leading police on a car chase, Brown fired at least 34 shots from a MAK 90 assault rifle at the officers near Sherman Drive and 32nd Street.

The Massachusetts Criminal Code takes up about three inches on my shelf in my office. The Indiana Code takes up about 1/2 of an inch.

Which system is more effective? There’s no question.

The Bl(A)ck Tea Society, one

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The Bl(A)ck Tea Society, one of the leftist groups planning on protests during the Democratic National Convention next week in Boston has this little ditty on their website:

Scenario III: “Liberation/De-arrest”

This is an extremely high-risk procedure. If done correctly, it works. If done incorrectly, it is likely to result in serious repercussions. You must be able to quickly assess the situation and decide on whether or not to attempt a de-arrest. Things to take into consideration are the weight of the consequences. Is your comrade being arrested carrying something that will trigger ridiculous charges? Is it worth the risk? Is your comrade of a foreign nationality or here illegally? What are your chances?

If you decide to proceed, the general scenario of an arrest has various stages. The police stop, physically restrain the person, and eventually place the person in handcuffs and take him/her away. Any de-arrest must be done before the handcuffs are put on. Basic martial arts knowledge is helpful, or at least a basic knowledge of various holds and how to get out of them (specifically if the person being arrested is going to try to get out of a hold).

When de-arresting, everything must happen quickly. Whether freeing yourself from a hold or assisting someone else to get out of a hold, follow through in the same direction you are facing. You do not have time to physically turn around.

The basic idea of an assisted de-arrest is a hit and run. This scenario is specifically when the person being arrested is on the ground with one cop on his/her back. Two people are required to complete this de-arrest in addition to the person being arrested. The first person needs to knock the cop off balance and off of your comrade’s back. The first person should cross his/her arms over his/her chest and hit from the side. The second person needs to pick your comrade up off the ground and get him/her running. This is a one shot deal. Regardless of whether or not you are successful, you do not get a second chance. ONCE A DE-ARREST HAS OCCURED OR BEEN ATTEMPTED, THE PEOPLE INVOLVED ARE DONE FOR THE DAY! ALTER YOUR APPEARENCE AND GO HOME! YOU MAY NOT BE SEEN IN PUBLIC AGAIN!

Liberation can be successful, but carries the risk of massive consequences. Liberation is most effective when all points involved are ready and react without hesitation. It is easier to do this if you attend a training or practice doing it. As always, be safe, and be aware of your surroundings.

Yup, that’s what these folks endorse.

De-Arresting.

Also known as assaulting and attacking police officers.

I could post some of the other dribble on their website, but it’s simply not worth the space on this weblog.

Sparks Fly during UN Debate in House

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Apparently some sparks flew during a House debate on Friday about inviting UN Election Monitors to observe the fall Presidential Elections:

Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and several other House Democrats have made that suggestion. They argue that some black voters were disenfranchised in 2000 and problems could occur again this fall.

“We welcome America to observe the integrity of our electoral process and we do not ask, though, for the United Nations to come as monitors at our polling stations,” Buyer said.

“I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States coup d’etat. We need to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Brown said. “Over and over again after the election when you stole the election, you came back here and said, ‘Get over it.’ No, we’re not going to get over it. And we want verification from the world.”

At that point, Buyer demanded that Brown’s words be “taken down,” or removed the debate’s permanent record.

The House’s presiding officer, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, ruled that Brown’s words violated a House rule.

“Members should not accuse other members of committing a crime such as, quote, stealing, end quote, an election,” Thornberry said.

When Brown objected to his ruling, the House voted 219-187 to strike her words.

I’m not sure what is scarier…

The fact that some members of Congress actually want the UN to monitor our elections…

Or that 187 agreed to keep her comments in the record.

A coup d’etat? Come on.

And someone elected that woman into the House. Unbelievable.

A Bleat on Being President

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Once again, James Lilek writes a winner in yesterday’s Bleat:

It makes me wonder why any sane man would run for president in 2004, given what he might face. “Mr. President, New York has suffered an atomic attack.”

“Call the Security Council, and tell them – oh. Right. Is there still a UN?”

“It’s sideways in the river.”

“Hmm. Well. Is the League of Nations still answering the phone? I seem to remember they kept on a skeleton staff. Mostly janitorial. But we’ll have to make do.”

What then? The presidency is not the sort of job for which you volunteer unless you’re willing to do everything that’s necessary. If we lose a city (and what a mild, offhand term for such a horror) there isn’t going to be any debate about getting UN resolutions. At least I hope not. And what do you do then? Attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, hope you can flatten North Korea before they decide the game is up and it’s time to go first, oh, and incidentally the new missiles can hit LA – surprise! Do you pave Syria if they don’t roll over on day two? Damned if I know. I don’t have to know what to do. Not my job. But if you want the job, you have to be willing to open the tubes and order Slim Pickens to the cockpit. It’s always been that way, sure – yet these things have had an odd distant theoretical flavor predicated on an unpredictable escalation. That enemy would nuke us as a last resort, because that meant the end of everything – power, caviar, liquor, nice cars, good dentists, dames, those nice little cigarettes with the gold bands around the filters? The ones that burn evenly, and you can smoke a dozen in an hour without getting tongue fur? Heaven on earth.

Our present enemy will nuke us as soon as they can, because it means heaven, period.

I hate this; God I hate this. But I don’t have any longing for normalcy, as Noonan put it the other day, because normalcy was a delusion, a diaphanous curtain draped over the statue of Mars. Nor do I want a time out, a breather, an operational pause. I want to cut to the chase. I want Iran in the hands of its people and leaning to the West again, I want Lebanon independent of Syrian rule, I want Syria isolated and cowed, Arafat dead and buried in the land of his birth – or Paris, symbolically – and the Saudi Civil War done and over with pragmatists in power. I’d like this all tomorrow please.

Noon is fine, if it works for everyone else.

So I read this, and I sat back, and thought to myself.. if this fictional event does happen.. who do I want hearing those words? Kerry or Bush.

Easy Decision.

Hat Tip (once again): Neptunus Lex

RIP Charles Sweeney

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The Boston Globe is reporting the death of General Charles W. Sweeney:

Charles W. Sweeney, a retired Air Force general who piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki in the final days of World War II, has died at age 84.

Sweeney died Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, hospital spokeswoman Christine Johanson said. She did not disclose the cause of death.

[…]

Sweeney was 25 and had never previously dropped a bomb on an enemy target when he piloted the B-29 bomber that attacked Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, six days before Japan surrendered. About 70,000 people were killed in the explosion of the bomb, dubbed ”Fat Man.” The attack came three days after the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Years later, Sweeney became an outspoken defender of the bombings, appearing on the Larry King show on CNN and speaking at colleges and universities.

Sweeney also wrote the book, ”War’s End: An Eyewitness Account of America’s Last Atomic Mission,” because of what he considered ”cockamamie theories” that the bombings were unnecessary.

”I looked upon it as a duty. I just wanted the war to be over, so we could get back home to our loved ones,” Sweeney told The Patriot Ledger of Quincy in a 1995 interview. ”I hope my missions were the last ones of their kind that will ever be flown.”

New Server

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We are now mostly moved over to a new home – a Dual Xeon 2.4ghz Server with 2GB of RAM and 160GB of HD Space from Layered Technologies – quite happy with their service. Check them out if you’re looking for a new place to hang your hat.

Saturday Golf

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Off to play with a co-worker, my investigator, and my boss at Maple Gate Country Club in Bellingham, Massachusetts.

Living between two big golf meccas in Bellingham (Home of the New England Country Club, Maple Gate, the TPC of Boston, and others) and Lakeville/Bridgwater (Poquoy Brook, Olde Scotland Links, the Lakeville Country Club, and others) and Cape Cod (oh the golf there – whheeee) isn’t bad.