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The Cleveland Police Department Reaches a Settlement with the Department of Justice

Memorial Day weekend has hosted several important developments in the world of criminal justice. Today, the Cleveland Police department—which has come under fire in recent months in the nationwide debate over police tactics—agreed to follow some of the strictest standards in the nation over its officers’ use of force. Cleveland agreed to the terms as part of a settlement reached with the Department of Justice over what justice officials called a “pattern of unconstitutional policing and excessive use of force.”

According to the Justice Department’s report, the Cleveland police department used stun guns inappropriately, punched and kicked unarmed people, shot at people who did not pose a threat, and failed to report or investigate most of these incidents. As a part of the settlement, Cleveland agreed to some of the most rigorous policing standards in the nation. These include:

Prohibiting officers from unholstering a firearm “unless the circumstances create a reasonable belief that lethal force may become necessary,” and documenting every time that occurs.
Banning pistol whipping, the firing of warning shots, and the use of neck holds (that pistol whipping had to be explicitly barred says enough).
Creating a community police commission, made up of ten representatives from around the community.
Allowing an independent monitor to track its progress.

The settlement comes just two days after a white Cleveland officer who fired at least 49 shots at two unarmed African Americans was acquitted of manslaughter by an Ohio judge. Officer Brelo’s acquittal—as the latest in a series of troubling racially charged incidents across the US in places like Baltimore, Staten Island, and Ferguson, MO—prompted protests that remained largely peaceful but still resulted in the arrest of 71 people.

Some bad news also came out of the criminal justice sphere this weekend. On Friday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan vetoed three important criminal justice reform bills. In addition to vetoing a bill to limit civil asset forfeiture, and a bill to remove the penalty for marijuana paraphernalia, Hogan also vetoed a felon re-enfranchisement bill that would have restored voting rights to 60,000 ex-felons. Restoring access to the ballot for ex-felons is a priority in the criminal justice reform community and Hogan’s veto will serve as an important test to see whether reform advocates will show that choices like Hogan’s can have political repercussions.

BOTTOM LINE: Agreements like the one made between Cleveland and the Department of Justice have the potential to create meaningful change to a flawed system. But as Gov. Hogan’s vetoes remind us, there is much more work to be done to convince some elected officials to do their part.

~ Culture & History

Separation of Church and State …

05/27/2023 Nativegrl77 Leave a comment

United States

Main article: Separation of church and state in the United States

John Locke, English political philosopher argued for individual conscience, free from state control

The concept of separating church and state is often credited to the writings of English John Locke.^[1] philosopher According to his principle of the social contract, Locke argued that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience, as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right in the liberty of conscience, which he argued must therefore remain protected from any government authority. These views on religious tolerance and the importance of individual conscience, along with his social contract, became particularly influential in the American colonies and the drafting of the United States Constitution.^[21]Thomas Jefferson stated: “Bacon, Locke and Newton..I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the physical and moral sciences”^[22]^[23] Indeed such was Locke’s influence,

The concept was implicit in the flight of Roger Williams from religious oppression in Massachusetts to found what became Rhode Island on the principle of state neutrality in matters of faith.^[24]^[25]

Reflecting a concept often credited in its original form to the English political philosopher John Locke,^[1] the phrase separation of church and state is generally traced to the letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists, in which he referred to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as creating a “wall of separation” between church and state.^[2]United States Supreme Court first in 1878, and then in a series of cases starting in 1947. This led to increased popular and political discussion of the concept. The phrase was quoted by the

The concept has since been adopted in a number of countries, to varying degrees depending on the applicable legal structures and prevalent views toward the proper role of religion in society. A similar principle of laïcité has been applied in France and Turkey, while some socially secularized countries such as Norway have maintained constitutional recognition of an official state religion. The concept parallels various other international social and political ideas, including secularism, disestablishment, religious liberty, and religious pluralism.

source: internet

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Republicans Block Big Oil Bailout Bill 5/13/2010 – Things to remember

05/13/2023 Nativegrl77

~ my 2cents ...

Cinco de mayo ~~ May 5, 1862 Battle of Puebla

05/05/2023 Nativegrl77

So, today is Cinco de Mayo; the history behind why Americans celebrate May 5th had me thinking about how a small group of people definitely living in a different era took a stand and while there are many stories of how people in our past stood up; such as John Lewis, MLK,Dorothy Height and others , who most often marched … Peacefully — maybe we in the 21st Century should gain strength from these stories of how these great people stood up f themselves, had the courage to challenge laws rules and legislation that clearly perpetuated discriminatory behavior …

We the People of the 21st Century need to stand up stand tall and stand together against the people that seemingly want to take the rights away from a select few… Gotta say just considering a move toward or anything that is even remotely close to stripping our citizens rights away makes me scratch my head …whatever happened to being innocent until proven guilty? maybe not in this era of trump

As we all hear politicians hawk their claim to fame or what they will do for you. The media is going through their poll numbers spreading their collective rhetoric. I don’t know about you, but polls mean nothing when my vote hasn’t be included though the fact is … most democrats do show up to national elections more often and to be sure the day that Barack Obama became President was the day that MIDTERMS became just as important and as the midterm races begin, hopefully a shift in reality will be to a hard left. Americans need to be reminded that midterms matter so vote for a member for Congress that will have courage to put Politics aside and do the work of the People to correct the years of questionable behavior on both sides of the aisle … If you want to live in a 21st Century America as most of us do, that means telling the 1% your trickle down solution for the middle and lower class stopped working a long time ago. While republicans say cutting slashing and eliminating social programs is good because it will make folks more self-sufficient ask yourself how many of your members of Congress or their family needed help is on Medicare/caid Social Security or has had to deal with that donut hole that actually hurt our Seniors. Republicans in Congress are in it to win off the backs and at a cost to you your family least we talk about civil human reproductive rights and our earth!

speaking of which …

Our environment has been put on the back burner since the trump admin came to power and now it is in serious jeopardy. The Obama Administration had environmental challenges and this admin needs to demand in-depth evaluations on the way BP ,Massey mining were handled while getting ready for more natural ones. The BP oil spill was a warning to Oil Corporations, who side stepped protocol and safety practices. In the of case BP it was obvious … at least to most, that in the event of a spill … a safety procedure should be deployed immediately, not made and put in place after the fact. We owe our children and the next generation a chance to breathe, live/have infrastructure for 21st Century living.

Americans want and need Congress to have the courage to regulate big Corporations! We need a complete overhaul on how oil drilling and transportation is handled in the future…

The Battle of Puebla took place on May 5th, 1862, near the city of Puebla during the French intervention in Mexico. The battle ended in a victory for the Mexican Army over the occupying French forces.

4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5 1862. For more info: history.com