SavannahMann
Platinum Member
- Nov 16, 2016
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I mentioned earlier that I had reasons to vote for, and against Hillary. One reason I had to vote for her, and I might add the only reason I had to vote for her, was the Department of Justice practice of policing the police.
During the Obama years the Department of Justice has aggressively investigated the police and identified many violations of Civil Rights, and strove to end those practices under what are called "Consent Decrees". These are little more than contracts signed by both parties, the government body overseeing the police, and the Department of Justice. These agreements say that the police will stop doing whatever it is that they are doing that is unconstitutional, and the DOJ won't prosecute anyone or fine the Police Departments that are engaged in these violations.
It's little more than a promise to respect Civil Rights, that would be the rights you and I have guaranteed to us under the Constitution. Now I expected that they would taper off, perhaps even end under a Trump administration. One of the issues I believe that the Republicans are generally speaking absolutely wrong about is their respect/support for authority in just about every case. Sure enough, Senator Sessions who is soon to be the Attorney General says that there won't be any more of those.
Activist use of ‘consent decrees’ to police law enforcement likely to end under Trump, Sessions
So what kind of activities were investigated and were so onerous that Senator Sessions soon to be Attorney General Sessions finds unreasonable burdens on our police? Well, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department was found to have one hundred policies, practices, and procedures that were unconstitutional. These included violations of the 4th Amendment regarding unconstitutional search and seizures of low income housing. In other words, the police would just enter the homes searching for any evidence they wanted to look for without a warrant or permission. The Sheriff's Department also planted evidence on individuals who were visiting relatives and friends in jail. The investigation into that led to several police officers including the Chief Deputy Sheriff to go to jail because they ordered a cover up. The Sheriff himself has been implicated, and reached a plea deal to plead guilty to a lower charge, but the Judge refused to allow the lessened jail sentence that had been agreed to, and the Sheriff withdrew his guilty plea.
So Attorney General Sessions believes that the cops are doing a great job, breaking into homes, and planting evidence on people the Deputies throw a beating on.
In Ferguson, the police were found to be violating civil rights regularly. One example of that pattern of misconduct was a man who was pulled over, and misidentified as a criminal wanted by the police. They beat the man, and even when his identity had been confirmed as an innocent guy, he was still charged with resisting arrest and destruction of public property. The uniforms of the police were ruined when he bled on the cops. Seriously, I sincerely wish I was making that up.
The nonexistent war on police may well become real in the near future. The people are tired of being abused, of having their rights trampled, and the Justice Department investigations were a small salve to their dignity and cooled their fury. Most of the time, the cops didn't go to jail, the policies of the departments were changed to reflect the Constitutional policing that should have been happening all the time. Now, that small salve is likely to be taken away, and the raw wounds will be left to fester.
No, I do not regret my vote for Trump. I believe this issue is important, but it was still not worth voting for Hillary. When people ask me what Obama did that I agreed with this always jumped to the front of my mind. Protecting the Civil Liberties of my fellow citizens, and by extension myself, is always right in my mind. Forcing compliance by the police departments to protect the citizenry is to my way of thinking, the bare minimum that should be done.
So one of my concerns about a Trump Presidency is coming to pass, and it will almost certainly add to the anger of police by many. Because now complaints filed with the Department of Justice for unconstitutional practices by police will come in by mail, and be dropped into the trash unread. The tens of thousands who experience unconstitutional violations by police are again left alone to endure, and with no recourse the anger towards police, and the willingness to act on that anger, increases.
There is no war on police right now. There will likely be one soon. When people demand that I speak out, or act to support the police, I will do as the Justice Department does for the victims of unconstitutional behavior by police. I will do nothing. I'll keep my membership in the ACLU active, since private organizations filing lawsuits to bankrupt cities, counties, and states who refuse to reign in corrupt police practices will be our last available peaceful action.
If only the Democrats had nominated someone worthy of our votes, someone who would do the right thing on trade, immigration, and protecting American workers. Someone who wasn't corrupt. I wouldn't be in this position, and I could feel confident that the Department of Justice was working towards Justice for the citizenry.
During the Obama years the Department of Justice has aggressively investigated the police and identified many violations of Civil Rights, and strove to end those practices under what are called "Consent Decrees". These are little more than contracts signed by both parties, the government body overseeing the police, and the Department of Justice. These agreements say that the police will stop doing whatever it is that they are doing that is unconstitutional, and the DOJ won't prosecute anyone or fine the Police Departments that are engaged in these violations.
It's little more than a promise to respect Civil Rights, that would be the rights you and I have guaranteed to us under the Constitution. Now I expected that they would taper off, perhaps even end under a Trump administration. One of the issues I believe that the Republicans are generally speaking absolutely wrong about is their respect/support for authority in just about every case. Sure enough, Senator Sessions who is soon to be the Attorney General says that there won't be any more of those.
Activist use of ‘consent decrees’ to police law enforcement likely to end under Trump, Sessions
So what kind of activities were investigated and were so onerous that Senator Sessions soon to be Attorney General Sessions finds unreasonable burdens on our police? Well, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department was found to have one hundred policies, practices, and procedures that were unconstitutional. These included violations of the 4th Amendment regarding unconstitutional search and seizures of low income housing. In other words, the police would just enter the homes searching for any evidence they wanted to look for without a warrant or permission. The Sheriff's Department also planted evidence on individuals who were visiting relatives and friends in jail. The investigation into that led to several police officers including the Chief Deputy Sheriff to go to jail because they ordered a cover up. The Sheriff himself has been implicated, and reached a plea deal to plead guilty to a lower charge, but the Judge refused to allow the lessened jail sentence that had been agreed to, and the Sheriff withdrew his guilty plea.
So Attorney General Sessions believes that the cops are doing a great job, breaking into homes, and planting evidence on people the Deputies throw a beating on.
In Ferguson, the police were found to be violating civil rights regularly. One example of that pattern of misconduct was a man who was pulled over, and misidentified as a criminal wanted by the police. They beat the man, and even when his identity had been confirmed as an innocent guy, he was still charged with resisting arrest and destruction of public property. The uniforms of the police were ruined when he bled on the cops. Seriously, I sincerely wish I was making that up.
The nonexistent war on police may well become real in the near future. The people are tired of being abused, of having their rights trampled, and the Justice Department investigations were a small salve to their dignity and cooled their fury. Most of the time, the cops didn't go to jail, the policies of the departments were changed to reflect the Constitutional policing that should have been happening all the time. Now, that small salve is likely to be taken away, and the raw wounds will be left to fester.
No, I do not regret my vote for Trump. I believe this issue is important, but it was still not worth voting for Hillary. When people ask me what Obama did that I agreed with this always jumped to the front of my mind. Protecting the Civil Liberties of my fellow citizens, and by extension myself, is always right in my mind. Forcing compliance by the police departments to protect the citizenry is to my way of thinking, the bare minimum that should be done.
So one of my concerns about a Trump Presidency is coming to pass, and it will almost certainly add to the anger of police by many. Because now complaints filed with the Department of Justice for unconstitutional practices by police will come in by mail, and be dropped into the trash unread. The tens of thousands who experience unconstitutional violations by police are again left alone to endure, and with no recourse the anger towards police, and the willingness to act on that anger, increases.
There is no war on police right now. There will likely be one soon. When people demand that I speak out, or act to support the police, I will do as the Justice Department does for the victims of unconstitutional behavior by police. I will do nothing. I'll keep my membership in the ACLU active, since private organizations filing lawsuits to bankrupt cities, counties, and states who refuse to reign in corrupt police practices will be our last available peaceful action.
If only the Democrats had nominated someone worthy of our votes, someone who would do the right thing on trade, immigration, and protecting American workers. Someone who wasn't corrupt. I wouldn't be in this position, and I could feel confident that the Department of Justice was working towards Justice for the citizenry.