Raising Kids Who Don't Smoke
This week while reading the Shelby, Montana, Promoter, there was an article, referring to the Great American Smoke Out, and being raised Mormon, I was actually raised to not drink, smoke, use drugs, or have sex before marriage, I was faithful to all four of those recommendations, but nobody told me not to have sex after marriage, or after divorce . . . Mormon leaders may want to cement that in the minds and hearts of the youth too. LOL! So, this morning, I picked up a brochure, on prevention of youth tobacco use, as I was waiting to catch the shuttle over to Great Falls, MT, where I am right now, trying to get evidence of who I legally am, seeing that all forms of my ID, starting with August 8, 2012, when I registered a vehicle, here in GF, after buying it from Mike Hall, or so he says, the DMV would only let me pay for the registration, with my name listed under, Mike's, as the owner, until a new title was ordered and received, but while I was picking out a license plate of the 200 choices, hanging on the walls, in the building within eyesight of me right now, either I didn't remember to grab it off the counter, or the clerks, didn't give it back, but luckily, the Woman's Rescue Mission, the only one I have stayed at that actually tracks ID, pictures, birth dates, and Social Security Numbers, not giving them out, proof positive, one of the directors, cut and pasted me proof, of who stayed there, prior to my license in Utah expiring December 17, 2013, post dating my stay at the shelter, specifically coming back to Great Falls, to retrieve my driver's license . . . but, they didn't have it, and since them, my Utah Bar Association card, my actual Social Security Card, that I have had since I was 16, the original, in two parts, I may add, and my Medicare Card, have all been systematically taken out of my purse . . . speculate what you want, I know, what they did, so thanks, staff at the mission for resurrecting me from the tomb for the 2nd time, giving me a connection with my driver's license, that big sister, Shelley, had, plus, my SS card, had somehow, got the cops to revoke it, when she wanted to start taking over my life, that has not stopped, one relentless second in 14, almost 15 years now . . . so thank you for your mock up, with my info on your files, and attestation, that you knew I came before, my license had expired, as well as after, when I tried to get a copy of the paid registration, that magically could not be found, even with computers . . . that would also have been proof of my existence, of who I am, and that I had an active Utah driver's license, at the time of the registration, and disappearance!
Public Service Announcement . . . TIPS FOR PARENTS
- Make your "No Tobacco" position clear . . . including all tobacco products.
- Look for signs of tobacco use, such as the smell of smoke, burn holes, and packs of cigarettes, bidis or kreteks (new lingo for new tobacco products, or old . . . I have never heard of them).
- Talk to your child about what his or her friends are doing, teenagers whose friends used smokeless tobacco are up to 11 times as likely to use it as teens whose friends don't use smokeless tobacco.
- Don't assume that being involved in athletics means your child is less likely to use tobacco.
- Let your child know that all forms of tobacco products can have serious health risks.
- If you use any form of tobacco, don't let that stop you from talking to your children about not smoking and not using any tobacco products. Kids whose parents talk to them about not smoking are less likely to smoke--even if their parents smoke.
Warning: Junior high and high school students in Shelby, you have a new school officer, and DARE cop, so don't think you are going to get away with underage smoking at school. I can't remember the officer's name, but he seemed like a cool cop, who has been there, done that, and is there to make sure you don't. He is trying to change your opinion of cops, trying to intervene before there are problems, and he is teaching a shit load of classes on everything to help you make better decisions, to stop you in your tracks, before going off a cliff, so to say, so . . . there you have it. And in addition to that, there are group of high school kids, who are going around to the parks in Shelby to pick up cigarette butts . . . I think the smokers ought to get their own butts out to pick up their butts! I do, however, commend the community pride these kids have, nothing is uglier than trash, litter, and cigarette butts all over the place . . . take some pride, your mother or father are not following you around, nor is it the park service personnel job, nor anybody, but there person smoking, who has the responsibility to clean up after yourself!
We Need to Rethink Sexual Assault or Rape
As California, grapples with the new, "yes means yes" laws, for college students, trying a new approach to a very old problem, there will be new cases, situations, facts, evidence, combinations, that will put the law to its test, as is the case with any new law of any kind, this one in particular, is so hard. Traditionally, rape and sexual assault were seen as a sexual crime, then as society started to look at the rape cases, they turned to it being about power & control, but this age old answer, is cloaked in myth, notions of romance, thus the victim somehow desiring it, even asking for it, with provocative clothing, or suggestive language, teasing . . . an that is part of it, but it is more than that, there are the psycho-sexual goals of the sexes, the desires, what makes men and women tick, the risks of being away from parents, factoring in, often, alcohol, and more and more complexities.
We have gone from, No means NO! to Yes means YES! I am not sure how that is going to play out, and that psycho-sexually, may be right, because, sometimes it is in the chase, the resistance, the game, the goal, that actually creates, the sexual stimuli, that actually, brings out the animal, shall we say in the male, generally, being the usual aggressor, with the exception as of late . . . I have even heard, men, that if the female isn't upset by the situation, like the old waitress I worked with who had a rapist crawl in her open window one night, and when she calmly said, Why don't you take the sack off your head, and if you are good looking, both of us can enjoy this . . . he ran like the wind, that raspy, smoker's voice may actually come in handy, scared this lad! So it will be interesting to watch California law makers, college administration, campus cops, and college and university students, work out the bloody details. Good Luck!
What Works On Campus, May Not Work on the Streets or in the Home
Last night, I was looking for a good true crime movie to watch, adding a particular edge for me, given the fact that I worked in the field, but the movie among movies, that caught my attention, was That's Not My Child, that led me to believe that the child in question was going to commit some horrendous crime, and the parents of his/her birth were not going to claim the monster, but that was not the case . . . it was about a little girl, about 10 to 12 years old, who experience her parent's divorce, which, then, seemed to lead to neither parent caring at all for the child, subjecting her to her dad's friends, getting sexual access to her, covering his gambling loans, or her mother, now single, sexually frustrated, making the child perform oral sex on her, a first for me, seeing that, but they were British, so, maybe that is more common, they are rather less sexually repressed that the Puritan sects, that escaped British rule, and came to America for religious freedom, bringing the witch trials, and all, just another form of sexual repression, power and control, abuse and such.
So, shocked at seeing a mother do this to her already abused child, father sacrificing her, and later pimping her out, to make his car payment, then the mother's boyfriend, started fucking her too, leading her to run away from home, getting into foster care situations, that let to less than desirable friends, or teen boys pimping her out, to help her make money for herself and him, giving her the freedom to escape her situation, leading to a great teacher, who noticed her problem home life, and the bad foster, group home situation, which eventually, led her to pimp herself out to get the money to go to the new group home, that her case workers said the state didn't have money to pay for, and finally, finally, there is a group home director, who loves this little girl, nobody was ever prosecuted, but through love, safety, and caring, this young girl was able to go to the university, and hopefully on to a better life. The movie noted, that there were only 4 such homes in all of England, to do this sort of care, and so many rapes and sexual assaults that go unpunished!
That True Story, Left Me Wondering . . . The Story of Dinah in the Bible Came to Mind
As the rage of this situation, this young girl's predicament, led me to think, what we can do, how do we change the thinking of the selfish sexual attitudes, shockingly violating another person's person, psyche, leaving me to wonder what, if anything we can do to change this injury, hurt, pain, and feelings of helplessness, the "yes means, yes" campaign came to mind, but so did the thought, that perhaps, the cops, prosecutors, and judges, need to re-evaluate, and totally disconnect the crime, from previous connotations of being at all connected to sex, disassociating it, even from male dominance of power and control, to simply a property crime, of the most precious, piece of property any of us will have, own and defend. That we should look at it in the light of jurisdiction, the same as we look at a home, that criminals can't brake and enter, rob, burglarize, trespass, steal, even enter, without the owners permission . . . yes, means, yes?
I thought of the Biblical story, separate and aside from any religious connotation, to purely the rage, the retribution, and the revenge, older brothers, who if I remember, wiped out, every man, woman and child, of the village, where the perpetrator of the rape lived. As I recall, Dinah, who was the sister of the brothers, who made up the 12 tribes of Israel, was walking in the hills, one day, and a man saw her and desired her, he took her, and raped the living hell out of her, leaving her, near death, as she crawled to one of her brother's homes, and I think, expired on his door step. He was so infuriated at the violation of his sister, that he took her body, after she died from this experience, I think, maybe watching too many crime movies, but he cut her body up into 12 pieces, one for each one of the brothers, and he delivered it to their front door. They assembled and proceeded to kill everyone from the neighboring village, where the perp lived! Pretty strong statement of rage, how serious these violations are, and, if you believe, that these stories are only figurative in nature, one might project, the brother's reaction, on to a vengeful Old Testament God!
That is about how enraged, I felt watching this helpless, yet resourceful little girl, as she struggled, with rape after rape, from people, she should have been protected by, even in the foster home situation, games were played that would damage a child forever, could parents, associates of parents, be so crass, so debased, so depraved, to think of this child, as such a nothing, to use and abuse her? The movie brought me to tears, and I was so glad, that through all the thoughts of suicide, fear, loneliness, isolation, this little girl, finally, had the where with all, to actually keep moving, until she met a woman, and got to a place that she would feel safe. I was so grateful for her teacher, at least noticing something was wrong, for the social workers, trying within their powers, the foster parents, and finally, this special woman, who actually, reached out, and loved this young girl, in all her pain, and her challenges . . . how could her parents do this, thus the title: This is No Child of Mine, and they didn't act as if this child was their child at all . . .
Famous Assault & Battery Case . . . Tort or Wrongful Acts Law
If I can remember back to 1990/91, during my first year of law school, I remember being fascinated by this case, I guess because I am a teetotaler, and don't drink alcohol, never touched in until I was 53, and was such a staunch Mormon girl, with very strong feelings of not drinking alcohol, ever, that I could relate to the students in this case, with the facts, going, something like this . . . I believe this was a party, end of the year, or some graduation party, from some prep school, or a private school. At the party, may have been college, or even a parochial school, Catholic or something, at the dance, there were distinctly two punch bowls, one bowl for drinkers, labeled as alcoholic, and, the other punch bowl was labeled, non-alcoholic.
As the story or the facts go, the labels on the two bowls are exchanged, so the non-drinkers, all ended up drunk, and the drinkers, who probably wanted to force their fellow class mates to drink, or thought they were too self-righteous, or for whatever reason, they got all the non-alcohol drinkers, drunk as skunks! Well, you would think as small thing, but not for the students, like myself, that prided themselves as being non-drinkers, and preferred to live their lives that way, with no undue influence to the contrary. Hell, my own, now very straight Mormon daughter, who is now in her late 30's, was totally disgusted, that I, after going my whole life without tasting alcohol, would actually partake at that late date, and not just go the rest of my life, having never tasted ale, beer, wine, etc. Fine thing to come from a daughter, who didn't make it passed 14 before partaking of all substances, but refrains from them all now. Good girl. But, I could relate to these students, and either they sued, or their parents sued on their behalf.
The outcome of the case, was that the other students, by forcing these non-drinking students, to drink, something, that they actually didn't want to drink, constituted a battery, or an unlawful touching, much like a rape, or sexual assault, would be viewed, without all the romance, chase, viral grandstanding, blaming, and all that goes into these cases, and just look at it, as black and white, which is generally never is, unless it is as in the case of the young British girl, so unnatural, and unwanted, that it is clear, but to put it simply, if you do something to my body, that I don't want, you are guilty of a battery, an unwanted or unlawful touching, and throw the book at them. Perhaps, that would make girls, less likely to go to a guys room, they would need to watch the drinking themselves, avoiding the types of situations that might suggest something, so if, there is an unwanted sexual contact, it is clearly an attack, assault or a battery, constituting the vitriol crime of rape, period! This gray area, just doesn't seem to cut it, that even after the military knew of the number of sexual assaults and rapes, there were still, 26,000 of them! That is not a good record of success, of turning the tables on rape and sexual assault!
Yes, means YES, just might work . . . unlawful and unwanted touching is a CRIME!
When to Turn on Uniform Camera . . . Anytime the Stop Turns into Something Confrontational, Abnormal, Out of Control, RECORD!
There is some concern on the part of officers, that there is not enough recording time, to record everything, and when should they, or should they not have to turn on the camera. I think, officers are smart enough, to know when something, a stop, questioning, detaining, frisking, or whatever, is going beyond the mark, or the norm, when, your gut tells you, things are going south fast. You may want to inform, if there is time, the suspect, the alleged defendant, or the person, that is getting belligerent, that you are going to record this interaction or interface with them, not only to protect the citizen, but to protect the cop as well. As with any new equipment, it will have to come by trial and error, but refer to your policy and procedure manuals on dash cams for your squad cars, when are you told to turn on your dash cams? Are they on all the time?
When in doubt, turn them on. I know, that I recommend that my clients should record, all stops, where there might be facts that are in dispute in the case, if there is unnecessary force involved, or just a cop, copping an attitude . . . that seems to put the officer on notice, calm the situation down, and put both sides on their best behavior. I wrote a blog, several weeks ago, that starts, something like, No More Copping A Feel, With Shirt Cameras . . . that blog should be discussed with policy makers, or the department, because that is what a constitutional law attorney will look at when filing charges, for constitutional and statutory civil rights violation by state of local officials, acting under color of law! Criminal defense attorneys, will look at the altercation, or whatever from a Miranda type situation, where rights read, told, were they followed, how long did you stop the defendant, did you detain them longer than is needed, did you have a warrant, based on probable cause, etc. Rights, are not just those pesky, technicalities, that those who bitch and moan about a defendant being released, or not charged or jailed . . . these are constitutionally protected rights, to keep law enforcement honest!
Warrant for Drones? Governor Vetoed, But For Need of Work
Several of the officers, interviewed, kept saying that if citizens didn't need to get a warrant, then cops should not have to . . . well, citizens do not have the right to stop, detain, arrest, search, book and jail someone for a crime; you and your cronies are in a different class of persons, that the lay person on the street! You have police powers, citizens do not, generally, unless they make a citizen's arrest. The same standards of practice do not apply, nor have any bearing, or relevance one to another, like apples and oranges, these things are not in the same class, nor are procedures handled the same way, nor do private citizens having to worry about making unreasonable searches and seizures!
There is a case, and I can't remember the name of it, but if you search 4th amendment, expectation of privacy, thermo-imaging or infrared aerial surveillance, you will find, that there is an expectation of privacy within an air space over your own home, within fenced in territory, and that is protected, as an expansion of the 4th amendment protection classes, of persons, places, which means houses, controlled areas, yards, that are only to be searched, under the auspice of probably cause, listing with specificity or particularity what is to be searched or seized, even after getting a warrant, based on PC, attested to by oath and affirmation, then going before a judge or magistrate, to get that warrant, to search, but only judge reasonable, with probable cause a crime is being committed, or has been committed, etc.
There are a long line of U.S. Supreme cases, that your county/city/state attorneys may want to look at, in putting your drone and camera policies into place, and they can be accessed by going to Wikipedia, and putting the key word, 4th amendment . . . but that one case, with the cop fly-overs, using infrared cameras, to tell where the heat sources in a house or yard are, trying to detect marijuana grows, in the house, using heat lamps detectable by surveillance, were found to violate 4th amendment, and 9th privacy expectations. And they are fascinating cases, from a law enforcement, civil rights analysis.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.