Ferguson Riots

[StrangeSox]

couple days old, but the DoJ opened a civil rights investigation into the actions of the Ferguson PD prior to the shooting of Michael Brown

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...5d02_story.html

 

 

Also, libertarian Randy Balko on how municipalities in St. Louis County profit off of poverty

 

“She was crying as I explained the situation to her,” Voss says. “So then I started to cry as I explained it her. One of the really frustrating things about what’s happening here is that this system is breaking good people. These are people just trying to get by, just trying to take care of their families.” Voss’s eyes well up as he talks about Bolden. This isn’t just an attorney defending his client. It’s a guy who is concerned about what’s happening to another human being. Bolden is a single black woman with four kids. She has several tattoos. It’s easy to see how cops might target her, or court officials might dismiss her. But Voss points out that she had already earned an associate’s degree in medical assistance. And while dealing with all of the arrests and the harassment, she earned another in paralegal studies.

 

The Foristell warrant stemmed from a speeding ticket in 2011. As mentioned before, Bolden didn’t show up in court because she didn’t have the money to pay it and feared they’d put her jail. It’s a common and unfortunate misconception among St. Louis County residents, especially those who don’t have an attorney to tell them otherwise. A town can’t put you in jail for lacking the money to pay a fine. But you can be jailed not appearing in court to tell the judge you can’t pay — and fined again for not showing up. After twice failing to appear for the Foristell ticket, Bolden showed up, was able to get the warrant removed and set up a payment plan with the court. But she says that a few months later, she was a couple days late with her payment. She says she called to notify the clerk, who told her not to worry. Instead, the town hit her with another warrant — the same warrant for which she was jailed in March.

 

Bolden’s bond was set at $1,700. No one she knew had that kind of money. Bolden broke down; she cried, she screamed, and she swore. She was given a psychological evaluation, and then put on suicide watch. She finds that memory particularly humiliating. Bolden would remain in jail for two weeks, until Foristell’s next municipal court session. She wouldn’t let her children come visit her. “I didn’t want them to see me like that,” she says. “I didn’t want them to think it was normal, that it was okay for one of us to be in jail. I missed them so much. But I wasn’t going to let them see me like that.”

 

While in jail, she missed a job interview. She fell behind in her paralegal studies. When she finally got her day in court, she was told to change out of her jail jumpsuit into the same clothes she had worn for three days straight, and that had been sitting in a bag for the previous two weeks. She was brought into the courtroom to face the judge, handcuffed, in dirty clothes that had been marinated in her own filth. “I was funky, I was sad, and I was mad,” she says. “I smelled bad. I was handcuffed. I missed my kids. I didn’t feel like a person anymore.”

 

overall, it's a pretty depressing overview of how institutional racism in our justice system functions. It also gets into housing discrimination, hitting on some of the same themes that TNC did in his "The Case for Reparations" article.

Edited September 5, 2014 by StrangeSox

[Balta1701]

CNN runs cell phone video supposedly taken right after the shooting of guys running towards the officer and yelling "He had his ****ing hands up".

[greg775]

I read this week some Ferguson protestors, 30 or so, got arrested. They were going to stop traffic on I-70. That's a good way to get arrested. Protests are fine. But you can't have human road blocks on major highways. Geez.

[Balta1701]

I read this week some Ferguson protestors, 30 or so, got arrested. They were going to stop traffic on I-70. That's a good way to get arrested. Protests are fine. But you can't have human road blocks on major highways. Geez.

You paid attention again.

[greg775]

Didn't want to start a whole new thread since this was not a life and death case of brutality like Ferguson, but this police brutality thing has to be discussed in America.

 

Three cops tackle an 80 pound high school girl cause she won't give a teacher her cell phone.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us...phone.khou.html

 

Here's how this incident should have been handled ...

Teacher/principal: Give me your cell phone; you can pick it up in my office after this class is over. You were not supposed to be using it in class."

Kid: "I will not give up my cell phone."

Teacher/principal: "It's against the school rules to use a cell phone in class. As a result of your not complying, please give me your parents' phone number now and sit in my office until your parents get here." Then when parents get there, inform parents their darling has been suspended.

 

I would think that would have diffused the situation without the cops getting involved.

That said, if the cops needed to be called, the cops should have also talked to her and not brought her to the ground trying to get a frickin cell phone. The response was quite inappropriate for this situation IMO. It's not like the cell phone was a bomb. There was no danger. The kid could be suspended a week or month later after cooler heads prevailed. Those cops should be fired for taking the kid to the ground over such a petty thing.

[EvilMonkey]

Didn't want to start a whole new thread since this was not a life and death case of brutality like Ferguson, but this police brutality thing has to be discussed in America.

 

Three cops tackle an 80 pound high school girl cause she won't give a teacher her cell phone.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us...phone.khou.html

 

Here's how this incident should have been handled ...

Teacher/principal: Give me your cell phone; you can pick it up in my office after this class is over. You were not supposed to be using it in class."

Kid: "I will not give up my cell phone."

Teacher/principal: "It's against the school rules to use a cell phone in class. As a result of your not complying, please give me your parents' phone number now and sit in my office until your parents get here." Then when parents get there, inform parents their darling has been suspended.

 

I would think that would have diffused the situation without the cops getting involved.

That said, if the cops needed to be called, the cops should have also talked to her and not brought her to the ground trying to get a frickin cell phone. The response was quite inappropriate for this situation IMO. It's not like the cell phone was a bomb. There was no danger. The kid could be suspended a week or month later after cooler heads prevailed. Those cops should be fired for taking the kid to the ground over such a petty thing.

So she thinks she is above the rules? OK. Greg, you left out the part where she ran away from everyone when they tried to take the phone. How are they supposed to know what she does or does not have on her? Maybe she is running because she has drugs, or a weapon that could get her arrested. She escalated the situation by running.

[juddling]

Didn't want to start a whole new thread since this was not a life and death case of brutality like Ferguson, but this police brutality thing has to be discussed in America.

 

Three cops tackle an 80 pound high school girl cause she won't give a teacher her cell phone.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us...phone.khou.html

 

Here's how this incident should have been handled ...

Teacher/principal: Give me your cell phone; you can pick it up in my office after this class is over. You were not supposed to be using it in class."

Kid: "I will not give up my cell phone."

Teacher/principal: "It's against the school rules to use a cell phone in class. As a result of your not complying, please give me your parents' phone number now and sit in my office until your parents get here." Then when parents get there, inform parents their darling has been suspended.

 

I would think that would have diffused the situation without the cops getting involved.

That said, if the cops needed to be called, the cops should have also talked to her and not brought her to the ground trying to get a frickin cell phone. The response was quite inappropriate for this situation IMO. It's not like the cell phone was a bomb. There was no danger. The kid could be suspended a week or month later after cooler heads prevailed. Those cops should be fired for taking the kid to the ground over such a petty thing.

 

Why do i get the feeling that if the parents were called/brought in they would be furious that their little princess was asked to give up cell phone. The girl has a false sense of entitlement that she got from somewhere.......

[Balta1701]

Why do i get the feeling that if the parents were called/brought in they would be furious that their little princess was asked to give up cell phone. The girl has a false sense of entitlement that she got from somewhere.......

Because her mom was on the other end of the phone at the time and whatever was being talked about related to her mom's medical condition, which probably means her mom actually wanted her to stay in touch.

 

Because entitlement. A truly strong kid doesn't care about their family's health conditions. That's the lesson a real American needs to learn.

[greg775]

So she thinks she is above the rules? OK. Greg, you left out the part where she ran away from everyone when they tried to take the phone. How are they supposed to know what she does or does not have on her? Maybe she is running because she has drugs, or a weapon that could get her arrested. She escalated the situation by running.

 

As far as being above the rules in your first sentence ... I said she should be suspended and they could have calmly diffused it by telling her to get in the principal's office, wait for her parents to pick her up and suspend her. If she runs out the school door, ditto. Suspend her via a phone call or demand a meeting with parents later.

 

However you bring up a good point. If they are concerned about a weapon, I guess in this day and age that justifies force in a school. I guess if you use common sense, you would have to deduce she has no weapon because of the ongoing conflict solely about the cell phone. there's no discussion of her being a threat in any way. But you are right in that if there was concern about her blowing up the school the three cops should tackle her I guess. Seems a stretch but I can see your point.

Edited September 14, 2014 by greg775

[greg775]

Why do i get the feeling that if the parents were called/brought in they would be furious that their little princess was asked to give up cell phone. The girl has a false sense of entitlement that she got from somewhere.......

 

I did read the school has a policy if you are texting or talking on phone it is confiscated and you have to pay 15 bucks to get it back. That is awesome policy.

 

I wonder what policies are in college. If some brat is using their cellphone during your lecture, can you kick them out of class or take the phone? I would think all kids are doing in college lecture halls these days is surfing the Web and texting.

What do teachers do nowadays? That would be annoying if you were trying to give a lecture and half the class is texting. I'd tell the little darlings in my class if I see you texting your grade immediately goes down a letter. The administration probably wouldn't back me up, though.

Edited September 14, 2014 by greg775

[Chicago White Sox]

Because her mom was on the other end of the phone at the time and whatever was being talked about related to her mom's medical condition, which probably means her mom actually wanted her to stay in touch.

 

Because entitlement. A truly strong kid doesn't care about their family's health conditions. That's the lesson a real American needs to learn.

Sounds like you really know this girl and her family. Glad you're able to be a character witness for them and prove to us that the girl who broke a rule and refused to accept the consequence was really just a good ole American hero coming to the rescue of her mentally-ill mother. Good thing people never lie when they get in trouble or else we may need to hear both sides of the story before we jump to conclusions.

[Balta1701]

Sounds like you really know this girl and her family. Glad you're able to be a character witness for them and prove to us that the girl who broke a rule and refused to accept the consequence was really just a good ole American hero coming to the rescue of her mentally-ill mother. Good thing people never lie when they get in trouble or else we may need to hear both sides of the story before we jump to conclusions.

I see. So it's a terrible thing to jump to conclusions, but hey, obviously the person is undeservingly entitled. I mean, that's just a fact right? Otherwise you'd look like quite the fool responding to me saying that I was jumping to conclusions while ignoring the people who are absolutely certain that this is an entitled, cranky, complaining kid.

[Chicago White Sox]

I see. So it's a terrible thing to jump to conclusions, but hey, obviously the person is undeservingly entitled. I mean, that's just a fact right? Otherwise you'd look like quite the fool responding to me saying that I was jumping to conclusions while ignoring the people who are absolutely certain that this is an entitled, cranky, complaining kid.

I responded to your post because I'm sick of people copying and pasting random internet articles and regarding them as fact. I never called the girl entitled, but she sure as s*** broke a school rule and didn't accept the corresponding consequence. That's a fact, the rest is pure speculation and I don't see why you'd give her side of the story more weight than the school/police here.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Chicago White Sox

[Balta1701]

I responded to your post because I'm sick of people copying and pasting random internet articles and regarding them as fact. I never called the girl entitled, but she sure as s*** broke a school rule and didn't accept the corresponding consequence. That's a fact, the rest is pure speculation and I don't see why you'd give her side of the story more weight than the school/police here.

Random internet articles = the other persons' side of the story presented by one of the local press outlets. Sure. That's totally irrelevant. Why would anyone ever want to hear from the other side before forming an opinion?

 

If the actual statements by the other person are pure speculation, than so are the statements of the school administration. I don't see why you'd only want to hear one side, but apparently you do.

[StrangeSox]

who cares if she was "entitled," that doesn't change the ridiculous overreaciton

[greg775]

Sounds like you really know this girl and her family. Glad you're able to be a character witness for them and prove to us that the girl who broke a rule and refused to accept the consequence was really just a good ole American hero coming to the rescue of her mentally-ill mother. Good thing people never lie when they get in trouble or else we may need to hear both sides of the story before we jump to conclusions.

I tell ya ... I'm really trying to remind myself on all these stories to wait for more facts, cause I have very little confidence in the media these days. The coverage of Ferguson was a fricking disaster in terms of misinformation, etc.

 

who cares if she was "entitled," that doesn't change the ridiculous overreaciton

I do agree. Now somebody pointed out, her behavior in 2014 was so erratic maybe she was a danger to students and teachers; perhaps she had a knife or gun or bomb. I am willing to listen to those who take that position, hence the cops tackling her in response. My guess is, though, since this was cell phone and only cell phone related, the teachers/principals/cops could tell there was no imminent danger in that regard.

Edited September 15, 2014 by greg775

[Iwritecode]

I did read the school has a policy if you are texting or talking on phone it is confiscated and you have to pay 15 bucks to get it back. That is awesome policy.

 

I wonder what policies are in college. If some brat is using their cellphone during your lecture, can you kick them out of class or take the phone? I would think all kids are doing in college lecture halls these days is surfing the Web and texting.

What do teachers do nowadays? That would be annoying if you were trying to give a lecture and half the class is texting. I'd tell the little darlings in my class if I see you texting your grade immediately goes down a letter. The administration probably wouldn't back me up, though.

 

I think once you get to college you are an adult and typically you are spending your own money to be there. If you want to waste it by not paying attention during the lecture, that’s your problem.

[greg775]

I think once you get to college you are an adult and typically you are spending your own money to be there. If you want to waste it by not paying attention during the lecture, that’s your problem.

Great point. I was just thinking the texting might bother a teacher. I know if I was giving a presentation it would throw me off seeing all the people texting and surfing and playing video games rather than listening.

[Balta1701]

Great point. I was just thinking the texting might bother a teacher. I know if I was giving a presentation it would throw me off seeing all the people texting and surfing and playing video games rather than listening.

Nope. Maybe if it's in the front row or they fail to put something on vibrate, but I just assume it's happening and figure to some extent its their loss, they have to endure the exam.

[LittleHurt05]

Great point. I was just thinking the texting might bother a teacher. I know if I was giving a presentation it would throw me off seeing all the people texting and surfing and playing video games rather than listening.

 

Before cell phones, half the lecture hall would be reading the campus newspaper or sleeping. Ignoring college professors is not some new fad brought on by cell phones. You are paying for it, you have to take the test, it's your choice to pay attention.

[greg775]

Nope. Maybe if it's in the front row or they fail to put something on vibrate, but I just assume it's happening and figure to some extent its their loss, they have to endure the exam.

What do you do if somebody's cell phone is not on vibrate and rings? That's just rude behavior whether the student is paying for education or not. If I was a teacher I wouldn't be able to stop myself from saying how rude that student was at that moment. Or is that cause for teacher suspension by the administration?

[Balta1701]

What do you do if somebody's cell phone is not on vibrate and rings? That's just rude behavior whether the student is paying for education or not. If I was a teacher I wouldn't be able to stop myself from saying how rude that student was at that moment. Or is that cause for teacher suspension by the administration?

It hasn't happened yet and there's no such thing as a suspension at this level. With the first one I'd probably make a joke. If it started repeating then I'd clearly ask people to stop bringing cell phones in and try to identify the person with the problem (My syllabus says that the technology policy is be courteous and I won't have to do anything harsher).

[Milkman delivers]

What do you do if somebody's cell phone is not on vibrate and rings? That's just rude behavior whether the student is paying for education or not. If I was a teacher I wouldn't be able to stop myself from saying how rude that student was at that moment. Or is that cause for teacher suspension by the administration?

 

You think a teacher could conceivably be suspended for telling a student that they're rude? What kind of soft-ass world do you live in?

[greg775]

It hasn't happened yet and there's no such thing as a suspension at this level. With the first one I'd probably make a joke. If it started repeating then I'd clearly ask people to stop bringing cell phones in and try to identify the person with the problem (My syllabus says that the technology policy is be courteous and I won't have to do anything harsher).

Sounds reasonable. Cell phone disturbances are so annoying, however, I applaud you for being able to crack a joke.

 

You think a teacher could conceivably be suspended for telling a student that they're rude? What kind of soft-ass world do you live in?

Sure. In this PC world? If it's a state-run university? I could see little Johnny going to complain to his mom and mom calling the chancellor and saying Johnny needs his cell phone cause he's diabetic or something like that and Johnny is so distraught over getting singled out in class.

I can only imagine what would have happened years ago at Brother Rice if a kid had his cell phone ring in a class with one of those nasty brothers in charge of class or the former assistant football coach running the class. It wouldn't be pretty.

Edited September 18, 2014 by greg775

[StrangeSox]

From Watts to Ferguson

The riot is still ‘the language of the unheard.’