“The Worst Form Of Injustice Is Pretended Justice” Plato

This past month, the announcement of Felicity Huffman’s 14 day prison sentence for her role in the college admission scandal sent social media ablaze with comments of righteous indignation. She used her power, influence, money, and connections to cheat her daughter’s way into college with an inflated standardized test score. This sits in stark contrast to numerous legal cases over the past decade in which mothers…usually poor and of color….were handed down sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years in jail for registering their child with a false address to give them the opportunity to attend a better public school. The irony and injustice of these cases spurred a brief outcry from the public that received media attention. And then silence.

Don’t even get me started on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal; the poster child case of a broken system that heavily favors the rich and powerfully connected. The heinous crimes he was accused and convicted of; the laughable first sentence he received; the bizarre circumstance surrounding his most recent incarceration and exit from this world; should make every citizen outraged and embarrassed of our supposed justice system. Why has the mockingbird media suddenly gone virtually silent over this scandal?

Closer to home in Pennsylvania and on a much smaller scale, let me tell you about two separate cases involving individuals charged with a DUI. The first young man was convicted of his Third DUI offense and sentenced to 3-6 months county jail time. He appealed his conviction to the state Supreme Court, where it was upheld. The entire case has taken almost 3 years to wind its way through the system and during that time, this young man has been free on bail pending the receipt of all the Supreme Court case documents back to the original sentencing county. During this time, this young man has been charged with several other offenses including a gun charge in another county and a Fourth DUI just a few months ago. However, he is still driving around illegally and living free on bail while the wheels grind slowly forward. The contrasting case involves a young man charged with his Second DUI offense in the same county. This particular young man had several things working against him from the start. For one, he lives off a fixed social security disability income because he has diagnosed severe mental illness. Due to his multiple mental health challenges, he does not always get the treatment he needs and self medicates with illegal substances. In a moment of clarity, he realized that he needed help to stabilize and found inpatient long term treatment at a dual diagnosis facility. While there, he found out that he had missed a court appearance. Well, maybe missed is not accurate. He told his public defender and social worker that he was self admitting into this long term treatment facility and assumed that they would inform the judge and prosecutor. He found out that didn’t happen when a warrant with his picture was posted on social media and brought to his attention while he was receiving treatment. He panicked and immediately left the facility and turned himself in. His case was heard very quickly by the courts and he officially received a sentence of “Other”. He didn’t understand and couldn’t explain to family members exactly what his sentence meant. He rather quickly then was transferred to two different state prisons and has been incarcerated for close to a year now with no end date in sight, or at least none that he can effectively communicate to his family. A deeper look at these two cases reveals how a person who arguably could be classified as a menace to society with resources at his disposal can receive a different kind of justice than a poor person with documented disabilities.

Change to our current world paradigm is never going to happen from the top down…only from the bottom up. We the people need to be the change we want to see; we need to keep shining light in all the dark places. As our own understanding and consciousness begins to increase, we need to gather together to find our collective power. As the quote from Benjamin Franklin states: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

More on this: Our Criminal Justice System Broken Beyond Repair

Epstein, His Victims, and Our Broken Justice System

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Florida Prostitution And Sex Trafficking Sting Catches Some Big Fish In Its Net

Prostitution has been called the world’s oldest profession. In recent times however, there has been a growing recognition that many sex workers are actually trafficking victims. Florida law enforcement decided to act on tips that several spas were tied into sex trafficking rings in China and other countries and mount a sting. The months long surveillance operation encompassed ten day spas in Florida that stretch from Palm Beach to Orlando. According to reports, video surveillance has culminated with arrest warrants for 200 people.

Among those being charged, reports have come out listing some big names. The first to hit the newswire was 77 year old Robert Kraft, best known as the owner of the New England Patriots and CEO of Kraft Foods. He was caught on video surveillance two times inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida engaging in sex acts with employees. The former CEO of Citigroup, 62 year old John Havens was also charged. In addition, charges were made against the 77 year old Wall Street billionaire John Childs.

Of the other people charged so far in connection with this sting, some are local benefactors, former law enforcement, retired military, and professional athletes.

NFL insider and reporter for ESPN Adam Schefter said,”There are people down there in that area, I’m told, who say that this story is going to heat up and get a lot worse. I’m also told that Robert Kraft is not the biggest name involved down there in South Florida,”

USA Today Ryan Miller published an article yesterday stating that sex trafficking is rampant across the United States. Most of the women employees in illegal massage parlors and spas are for all practical purposes slaves; unable to leave their “workplace” , cooking meals there with meager supplies, and being kept in financial servitude.

While the general public calls claims of widespread sex trafficking and pedophilia by powerful individuals a conspiracy theory, it seems that ever increasing reports of stings like this are making the mainstream media news. In 2017 alone, the government reported 42 organized sex trafficking criminal enterprises were busted by the FBI, Homeland Security arrested over 1500 alleged child and adult sex traffickers, and the Department of Justice convicted almost 500 individuals of these crimes. It seems to me that the efforts to combat these crimes against humanity are being ramped up.

Center for Prosecutorial Integrity Launches “Bring a Prosecutor to Justice” Campaign…

I might not have a massive following, but I know we are mighty! Please reblog this campaign and help raise funds for this worthy cause. We need to expose those that feel they have so much power that they are untouchable and above the law…..free to ruin other people’s lives on a whim! Let’s make a difference my crazy friends!

Wrongful Convictions Blog

From an email press release:

How many times have you heard about a rogue prosecutor who was let off the hook after a wrongful conviction caused by prosecutorial misconduct? How often have you heard about a win-at-all-costs prosecutor who was later feted as “Prosecutor of the Year,” elevated to the bench, or even elected to high political office?

According to the CPI report, “An Epidemic of Prosecutor Misconduct,” prosecutors who engage in misconduct are punished in fewer than 2% of cases. But now, there’s a way to bring a measure of justice to these cases – the Registry of Prosecutorial Misconduct: www.prosecutorintegrity.org/registry/

Every prosecutor who is added to the Registry now finds himself or herself subject to public accountability. In fact we’ve been told that prosecutors in some states have already begun to think twice before withholding exculpatory evidence,knowing that they may end up being listed in our Registry!

There have been an estimated…

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