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#New Orleans Class Action Attorneys
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Ex-priest sentenced to 25 years for drugging and molesting men he met in New Orleans tourist area
A former Catholic priest in Louisiana has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to drugging and molesting 17 men he met in a popular tourist area in New Orleans.
After 10-2 verdict tossed, a unanimous murder conviction
GRETNA, La. (AP) — A man whose 2018 conviction in a triple killing was thrown out because it resulted from a 10-2 verdict has been convicted again — this time by a unanimous jury — the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office said Monday.
Suit alleges Catholic schools discriminate against disabled
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Catholic church officials in New Orleans are accused in a class-action lawsuit of discriminating against children with disabilities.
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Man Who Drove Suv Into Waukesha Christmas Parade Found Guilty Of Intentional Homicide
By Yvonne Kalpakis, Loyola University New Orleans Class of 2023
October 30, 2022
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Six people were killed and numerous others were injured when Darrell Brooks drove his SUV into a crowd of people watching a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in November 2021[1]. He was found guilty on Wednesday of six charges of first-degree intentional homicide[1]. For the convictions, a mandatory life in prison term applies to him[1].
The prosecution won all 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety with the use of a deadly weapon against Brooks, six counts of fatal hit-and-run; two instances of felony bail jumping; and one count of misdemeanor domestic abuse[1].
The four women and the man who were killed have been named as Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52, and Wilhelm Hospel, 81, according to city officials[2]. 48 additional injuries were reported, including two children who are in critical condition, according to authorities[2].
Brooks appeared in court on his own behalf and was confrontational the entire time, frequently speaking over the judge to make absurd and pointless arguments[1].
It was reported that he interrupted the judge and the prosecution often throughout the trial, asked evasive questions, contested the court's jurisdiction, and insisted that “Darrell Brooks” is not his real name[1]. For his frequent outbursts, Judge Jennifer Dorow has removed Brooks from the courtroom and sent him to a neighboring courtroom where he can interact through a monitor and a microphone that is often muted[1]. She described him as “stubbornly disobedient” on Tuesday after taking him out of the room during the prosecution's final arguments because of interruptions[1].
The trial took place less than a year after he killed an 8-year-old boy and several “Dancing Grannies” group members by plowing a red SUV through the crowd during Waukesha's Christmas parade on November 21[1].
Less than two weeks previous, Brooks had been freed from prison in a domestic violence case after posting a bail of $1,000, which prosecutors later acknowledged was “inappropriately low.[1]” According to court records, he allegedly drove over the mother of his child in that incident[1].
In their closing statements on Tuesday, the prosecution said that the defendant deliberately drove at high speeds through the throng, striking 68 parade participants, turning a happy afternoon into a terrible one[1]. “He reached speeds of approximately 30 mph. That’s intentional. He plowed through 68 different people. 68. How can you hit one and keep going? How can you hit two and keep going?” Susan Opper, the district attorney for Waukesha County, said[1].
In his own concluding remarks, Brooks tried to cast doubt on the car and his motivations[1]. He claimed numerous times that “misconceptions” and “lies” had been spread about him during the trial[1].
Brooks remarked, “I've never heard of someone trying to deliberately damage someone while trying to blow their horn in an effort to make people aware of their presence[1].”
The jury rapidly reached its verdicts after deliberating for less than two hours on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning[1].
Brooks had previously used his insanity as a defense, but his public defenders withdrew that claim in September[1]. After the lawyers submitted a motion to leave the case, the judge decided to let Brooks defend himself in court[1]. In her closing remarks, Opper, the prosecution attorney, urged the jury not to let Brooks' actions during the trial affect their decision-making[1].
In her closing remarks, Opper, the prosecution attorney, urged the jury not to let Brooks' actions during the trial affect their decision-making[1].
At a news conference on Monday, representatives of Milwaukee's Children's Wisconsin pediatric trauma center revealed that 18 kids, including three pairs of siblings, were treated there[2]. The kids’ ages ranged from  3 to 16 years old[2]. Soon after the event, police notified the hospital, and additional medical personnel, including surgeons, nurses, and doctors, were brought in, according to the officials. 5:30 p.m[2]. saw the admission of the first patient[2].
According to Dr. Amy Drendel, medical director of the hospital, the children sustained from facial burns, shattered bones, severe head trauma, and other wounds[2].
______________________________________________________________
Yvonne Kalpakis is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Loyola University New Orleans studying to earn a degree in Criminology and Justice with a minor in Forensic Science. She hopes to pursue a career in CSI work after graduation.
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[1]https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/26/us/waukesha-christmas-parade-trial/index.html
[2] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/20-injured-suv-drives-wisconsin-holiday-parade-route-rcna6292
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redmannlaw · 3 years
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Personal injury attorney in New Orleans
The Law Office of John W. Redmann, LLC has been serving the injury and accident victims of Louisiana for more than 20 years. Our New Orleans personal injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars for clients injured by car and truck accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and other negligence cases. We work personally to ensure the best possible compensation for those we represent, including money back for medical bills, lost wages, lasting disability, pain, and suffering. Our founder, John W. Redmann, has earned the title of New Orleans’ premier personal injury lawyer. With each new case we take on, we work tirelessly to prove to our clients that they have chosen the best law firm in the state.
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fatehbaz · 4 years
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Louisiana, for weeks the site of the US’s highest per capita death rates from covid (among black communities of the New Orleans-to-Baton Rouge chemical industrial corridor, which also has the US’s highest risk of cancer from airborne sources), won’t let children out of prisons, even when the children have covid, and multiple staff members at detention center have covid. Many can’t even communicate with their families. For people who care more about rules than lives, even then, there are already existing “legal” ways for judges to easily release the kids. On 14 May 2020, parents sued the State of Louisiana to free the children.
20 May 2020: “Frustrated Parents, Advocates Starting to Sue Over Youth Not Freed Over Covid-19.” Katy Reckdahl for Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. Excerpt:
In Louisiana, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson issued a letter to judicial officers in early April, asking that they “consider” not detaining youth for minor crimes and determine whether dispositions could be modified to release some youth early. It was unclear what effect the judge’s letter has had on total juvenile populations. Though no one was tracking overall statewide releases, the defense attorneys from Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights in New Orleans said that none of their clients had secured a modified disposition or been released. [...] Within a few weeks of the OJJ [Office of Juvenile Justice] lockdown, seven Bridge City youth and four staffers had tested positive, in numbers that topped the nation at the time, according to The Sentencing Project — no other single juvenile facility [in all of the US] was even close in the number of people whose tests had come back positive. [...]
[A]t Bridge City they have been on 23-hour lockdowns with no formal rehabilitative or educational programming. The mix of boredom and fear led to a riot last month that the mother heard through her son’s dormitory phone during a stressful phone call.
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14 May 2020:
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Parents say in the lawsuit against Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Office of Juvenile Justice that the state has kept them in the dark about their children’s health. They also say that the conditions their children have described in phone calls — no masks, no hand sanitizer, no social distancing — show that the facilities are not taking proper steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and the only effective step is to start releasing the youth.
“You need to have fewer people [incarcerated] — this is not rocket science,” said Marsha Levick, chief legal officer at the Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit involved in the lawsuit. Levick said Louisiana doesn’t need to wait for a judge’s order to release the youth; the state could allow the children to temporarily return home through a furlough program that’s already in place. [...]
I.B. told his mom he didn’t feel well during a phone call April 5.
The 17-year-old incarcerated at the Swanson Center for Youth in Monroe, Louisiana, had a nurse take his temperature during the call; it was over 100 degrees.
The next day, his mother called the Swanson Center several times to find out how her son was doing, but his case worker said she didn’t know and would call back in a week, according to a sworn declaration from I.B.’s mother, filed Thursday as part of a class-action lawsuit seeking the release of incarcerated children in Louisiana amid the spreading coronavirus pandemic.
.B.’s mother, who is identified in the lawsuit only as A.B., called the Swanson Center’s infirmary and learned that her son was there, but she said staff members hung up on her twice. After two days, she finally reached a supervisor, who confirmed that I.B. tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
According to the declaration, I.B. later told his mother he was placed in a “dirty room” with no air conditioning for several days. He wasn’t allowed to take a bath or brush his teeth, his mother said.
“I wasn’t able to talk to him at all during that time,” I.B.’s mother said in the declaration. She said she grew increasingly alarmed; her sister and two close friends had recently died of COVID-19. “I was panicking worrying about him.”
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careydodd · 3 years
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blackkudos · 4 years
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Maynard Jackson
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Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American politician and attorney from Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 1973 at the age of 35 as the first black mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and of any major city in the South. He served three terms (1974–1982, 1990–1994), making him the second longest-serving mayor of Atlanta, after six-term mayor (1937–1941, 1942–1962) William B. Hartsfield.
He is notable also for public works projects, primarily the new Maynard H. Jackson International terminal at the Atlanta airport, and for greatly increasing minority business participation in the city. After his death, the William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport was re-named Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to honor his service to the expansion of the airport, the city and its people.
Family history, background and personal life
Jackson was born into a family that valued education and political activism. His maternal grandfather was civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs, who worked to successfully overturn the white primary in Georgia. He also gained the hiring of black police officers in Atlanta and lighting of Auburn Street, the main retail street of the black community. Maynard's mother Irene (Dobbs) Jackson was one of his six daughters; all graduated from Spelman College, encouraged by their parents. Irene earned a doctorate in France and became a Professor of French at the college.
His father Maynard Holbrook Jackson was a Baptist minister from New Orleans. He became active in civil rights in Dallas, Texas, where he had grown up after his family moved. His grandfather Alexander Stephens Jackson had been a Baptist minister and educator in Louisiana and Texas. The young Jackson's father died when he was fifteen; his grandfather Dobbs became even more influential in his life.
Jackson attended David T. Howard High School in Atlanta and Morehouse College, a historically black college for men in Atlanta, graduating in 1956 at the age of eighteen. He sang in the Morehouse College Glee Club. After attending the Boston University Law School for a short time, Jackson held several jobs, including selling encyclopedias. He returned to graduate studies, attending the North Carolina Central University Law School. He graduated with a law degree in 1964. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Jackson married Burnella "Bunnie" Hayes, in 1965. The couple had three children: Elizabeth, Brooke, and Maynard III. Bunnie Jackson founded First Class, Inc., a public relations and marketing firm in Atlanta, prior to their divorce.
Jackson married Valerie Richardson in 1977, to whom he was married for 25 years until his death. They have two daughters, Valerie and Alexandra. Valerie Jackson hosts Between the Lines each weekend on the WABE-FM radio station, the Atlanta Public Broadcasting station.
Early career
Jackson worked as a lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board and a legal services firm. He joined the Democratic Party.
Political career
In 1968, Jackson at 30, decided to run for the US Senate against incumbent Herman Talmadge. His campaign was underfunded, and he lost, but Jackson won in Atlanta, gaining prominence in the city, which had a substantial black minority. The following year, he built on his strength, gaining election as vice mayor, who was presiding officer of the board of aldermen. At that time, Atlanta modified its city charter, strengthening the position of mayor and renaming the vice mayor as president of the city council (aldermen were now city council members).
In 1970, Jackson became Atlanta's first Black Vice-Mayor, his first elected position which he held for four years.
In 1973, Jackson was elected with 60 percent of the vote, as the first African-American mayor of Atlanta and any major southern city; he was supported by a coalition of white liberals/moderates and African Americans. At the age of 35, he had unseated incumbent Sam Massell.
During his first term, Jackson worked to improve race relations in and around Atlanta after the polarization caused by the election campaign. As mayor, he led the beginnings and much of the progress on several huge public-works projects for the city and region. Affirmative action programs helped minority and women-owned businesses to participate. He helped arrange for the upgrade of the then-William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport's huge terminal (now Domestic Terminal) to modern standards. Jackson strongly opposed the construction of freeways through in-town neighborhoods, knowing that such actions destroyed thriving communities.
Jackson was mayor through the period when the separate Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) obtained a large amount of Federal funding for a rapid-transit rail-line system, when construction began, and when MARTA began its first rail transit service in Atlanta and in DeKalb County in 1979 and during its continual expansion thereafter. As mayor, he celebrated in September 1990 when Atlanta was selected as the host city for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. As mayor, he accepted the Olympic flag at the 1992 closing ceremonies in Barcelona, Spain. He oversaw the completion of many planned public works projects, such as improvements to freeways and parks, and the completion of Freedom Parkway, which were expedited from 1990 to 1996 in preparation for the Olympic Games that began in August 1996.
During Jackson's second term as mayor, the Atlanta Child Murders were ongoing between 1979 and 1981. He supported the Atlanta Police and other police forces in the area but also worked to calm public tensions aroused by the serial killings of black children. The accused killer, Wayne Williams, was caught in 1981. Williams was convicted to serve two consecutive life sentences for the murder of two adult males, but never charged with or tried for the murder of any of the child victims. He is currently being held in Telfair State Prison.
In 1974, Jackson received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
Controversy
Maynard Jackson provoked a major racial crisis in May 1974 when he attempted to fire the incumbent white police chief, John Inman. Jackson believed the change was needed to grapple with Atlanta's growing crime problem and charges by the black community of police racial insensitivity toward African Americans. Whites opposed the firing and racial tensions rose, detracting from Atlanta's proud motto: "too busy to hate."
In August 1974 Mayor Jackson appointed A. Reginald Eaves, a college friend and fellow activist, as Public Safety Commissioner. Eaves was criticized for lacking police experience. He generated controversy by appointing an ex-convict as his personal secretary but was criticized more for what was considered as a system of quota promotions and hiring in the police department, which many decried as "reverse discrimination."
Jackson fired Eaves after revelation of a police exam cheating scandal. Eaves was later convicted by a federal jury of extortion in 1988 after selling his vote on two rezonings.
Atlanta's crime
In addition to the 1979–1981 Atlanta Child Murders mentioned above, residents were concerned about a rising crime rate during Mayor Jackson's tenure, which was consistent with national trends. In 1979, with a soaring murder rate and nationwide publicity about crime there, Georgia Governor George Busbee, acting on a request from Mayor Maynard Jackson, called in Georgia State Patrol troopers to help patrol the downtown. The business community accused Mayor Jackson and Police Chief George Napper of dismissing public concerns about crime. Atlanta had the highest murder rate and the highest overall crime rate of any city, and the numbers were rapidly climbing higher, with a 69% increase in homicides between 1978 and 1979 alone. Much of it was considered driven by drug wars.
Service to the Democratic National Committee
After leaving office as mayor, Jackson continued to be active with the Democratic Party. In 2001 he unsuccessfully sought the post as the Democratic National Committee chairman, losing to the fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe, who had the backing of former president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. Jackson was backed by presidential candidate Bill Bradley, among others.
Jackson was appointed as the National Development Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and was the first Chairman of the DNC Voting Rights Institute. In 2002, he founded the American Voters League, a non-profit and non-partisan effort to increase national voter participation. He appeared briefly in the 2001 documentary Startup.com.
Legacy and honors
In 2008 the Southside Comprehensive High School was renamed the Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School.
In 2003, Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport had Jackson's name added to it, and in 2012 the airport's new international terminal was named for him.
In 2015 a documentary film about his life and work, entitled Maynard, was in preparation, directed by Samuel D. Pollard. It is expected to be released in 2016.
The Maynard Documentary was officially selected by DOC NYC to premiere at their film festival on November 16, 2017.
Death
Jackson died in 2003 at the age of 65, of a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia after suffering a heart attack at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. His remains are buried at the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.
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crvmsdecorum · 4 years
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"sʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ɢɪғᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴋᴀʀᴍᴀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ɴᴏᴛᴇ sɪɢɴᴇᴅ, 'ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴅ ɪᴛ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ'."
( adrianne palicki, 32, female, she/her ) Was that AURORA O'SHEA? I heard a rumor they work for the O'SHEA family, but who knows for sure ? They can be a bit ABRASIVE  & GRIM, but I also heard they can be WITTY & FORTHRIGHT. You’ll usually find them at JOHN HANCOCK CENTER in their spare time, when they’re not being an CLAN BOSS. You may want to keep an eye on that one ! 
tw: miscarriage, spousal abuse, murder, rape. 
Meet Aurora Jade O’Shea ; often goes by Rory, but don’t call her AJ if you know what’s good for you. She only allows her family and friends to get away with calling her Aurora, but if you are neither you are only allowed to call her Ms. O’Shea. 
Currently Aurora is 31 and will be turning 32 on Valentine’s Day -- a day she really doesn’t celebrate despite it being both her birthday and a holiday.
Some people would call her Amelia 2.0 or due to her out spoken candor many have nicknamed her the Brutal Beauty.
She is the second born daughter Mason and Catelyn O’Shea, but the fourth born child of the married couple overall. 
And just like her older siblings she caused trouble --  A LOT. 
Unlike her siblings though Aurora showed a calmness and was often told as a child she was the calmest one out of all of the sometimes. She had always showed kindness to everyone, even complete strangers too. 
Around her senior year of high school Aurora made it known to her family she wanted nothing to do with the mafia and lead a normal life. Clean slate and everything. It was easy for her too since she her hands weren’t stained in blood. She didn’t sat it out loud, but Aurora wanted to be away from the crime that constantly surrounded her family. 
Graduating high school and a small some of money she saved up (she didn’t want to take the O’Shea money), Aurora left Chicago all together and took a gap year. 
During her gap year the girl traveled the States and made countless friends along the way until she landed in New Orleans. She fell in love with that place and it’s culture. In that soulful town is where she started her law degree at Tulane University School of Law.
Four years later and shortly before her birthday is when Aurora had fallen in love. She fell in love with a man a few years older than her who recently became a lawyer. His name was Beau Hawthrone. 
Oh Aurora was so in love with the man. Beau was so charming with a kind heart. Their love for one another went by so fast that shortly after six months of meeting each other he popped the question and were married by that weekend. During all of this Aurora had learned Beau came from old Southern money with his family being the owners of Hawthrone Industries, a company that mainly dealt in medicine and architect.
Aurora soon came to learn that she had married right back into crime. The Hawthrone family had their fair share buried deep in arms dealing and drug trade. Scared and horrified by all of this with anger coursing through her of her husband not telling her this, Aurora confronted him about it and that is when the charming southern gentleman was gone. 
Beau had put his hands on Aurora all because of her tone. He put the Irish American in her place with a busted lip. She figured him doing this was a one time deal for right after it happened the man she knew and married came back to the surface and couldn’t stop apologizing. She was wrong. 
The next following year the beatings got worse, but Aurora hid them well thanks to the power of makeup and certain clothes. By day she was a law student with a bright future in her career and when she got home Aurora turned into a victim of spousal abuse. 
If Beau didn’t have his hands on her and using the woman as a punching bag of some kind he would take stabs at her emotionally. From all of this it slowly turned her into a cold woman and no longer was the bright candor woman she grew up to be. 
One night though the beating had gotten so bad for Aurora. She had just gotten home and had left work early due to feeling sick so of course the married woman to the hospital to only find something horrible out. Aurora was pregnant. She thought maybe telling Beau about this would make him see the error of his ways and straighten up -- IT DIDN’T. 
In a fit of fury of learning he impregnated his wife Beau put his hands on her and wouldn’t stop. His reason? He didn’t want children and worried it would ruin his career as both a lawyer and a shareholder of the company. Beau was greedy and didn’t want to share it with any children of his. It was bad enough he had to share it with his older brother despite the fact the older Hawthrone didn’t want nothing to do with the company. The brothers can blame all of that on their late father’s will and her mother’s decision in handing it to the boys. 
When his wrathful rage was over Aurora was unable to move and could hardly see either. Seeing this of what he had done to his wife, Beau had trashed the house to make it look like a home invasion and with Aurora still on the ground he then proceeded to rape her in attempts to make the story more believable. He even went as far in injuring himself. Beau then had called the cops and sounded like a frantic husband who had failed in keeping both their home and his wife safe. If he wasn’t a lawyer the man probably would’ve made a career out of being an actor. As they awaited for the paramedics to arrive Beau kept repeating like a mantra to Aurora on what to say to them.
The proper authorities and paramedics arrived to take the married couple to the hospital with their main attention on the wife. Her eyes were swollen shut, her lip busted open, nose most likely broken along with her body being covered in bruises. While there she learned she suffered a few broken ribs and was at risk for kidney failure due to trauma, but of course that wasn’t all. She had suffered a miscarriage. 
With all of this information and the loss of her unborn child, Aurora had decided enough was enough and that she was going to deal with this HER way. The O’SHEA way, not the lawful way. 
Arriving home a few days later everything went back to normal and Aurora waited. She waited for her wounds to heal and waited for Beau to strike again for.
Three months later and it was time. Aurora had left the college campus early and left a voicemail on her husband’s office phone that she had a surprise waiting for him when he gotten home. She had his favorite homemade dish prepared with a glass of some of the finest wine they had in their cellar.
Beau asked her if she was up to something to which Aurora responded, “Can I not do anything nice for my husband?” was her answer to his question. After dinner the two retreated to the bedroom and while Beau awaited for his wife, she had changed into something a little slutty for him. When she came out of the bedroom with that smile on her face, Aurora had a syringe hiding behind her back that contained a deadly poison within it -- batrachotoxin.
As the good wife straddled her husband is when her smile disappeared with a glare followed by the words, “You had it coming.” and with no warning she injected the poison into his bloodstream by jamming the needle in his chest. Out of this action Beau slung her off the bed and onto the flood with him taking the needle out of his chest though before he could do anything against Aurora is when the toxin took effect. Beau had fell to the floor and was becoming paralyzed thanks to the toxins. Acting quick Aurora had set their bedroom curtains to ablaze and quickly went down the stairs with a fresh pair of clothes in hand. 
When it was all over and her house burnt, Aurora’s story stuck with her not being home at the time of the fire that taken the life of her husband. Aurora honestly did cry yes, but not for what you think. She cried at his funeral not for his lose, but for her freedom. A freedom she thought was long gone. 
After the funeral Aurora picked up the pieces of her life and not long soon gotten her degree in aw. Upon getting her diploma she up and left again, but this time to California -- San Francisco to be exact. She wanted to start somewhere fresh and when she arrived there, Aurora went back to her maiden surname. 
Several years have passed and like I said, Aurora is about to turn 32 on Valentine’s Day. She has decided to return home due to the news she has heard of a war brewing with her family smack down in the middle of it. 
Aurora is honestly worried about how her family will see her now since it has been years since she barely had any physical contact with them and only keeping up with them through phone calls. She knows she has changed a lot since leaving Chicago behind for she was no longer the kind gentle soul with a daredevil side, but now she is someone who is much more blunt now and doesn’t give a damn if it sounds harsh or not. Since Beau’s death the lawyer has taken up self defense classes to improve her fighting skills and mastered it. 
Upon arriving to the Chicago, Aurora recently has taken up the job as District Attorney and is ready to face the enemies of her family all while protecting them. It’s time to show Chicago just how much she has changed.
WANTED CONNECTIONS: anything tbh. former flames (both sexes), friends, frenemies, former classmates. 
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stuarthsmithla · 4 years
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ABOUT ME
Stuart H. Smith, along with his partner Barry Cooper, is co-founder of the Cooper Law Firm, a New Orleans-based practice of plaintiff attorneys licensed to focus on environmental law, toxic torts, and medical malpractice suits in the U.S. and across the globe. Mr. Smith, who is recognized internationally as a crusader against major oil companies, polluters associated with radioactive oilfield waste, as well as a champion of individuals whose health has been harmed by the careless practices of corporations, has been lead counsel on more than 100 oil pollution cases, which focus primarily on damages caused by the wastewater and sludge discharged by oil companies into the environment. He currently is one of the lead legal strategists in on-going national litigation regarding the nation’s drug-industry manufactured opioid crisis, having led the nation-wide effort to have the crisis’ impact on opioid-dependent born children recognized as a special class deserving of dedicated, long-term response from those who caused the epidemic in the United States.
He was lead counsel in representing commercial fishermen in 2010, whose livelihoods continue to be devastated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and won the second largest verdict against an oil company in 2001 for exposing the cancer-causing soil contamination left behind in Harvey, Louisiana by ExxonMobil. He is also an award-winning preservationist, particularly for his defense of the residential character of the New Orleans French Quarter. He is author of Crude Justice: How I Fought Big Oil and Won.
As Chief Strategist for Cooper Law Firm, Mr. Smith has practiced law for nearly 30 years litigating against corporations for damages associated with waste and abuse. Smith also has extensive jury trial experience in both federal and state courts in addition to handling multi-district litigation (“MDL”) civil cases, including the Deepwater Horizon Spill, Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, and the Propulsid Product Liability Litigation. Smith is well known for his role as lead counsel in an oil field radiation case that resulted in a verdict of $1.056 billion against ExxonMobil and is one of the largest donors to the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and founder of the Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice at the university’s Broadway campus. The law clinic’s purpose is to provide third-year law students experience as legal counsel to area residents and organizations in need of expert advice and representation.
Born September 15, 1960, Mr. Smith has been a practicing plaintiff attorney for 30 years, litigating against oil companies and other corporations for damages associated with environmental pollution, defective pharmaceuticals, and other dangerous products. Mr. Smith’s well received book titled, Crude Justice explores his extensive jury trial experience in both state and federal courts, where he built a reputation for pioneering the field of Technologically Enhanced Radioactive Material (TERM) oilfield waste litigation and achieving record verdicts for his clients. The book reviews landmark litigation such Street vs. Chevron, a jury trial which lasted six and a half months resulting in one of the longest civil jury trials in United States history, and the largest single verdict obtained by Smith as lead counsel in a 2001 oilfield radiation that ExxonMobile to pay hundreds of millions in damages.
Smith has also worked on numerous multi-district litigation (“MDL”) civil cases, such as:
1. Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon”, 10-MD-2179 (Hon. Carl J. Barbier) – Smith represented 4,000+ victims of the BP Oil Spill, including working throughout the Gulf Coast developing sophisticated science evidence related to the spill and impact on victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. History.
2. Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, 05-MD-1657 (Hon. Eldon E. Fallon) – Pharmaceutical company Merck paid out nearly $6 billion to settle 35,000 Vioxx lawsuits, federal charges, and criminal & civil claims. Smith successfully represented several hundred plaintiffs against Merck. 3. Propulsid Product Liability Litigation, 00-MD-1355 (Hon. Eldon E. Fallon) – A group of consumers brought a product liability action against the pharmaceutical manufacturer of Propulsid (Cisapride) as well as certain pharmacies that sold the product. The plaintiffs alleged that the prescription drug carried the risk of serious cardiovascular side effects.
Contact Details: Stuart H. Smith 1525 Religious Street New Orleans, LA 70130 [email protected] Website: http://www.stuarthsmith.com
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thedcdunce · 5 years
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Two-Face
“You should know better by now. Fate has chosen... and cannot be denied.” - Two-Face
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Real Name: Harvey Dent
Gender: Male
Height: 6′ 0″
Weight: 182 lbs (83 kg)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Powers:
Toxic Immunity
Abilities:
Law
Firearms
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
Weaknesses:
Multiple Personalities
Equipment:
Double-Headed Coin
Automatic Handgun
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Universe: 
Earth-One
New Earth
Parents: Christopher Dent; father
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Married (Gilda Dent; wife)
Occupation: Lawyer
First Appearance: Batman #81 (February, 1954)
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Powers
Toxic Immunity
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Abilities
Law: He was a successful attorney, and is proficient in nearly all matters pertaining to criminal law.
Firearms
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Dent has been extensively trained in Hand to Hand combat.
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Weaknesses
Multiple Personalities: Two-Face does things according to chance and therefore relies heavily on his coin to make decisions, making the coin his Achilles' heel.
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Equipment
Double-Headed Coin: Two-Face uses a two-headed silver dollar, one side of which is defaced, the other side clean. Flipping the coin dictates Harvey when making any significant life decisions. If the coin lands on the scarred side, Two-Face will pursue acts of evil. If the coin lands on the unmarked side, he is compelled to commit acts of good.
Automatic Handgun: Typically Two-Face uses a variety of automatic and semi-automatic handguns to conduct his criminal affairs. He usually carries two. Sometimes he carries his pistols with acid bullets.
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History
Harvey Dent was the District Attorney of Gotham City, and a close, personal ally of Batman. Unfortunately, the notorious gangster, "Boss" Moroni, threw acid in Dent's face, severely disfiguring it on the left side, leaving the right side unharmed. Because of his new appearance, Dent underwent a mental breakdown and became the insane crime boss Two-Face.
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Earth-One: Origin
Harvey Dent's origin and transformation of Two-Face on the Earth-One universe, mirrors that of his Earth-Two counterpart. After his disfigurement, he started a crime spree as Two-Face until he was eventually stopped by Batman, who talked reason into him and convinced Dent to have his face restored with plastic surgery. After the successful procedure, Dent became a law abiding citizen once more, but unfortunately his face was permanently scarred after he tried to stop some thieves and came withing range of a massive explosion. With his face scarred and his mind twisted once again, Two-Face returned and he started a second crime spree in which he almost succeeded on eliminating Batman and Robin, but he was eventually captured.
Dent somehow managed to escape and started a scheme to murder several shareholders of a company to seize their assets and get himself a reconstructive surgery with their money. He was stopped by Batman and Green Arrow, but they failed to capture him.
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Criminal Activities
A few years later, Two-Face escaped prison and resumed his criminal activities. Two-Face gathered a small gang and started a series of robberies, with subtle relation to binary numbers. His ultimate goal was to steal a cache of gold doubloons lost in an ancient ship, and although he almost succeeded, his compulsion to obey his two-faced coin allowed Batman to stop him. Two-Face was locked in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, but he managed to escape with outside help. Once free, Two-Face used an atomic bomb to blackmail the US Government, but once again he was stopped by Batman. Two-Face was soon sprung out of Arkham once again, leaving the Joker behind. This action forced Joker to escape and thwart Two-Face's plan. As they confronted each other, both criminals were promptly captured and taken back to Arkham. Learning from past mistakes, Two-Face and Joker teamed-up to steal a valuable item from Oliver Queen and this attracted attention from Green Arrow, Batman and the Atom.
After stealing the binary codes for a nuclear weapon, Two-Face blackmailed the American Government into giving him 22 million dollars. However, Two-Face was forced to change his plans when Batman and the Federal Agent King Faraday tried to stop him. Two-Face relocated his operations to New Orleans where he tried to steal the double amount of ransom money, but he was stopped by Faraday and Batman. Although his plans where thwarted, Two-Face escaped to an apparent death.
In the months that he remained missing, Harvey sought the help of Albert Ekhart, the surgeon who restored his face the first time and Harvey had him restore his face a second time. With his new face, Harvey adopted a new identity and tried to earn the love of Gilda, his first wife. However, Dent challenged Batman, convinced that his new identity would protect him, but Ekhart's surgery didn't last long and the new face started to fade. Batman learned that Two-Face was responsible for killing "Boss" Moroni as a revenge after he killed Gilda's second husband, causing her grievance. During the final confrontation with Batman, Two-Face recalled the incident that turned his life and after Gilda showed him love and support, Two-Face turned himself to the authorities and returned to Arkham willingly, in hopes of being cured and eventually return to her love. Later, Two-Face escaped from Arkham and created a master plan to capture Batman using his own hideout as the perfect trap. His plan was successful and Two-Face held Batman prisoner for a week, time in which his plans were foiled by Robin from the outside and Batman from his prison.
Once again Two-Face escaped from Arkham thanks to his henchmen working on the outside and he stole a binary computer system, which he used to choose his next crimes. He was soon contacted by Circe, a former associate of Black Mask, who offered Two-Face a partnership. Two-Face agreed, unaware that it was all part of a plan by Batman to get to him and in the final struggle, Two-Face was recaptured by the combined efforts of Batman, Catwoman and the new Robin.
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New Earth: Origins
Harvey Dent was born into a life of hardship. Growing up in a lower-class family, Dent was raised with an instinctive dislike and mistrust for the upper-class. His violent, cruel and mentally ill father frequently bullied and abused him as a child, with his favorite game being flipping his double-headed coin promising to spare the child a beating if the coin landed tails. These harsh surroundings resulted in Dent developing repressed mental illnesses of his own, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His hard work ethic, however, allowed him to rise to become a lawyer and, eventually, the District Attorney.
He was nicknamed "Apollo" by the media, because he was charming, good-looking and seemingly untouchable. He was dedicated to his job of upholding law and order, and became one of the first supporters, allies and even friends of the Batman. At the time of his job as D.A., the worst criminal threat in Gotham was the nigh omnipotent mafia boss Carmine Falcone, "The Roman." After Dent struck several blows to the Roman's Empire, Falcone hired Mickey "The Mink" Sullivan to eliminate the D.A. However, the attempt by Mickey's gang to take out Dent failed. He forged a triumvirate with Batman and Commissioner James Gordon to bring the man down within the law, no matter what the cost. His slightly angrier temperament led Batman and Gordon to distrust him slightly, believing there was a possibility he might be the mysterious " Holiday" killer who was gunning down mob members at the time. The alliance ended tragically when Sal Maroni, believing Dent to be responsible for the death of his father, threw acid in his face during a trial. Dent was horribly scarred on the left side of his face.
Dent escaped from the hospital and descended into madness. He became obsessed with duality and opposites, and developed a second persona, the villainous Two-Face, to compliment the law and order obsessed Harvey Dent. As Two-Face, his trademark was crimes involving the number two. His obsession even shows in his clothes, which are usually composed of two halves made out of very different materials. He carries a double-sided coin with one side scratched at all times.
His first crime as Two-Face was the killing of his corrupt Assistant District Attorney Vernon Wells and Carmine Falcone. Two-Face was eventually incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.
Two-Face next escaped from Arkham Asylum on the following Halloween, stole his old case files, and began the dismantling of the Falcone crime family. A new killer began following The Holiday's pattern, only this time not killing mobsters but cops. Dent saved Jim Gordon from the Hangman, as the new murderer was dubbed, and told Gordon he was not the Hangman. He continued using his alliance to the rest of Batman's Rogues Gallery to dismantle the mob. It was during this time he was having an affair with his successor as District Attorney, Janice Porter, a person he used to meet back at Gotham University when he was a professor. Porter was soon killed by Two-Face when she said she loved him. Over the the course of the year, he finally succeeded in eliminating Carmine Falcone's successor, his daughter Sofia Gigante Falcone who was revealed to be the Hangman the entire time, and even though he was taken in, Two-Face had permanently shifted the balance of power in Gotham's underworld from the mob to the so-called "costumed freaks."
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History with "The Boy Wonder"
Two-Face was the reason Bruce Wayne fired Dick Grayson, then Robin, from being his partner. After a failed attempt to rescue the then D.A. from Two-Face, who also had The Dark Knight captive as well, Two-Face brutally beat Dick, scaring Batman into firing Dick.
Later, Two-Face killed a henchman by the name of Willis Todd who happened to be the father of Jason Todd, the second Robin. In the wake of Todd's career as Robin, Two-Face came in conflict with the new Boy Wonder, who helped Batman put an end to Dent's new criminal spree.
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A Lonely Place of Dying
Two-Face's last encounter with Jason Todd as Robin was unfortunate as Batman captured him and he was sent to Arkham. However, shortly after Todd's death, Batman broke Two-Face out of Arkham in order to locate member of his gang, who were located in one of Two-Face's hideouts in Santa Prisca. Although Batman found the wanted criminals, Two-Face escaped and remained on the loose for some time.
Eventually, Two-Face resurfaced and carried out a number of obviously two-related crimes, following a voice he thought was his own subconscious, but who in fact was the Joker, manipulating Two-Face's fragile sanity. Batman became increasingly obsessed with catching him and Two-Face became fixed on taking down Batman. Meanwhile, Tim Drake tracked down Dick Grayson and attempted to convince him to return to his position as Robin for Batman's safety. Nightwing refused and followed various clues left by Batman, meeting up with him for the attack on Two-Face's base. Two-Face has prepared a trap for the heroes and learning about the peril, Tim adopted the Robin identity and confronted Two-Face to rescue his idols. Tim's intervention saved Batman and Nightwing and helped them apprehend Two-Face, leading Batman to accept him as the third Robin.
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Knightfall
When Arkham Asylum was partially destroyed by Bane, Dent was among the various inmates that managed to escape the place in the ensuing chaos. Two-Face went to the old Gotham City Courthouse, which was about to be demolished and he planned to eliminate Batman. For this purpose, he tracked down and killed a crime boss in order to get his people work for him. Leaving the corpse of the gangster as a clue for Batman, Two-Face lured the hero into a trap.
Two-Face then staged a trial for Batman at the old Courthouse, where he acted as judge, jury and prosecutor. Two-Face blamed Batman of betraying his trust before the accident with Sal Maroni that scarred his face and therefore, he blamed Batman for him turning into Two-Face. Batman managed to free himself during the trial and after a long chase and a battle in a nearby construction site, Batman defeated Two-Face thanks to Robin's timely arrival. Afterwards, Two-Face was arrested by the GCPD and taken to prison.
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No Man's Land
In the aftermath of the earthquake that left Gotham City in shambles and declared a "no man's land," Two-Face kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and put him on trial for his actions, with Two-Face as both judge and prosecutor. Gordon played upon Two-Face's split psyche to demand Harvey Dent as his defense attorney. Dent cross-examined Two-Face and won an acquittal of Gordon.
It was also during this time that Two-Face met GCPD detective Renee Montoya. Montoya was able to reach the Harvey persona in Two-Face, and was kind to him. He fell in love with her, though the romance was one-sided. After the earthquake that ravaged Gotham, Two-Face outed her as a lesbian and framed her for murder, hoping that if he took everything from her she would be left with no choice but to be with him. Montoya was furious, and the two fought for control of his gun until Batman intervened, putting Two-Face back in Arkham Asylum.
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Hush
A short time later, Two-Face met the brilliant surgeon, Dr. Thomas Elliot. Although Elliot specialized in neurosurgery, he was competent enough to repair Dent's face via plastic surgery. Dent's sanity was restored, and the menacing "Two-Face" persona seemed to be gone forever. Thomas Elliot was also the villain known as Hush, and he had hoped to manipulate Harvey into acting as one of his many pawns in a campaign against Batman. With renewed sanity, the former D.A. stood by the side of law and order and betrayed Hush, catching him in enough time to save Batman's life, and shooting him into the Gotham river.
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One Year Later/The Return of Two-Face
Having regained his trust, Dent was trained and conditioned by Batman to act as Gotham's primary vigilante protector when he, Robin and Nightwing all took a one-year hiatus to train during the Lost Year. When Batman returned, a series of murders occurred implicating Harvey and involving Two-Face's M.O. When confronted on the issues by Batman, in his anger at being distrusted, the Two-Face persona resurfaced, and talked Dent into scarring his face and returning to his life of crime.
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The Great Leap
Shortly after this, Dent went to New York City and summoned Nightwing to ask him for help keeping a former colleague and love interest, Carol Bermingham, safe from harm. Two-Face kept track of Nightwing and his past love by calling to her phone, and a few moments later, he discovered Nightwing's safe place and broke inside. Two-Face forced Nightwing to fight several henchmen while under the influence of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin. As Nightwing discovered Two-Face's scheme, Carol tried to talk to Dent, but he shot her and left him to be saved by Nightwing. However, hours later when he met the people who hired him to eliminate Carol, he learned of Carol's death and in a burst of anger he killed the criminal, blaming Nightwing for the situation. Two-Face's revenge materialized when he planned a massive attack that would've destroyed half of Manhattan, but he failed at the last minute after being stopped by Nightwing. Two-Face is taken to Arkham, where he promises Nightwing that he will get out and get his revenge.
Two-Face escaped from prison and went to Gotham, where he was allowed to stay on Gracchus's hideout. However, Gracchus betrayed Two-Face's trust when he impersonated Two-Face and scarred a famous actress and beautiful woman, Millicent Mayne. Dent decided to leave the place, sparing Gracchus's life.
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Battle for the Cowl
After Batman's apparent death, Two-Face became one of the two major contenders for control of the Gotham underworld along with the Penguin. When Two-Face's arms shipment was attacked, he assumed that Penguin was responsible and declared war on him. Despite his loss, Two-Face still created chaos in the city until he was confronted by Catwoman, who wanted to apprehend him, but Two-Face managed to escape.
When the United States Army arrived in Gotham, Two-Face was forced to hide from the public eye, since most of the chaos created in the city was being blamed on him, despite the fact that he wasn't responsible.
Two-Face soon realized that there's another person under the Batman's cowl. He hired a teleporter and manages to infiltrate the Batcave. When the new Batman investigates the cave, he is ambushed by Two-Face with tranquilizer darts, and in a hallucination he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume. However, Alfred Pennyworth saved the hero from Two-Face's torture after he subdues his accomplice, and with his help Batman convinces Two-Face that he is the real, original Darknight Detective.
Two-Face has been at odds with Gotham's latest district attorney, Kate Spencer, also known as the vigilante Manhunter.
Since the arrest of Black Mask, Two-Face has been working at regaining his former power over Gotham. However, his plans have garnered the attention of the FBI. After he discovers a mole in his midst, he flees only to be stabbed by his own henchmen. Two-Face is left for dead, his body dumped off a bridge. Sometime later, two fishermen in the middle of a lake reel in Two-Face's water-logged body.
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Fun Facts
Left side of the face disfigured, often seen as brownish pink. Hair is white on the disfigured side. As Two-Face, the left side of Dent's face and left hand are mutilated and discolored. Dent also suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder.
Occasionally, Two-Face will drive a "getaway" vehicle painted to reflect his personality.
Sometimes, the guns tie into his motif, such as wielding dual .22 semiautomatics or a double-barreled shotgun.
Harvey Dent is also known as Apollo, and One-Face.
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berniesrevolution · 6 years
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NEW REPUBLIC
In pop culture, representations of police have tended with few exceptions to start with the vision of a righteous force on the side of the people. In the 1950s, Dragnetshowed Sergeant Joe Friday solving crimes with a cool professionalism. In the ongoing Law & Order franchise, detectives often trample civil liberties in pursuit of New York City’s most vile criminals. Any violation of rights that occurs in the course of this work results only from the relentless pursuit of truth and justice. “Hollywood’s police stories,” the film critic Alyssa Rosenberg has written, “have reinforced myths about cops and the work of policing.”
In the early 2000s, The Wire made itself more compelling than any other police drama by assuming that policing—not just the people who do the job but also the institutional demands of the job—is flawed. Examining systems—schools, government, media, and, above all, law enforcement—and their impact on a decaying city, even as it captured compelling characters and told human stories, The Wire made a major innovation by putting police at the center of the show without assuming they were heroes. “If you’re gonna be authentic, you’ve gotta be authentic,” the actor Wendell Pierce, who played the detective Bunk Moreland, told an audience at Columbia University in 2016. This commitment, especially to portraying the shortcomings of the police, won fans among policing’s fiercest critics.
Yet there was one aspect of The Wire’s depiction of police that I always hoped was fabricated. Several times during the show someone is referred to as “natural police.” It is meant as the highest form of praise: The characters Lester Freamon and Jimmy McNulty, portrayed as detective-work savants, possess an innate curiosity that helps with complicated problem-solving, as well as a tenacious relationship to truth-finding, and an easy way with people. If this is what it is to be “natural police,” we are back at the idea that police are inherently virtuous, even as the show constantly dug into the ways in which they were not. Calling someone “natural police” implies that policing is itself natural, and necessary, when it is anything but.
The first modern police force—the London Metropolitan Police—was established by Sir Robert Peel in 1829. He developed his ideas about law and order, Alex S. Vitale writes in his book The End of Policing, when he was “managing the British colonial occupation of Ireland and seeking new forms of social control ... in the face of growing insurrections, riots, and political uprisings.” The “Peace Preservation Force” was meant to serve as a less expensive alternative to the British army, which had previously been tasked with quelling Irish resistance. Appointed home secretary in 1822, Vitale writes, Peel would run the London Metropolitan Police along the same lines. Although the group claimed political neutrality, its main functions were “to protect property, quell riots, put down strikes and other industrial actions, and produce a disciplined industrial work force.”
Boston adopted the London model in 1838, and New York established a formal police force in 1844. (This, it would seem, is what Attorney General Jeff Sessions was referring to when he invoked the “Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.”) But well before then, cities in the southern United States, such as New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston, “had paid full-time officers who wore uniforms, were accountable to local civilian officials, and were connected to a broader criminal justice system,” Vitale writes. These police officers were charged with preventing slave revolts. They had the authority to go onto private property to make sure enslaved people were not harboring weapons or conducting meetings, and they enforced laws against black literacy.
The motto “to protect and to serve”—adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1955 and later used by others around the country—has been a highly effective public relations tool for the police, as it obscures the main function of their work, which since its inception has been to act in an adversarial manner toward the wider community. “Police often think of themselves as soldiers in a battle with the public,” Vitale writes, “rather than guardians of public safety.” This has held true through the last century and up to the present: in the Memorial Day Massacre of 1937, in which the Chicago police killed ten protesters during a steelworkers’ strike; in the raid of the Stonewall Inn in 1969; in the killing of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man whom the Sacramento police shot at 20 times on March 18, 2018, in his grandmother’s backyard. No matter what other responsibilities police have assumed, they have consistently inflicted violence on the most marginalized people in society and maintained the economic, political, and social dominance of the ruling class.
Vitale’s book does not give a comprehensive history of the police but rather examines the implications of that history for American police today. Only after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, did police reform became one of the most pressing and hotly debated domestic political issues in the country. Even that debate started, like all those Hollywood narratives, around a faulty assumption that police are essential to safe and secure communities. “Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day,” President Obama said after a grand jury decided not to bring charges against Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Michael Brown. “They’ve got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.”
(Continue Reading)
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Kevin Spacey Returns To Court Over Sexual Abuse Allegation
By Yvonne Kalpakis, Loyola University New Orleans Class of 2023
October 9, 2022
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Kevin Spacey will be back in court as jury selection begins in a civil action filed by actor Anthony Rapp[1]. Rapp, who is most known for his part in “Star Trek: Discovery,” filed a lawsuit against Spacey in 2020 for violence, assault, and maliciously causing emotional distress[1].
In 2017, as the #MeToo movement started to sweep Hollywood, Rapp reported his experience to Buzzfeed. Spacey claimed to have no memory of the encounter, but added, “If I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the deepest apology for what would have been extremely inappropriate intoxicated behavior[2].” Rapp, who is now 50, filed the complaint in November 2020, accusing the defendant of violence and purposely causing him emotional distress[2]. The lawsuit claims that Spacey touched Rapp's buttocks and put his body partially on top of Rapp's while the teen was lying on a bed[1].
A spokesperson for Spacey, Chase Scolnick, told CNN that he believes Spacey will win his case at trial[1]. Scolnick stated, “We think Mr. Spacey will be vindicated. We look forward to having Mr. Rapp's claims were tried before an unbiased jury rather than in social media”[1]. Lewis Kaplan, a US District Judge, will preside over the trial[1].“Kevin Spacey is a fantastic actor, no doubt about that,” stated Rapp’s attorney Peter Saghir in the lower Manhattan cour, but “every time Anthony hears that, hears Kevin Spacey’s name, he’s back in that apartment in 1986[1].”
Anthony has been impacted by this transgression in certain ways that haven't been adequately described[2]. Rapp is seeking $40 million in compensatory and punitive damages after claiming in the past that the alleged incident caused him to have PTSD[2].
Jennifer Keller, Spacey's attorney, presented a radically different account of the incident. In his opening remarks, Keller stated, “We look forward to a trial by jury with actual evidence rather than a trial by social media[2]”. Rapp “repeated his story to all and sundry,” according to Keller's account of how the supposed incident didn't actually happen[2]. She asserted that Spacey's apology to Rapp in a 2017 Buzzfeed piece was only made possible by his panic[2].
Some reports theorized that Rapp may have created the tale based on a scene from Precious Sons, in which Rapp was then appearing, according to Spacey's defense attorney[2]. The father, played by Ed Harris, takes up his kid, played by Rapp, in one scene from the script, and lays drunkenly across him[2]. A quote from Keller, “He has been recounting this story for attention, for pity, and to boost his own profile…He never achieved the level of fame that Kevin Spacey enjoys on a global scale, but he has been boiling with anger all along[2].”
Unfortunately for Spacy, this isn’t the first time a sexual assault allegationb was made against him. Stories regarding Spacey's alleged inappropriate behavior started to emerge in 2017 as the Me Too movement started to give sexual misconduct survivors the confidence to speak out publicly about accusations of abuse by influential persons[1]. A Massachusetts man claimed that while he was an 18-year-old busboy at a Nantucket restaurant, Spacey molested him[1]. According to a criminal complaint, the busboy informed police that Spacey purchased him several alcoholic beverages, and that for about three minutes, Spacey unzipped his pants and stroked his penis inside and outside of them[1]. When the complainant was questioned about his missing smartphone and if he had deleted text messages while testifying, the prosecution eventually decided to dismiss the criminal case against Spacey[1].
Spacey is also facing criminal allegations in England in addition to the Manhattan civil trial[1].
In May, the Crown Prosecuting Service in Britain charged Spacey with four charges of sexual assault against three men and one offence of inducing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent[1]. The allegations concern four supposed incidents: two in London in 2005, two in 2008, and one in Gloucestershire in western England in 2013. According to London's Metropolitan Police, the alleged perpetrator of the crimes from 2005 is now in his 40s, while the two individuals accused of being engaged in the occurrences from 2008 and 2013 are now in their 30s[1]. Spacey has entered a not-guilty plea to the accusations[1]. The investigation is still ongoing.
______________________________________________________________
Yvonne Kalpakis is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Loyola University New Orleans studying to earn a degree in Criminology and Justice with a minor in Forensic Science. She hopes to pursue a career in CSI work after graduation.
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[1]https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/entertainment/kevin-spacey-legal-timeline/index.html
[2]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/06/kevin-spacey-anthony-rapp-new-york-trial
Photo Credit: FICOD. Foro Internacional de Contenidos Digitales
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parrishisaksen7 · 2 years
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Anybody Is Excited About Beginning A Category Motion La
Instead, as our lawsuit alleges, Airbnb has rejected some guests’ requests, issued partial credit, and forced others to just accept travel credit. Other guests have had to offer extreme documentation, navigate complicated internet interfaces, and get in touch with customer support repeatedly to obtain the total refund they had been promised by Airbnb. Both lawsuits concerned hosts who utilized false identities to list Airbnb rentals, but Airbnb has just lately updated its identity verification program. The company says that ninety seven.9% of its U.S. bookings are between a bunch and visitor who have accomplished the id verification course of. Back in 2017, lead plaintiff Arthur Lin filed the class motion lawsuit alleging that Airbnb displayed one reserving value on the browsing stage on its site, then one other higher value at the fee stage. The Airbnb host lawsuit seeks to get well cancellation charges owed to hosts who had their visitors cancel as a outcome of COVID-19, and a change to Airbnb’s enterprise practices. Airbnb hosts must pay occupancy taxes in some jurisdictions, along with federal income tax. Still, rentals of fewer than 30 days when the owner or tenant isn't current still occur routinely, city officers acknowledge, usually to the dismay of landlords. Last month the Brodsky Organization sued a tenant who they allege rented out an condo on Airbnb utilizing a false identification. Airbnb’s web site includes data on the laws of a host city, however does not forestall hosts from posting listings that violate them. Federal law protects know-how corporations from legal responsibility for these and different actions that clients take on their platforms. Strongly encourage others to seek him out when an legal professional is needed. He was very informative, simple to work with, and on high of everything! Whether you’re a tenant or a number, there are steps you'll have the ability to take to assist strengthen your claim. Photographs of a hazard or the damages carried out to the Airbnb area might help show negligence. SOLs differ primarily based on the jurisdiction, the crime and the intended legal action . For U.S. residents, the background examine evaluations state and county legal information. The background check also critiques the State and National Sex Offender Registries. Hosts undergo a background examine after they create their first itemizing or book their first guest, whichever comes first. Filing a report with the corporate ensures that the incident has been documented. But no matter class you fall in, expectations should be clearly laid out and buttoned up by a reliable real property attorney that may anticipate liabilities in this trendy era and provide ironclad protections. The lawsuit says the couple had settled in for the evening in the cabin, when the person spotted a black field near the TV. The couple reportedly realized it was a hidden camera that gave the impression to be recording. airbnb damage policy This is theft and fraud and if sufficient owners are being abused, I don't assume they'll disguise behind an arbitration clause in Federal court. There is a lawyer working within the direction of mass arbitrations or possibly even collective arbitration. @Inna12you might strive small claims courtroom; I even have had success there. I am additionally would be interested in hearing about other hosts expertise with Airbnb. The overwhelming majority of Airbnb hosts, who hire out only a single room or unit, may in theory fall under these exemptions. Airbnb additionally directly donated $276,358 to a second group across the same time, data show. “Housing affordability is a challenge in New Orleans—in reality 70 percent of our host group have mentioned they depend on the income they make to remain in their homes,” Airbnb says. The firm says it is dedicated to working with officers to resolve any issues. In Portland, site of the primary settlement, metropolis officials legalized home-sharing and lowered the registration fee for short-term leases around the similar time Airbnb agreed to add a 11.5 p.c occupancy tax on every booking. It later negotiated similar deals in San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and elsewhere. The company says it has signed more than 350 such agreements nationwide and greater than 500 around the globe, and has collected greater than $1 billion in taxes.
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webbohenry8 · 3 years
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WellCare's Issues with Investor Lawsuits
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WellCare Health Plans Inc.'s problems grew worse, when the health insurer was slammed with a shareholder lawsuit two days after federal and state officials raided its headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
 The raid also sparked speculation that WellCare WCG, +1.35 percent, could be the target of a so-called qui tam probe, in which the federal government prosecutes its contractors for fraud. Because rules allow the government to recover triple the damages awarded in court, such prosecutions can cost businesses millions.
 A shareholder class-action suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida Friday by the New Orleans law firm Kahn Gauthier Swick against WellCare. It was filed on behalf of shareholders who bought WellCare stock between May 8, 2006, and Oct. 24, the day the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid fraud-control unit raided the company's headquarters.
 Given the raids, the lawsuit claims that the business misled investors on earnings reports produced during that period. The primary complainant is named Eastwood Enterprises, a WellCare stockholder.
 WellCare management did not return calls requesting comment
 The business did announce a special board committee to monitor the investigations and oversee solutions.
 Neal Moszkowski, a former WellCare chairman and current co-chief executive at TowerBrook Capital Partners L.P.; Chris Michalik, a member of the WellCare board audit committee; and Ruben Jose King-Shaw, chairman and chief executive of Mansa Equity Partners and former deputy administrator and chief operating officer of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, are among the members of the committee.
 Officials emphasized in a prepared statement that business as usual had resumed. In a press release, Todd S. Farha, WellCare's chairman and chief executive, stated that they would continue to respond to Wednesday's developments straightforwardly, timely, and orderly. Throughout this process, we remain committed to working with the government.
 Lewi Kahn is a partner at the law firm that stated the case has been under investigation by the staff for some time, and the company has information from former WellCare employees alleging fraud. 
 Speculations were circulating since Medicare fraud investigators, and the federal agents were involved in the case under the False Claims Act. The lawsuits emphasize private citizens' right to sue federal contractors on behalf of the government, which typically have involved an internal whistle-blower.
 When individuals claimed that military contractors were cheating the Pentagon in the 1980s and 1990s, False Claims Act prosecutions became popular. President Abraham Lincoln enacted the act to combat fraudulent ammunition contracts during the Civil War.
 As a deterrence, fraudulent contractors might face quadruple the damages assessed under the False Claims Act.
 Whistle-blowers come forward to the government, generally with the assistance of a lawyer, to disclose their charges. Following that, the government conducts its investigation, which frequently includes raids like WellCare.
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