Eric Holder - What's he been up to?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Eric Holder's Hate Crime Color Scheme

Imagine the Ku Klux Klan in full regalia standing before a polling place deep in Dixieland hurling racial insults at black people arriving to vote in the last election. Imagine further a Republican-run U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) dropping the civil complaint against the KKK that had been filed by a Democrat-run DOJ.

Unless you've dropped acid, your fantasy life probably can't get you there.

Try reality.

The Obama DOJ has admitted dropping a civil complaint filed by the Bush DOJ on Jan. 7, 2009, accusing members of the New Black Panther Party of "wearing black berets, black combat boots, black dress shirts and black jackets with military-style markings, brandishing a 2-foot-long nightstick and issuing racial threats and racial insults" at voters in Philadelphia, during November's election," according to an exclusive in The Washington Times on July 30. Members of Congress want to know why.

read more here -http://townhall.com/columnists/JanetMLaRue/2009/08/02/eric_holders_hate_crime_color_scheme

I've seen this story and wondered why as well.  Why does race have to enter into our criminal justice system?  Do we not all bleed?  Isn't all our blood red?

Why should the race of the victim or wrongdoer matter? 

Why turn back the clock a hundred years?  Return to institutionalized racism?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Homegrown Terrorists and the Shoe Bomber 

I believe this is an opinion piece -

"The disgrace known as Eric Holder"

Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder decided to improve Reid’s sentencing conditions, permitting him to socialize, evangelize and recruit fellow prisoners. In addition, he can now communicate with sympathetic members of the press. These actions directly contravene advice from every national security expert.

Put simply, Holder — following President Obama’s orders, it would seem — has unleashed Reid to pursue Jihad in prison, evangelizing, preaching and editorializing to recruit those who would re-enact 9/11 on a grander scale.

Perhaps this action should not comes as a surprise. Holder was a senior partner in the prestigious law firm of Covington & Burling, which represents 17 Yemenis currently held at Gitmo. In January, an anonymous contributor to Michelle Malkin’s website wrote:

The fact that Mr. Holder, while Deputy Attorney General, pushed for the release of 16 violent FALN terrorists against the advice of the FBI, the US Attorneys who prosecuted them and the NYPD officers who were maimed by them, suggests that he was perfectly willing to put politics before the national security interests of the country. He is not suited for the job of attorney general…

read more here - http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2009/08/01/the-disgrace-known-as-eric-holder/

I wonder how much Covington & Burling makes off of government work?  Any stimulus or budget money? 

[WhiskeyGirl]

Covering Up For Thugs Posted 2009-08-03
 
Black Panthers Get Away With Voter Intimidation

On Election Day 2008, members of the New Black Panther Party — all in paramilitary uniforms, and one carrying a nightstick — outwardly intimidated voters outside a Philadelphia polling place. A Justice Department memo relates that one African American couple — Republican poll-watchers both — feared for their lives.

The voting-rights violations were so blatant that the U.S. Civil Rights Commission showed rare unanimity in sending not one, but two letters to the Justice Department. Why these epistles? A departmental decision not to pursue a civil complaint against three of the Panthers even after the government had won a default judgment against the men in federal court.

The commission bridled at letting these thugs off the hook — for good reason. A video shows the men blocking access to the polls and physically threatening voters. Its letter quoted civil-rights veteran Bartle Bull, who called these acts “the most blatant form of voter intimidation I have encountered in my life in political campaigns in many states, even going back to . . . Mississippi in the 1960s.”

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10th, who sits on the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Justice funding, has also pressed mightily for answers. “If showing a weapon, making threatening statements, and wearing paramilitary uniforms in front of polling station doors does not constitute voter intimidation, at what threshold of activity would these laws be enforceable?” Mr. Wolf asked Justice officials.

Good question. Now that it has been revealed — in a Thursday exclusive penned by The Washington Times’ Jerry Seper — that political appointees of President Obama put the kibosh on the civil complaint, Mr. Wolf, who on Friday asked Attorney General Eric Holder to reinstate the case, may very well have his answer.

http://www.dailynews-record.com/opinion_details.php?AID=39607&CHID=36

Here is the link for Wolf's letter - http://wolf.house.gov/uploads/holder%20case%20refile%207_31_2009.pdf

Who are the ones that made the decision?  Is this the change America can expect?  A return to the racist policies of the past, with an Obama twist?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Holder: Jail is not only crime solution

Noting that one of every 100 adults across the country is behind bars -- "the highest incarceration rate in the world" -- Holder said that putting people in prison costs too much economically and socially in a nation where car dealerships are closing, teachers are getting laid off and after-school programs are being cut.

What are all these unemployed people going to do?  No money, no place to go, hungry, and homeless? 

"But in almost all cases, spending on prisons continues to rise," Holder said during a roughly 20-minute speech at the association's annual meeting in Chicago. "This is unsustainable economically."

What is the nation going to do with all the scary people?  iirc, the Obama administration is cutting spending on prison. 

What are all these people in prison supposed to do when they get out?   Get a job?  Getting a job someone with a prison background is tough in good times...

Holder called for new strategies and tools to fight crime, such as studying what happens to inmates once they leave prison and developing programs based more on their failure or success.

What is the background of these programs?  Jobs?  Welfare?

Maybe creating 'programs' that work or fail is a new green shoot industry in the Obama economy?  Send more money to community groups, that are not accountable?

Prison...at least the community knows where these folks are 24/7.

As an example, Holder cited drug court programs that offer alternatives to jail time for nonviolent criminals, including treatment for their drug habits and routine follow-up testing for drug use.

What are these folks doing 24/7 to keep themselves busy?  How many in prison are there because they ALLREADY failed some kind of 'follow-up' drug testing?

"These programs give no one a free pass," Holder said. "They are strict and can be difficult to get through. But for those who succeed, there is the real prospect of a productive future."

What happens to those folks that fail?  What is the productive future Holder sees for these folks?  A job?

He noted a New York program that uses data to map where crime is likely to happen, and the deployment of more officers to those areas.

What kind of profiling is this?  An Obama version of REDLINING?  Psychics in the justice department?

read more here - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-holder-0803-0804aug04,0,867930.story

[WhiskeyGirl]

Summary findings
On June 30, 2008 —

– 2,310,984 prisoners were held in federal or state prisons or in local jails – an increase of 0.8% from yearend 2007, less than the average annual growth of 2.4% from 2000-2007.

– 1,540,805 sentenced prisoners were under state or federal jurisdiction.

– there were an estimated 509 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents – up from 506 at yearend 2007.

– the number of women under the jurisdiction of state or federal prison authorities increased 1.2% from yearend 2007, reaching 115,779, and the number of men rose 0.7%, totaling 1,494,805.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm

U.S. Prison Population Tops 2 Million
1 in 142 US residents now in prison

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/aaprisonpop.htm


U.S. Resident population 2007 301,621,000

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/files/pop.html


301,621,000 x .01 = 3,162,100

3,162,100 does not equal 2,310,984 almost a million difference.

How is Holder coming up with the "1 out of every 100" number?

Statistics at fault?

A 2005 report estimated that 27% of federal prison inmates are noncitizens, convicted of crimes while in the country legally or illegally.[21]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

Any plans to reduce the number of noncitizens incarcerated? 

What if the U.S. incarcerated illegal aliens like North Korea?  Sentenced them to 'hard labor'? 

Anyone else?

No easy answers.  Maybe just ignore crime?  Take away all the guns and make sure people can't defend themselves?

[WhiskeyGirl]

A few more thoughts on the number of people in prison in a year.

There was one site I read, that suggested statistics are for all incidences.  The statistics do not differentiate between folks that go in one time in a year, and folks that may go in and out a hundred times in one year.

A person in prison/jail may only be in there 24-72 hours until they go before a judge.  In my mind, this is not the same as someone who goes in for ten years.

When I think about the people I've known in the past, those that spend time in jail and those that do not, it seems like a pattern. 

Those that go in, probably go in more than once a year, maybe several times a year.  Minor things.

Some may have had a few problems in their early years, they mature and don't go back.

The overwhelming majority do not go at all. 

Is this a case of statistics being misapplied? 

If you have a hundred people, and 50 incidents of people being locked up in prison/jail in this group...

Does it mean that 50 of the 100 were in prison?   

Or, could one person have been in prison/jail 50 times?   

Maybe 4 people in jail 12 times each and one person in jail twice?

The vast majority never have been in prison/jail?

Would saying "50 out of every 100 people is in jail" be accurate?

Lies, damn lies, and statistics?   

I think there needs to be some hard facts made public about the "1 in 100"

jmho

[WhiskeyGirl]

DOJ Voter Harassment Dismissal Raises Questions
Posted by Staff on August 7, 2009 | ShareThis

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to throw out the majority of charges levied against militant activists accused of intimidating voters at a Pennsylvania polling location poses a concern for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights over how the DOJ will handle future voter harassment cases.

“The DOJ’s replies thus far raise new and serious questions about its civil rights enforcement decisions,” the Commission wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder approved Friday.

...

The Comission, which consists of 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats and 2 Independents, plans to further pursue the issue.

“We believe we are obligated to investigate,” the Commission wrote.

http://talkradionews.com/2009/08/doj-voter-harassment-dismissal-raises-questions/

[WhiskeyGirl]

What about competition in the financial industry?  Antitrust and regulatory enforcement?

USDA, Justice to Hold Workshops on Competition Issues in Ag Industry
USAgNet - 08/07/2009

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice will hold joint public workshops to explore competition issues affecting the agriculture industry in the 21st century and the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in that industry. These are the first joint USDA/Department of Justice workshops ever to be held to discuss competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry.

http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1640&yr=2009

TARP and Treasury and Federal Reserve seemed to made decision about winners and losers...but encouraged those that are 'too big to fail' to continue on...(with Taxpayer subsidy).

jmho