Utah county created an oversight panel for prosecutors - a first that, if followed, can change the criminal justice system

A group of residents of the Utah County demanded from the County Commissioners to establish a County Commission to oversee prosecutorial misconduct of county prosecutors - and the County has just announced that it has made its first steps towards establishing such a Commission.

Imagine if such commissions are established throughout the United States, at county levels - reviewing whether prosecutors committed unethical conduct (under the cover of the "absolute immunity" that courts unlawfully give them) - and if actual discipline may be imposed upon prosecutors because of decisions of such panels.

Maybe, just maybe, our criminal justice system will become a little less corrupt.

How about asking your own county for such a panel?

The rising "shining star" of Delaware County government - Acting Sheriff Craig DuMond and his record of integrity and competence

I have posted today an article about the retiring Delaware County (NY) Sheriff Thomas Mills and his mysterious sudden retirement before expiration of his elected term - and about the possible reasons for such a "retirement" which surely looks like a resignation to a reasonable observer.

At the end of that article, I posted a flurry of well-wishes to the retiring Sheriff Mills and to his replacement, the previous Undersheriff, and the future Acting Sheriff Craig DuMond.

The well-wishers praised Mills and DuMond for their integrity, competence, and claimed that Delaware County was and is going to be in very good hands.

Of course, regular lawsuits against Delaware County police and social services for egregious violations of people's constitutional rights come non-stop, and the recent several lawsuits:

• two involving the nephew of the District Attorney's investigator Derek Bowie,
• one about starving a  pre-trial detainee as punishment, and
• one about fabricating a felony child sex abuse case against a Hispanic legal immigrant, a deportable offense,

and the fact that the county has been "suffering" sudden "retirements" and "resignations" of many elected and appointed officials for the last 3 years during the audit by New York State Comptroller, investigation of the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct and the supposedly ongoing FBI investigation of the county - brings a different perspective to this flurry of "retirements".

As to the replacement of Thomas Mills, Craig DuMond has interesting history of, let's say, integrity that shines him not as an upstanding public official, but as a self-serving corrupted thug who just got a better access at the public funds that he considers his to have.

Just two years ago, I reported that DuMond, without public bidding, "trained" the Sheriff's Department "horseback police force", while stabling the Department's horses in his own private stables.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, The Walton Reporter that initially reported that, deleted the link to that particular article.

Other sources at the time, reported this "graduation" of Delaware County police officers, DuMond included, from a week-long "certification course" - without mentioning that the horses are stabled at DuMond's own horse farm.

Nor was the "certification" of "horseback police patrol" announced in any official news releases on the Delaware County Sheriff's website - and do we really need to wonder, why?

Once again, JUST AFTER the New York State Comptroller finished the audit pointing out to the County the inappropriateness of dishing out contracts without public bidding, Undersheriff Craig DuMond dished out a contract to stable horses for "horseback patrol" - to himself and his wife.  Without public bidding.

Obviously counting on the fact that nobody will give a damn as to what he is doing as long as he pleases enough people in power to cover up for him.

Then, just recently, DuMond came up with a great statement for the Walton Reporter claiming that Delaware County Sheriff's Department had always rented its police officers to patrol the Delaware County Fair, while admitting that the fair grounds are private property (rented by the Fair Council for the duration of the fair each year).

Imagine that you, as a private individual, hire Delaware County police officers to guard your business for a little extra pay.

What if you then commit a crime - wouldn't it be a little awkward for Delaware County Sheriff's deputies, who were paid by you for their services for you as security officers, to investigate and prosecute you?

That same conflict of interest exists in Delaware County Sheriff's Department renting their officers for ground patrol of Delaware County Fair, during County time, for an extra fee.

And, you know what else was interesting at the Delaware County Fair this year?

As reported to me by people who visited it - the total lack of horseback police.

Not one of them.

While DuMond announced that horseback police (with horses stabled at his private property, obviously at the County expense, without a public bidding contract) is necessary for "crowd control" - specifically at the Delaware County Fair.

For those of my readers who do not know the specifics of Delaware County, New York, it is a very rural, very wooded, very large county with very sparse population, where there are more deer and bears than people, and where the claim of a need for "crowd control" is simply ridiculous.

The only two times that anything approximating the definition of a "crowd" happens in Delaware County is:

1) Fair on the Square in the County seat, Delhi, NY, which happens every Friday for 4 Fridays, starting with the 4th of July; and

2) the Delaware County Fair.

Yet, horseback police do not appear at either of these events, so, very likely it was just an excuse to hire a friend and pay him for a "certification" course, as well as to have the police some free riding lessons at public expense and to pocket the money for upkeep of horses.

After all, when everybody who counts loves you and thinks you are a shining star of integrity, like the Delaware County Clerk Debra Goodrich (who is supposed to be neutral since she is the clerk of the County, criminal, court, and the Sheriff's personnel testify in that court as witnesses)

who can prevent you from living the life of a corrupt thug that you are used to?

Did the sudden "retirement" of Delaware County (NY) Sheriff Thomas Mills due to public exposure of Delaware County Sheriff's Department for starving prisoners in the Delaware County jail as punishment, engaging in raging nepotism, employing abusive and incompetent cops and having his Department concoct fabricated criminal charges against people?

Usually, public officials in Delaware County (New York) sit tight in their positions (appointed or elected) and nothing can upend them.

After all, they are paid, with benefits, whether they are doing their job or not, and they are employing vast clans of relatives and friends to support, so there is a "moral obligation" to those clans to keep on going.

Yet, recently, as I wrote before, there was a tide of "retirements" from appointed and elected public officials in Delaware County - which curiously coincided with:

• the audit of the county by the New York State Comptroller - around the time of investigation and release of the audit, FOUR public officials that may have been involved "retired":
• Delaware County Attorney Richard Spinney;
• Delaware County Attorney Porter Kirkwood;
• Delaware County Commissioner of Social Services William Moon, and
• Delaware County Judge and former Assistant Delaware County Attorney for Social Services Carl F. Becker;
• the investigation by the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct - the same Carl F.Becker "retired" from his judicial position long before the end of his term and long before his mandatory retirement at 70, after fighting tooth and claw for that "re-election" (documents that he was elected the first time in 2002 were never properly filed, and my law license was suspended when I raised the issue of Becker's legitimacy in court) - while the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct reported in its annual report that several judges "retired"/resigned during investigation;  Becker had many complaints against him, as I know as a blogger who received tips from people complaining about him;
• a criminal complaint - Delaware County Clerk Sharon O'Dell
  quickly "retired" in 2016 when I filed a criminal felony complaint against her (which did not result in charges yet) for knowingly filing a false multi-thousand-dollar judgment against me in collusion with attorney (and town justice) Jonathan S. Follender;
• an FBI investigation - Delaware County Chairman of Board of Supervisors James Eisel.

As a result of a settlement in a lawsuit, in December of 2015 the very Democratic Governor of the State of New York Andrew Cuomo announced that prisoners in New York State prisons will no longer be "treated" to what amounts to a punishment through starvation - the so-called "loaf".

Apparently, Delaware County jail practiced starvation of its prisoners, and that same starvation as punishment continued further - as evidenced by a pro se lawsuit filed in January of 2017 against the Delaware County. 

While the lawsuit was dismissed, it was dismissed without prejudice, and can be renewed, especially that Darryl Bradshaw's conviction was reversed and vacated and he was released from state prison.

Since Mr. Bradshaw filed his lawsuit from state prison, it is apparent that he was not serving time in Delaware County Jail, but was held there as a pre-trial detainee.

His lawsuit also mentions that he filed multiple grievances against Delaware County jail, raising the issue whether he was starved in retaliation for those grievances.

The lawsuit also asserts that "disciplinary starvation" of Mr. Bradshaw was ordered without following the "normal procedure", whatever the "normal procedure" may be for ordering starvation of a pre-trial detainee as punishment.

So, whether the lawsuit is or is not renewed, Thomas Mills' Department was exposed for starving pre-trial detainees.

Mills' Department was also earlier exposed, in a lawsuit that ended up with a settlement on the eve of trial, for hiring police officers outside of Delaware County (a jurisdictional violation arguably rendering all their arrests legally void), with local kinship and connections to high-ranking employees in Delaware County government substituting for education, training and character fitness.

Yet another lawsuit against the Delaware County, currently pending, alleges that the Delaware County investigators from Social Services and Sheriff's Departments fabricated a false criminal charge of felony child sexual abuse (a deportable offense) against a Hispanic legal immigrant. which can promise Delaware County taxpayers a hell of a lot of damages to have to pay out, whether the case goes to trial or is settled.

The fact that the Delaware County's litigation attorney hired by its insurance carrier, the Frank Miller Firm, and chose to remove the case from Delaware County Supreme Court to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, the fact that Delaware County did not trust Delaware County Supreme Court to resolve this lawsuit in its favor (even though it recently fixed for the same Frank Miller firm a lawsuit against a police officer for vehicular assault on a resident of Delaware County, where a criminal case was fabricated against the victim of assault and where criminal charges were also finally dismissed), says that the Delaware County sees the writing on the wall as to how bad the fallout for it may be.

Of course, the Delaware County has filed a motion to dismiss that lawsuit "for failure to state a claim", which is currently pending, but it appears that there is enough in the complaint to survive that motion.

Also, it has been announced in the press back in January of 2017 that the FBI is investigating the former Commissioner of Social Services William Moon - and, consequently, the Delaware County Department of Social Services.

This particular lawsuit alleges, in sum, that

• Delaware County Sheriff's Department employees participated together with Margaretteville School District Employees, New York State Child Abuse Register and Delaware County Department of Social Services, in
• forensic interviews of a child without presence, knowledge or consent of her mother;
• while not using proper interviewing techniques;
• while not video- or audio-recording MULTIPLE successive interviews;
• while trying to coerce the child by leading questions to accuse her uncle of sexual child abuse, which the child denied.

Since the uncle is a Hispanic LEGAL immigrant, and the fabricated charges were for a D felony, a deportable offense and a heinous crime that, on conviction, would have required a lifetime registration and loss of multiple civil rights, and being branded as a child molester - which also presented a risk to the plaintiff's life - the lawsuit is pretty bad, and has implications of racism, same as removal of a protestor from the County Fair grounds where the County police was present, on County time, as paid private security officers.

Of course, if the case ever gets to trial, this plaintiff can also use against Delaware County all the documents from the previous lawsuit against Derek Bowie, the Delaware County's "Deputy Sheriff" who was hired simply because his uncle was a longtime investigator for the Delaware County District Attorney, and was not fired until he assaulted, as alleged in respective lawsuits, not just one, but TWO women, and those women, interestingly, looked alike - until the lawsuit by one of the women went to trial (and forced the county to settle right before trial for an undisclosed amount).

Upon information and belief, Bowie was fired from the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, but was readily picked up by the Davenport Police Department, so now people in Davenport need to be aware - and afraid - of a potentially volatile and murderous cop in their midst, see his salary before he was fired in 2016:

and after he was fired mid-2016 and picked up by the Deposit Police force, losing more than 2 times in salary as compared to $51,614 that he's got in his last full year of unlawful employment with the Delaware County:

What tipped the plate of Sheriff Mills to remove himself from his elected position:

• a health condition,
• sudden family circumstances;
• the two latest lawsuits, or
• the previous lawsuit against Derek Bowie, which was settled, but exposed unlawful practices in the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, or the supposedly ongoing FBI investigation of the County, or
• the recent controversy where his employees, working, according to press reports, on a contract from Delaware County Fair Board (in a rent-a-cop capacity),

• removed a woman from the fair grounds for "public disturbance" - for photographing merchandise, Confederate flags, which were on public display -

we will, probably, never know.

But, something triggered his resignation, as elected public officials do not SUDDENLY decide to retire, before the end of their terms, unless there is a SUDDEN reason for that.

And there are plenty of reasons for Thomas Mills not to honorable retire, but to be dishonorably impeached and sued for all the misdeeds he allowed his employees to commit under his watch.

Of course, Mills, as well as local government officials - and Mills' friends and supporters - tried to present it as an honorable retirement after a long "public service".

But, the less "public servants" like Thomas Mills we will have, who, among other things: 

• hire unqualified violent people on pedigrees and connections,
• allow his staff to fabricate criminal cases,
• intimidate critics of the government and condition ability of defense attorneys (who are suing the county) to visit their clients in jail on allowing searches of their privileged client files, and 
• torture pre-trial detainees with starvation -

the better.

Because Mills recalls the existence of the U.S. Constitution only when he needs to be re-elected,

otherwise he feels free to trample it, as long as it suits him and the clans of employees that he employs.

As to the glorious replacement of Sheriff Mills - The Acting County Sheriff Craig DuMond, a "shining star" of integrity and competence, I will run a separate blog.

Stay tuned.

#NBC12 joins The Economist in fabricating a false picture of what public opinion in the country is

I wrote an article yesterday about the supposedly respectable "mainstream" "expert" source, The Economist censuring out (as "spam", no less) on-point polite and reasoned comments to its articles posted on Facebook by deleting comments that do not fit its obvious political agenda - to pin violence in Charlottesville, VA not on those people who committed violence, or failed to protect the public from that violence, but President Trump.

In that blog article, I pointed out the two U.S. Supreme Court precedents that legitimized (at the judges' "discretion" - meaning, that the judges willingly accepted those cases out of the absolute majority of case that they rejected, and ruled in favor of the Nazis and the racists, bending the law):

1. a Nazi march in a village populated by Holocaust survivors; and
2. cross-burning on the lawn in front of a residence of African-Americans.

Today, NBC12 joined the fray, now marking as spam - gasp! - references to these two U.S. Supreme Court precedents.

My bad was that, in a comment to an article about a white supremacist who participated in a court-approved rally fired from his job, I asked a question - is it legitimate for an employer to fire an employee for his off-hours political expression.

Here is the thread that followed, where I was called (for asking that question):

• a troll,
• a Nazi sympathizer,
• a white supremacist,
• a rapist and rape sympathizer, and
• where it was pointed out that I am all things bad because I am from Russia etc. - and NBC12 did not consider it necessary to erase any of that as spam, even though these personal attacks were certainly not answers to my question, this question:

So, in answer to that question, I've got this torrent:

 
And, after I posted the links to the US Supreme Court precedents allowing Nazi marches and cross-burning, and asking people, why they attack me for asking a legal question instead of protesting court decisions legitimizing racism and hatred, NBC12 started to block practically all my comments, even those answering what was really spam, like this exchange:

My question asking #RebeccaJamarillo to answer to the question I actually asked in my comment, was marked and deleted as spam:

The next comment marked as spam was - no, not this one, accusing me out of the blue of supporting a rapist or rape:

No, NBC12 shut me down and prevented me from ANSWERING the abusive comment, after the author did not like that I put a laughing emoji on that comment:

The next comment that NBC12 marked as spam was actually agreeing with a commentator who supported my question:

 The next "spam" comment was my announcement that I am leaving the thread because NBC12 is deleting references to U.S. Supreme Court precedents - which was true.

So, it is clear that for #NBC12, same as for #TheEconomis, "spam" is an attempt at reasoned discussion of legal issues involved, and personal attacks on people who try to maintain that discussion is legit and proper.

The same attitude was demonstrated by NBC12 when it did not delete as spam personal attacks and threats directed at a woman who commented (in agreement with my critics' logic, by the way), that on the same grounds ("at will" no-reasons-stated firing) any employer can also fire anybody else, including a BLM member, here is part of that thread:

 

What can I say?

In my country, the United States of America, apparently, you can only have a job if you conceal your legally held political views and not express them publicly.

Because, had that guy kept his mouth shut and had he not gone to that rally (while continuing to hold white supremacist views anyway), he would still have had that job.

What is sad is that a supposedly honest media source stifles honest discussion of legal issues involved, and stifles revealing as to who exactly is responsible for legitimizing racial and anti-Semitic hatred - while allowing personal attacks on those whose only "fault" is that they squarely ask questions pertaining to ALL OF US.

Because Loretta Smith, a disabled individual who was threatened to be reported to her employer in order to have her fired, too, FOR ASKING A QUESTION, no less, asked the same question, in essence, that I was asking - will it be ok when members of BLM (or an environmental group, or freedom-of-speech group) be fired because of what they do, or views they express during their personal time and in their personal capacity, off-hours?

If that is true, there is no democracy in this country.

Because, if people will keep their mouths shut fearing loss of livelihood - there cannot be free exchange of ideas, and without free exchange of ideas democracy cannot function.

Remember what they said about me?  I am from Russia - or, rather, USSR - I know how people, for fear of their jobs, remained silent for a long time.  And what came out of that silence.

Gulag.

Is that what people really want by adamantly support firing for off-hours political expression and by attacking anybody who dares to ask questions about legitimacy of that firing?

As to NBC12, same as The Economist, the media source has failed the litmus test.

If it marked my legitimate comments as spam, how many more legitimate comments that did not fit into its political agenda did it delete, too?

It has sure lost credibility this way, and cannot now say that comments on its page are reflective of public opinion.

But, when public opinion polls are skewed this way, don't be surprised when elections, economic and social trends do not go the way those polls "predicted".