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SAF Calls Chicago Tribune Plea to Repeal 2A 'Unconscionable'
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"The Chicago Tribune's call for repeal of the Second Amendment following the historic Heller Decision is an 'unconscionable attack on the entire Bill of Rights and the freedoms it protects,' the Second Amendment Foundation said today."
"In an editorial published on the day after the Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 ruling, the newspaper called the Second Amendment an 'anachronism' that should be repealed. ..."
"'The Chicago Tribune's editors have demonstrated an appalling short-sightedness,' said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. 'If they are so willing to abandon one civil right for an entire class of American citizens, what’s next? Perhaps they would strip some citizens of their First Amendment rights to free speech or religion ...'" ... |
CCRKBA, NRA Civil Rights Coalition Sues San Francisco over Public Housing Gun Ban
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"Yesterday's United States Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia vs. Heller confirmed what the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has been saying all along: the Second Amendment does indeed protect a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms. But because Washington, D.C. is a federal enclave, the Heller ruling applies to the federal government only."
"Today, using the Heller decision as the basis for the challenge, the Citizens Committee, in partnership with the National Rifle Association (NRA), filed a civil rights lawsuit to confirm that the Second Amendment restricts state and local governments from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms as well." ... |
Anti Handgun Verdon Brown
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Dustin
Website: http://dustinsgunblog.blogspot.com/
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"You can't make this stuff up. Check out Verdon Brown's response to this post about the proposed handgun ban in Canada. The Cliff Notes version is he explained what he thinks handguns are for & that he thinks handgun owners should "find a new hobby" - he proposes stamp collecting. He says he is not anti gun because he likes rifles & shotguns. He thinks Canada is better than all the other Countries that have tried & failed miserably to curb violent crime by making it illegal to own handguns, because Canada can 'learn from mistakes' to make their proposed handgun ban work when all of the other Countries that have tried it so far have failed." ... |
Breaking Down the SCOTUS Ruling - Part I
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"Now that the Supreme Court Of The United States has ruled that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is truly an individual right and struck down the DC gun ban, proponents on both sides of the issue are planning their next move."
"While the NRA and other groups are planning to file more lawsuits against other cities with similar bans (Chicago and San Francisco to name two), gun control groups are scrambling to find ways of using the ruling to their advantage."
"To understand the next steps, we have to first understand just what the Court said. As a non-lawyer, I will attempt to give my interpretation. The full text of the ruling, with dissenting opinions, is available here." ... |
Breaking Down the SCOTUS Ruling - Part II
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"Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the opinion of the Court. In his opening statement, he identified the specifics of the case before the court.""We consider whether a District of Columbia prohibition on the possession of usable handguns in the home violates the Second Amendment to the Constitution." "This context must be kept in mind when considering the text of the findings. The repeated references to 'in the home' are not meant to be misconstrued to mean that gun rights only exist in the home, merely that the facts in this case pertain specifically to the DC gun ban of guns in the home." ... |
Miller, Colt .45s and Natural Law
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"One aspect of the Heller majority opinion that has not yet attracted the attention of commentariat, but may be greatly important of the long run, is the presence of natural law."
"Heller reaffirms a point made in the 1876 Cruikshank case. The right to arms (unlike, say, the right to grand jury indictment) is not a right which is granted by the Constitution. It is a pre-existing natural right which is recognized and protected by the Constitution:" ...
"Heller moves self-defense from the shadowy limbo of the Ninth Amendment into the bright uplands of the Second Amendment. It is now beyond dispute, in an American court, that self-defense is an inherent right, and that it is protected by the United States Constitution." ... |
Supreme Court keeps hands off citizens' guns
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"An historic ruling handed down Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court has Second Amendment supporters cheering and others jeering."
"I'm not a legal scholar, but I have covered the law most of my career, and read way more than my share of Supreme Court opinions. In the end, I think the court got it right."
"The ruling in District of Columbia, et al v. Heller struck down a Washington D.C. law that essentially prohibited handgun ownership. The court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to own guns." ... |
Court Ruling Protects Our Gun Rights
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Mark McCullough
Website: http://www.georgiacarry.org/
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... "Gun-control fanatics have had the foundation pulled from beneath their house of cards. For years, they have both lived and cultivated a lie about the meaning of the Second Amendment, leaving one justifiably curious about what other deceptions they have fostered in their crusade to disarm American citizens. They have masked their intentions with such terms as 'sensible legislation' and 'gun safety measure,' but the ultimate goal has always been to regulate gun ownership out of existence."
"Perhaps their campaign will shift to cities, where they will lobby mayors and city councils to ban firearms, including those carried by legally licensed citizens, from all public property. Thursday's Supreme Court ruling appears to leave that door cracked open." ... |
Why The Second Amendment Is A Loser In Court
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Mark McCullough
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From May. 29, 1995 in Time Magazine:
"The Second Amendment is like a Rorschach test: observers tend to examine it and discover whatever they already believe about gun control. Gun-rights groups like the N.R.A. are Second Amendment absolutists who believe that the 27-word passage bestows an inviolable right to own and carry guns. Gun-control advocates, on the other hand, tend to view the amendment as a dusty historical relic. For almost everyone else, the wording of the amendment is puzzling ..." ... |
Affirming the rule of law
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"Funny how landmark Supreme Court decisions seem never actually to settle anything."
"The court, to be sure, handed down a big one yesterday - ruling by a 5-4 margin that a Washington, DC, ban on handgun ownership violates the Second Amendment of the US Constitution."
"It's a welcome decision - if only in its faithfulness to the uniquely American role of a written Constitution in protecting individual liberties."
"Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in District of Columbia v. Heller, demonstrated clearly and forcefully that the language of the Second Amendment does, in fact, include an individual right to gun ownership - end of story."
"Well, maybe not." ... |
Stevens' dissent--egad!
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"Comment on to previous post points out at p.2 of the Stevens dissent he refers to NFA and US v. Miller: 'Upholding a conviction under that Act, this Court held that...'"
"Same mistake the 9th Circus made years ago and had to issue a new opinion, since Miller was never convicted -- commentators noted this was pretty suggestive the court hadn't bothered to read Miller before citing it. First thing you look for in reading a case is what happened below, and what the Court do to that. Very first thing." ...
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H/t to David Codrea. |
Arming America
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"For the past 32 years, law-abiding residents of Washington, D.C. have been at the mercy of one of America's most unforgiving gun control laws: a total ban on the possession of handguns in the home, as well as strict trigger lock and disassembly requirements for rifles and shotguns. Taken together, these restrictions have left Washingtonians unable to mount any sort of meaningful defense of themselves, their families, and their homes from armed intruders." ...
"One major thing the decision didn't do, however, was directly address a crucial question going forward: whether the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is applicable against the states as well as the federal government (which administers Washington, D.C.). ..." ... |
Are States and Cities Bound by the Second Amendment?
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"Plans for post-Heller challenges to gun control laws throughout the country will come to naught unless the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments, a question the Supreme Court did not address in yesterday's decision. Three 19th-century Supreme Court decisions say it doesn't." ...
"The question for federal courts hearing challenges to state or local gun control laws, then, is whether the right to keep and bear arms, like freedom of speech or the guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures, is an aspect of the liberty protected from state encroachment by the 14th Amendment. ..." ... |
NY: Owners rejoice as court rejects D.C. ban
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"The historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that yesterday upheld the constitutional right of individuals to bear arms is not expected to have an immediate effect on New York state's stringent gun-control laws."
"But the court's 5-4 decision - its first such ruling on gun rights - could open the door for future legal challenges to state and local laws that limit and restrict gun ownership, including Westchester's safe storage law, advocates and experts said."
"'We are going to have to revisit a lot of the laws that government bodies have passed to see if they are constitutionally correct,' said J. Scott Sommavilla, president of the Westchester County Firearm Owners Association." ... |
NY: Supreme Court ruling may impact Syracuse gun law
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"A five-to-four Supreme Court ruling has upheld our right to own a firearm. Thursday's verdict strikes down a Washington D.C. law making it nearly impossible for its residents to own a handgun."
"It may also have a similar effect on some New York state and local laws."
"In New York, you must have a good reason for wanting a gun. But the next time that rule is challenged in a court of law, it could be considered unconstitutional."
"'The language in the Supreme Court decision today directed the District of Columbia to absolutely issue a license to the plaintiff unless there was a cause to outright deny,' says National Rifle Association spokesman Scott Armstrong." ... |
NY: Court's gun decision brings mixed reactions
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"Local reactions to the Supreme Court guns decision came swiftly Thursday, as many people stayed updated on the arguments leading up to the ruling via the Internet and television."
"Thoughts ranged from worries about violence to satisfaction about personal rights to concerns about future legal cases."
"'I'm really displeased,' Patricia Gioia of Schenectady, who is a member of the Brady Campaign against guns, said. 'I respect the fact gun owners feel they have to have them, but there's more chance for violence when people are harboring guns. Society has changed; now, when people fight, they don't slap each other, they pull out a gun.'" ...
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KABA Note: And when "shall issue" laws are passed there'll be blood in the streets! Fender bender firefights! Every dispute will turn deadly! But it never winds up happening that way. |
Ruling clears up 'right' to bear arms
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"Thursday's landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court settled one aspect of the long-running national debate over gun control but did not end it. Absolutists on both sides of the issue will overreact, but the 5-4 decision A) simply upheld a lower court decision that a complete ban on handguns is unconstitutional, and B) held that the individual right is not tied to service in a state militia."
"It did not prohibit gun licensing or other regulations."
"Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, noted, that 'like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.'" ... |
Gun rights aren't absolute
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"The Supreme Court on Thursday took a historic, if not definitive, step in determining the extent to which the government can regulate the personal possession of a firearm."
"The ruling affirms gun ownership as an individual constitutional right but does not rule out the kind of reasonable regulations that Congress and many states, including New York, already apply." ... |
Repeal the 2nd Amendment
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Mark McCullough
Website: http://www.georgiacarry.org/
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"No, we don’t suppose that's going to happen any time soon. But it should."
"The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is evidence that, while the founding fathers were brilliant men, they could have used an editor."
"On Tuesday, five members of the court edited the 2nd Amendment. In essence, they said: Scratch the preamble, only 14 words count ..."
"In doing so, they have curtailed the power of the legislatures and the city councils to protect their citizens." ...
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Submitter's Note: No, in doing so, SCOTUS has empowered citizens to protect themselves, something the legislatures and the city councils have been unable to do.
KABA Note: And even if the Second were repealed, it would no more remove our rights than repealing the First Amendment would remove our right to worship, assemble and gather as we choose. |
Bloomberg Sees Benefit in Guns Decision
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"The Supreme Court's gun ruling is driving a wedge through the ranks of Mayor Bloomberg's Coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns."
"As mayors from across the country denounced the decision to overturn the Washington, D.C., ban on handguns, Mr. Bloomberg issued a statement saying it would 'benefit' his coalition, and predicted it would have no impact on the city's regulation of handguns."
"His remarks were a sharp departure from those made by mayors Richard Daley of Chicago and Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, both prominent members of the coalition whose cities' gun laws have been targeted by the National Rifle Association." ... |
Sticking to Their Guns
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"Today's decision by the Supreme Court that the District of Columbia's virtual ban on handguns violates the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution is being hailed as a victory for gun owners."
"But Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, was quick to see a silver lining. Although he had not yet read the decision, he told a press conference that he believes the court endorsed the group's advocacy of 'reasonable regulation,'." ... |
America loves both the law and the gun
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"You can live in a country for more than a dozen years. You can marry one of its citizens, and watch your son grow up to be one of its citizens. Yet on occasion, here in the United States, I still feel like an alien from the opposite end of the universe."
"This week provided one of those moments, when the Supreme Court threw out the District of Columbia's 32-year ban on handgun ownership, ruling in the process that the second amendment of the country's constitution guaranteed the right of every American to possess firearms."
"A statement of the blindingly obvious, you might think, given that the gun population of the US is not far short of its 300 million human one. ..." ... |
Heller's Manufactured Gun Rights Can Be Traced to a Flawed Law Review Article
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"The momentous Supreme Court decision, D.C. v. Heller, has for the first time interpreted the Second Amendment's right to bear arms as protecting an individual right for citizens to have guns for personal uses, 'such as self-defense within the home,' pushing aside the 'well regulated militia' basis for this right stipulated in the first half of the amendment's sentence. In sweeping aside four past high court decisions and over forty lower court cases, the five-member majority concluded that the amendment doesn't really mean what it says. But lost in Heller's tumult is the origin of this newfound individual right." ... |
KS: Calm down, gun lovers
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"For all the chest-thumping taking place among gun advocates, last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling doesn’t mark a huge change in the nation’s approach toward ownership of firearms."
"Americans generally agree that citizens who qualify for permits should be able to keep handguns in their homes. A 5-4 opinion overturning a restrictive Washington, D.C., gun law affirms that right."
"But reasonable people also support some safeguards, such as prohibitions against weapons like machine guns and waiting periods to allow for background checks."
"Fortunately, the court ruling allows for at least some of those reasonable safety measures." ... |
IL: Gun ban ruling has Chicago thinking it's next
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jac
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"As news spread of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down the handgun ban in Washington, D.C., one thing was clear in Chicago: The city's own ban now faces a challenge as serious as any in its 26-year history."
"From a visibly angry Mayor Richard Daley to a federal lawsuit filed within hours that challenges Chicago's ban as unconstitutional, there was no mistaking that the high court's opinion Thursday puts the city's law squarely in the middle of a long legal fight." [link added]
"While swift, the lawsuit wasn't a surprise given that Justice Stephen Breyer, in his dissenting opinion, noted 'Chicago has a law very similar to the District's.'" ... |
NY: Gun laws expected to withstand ruling
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"Gun laws in New York State don't appear to be in immediate danger, but firearms regulations of many kinds eventually could be challenged in court as a result of Thursday’s U. S. Supreme Court ruling affirming that individual Americans have the right to keep and bear arms." ...
"But that right can be limited, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote ..."
"The District of Columbia is free to impose 'some measures regulating handguns,' Scalia wrote in the case, District of Columbia v. Heller. 'But the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.'" ... |
MO: Let's have some sanity concerning guns
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"I like shooting guns. If I could have one do-over in life, I would go back and accept the position on the University of Nebraska Women's Rifle Team that I turned down when I was in college because I was afraid of the time commitment. When the kids are gone and we have spare time, my husband and I plan to take up shooting."
"The Supreme Court said we have a right to keep guns in our homes--to a point. Felons and people with mental impairments don't need guns. But the key word here is HOME. Our founding fathers didn't intend for people to walk around packing guns. ... We never need people carrying guns in government buildings, schools, churches ... Nor does any citizen really need an assault weapon or armor piercing bullets." ... |
MD: Man Shot While Allegedly Trying To Rob Home In Cumberland
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"A man was shot during an attempted robbery at a home in Cumberland Wednesday morning."
"Investigators with the Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigation Unit say there was an altercation at a home in the 300-block of Pulaski Street."
Residents heard gunshots just before 6:50 a.m."
"Police say Michael Evans and Corey Adams of Petersburg, Virginia came into the house and demanded money."
"Evans was shot at several times in the buttocks and leg. The two ran out of the home and drove out of the area." ... |
1, 2, 14
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"Both of the men running for president displayed their shortcomings yesterday in reacting to the Supreme Court's ruling that the Second Amendment includes an individual right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense. The amendments at stake include not only the Second but also the First and the 14th, so even those who aren't handgun enthusiasts or partisans of gun control will want to pay attention." ... |
CA: City Attorney To Defend San Francisco Gun Laws - NRA Files Lawsuit Against San Francisco Today
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"The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today announced that it has filed a federal lawsuit in partnership with the National Rifle Association challenging the validity of San Francisco Police Code Section 617, a prohibition against possession or sale of firearms or ammunition on property controlled by the City and County of San Francisco."
"The litigation, which names both the City and the San Francisco Public Housing Authority as defendants, takes specific issue with a 'lease provision that bans the possession of firearms in public housing,' according to a CCRKBA news release published this afternoon." ... |
DOJ Settles Hatfill Suit for $5.8 Million
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"The Justice Department has agreed to pay former Army scientist Steven Hatfill almost $6 million to settle his claims that the government violated his privacy rights during its investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks." ...
"... He was never charged in connection to the still-ongoing investigation." ...
"Attorney Mark A. Grannis released a statement on behalf of Hatfill's legal team, eviscerating government officials and the media."
"'Our government failed us, not only by failing to catch the anthrax mailers but by seeking to conceal that failure,' the statement said. 'Our government did this by leaking gossip, speculation and misinformation to a handful of credulous reporters." ... |
Gun ruling won't change much, ATF chief says
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"Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the rights of Americans to keep guns in their homes bolstered the resolve of Lone Star State gun proponents who already enjoy the support of Texas lawmakers."
"In Houston on Thursday to address 800 law officers attending a state conference on street gangs, the Bush administration's chief firearms-law enforcer said the ruling won't affect how he does his job."
"'There is nothing in terms of first blush to say it will significantly change our business,' Michael Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said of the high court's decision." ...
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Submitter's Note: Well at least he is honest about the fact that the BATFE doesn't care what the Bill of Rights says. |
OH: Deputies in death of inmate to get pay
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trial in the 2006 death of a county jail inmate were returned to the payroll this week but will not resume their law-enforcement duties until their court cases are resolved ..."
"Citing an economic- hardship clause in the agency's contract with the deputies, sheriff's legal counsel Christine Croce said, the deputies charged in the inmate's death submitted letters to the sheriff asking to be reinstated to the payroll." ...
"Croce said Alexander decided that the deputies' claims of financial stress were valid because they had not been paid for the past nine months." ...
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H/t to David Codrea. |
MA: Fitchburg police officer charged with rape
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"A city police officer has been placed on unpaid leave after being arrested Thursday on a charge of rape."
"Officer Robert Soroka, 28, was arraigned late Thursday in Fitchburg District Court and released after posting $500 cash bail ..."
"The alleged rape occurred Wednesday. Officer Soroka was acquainted with the 28-year-old alleged victim, according to police."
"The officer was one of six patrolmen slated to be laid off Tuesday because of budget cuts ..." ...
"No records on the case were available at Fitchburg District Court this afternoon. The case is being transferred to another court for further action, Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Quinlan said today." |
LA: Local Officer Charged With Molestation, Aggravated Rape
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FULL TEXT BELOW:
A local police officer was arrested on Thursday and charged with molesting a juvenile and aggravated rape.
St. Helena Parish Sheriff's Office Deputy Jessie Hughes was arrested as a result of a complaint of an alleged rape of a juvenile, the Louisiana State Police Department said.
Hughes was initially placed on administrative leave without pay while police investigated the claim. After the investigation, he was placed under arrest and taken to the Tangipahoa Parish Jail.
Following his arrest, he was fired from the St. Helena Sheriff's Department. |
Canada: Officer charged in alleged tow truck conspiracy
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"A York Regional Police officer was arrested today and charged with several offences in connection with an alleged tow truck conspiracy."
"Police say an officer was giving information on the locations of vehicle crashes to a Vaughan tow truck operator in exchange for so-called 'personal advantage.'"
"The investigation that led to the charges indicates the alleged conspiracy was going on for about two years."
"Const. Issam Azzouggagh, 28, is facing charges including breach of trust, conspiracy and accepting a secret commission."
"Azzouggagh, who has worked in 'uniform capacity' for the York police since 2003, is suspended with pay until the charges are resolved." ... |
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