The “War on Drugs” is Really a War on You

by Kevin Carson
http://c4ss.org/?p=8757

Hardly a week goes by without me seeing another think piece on the question: “Are we winning the war on drugs?”

From Stiff Upper Lip to Wobbly Lower Lip in One Generation.

by Anna Raccoon
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AnnaRaccoon/~3/6EaoA0uVwQA/

Note: I thought, in 1997, we might just about survive another Labour Government. Then the Princess of Wales died, and I realised the country had gone barking mad. Is there any way back to nicely repressed normality? I doubt it. SIG

Jury Nullification: A Barrister Writes

by Howard R. Gray

Juries have a duty to try the case according to the law: this is trite. The judge is the tribunal of law, and the jury is the tribunal of fact: that is the simple rule of how criminal law works, and also just as trite. Judges in England are allowed broad scope to direct juries on the law and often put forward their views of the facts usually pre-seasoned with the exhortation that it is “up to you ladies and gentlemen of the jury” about any particular point they deem in need of comment.

That being said, there is a plethora of rules that they must use to put to a jury about particular points of law and about the standard of proof that must always be there in their directions. For example the “you must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt” and “satisfied so that you are sure”, then they go on to give examples. There are the Turnbull directions on corroboration of witness testimony and so on. Each factual element that has a contentious nature must be directed upon in the judge’s homily to the jury at the end of the trial. Failure to adequately direct a jury can result in the verdict being set aside on appeal. Jurors needn’t be too worried that justice will be denied; appeals are often successful.

Control Your Local Police

by David Hummels
http://c4ss.org/content/17213

Control Your Local Police

While reflecting on recent episodes of police misconduct in my community and beyond, I began to think about how much law enforcement agencies resemble the Catholic Church. And no, this is not a pre-St. Patrick’s day Irish joke. Consider the following: The Church and police departments have both become safe havens for criminal abusers of authority. Both are allergic to accountability. Both are hierarchical institutions that value blind obedience and discourage internal dissent. Both focus more on covering their posteriors than they do on removing criminals from their ranks. Finally, neither of these entities truly value input from their respective communities.

£100 Reward for Conviction of Real Hate Criminal

This awful crime is worth mentioning.

If a native in a ski mask had punched Miss Oni on the nose while shouting “White Power!” the Plod would have torn the place apart in search of the villain. Every inch of CCTV footage would have been examined. Every known or probable BNP and EDL member within a five mile radius would have been pulled in for questioning. Someone would eventually have been found, and the Beeb would have given the resulting trial blanket publicity.

Instead, she was a non-white living in a Moslem area and dressing like a “goreh.” If some demented, and probably jealous, cow got up as a black pillar box chose to ruin her life with a pot of acid, that was only the enforcement of “community standards.” The Plod seem to have logged the crime, before going back to their preferred job of persecuting motorists. And they whine that no one likes them.

Women’s equality is one of the glories of our civilisation. If a woman wants to hide her face and body from view, that should be her right. Equally, if a woman wants to take pride in her charms, that should be her right. It was rightly established thirty years ago that dressing “provocatively” was no mitigation for sexual assault. Where are the feminists and the lefties now to scream blue murder at this?

I hope the plastic surgeons can put Miss Oni back together. The Libertarian Alliance offers a reward of £100 for any information that leads to the arrest and punishment of whoever did this to her. We wish it could be a hundred times that much.

I think we need to say things about these fellows

David Davis

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/554557_10151488913732518_711477817_n.jpg

Sean Gabb on Drinking and Driving: A Police Officer Writes

Note: I have removed the officer’s name, but this e-mail is reproduced here on the LA Blog exactly as received. I think he is inaccurate in several of his factual claims, especially since I know people who have been subject to random breath testing around the Christmas period. I have also encountered any number of police officers who struck me as either mad or high on drugs. However, since he has taken the trouble to write at such length, and so politely, I do require that those who wish to respond should do so in a calm and factual manner. The officer will, I am sure, be following your comments. It would be useful if he were to go away with a better idea than he appears to have of the objections that we have to police powers and to the frequent use and misuse of these powers. SIG

What has happened to Emma West?

http://englandcalling.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/what-has-happened-to-emma-west/

What has happened to Emma West?

Posted on January 8, 2013by Robert Henderson
Robert Henderson
It is now 14 months since Emma West was charged with racially aggravated public order offences after she got into an argument on a tram which led her to make loud complaint about the effects of mass immigration. This was captured by a passenger on a mobile phone and uploaded to YouTube. The details of her arrest and treatment plus a link to the incident on YouTube can be found at http://englandcalling.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/emma-west-immigration-and-the-liberal-totalitarian-state/.
Three times her trial has been delayed, on the third occasion in early September last year (http://englandcalling.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/emma-west-trial-delayed-for-the-third-time/).

No further trial date was set then and to the best of my knowledge none has been set since her last appearance in court. (If anyone has more up to date information please let me know). On each occasion the delay was ascribed to the need to complete psychiatric reports on Miss West. It stretches credulity way beyond breaking to believe such reports could not have been completed long ago.
Why has there been this inexcusable and increasingly absurd delay? Despite being put into a high security prison for more than a month (http://englandcalling.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/emma-west-immigration-and-the-liberal-totalitarian-state-part-2/) and having the risk that her son be taken into care, Miss West has made it clear throughout that she wishes to plead Not Guilty. The reason for the delay probably lies in that plea. The liberal elite rely on people charged with such offences being intimidated into pleading Guilty. A full blown trial would mean public discussion of the consequences of mass immigration and the ruthless measures which the liberal elite use to suppress such debate. They greatly fear that because it would risk the politically correct emperor being shown to have no clothes. .
The facts of the case speak for themselves: the behaviour of the authorities is not compatible with a free society.
—————————————————————————————————
UPDATE 9/1/2013
Miss West was scheduled to come to trial on 2 January, but the case was adjourned for the fourth time because an unspecified expert was not available. A new trial date has not been set ( http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Trial-alleged-tram-racist-Emma-West-adjourned/story-17782550-detail/story.html).
The continuing and ever more absurd delay suggests that the powers-that-be are in a quandary about what to do. It is unlikely Miss West will change her plea to Guilty after this length of time and the awful prospect for the authorities of a trial in which the official omerta against speaking honestly about race and immigration will be broken looms ever larger. On the other hand, if the case is dropped it will be a signal to the public that the liberal elite are afraid of any public challenge to their creed.
Miss West has also been charged with assaults against the police:
“West was also due to appear at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with assaulting two police officers at her home on March 3, 2012.
She denies both charges and the trial has been rescheduled to occur on March 4.” (Ibid)
To the best of my knowledge this is the first time these charges have appeared in the media. If the assaults took place ten months ago it is a little difficult to understand why the case has not already been tried as it is magistrate court case or why the case did not proceed on its original January date , which I take to have been 7 January. It will be interesting to see if it does take place on 4 March. If it does not, and the Crown Court case on the race-related charges has not been heard by then, it will be a strong indication that the CPS want the racial abuse case out of the way before she is tried for the alleged assault. It could be that it has been kicked down the road simply to give the authorities two months to think about whether the Crown Court case should proceed.

Competition – The Policeman’s Bawl…

by Anna Raccoon
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AnnaRaccoon/~3/qyDWRbpWm5c/

Note: The police should be abolished, and we should return to the old system of private prosecutions. Until then, every law passed since the Protection of Constables Act 1750, that raises these people above the rest of us, should be repealed. SIG

A brief note on the hospital call prank

by D.J. Webb

We have probably all listened to the hoax call to Edward VII Hospital in which an Australian radio show phoned the hospital pretending to be the Queen in the hope of obtaining information about Kate Mountbatten née Middleton’s confinement. While, of course, I do not celebrate the fact that a nurse is believed to have committed suicide, I cannot join in the condemnation of the phonecall.

Transgender Day of Remembrance

by Nathan Goodman
http://c4ss.org/content/14622

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day when people around the world gather to remember those who have been murdered because of transphobia. This is an opportunity for all people concerned with liberty and justice to come together around an extremely important problem. Violence against transgender, or trans, people, particularly transgender women, is pervasive. According to a 2011 study by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 50% of LGBT individuals murdered in 2009 were trans women and 44% of LGBT individuals murdered in 2010 were trans women.

It’s the Demographics, Stupid.

by Anna Raccoon
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AnnaRaccoon/~3/_ehg31luzVo/
It’s the Demographics, Stupid.

It has been an interesting week for the Establishment. And a bad one for the Republicans.

The Republicans lost an election because there are too many Hispanic, black and female voters and too few white, working and lower middle class men. The so called Rainbow coalition will continue to grow. That is the nature of “the American Demographic” and it is irreversible. This is the nature of history.

Being arrested is no small matter in England any more

by Robert Henderson
http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/being-arrested-is-no-small-matter-in-england-any-more/

Robert Henderson

There was a time when being arrested in England did not matter very much. Before digital technology came of age your fingerprints and mug shot might be taken, but if no charges were laid or, if you were brought to trial, a conviction was not obtained for the alleged offence which had caused your arrest, the chances of the ordinary law abiding person being inconvenienced in the future by the fact that those details were held by the police were small. There was no Police National Computer (PNC) until 1974 and the widespread use of personal computers was almost two decades after that.

Emma West trial adjourned for third time

by Robert Henderson

Emma West trial delayed for the third time
Robert Henderson

The trial of Emma West on racially aggravated public order offences has been delayed for the third time ( http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Emma-West-trial-adjourned-time/story-16820636-detail/story.html ). No further date has been set. The trial was originally scheduled for June, then July and finally September 5th. The ostensible reason for the latest delay is the same as it was previously, further psychiatric reports are being sought by the prosecution.

It is true that cases can be delayed several times for reasons which are entirely legitimate. Further evidence directly relating to the immediate facts of the case, that is, what happened rather than why it happened, may be being sought with a reasonable chance of success. Examples would be where witnesses have not been interviewed because they are not in the country, but are believed to be returning in the foreseeable future or documents are being withheld by a body such as a bank and their release or otherwise is the subject of ongoing court action. But there is nothing like that here, for the delay is simply down to further psychiatric reports being wanted. That is something largely within the control of those commissioning them. The fact that it is the prosecution which is asking for more reports is highly significant because it suggests that the ones they have already commissioned are not to their liking, that is, they are detrimental to the prosecution.

Killing no murder – the right of the individual to defend their home

by Robert Henderson
http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/killing-no-murder-the-right-of-the-individual-to-defend-their-home/

Note: This was written after the Tony Martin case. However, it applies just as well to other cases. SIG

Killing no murder
By Robert Henderson

Tony Martin’s conviction for murder after he killed the burglar Fred Barras, raises these important issues: the right of self-defence; the protection of property, the general use of police resources; the policing of Martin’s locality, the fairness of Martin’s trial and, above all, the relationship between the individual and the state.

The right to self-defence

Any attempt at definition short of giving a person an absolute right to defend themselves how they will is doomed to failure. Once a definition includes general qualifications such as “reasonable force”, it becomes unworkable, because the qualifications are hideously imprecise. The practical result is confusion and uncertainty and anyone who defends themselves is at risk of prosecution. The problem is exemplified in comments by Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative home affairs spokesman who recently said “People whose person or property is attacked should be able to defend themselves without fear of penalty from the law” (Daily Telegraph 24/4/2000), but then qualified this by saying that prosecutions could still take place in extreme circumstances. Once that qualification is made, the uncertainty returns.

False arrest of victims

by D.J. Webb

As libertarians will be well aware, English Common Law confirms the right of Englishmen to use arms in their self-defence. I am one of those who would not accept the legality of purported laws to strip us of this right, but in any case, we have not been stripped of this right, at least in terms of statute law. The 1688 Bill of Rights, which has not been repealed and has been affirmed by higher courts as being a major constitutional law that cannot be impliedly repealed (i.e., can only be repealed by express language clearly repealing it), specifies our right to use weapons in our own defence.

Clare’s law, blackmail, malice and the surveillance state

by Robert Henderson
http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/clares-law-blackmail-malice-and-the-surveillance-state/

In 2009 a Manchester woman Clare Wood, 36, was strangled by ex-boyfriend George Appleton who then committed suicide. Appleton had a record of violence against women including kidnapping an ex-girlfriend at knifepoint. At this point a campaign was begun by Clare’s family to allow women to check whether a prospective boyfriend had a history of domestic violence. Their efforts have resulted in the Home Secretary Theresa May agreeing to a trial of what is colloquially known as Clare’s Law in Wiltshire and Gwent ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9401303/Clares-Law-trial-to-begin.html)

I’ll Take “The Deck is Stacked” for $400, Alex

by Thomas Knapp

Note: A 98 per cent conviction rate? Bearing mind the nature of many “crimes” nowadays, and the quality of the evidence gathered by the pigs, that sounds far worse than over here, where the rate is about two thirds – less in ethnic areas, where juries often acquit in the face of the “evidence.” However, it may be that more cases over there aren’t pushed into court. SIG

Liberals in a multicultural denialfest

by Robert Henderson
http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/?p=1466

Note: This is an alternative view of the Rochdale sexual predation case to the one we published the other day by Yamin Zakaria. Probably, our readers are more likely to agree with it. Indeed, I agree with a lot of it.

Where the meaning of the Koran is concerned, however, I am more cautious. We know that undoubtedly sincere Christians have adopted interpretations of the first five books of the Old Testament which are at variance with the natural meaning of the text. Even where the New Testament is concerned, something as apparently obvious as the condemnations of homosexuality depend on the meaning of words like malakos and arsenokoites – words that do not appear to have had clear meanings until about a century after they were used in their specific context.

Over the past 1,300 years, Moslems appear to have adopted interpretations of the Koran and Hadith that are equally at variance. Understanding the “meaning” of any religious text requires more than a reading of its words in their plain sense – especially when the text has been translated from a radically foreign language. All we can say is that some present interpretations of Islam by Pakistanis resident in England sanction sexual predation against natives.

This is something which imams and believers in places like Rochdale need to address. We cannot say that “true” Islam promotes any of the things that Robert says it does. SIG

The Failings of the Crown Prosecution Service: A Barrister Writes

by Howard R. Gray

Note: This is a comment on a thread about the defects of the Crown Prosecution Service, but is worth posting in its own right.SIG

Two nuggets of experience about the CPS rather set the scene for what is happening. These took place years ago in the first year or so of the service when the majority of the lawyers were extraordinarily green and frankly of dubious competence in some quarters. I was defending a case when I was given an offer by the prosecution before lunch and it was then summarily withdrawn after lunch upon instructions from the prosecution lawyers “boss”.