The status quo exists for any number of reasons, be it from, it's not broke don't fix it, to, perhaps it's not relevant in today's society, or quite simply, plain old apathy.
But in a majority of cases it remains because it's too entrenched, too costly to change, if not nigh impossible to change if only for the reason of logistics.
Gun control is a typical example, agenda driven pressure groups aside, the guns are out there and nothing in the world is going change that.
Though this article is not on the subject of guns I will just put my personal two bits worth in.
Am I against gun control ? I would have to answer that it would depend on the society I was living in.
Some few years ago we had a
rampage/massacre event that so radically
changed gun ownership laws in the UK that it is illegal to own a hand gun.
Apart from those directly effected (target shooting clubs) the country as whole was pretty much in favour, for after all we always have been relatively a gun free society and like it that way.
We are however witnessing a steady increase in gun violence in the less salubrious neighbourhoods obviously due to illegal possession by the "wrong uns," but that apart life ticks by.
But in a society that is awash with guns the status quo has to be excepted, for not least, the last two reasons I make mention of above.
Nor would I advocate disarming the "white hats" and leaving the "black hats" with access to a vast armoury of weaponry that, like global warming, is never going to go away.
All the accidental shootings, as unfortunate as they be, are a consequence of our old friend or enemy. the Status Quo.
Now to address the subject matter in the title of this article. Mike Niffong, rogue prosecutor or consequence of the status quo? The status quo in this case being elected judicial appointees, be it prosecutors, judges or whatever.
An existing system that with only the slightest of imagination can only appear fraught with dangers and littered with pitfalls.
Before you move further down the page I do hope you are not expecting some wonderful panacean revelation, for I fear elected Judicial appointees are just as entrenched in American Society as are firearms themselves and as we see in the case of Niffong potentially just as dangerous, and I am more than sure lethal in a multitude of instances.
So what can we make of Niffong and his motives, purely self serving? if we are to believe the comments of Gary Beeman who only makes incidental remarks about Niffong when writing about his own miscarriage of justice.
Gary Beeman spent three years on Ohio’s death row. He is also he only person to have ever won exoneration at a second trial proceeding as his own attorney after being sentenced to death. The prosecution’s main witness, an escaped prisoner, was likely the actual killer. He now lives in Niagara Falls.(Capital Defense weekly)
In 1976, I was indicted, charged and tried in less than three months for a murder I did not commit.
As shocking and traumatizing as the accusation was, hearing the guilty verdict and death sentence was far more so. I had previously thought that only the guilty were convicted, ................
Wrongful convictions occur far more frequently than most of us realize, than most of us can even imagine. There is no doubt in my mind that those Duke lacrosse boys would be in prison right now if their families had not had the means to challenge those allegations.
I have little doubt that the prosecutor would be addressed as Judge Mike Nifong today if the system had brought its awesome power to bear on those who did not have the means to fight back, which is happening very frequently. Full article
Self serving, no matter what the cost to others, culpable or not. it's hard to believe otherwise when we see testimony like this given at Niffong's
The head of a private DNA laboratory said under oath today that he and District Attorney Mike Nifong agreed not to report DNA results favorable to Duke lacrosse players charged with rape.
Brian Meehan, director of DNA Security of Burlington, said his lab found DNA from unidentified men in the underwear, pubic hair and rectum of the woman who said she was gang-raped at a lacrosse party in March. Nurses at Duke Hospital collected the samples a few hours after the alleged assault. Meehan said the DNA did not come from Reade Seligmann, David Evans, or Collin Finnerty, who have been charged with rape and sexual assault in the case.
Meehan struggled to say why he didn’t include the favorable evidence in a report dated May 12, almost a month after Seligmann and Finnerty had been indicted. He cited concerns about the privacy of the lacrosse players, his discussions at several meetings with Nifong, and the fact that he didn’t know whose DNA it was.
Under questioning by Jim Cooney, a defense attorney for Seligmann, Meehan admitted that his report violated his laboratory’s standards by not reporting results of all tests.
Did Nifong and his investigators know the results of all the DNA tests? Cooney asked.
“I believe so,” Meehan said.
“Did they know the test results excluded Reade Seligmann?” Cooney asked.
“I believe so,” Meehan said.
Was the failure to report these results the intentional decision of you and the district attorney? Cooney asked.
“Yes,” Meehan replied.
This case has been in trouble since the beginning.
Looks like the District Attorney, Mike Nifong, may be cuddling with bubba soon.
flapsblog.com/?cat=211(Copied in its entirety from above)
Disturbing to say the least. My thanks to Michael Ramirez for the above, and as Mister Ramirez opines, will Niffong soon be playing bitch to Bubba's top? if there were any justice he would, lawyer I ain't but perverting the course of justice would seem to fit nicely here.
Alas it seems so rare that prosecutors or cops for that matter end up facing charges for malicious prosecution.
Perhaps other charges might be brought to bear, or perhaps we could introduce a new statute just for Niffong, something like causing a
Nauseas Reaction whilst in pursuit of Bad Acting.
Well worth a statutory minimum of Twenty, I'd vote for that.
If you can get as far as I did, the four minute mark, give yourself a Purple Heart, if you can see the full eight minutes out, nothing less than the Victoria Cross.
So that's it folks, the system stinks. What's the answer? I haven't a clue.
