Tuesday, March 29, 2011

11-03-29 USA leading the world! // EE.UU. líder en el mundo! // 美国领导的世界!


Tracking Our Downward Spiral
The Ways in Which America Still “Leads’ the World

By Richard Clark

March 29, 2011 
"
Information Clearing House----  According to Yes Magazine, amongst 20 of the world’s wealthiest countries, America now has:
  • the highest poverty rate, both generally and for children;
  • the greatest inequality of incomes;
  • the smallest amount of government spending (as a percentage of GDP) on social programs for the disadvantaged;
  • the lowest number of paid holidays, annual leave days and maternity leave days;
  • the lowest score on the UN’s index of material well-being of children;
  • the worst score on the UN’s gender inequality index;
  • the lowest social mobility (i.e. in America, more members of the lower and middle class remain stuck in that class than ever before);
  • the highest public and private expenditure on health care (as a portion of GDP), and yet accompanied by:
-         the highest infant mortality rate
-         the greatest prevalence of mental health problems
-         the highest obesity rate
-         the largest percentage of people going without health care due to cost
-         the greatest number of low birth weight children per capita
-         the greatest consumption of anti-depressants per capita
-         the shortest life expectancy at birth (except for Portugal);
-         the largest amount of carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption per capita;
-         the lowest score on the World Economic Forums Environmental Performance Index and the largest Ecological Footprint per capita (except for Belgium);
-         the highest rate of failing to ratify international agreements;
-         the lowest amount of spending on international development and humanitarian assistance as a percentage of GDP;
-         the largest amount of military spending as a portion of GDP;
-         the largest amount of international arms sales;
-         the largest negative balance of payments (except New Zealand, Spain and Portugal);
-         the lowest scores for student performance in math (except for Portugal and Italy) (and far down from the top in both science and reading);
-         the highest high school drop out rate (except for Spain);
And now, to top it off, America is leading all other industrialized democracies by bringing back debtors’ prisons!
Millions of folks around the good ol’ USA have been screwed over by predatory lenders and fine-print credit card contracts, and now, partly because of that, many of them are swimming in debt. And now, some of these people are actually being thrown in prison for going into debt.   That’s right, America in the 21st century is bringing back debtors’ prisons!   People who can’t pay off their credit cards can now be thrown in jail in a third of the states in our nation — and since the start of 2010, over 5,000 arrest warrants have been issued against people who owe as little as $1,000 to massively profitable corporations like Capital One.  (Source:  Thom Hartmann’s emailed newsletter)
So let me get this straight.   A few years after the financial crisis, where massive fraud was perpetrated by Wall Street, not one bankster is in jail, but 5,000 lower- or middle-class Americans, who were screwed over by these banksters, were sent to debtors’ prison??!
Republicans have set our country back more than 100 years — to the 1800′s — when the Robber Barons ruled and our politics were corrupted to the core.
Be proud, Americans.   Be very proud.

11-03-29 Judicial Corruption in Pennsylvania and California // La corrupción judicial en Pensilvania y California // 司法腐败在宾夕法尼亚州和加利福尼亚州


March 27 


California looks at Ciavarella outcome


SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com 
WILKES-BARRE – The federal corruption trial of former Judge Mark Ciavarella was at the center of attention of Luzerne County.

click image to enlarge
Former Judge Mark Ciavarella responds to questions along North Washington Avenue in Scranton after being found guilty of 12 of 39 counts. BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
The story made local headlines first. Then, the national press and news shows such as ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “20/20” and NBC’s “Today” aired stories.
Now, the case is being read by California lawyers, after the California Bar Journal published an article about the trial in its March edition.
The article is headlined “Could it happen here?” and is written by Janice M. Brickley, a legal advisor to commissioners at the California Commission on Judicial Performance.
“The case, an alarming story of judicial corruption and failures throughout the justice system that lasted two years, should raise a question in the minds of Californians: Could it happen here?” she wrote.
Brickley outlined the outcome of the trial, including Ciavarella’s conviction on 12 of 39 counts, including racketeering and mail fraud, as well as the indictment against Ciavarella.
READ THE FULL STORY:


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To the Editor:

In response to your article, "California looks at Ciavarella outcome", the question should be: Why is the US Department of Justice refusing to prosecute racketeering judges in California?

Ongoing large-scale false imprisonment in Los Angeles County have been documented in the Rampart scandal investigation (1998-2000).

Prof Erwin Chemerinsky concluded in 2001 "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when innocent people are convicted."

The 2006 LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel concluded "Innocent people remain in prison".  It documented that the victims by and large remained imprisoned.  Judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court object to their release, since it would cause "collapse of the justice system".  The report further concluded that "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office,[are] the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system".

The 2010 Staff Report of the Human Right Council of the United Nations concluded "corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California".


LINKS:
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WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA?
* "...judges tried and sentenced a staggering number of people for crimes they did not commit." 
Prof David Burcham, Dean, Loyola Law School, LA (2001) 
* "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when innocent people are convicted."     
Prof Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Irvine Law School (2001) 
* "Innocent people remain in prison"
* "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office, the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system, have not produced any response that we know of..."
LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel Report (2006)
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA?
* "...corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California." 
United Nations Human Rights Council Staff Report (2010)
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WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE STATE COURTS IN THE UNITED STATES?
* "On July 26, 2010, Laurence Tribe, Senior Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative, delivered an important speech to the Conference of Chief Justices, challenging them to halt the disintegration of our state justice systems before they become indistinguishable from courts of third world nations."
Prof Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School (2010), per National Defender Leadership Institute (2010)
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joseph Zernik, PhD
Human Rights Alert (NGO)