tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59645422868083699672024-02-20T20:17:18.581-05:00Non Aequitas EstWhere truth, politics, and the judicial industry collideEJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-6437826259191579252011-04-27T15:31:00.000-04:002011-04-27T15:31:37.191-04:00A Two-fer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Normally I don't post twice in the same day, but this story epitomizes, I think, the nature and mission of this blog:<br />
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<blockquote></blockquote><br style="color: #660000;" /><b><span style="color: #660000;">Louisville lawyer Steve Pence tied to </span></b><span style="color: #660000;"><b>case of crooked N.Y. banker</b> </span><br style="color: #660000;" /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #660000;">Ex-Lt. Gov., prosecutor an unnamed co-conspirator</span></i></span><br />
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<blockquote><span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">Louisville lawyer Steve Pence, a former Kentucky lieutenant governor and federal prosecutor, has been linked as an unnamed co-conspirator to a federal criminal case in New York in which an ex-bank CEO pleaded guilty to fraud</span>.</blockquote><br />
Read the full story <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110423/NEWS01/304240038/1008/NEWS01/Louisville-lawyer-Steve-Pence-tied-case-crooked-N-Y-banker">here.</a></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-66318344597628120092011-04-27T13:37:00.001-04:002011-04-27T13:51:41.451-04:00A Slap on the Wrist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">The Fayette Urban County Council has found a Lexington police sergeant guilty of misconduct.</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #660000; text-align: center;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>and he still gets away with it</i></span>) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubRUByhCPOhOI8PnA-aYokwD986kafGXuj97sgn3Ddweidc-pmyC720KjXXUKbE9ypaVpq2PS_xLKHyoa9csFXZ7IxvdLyQ7FXabVqaQioW-W3NXYjpTKg9ACU6K5wgEN61h1FwKnePA/s1600/Rayford_Earl_mug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubRUByhCPOhOI8PnA-aYokwD986kafGXuj97sgn3Ddweidc-pmyC720KjXXUKbE9ypaVpq2PS_xLKHyoa9csFXZ7IxvdLyQ7FXabVqaQioW-W3NXYjpTKg9ACU6K5wgEN61h1FwKnePA/s1600/Rayford_Earl_mug.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Earl Rayford was demoted during a disciplinary hearing Tuesday night, according to the <a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/lexington-police-sergeant-found-guilty-of-misconduct-demoted/">Lexington Herald-Leader</a>. Rayford was accused of going against state law and department policy by asking officers to give money found on a fugitive to his step-daughter. <br />
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Rayford's attorney says his client was only trying to return the money to its rightful owner, but his superiors say what he did was wrong.</span></blockquote></div><br />
Now I could be completely mistaken, but when someone - <i>anyone</i> - goes <b>against</b> state law, isn't that person supposed to be charged and prosecuted <i>under </i>state law ? What, then, is the message the Lexington PD is sending - that violations of state law committed by Lexington police aren't serious enough to merit prosecution and potential prison time? Is is a race issue? A tenure issue? An issue of "connections"?<br />
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<b>HE STOLE MONEY.</b><br />
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The Kentucky Revised Statutes defines theft as:<br />
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<blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>514.030</b></span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Theft by unlawful taking or disposition -- Penalties.<br />
(1) Except as otherwise provided in KRS 217.181 or 218A.1418, a person is guilty of theft by unlawful taking or disposition when he unlawfully:<br />
(a) Takes or exercises control over movable property of another with intent to deprive him thereof; or<br />
(b) Obtains immovable property of another or any interest therein with intent to benefit himself or another not entitled thereto.<br />
(2) Theft by unlawful taking or disposition is a Class A misdemeanor unless the value of the property is five hundred dollars ($500) or more, in which case it is a Class D felony.</span></i></blockquote>Seems pretty straight-forward to me, yet the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government seemed to gloss over this particular statute when it came to a police sergeant in their employ. Was it politics, favoritism, or...?<br />
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<a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/04/27/1720716/lexington-police-sergeant-is-found.html">Read the full story</a>, then you decide.<br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;"> </span> </div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-5193201525482001952011-04-23T13:34:00.002-04:002011-04-23T13:42:21.281-04:00I can use "Bull Malarkey" in a sentence, too<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
Yet <i>another</i> judge says "They're out to get me" in yet <i>another</i> case of judicial misconduct. To that <span style="font-size: large;"><b>I</b></span> say "<b>Bull Malarkey</b>"...<br />
<blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Harlan circuit judge faces misconduct charges</span></b></span><br />
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The top judicial official in Harlan County abused his position to try to discredit his cousin's opponent in a political race, an ethics panel has charged.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Circuit Judge Russell D. Alred also committed numerous other ethics breaches, including seeking a job for another cousin; compromising his impartiality by pushing for investigations of people; and ordering people to take drug tests without cause, the charges allege.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The state Judicial Conduct Commission publicly issued a total of 20 charges against Alred on Tuesday. That is a high number compared to other recent cases.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The charges — which are administrative, not criminal — allege that Alred has committed misconduct, besmirched the judiciary, allowed family or other relationships to impair his objectivity and has been unfair.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The commission could rule that the charges have no merit.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> However, if the panel decides Alred violated ethics standards, his potential punishment ranges from being privately admonished to being suspended or even removed from office.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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In documents filed with the commission, Alred denied all the charges, saying people opposed to him politically have orchestrated "frivolous and mean-spirited complaints" to the conduct commission.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Alred told The Associated Press that the charges are "bull malarkey."</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> "It's all politically motivated by individuals who worked diligently against me in my 2006 election," Alred told the AP. "And they have conspired, encouraged and prompted numerous false allegations to be made against me."</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">Read about the really <i><b>BAD</b></i> stuff</span> <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/23/1680942/harlan-circuit-court-judge-faces.html">here</a>... </blockquote><br />
</div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-42207082446179503582011-04-13T17:01:00.000-04:002011-04-13T17:01:34.794-04:00An Idea So Crazy, It Just Might Work<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The cost of incarceration vs. the cost of everything else must be starting to make an impression on the "Lock 'Em All Up" crowd... <br />
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<blockquote style="color: #660000;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">FRANKFORT -- Some bills strut and fret their hour on the stage, full of sound and fury, but in the end signify little. Others come through on cat’s feet, quietly, plain in their presentation but historically transformative in what they plan to do.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This week, a true ‘change’ bill of the latter sort passed the General Assembly, quickly and with little fanfare, a strikingly bipartisan bill that rethinks a fundamental but ever-more-costly function of state government: Corrections. </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">House Bill 463 takes a long look at the drift toward harsh and punitive sentencing in the so-called War on Drugs, and admits the unproductive drag such sentencing of non-violent offenders has become on the state budget.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kentucky has about 20,500 prison inmates and spends about $440 million a year on Corrections -- closing in fast on a billion dollars a biennium. As recently as 2008, the Pew Research Center reported Kentucky had the fastest growing prison population in the nation. Incarceration costs nearly $22,000 per inmate, per year -- money many have come to see as pure waste if all it accomplishes is simple punishment of low-level, non-violent drug offenders.</span></div><a name='more'></a><br />
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</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The reform bill changes the way we think. It’s designed to keep such offenders out of prisons and in treatment, under community supervision. The goal is to return no-threat offenders to productive lives as taxpaying, contributing citizens, not wasting away behind bars, becoming hopeless, hardened criminals on the taxpayers’ tab.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The legislation arose from months of work by a blue ribbon task force of prosecutors, judges, defense lawyers, police, lawmakers, corrections officials and others. The Pew Center, a national resource in helping states cope with exploding Corrections costs even as recidivism rates worsen, helped the task force in its work.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kentucky’s penal code has not had a comprehensive review and revision since 1975. In subsequent years, as the state bought into the premises of the nationwide War on Drugs, penalties grew like Topsy in patchwork fashion. Corrections costs flew high, right along with the number of incarcerations -- incarcerations overwhelmingly drug-related and too often imposed on non-violent offenders arguably more in need of treatment and job training than a locked metal door and three squares a day from state kitchens.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Compounding the fiscal problem is that, by its very nature, Corrections is relatively immune to the budget cuts that have stripped most of state government bare in recent years, though eight rounds of cuts over three years. Prison buildings must be maintained, guards must be paid to watch the inmates, the inmates must be fed. Prison costs are resistant to cuts and always referred to in the newspapers as ‘soaring.‘</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">But with passage of this bill, the dollar signs will finally fly in reverse. It’s estimated the bill will net $147 million in clear savings over the next decade from reduced jail and court costs, even after paying for treatment programs and probation and parole monitoring. Total savings including money plowed back into treatment, could reach $420 million. And that doesn’t include the clear benefits -- financial and otherwise -- of having non-violent offenders working, producing, and paying taxes in the community. </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The measure ultimately came within one vote of unanimous General Assembly approval. The final agreed-upon version passed the House with only a single dissenting vote, the Senate with none, and it was sent to the governor for his signature Monday only days after it was brought up for its first discussion. </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Corrections Reform Bill of 2011 promises to be the signature achievement of this year’s session, and has been hailed by veteran legislators and others as one of the landmark legislative accomplishments of recent decades.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div></blockquote></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-29729442562330729562011-04-09T19:12:00.000-04:002011-04-09T19:12:25.802-04:00The Irony is Intoxicating<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
I think the headline says it all.<br />
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<blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Mont. Judge Robert E. Lee: On DUI task force, arrested for DUI</b> </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(AP) HELENA, Mont. - A Montana justice of the peace set to preside over a DUI court later this year has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs after authorities said he stumbled sweating and disoriented into a police station. <br />
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The misdemeanor charge filed Thursday against Robert E. Lee is the latest in a string of DUI incidents involving high-profile officials as Montana lawmakers consider stricter laws aimed at changing attitudes of acceptance toward driving under the influence. <br />
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Lee, 66, is charged with driving while under the influence of methadone, a synthetic narcotic used to relieve pain or prevent withdrawal symptoms from drug addiction. He denied the charges Friday in a phone interview with The Associated Press, but declined to speak about the allegations in detail.</span></blockquote>For more on the story, go <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20052244-504083.html">here... </a><br />
</div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-85356419065260224522011-04-07T01:19:00.002-04:002011-04-07T01:28:26.107-04:00A Clarion Call<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">Sometimes you see something so inspiring, so thought-provoking, and just so darn true, that you have to pass the message along. You know - to help that seed of an idea grow.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is my effort to do that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If watching this video makes you think, if it makes you angry at the gradual whittling away of your constitutional rights, and above all - if it inspires you to action then please, copy the embedding code and post it on your blog, web page, or whatever.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If, on the other hand, it offends you - then look in the mirror and ask yourself why.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her name is Ann Barnhardt, and she needs our support. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Part 1</b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qeyrp-V3Jvc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Part 2</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/riSJcZC89Hc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Kudos to Gates of Vienna , where I first saw this amazing video.<b> </b>Pop over there and see and read more amazing and thought-provoking things.</div></div><br />
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</div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-17127350123734448552011-04-03T14:24:00.000-04:002011-04-03T14:24:32.236-04:00One of The Coolest Things Ever<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I found this on <a href="http://www.cbs.com/">CBS.com</a>'s site, and I was mesmerised.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/C_CDLBTJD4M/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C_CDLBTJD4M&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C_CDLBTJD4M&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><span id="goog_345861808"></span><span id="goog_345861809"></span><br />
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</div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-18672648221442453912011-04-01T15:11:00.001-04:002011-04-01T15:14:12.870-04:00Side Bar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: small;">I have not had the strength nor the inclination to post anything new in the last several days, thanks to a particularly nasty bout with an intestinal flu. Without going into detail (which I am quite certain is unnecessary, anyway), it was awful. I have regained some strength - at least enough to give a tinker's damn - to update the blog a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">But only just...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Here's something that caught my attention that merits posting. Only one word comes to mind: <b>graft</b>. </span><br />
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<blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/15/state-lawmaker%e2%80%99s-employer-is-building-a-courthouse-he-helped-fund/">State lawmaker’s employer is building a courthouse he helped fund</a> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(courtesy <a href="http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/">BluegrassPolitics</a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">)</span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/files/2011/03/john-will-stacy.jpg"><img src="http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/files/2011/03/john-will-stacy-198x249.jpg" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">State Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty </span><br />
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</span><span style="color: #660000; font-size: xx-small;">FRANKFORT — In 2006, state Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, helped authorize $13 million in the state budget to build a new Rowan County Judicial Center in Morehead. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">In 2008, local construction company Packs’ Inc. was assigned to manage the project, in partnership with Alliance Corp. of Glasgow. Also in 2008, Stacy first disclosed he was employed by Packs’ in a paid job that he held for at least the next three years and may still hold, according to his annual legislative financial disclosures. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stacy declined Tuesday to talk about his work for Packs’ or his involvement in the judicial center, which is expected to be completed this summer. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“We’re not gonna discuss this,” Stacy said outside the Kentucky House chamber. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Packs’ President A. Keith Pack also declined to comment on Stacy or the project.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kentucky legislators may own and work for companies that construct the projects they help put in the state budget, as long as they don’t hold an unfair advantage over competitors, said Anthony Wilhoit, executive director of the Legislative Ethics Commission.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">But ethics watchdog Common Cause of Kentucky said the practice looks “very bad” and should be avoided. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“At least they should be embarrassed that they’re voting on budgets and legislation that goes to the direct benefit of their employers,” said Richard Beliles, state chairman of Common Cause. “There is too much of a correlation between where some of our legislators work and what they’re doing with the public’s money.” </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Local officials on the project board overseeing construction of the judicial center said they didn’t know Packs’ hired Stacy. <br />
</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“Nobody informed us of that,” said Jerry Flannery, who was a Rowan County magistrate and project board member until he left office last year. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“It’s interesting because Packs’ does a lot of the public projects around here,” Flannery said. “The courthouses, the university. They’ve been in business a long while, and frankly, there’s not a lot of contractors to choose from here.” </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Packs and Alliance got the judicial center contract after their only competitor, Codell Construction of Winchester, withdrew from consideration, Flannery said. Minutes of the project board’s meeting confirm his account. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Project board members said Stacy’s only role known to them was working with Sen. Walter Blevins Jr., D-Morehead, and House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, to get state funds. None of the legislators sit on the project board or decide which companies get contracts, the local officials said. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The project is a worthy one, said Circuit Judge Beth Maze, a project board member.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“We needed a new courthouse badly,” Maze said. “Our courthouse was actually a warehouse years ago that we converted. So the ceiling leaks, we have mold, there have been all sorts of problems.”</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The contract with Packs’ and Alliance was executed on Sept. 8, 2008, according to the state Administrative Office of the Courts. So far, $531,391 in construction management fees have been paid, the AOC said.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">It’s not clear when Packs’ hired Stacy, but it appears to have been in 2008. Stacy listed Packs’ as one of his sources of income in annual financial disclosures covering the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. He did not list Packs’ for the 2007 disclosure, the oldest available on file.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stacy is not required to reveal his salary in the disclosure, and he did not, but he also did not list his “positions held” at Packs’, although the disclosure requires it. A woman answering the phone at Packs’ headquarters on Tuesday said Stacy does not keep an office there.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stacy’s other listed sources of income include Discount Drug in Sandy Hook and Frenchburg Pharmacy in Frenchburg, although he does not say what he does at those businesses. Stacy holds a law degree from Northern Kentucky University. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">About a decade ago, Stacy held a fund-raising job at Morehead State University for about $50,000 a year while he was chairman of the House budget subcommittee for education, which meant he helped control funding for MSU and other state universities. Stacy left that job in 2001 but defended his dual roles in a 2008 interview with the Herald-Leader. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“Your job as a legislator is to represent the communities that elect you,” Stacy said at the time. “And I think any legislator, if he’s an automobile dealer or if he works for some kind of public agency, like a university, you know, he’s obviously going to try to help that entity. I mean, that’s his job as a legislator.” </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stacy is not the only legislator involved in the judicial center. Senate Minority Leader R.J. Palmer, D-Winchester, whose district borders Rowan County, represented Ross, Sinclaire & Associates at some of the project board’s meetings, according to meeting minutes. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ross, Sinclaire is the project’s financial agent. It has won the lion’s share of such work from $880 million in recent statewide courthouse construction. It also employs Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, and once employed the son of former Chief Justice Joseph Lambert, who pushed the ambitious courthouse construction program. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Palmer said he never dealt with Stacy on the judicial center and does not mix his public and private business. Ross, Sinclaire hired him because of his career experience in banking, not because it does a lot of government bond work and he’s a Senate leader, Palmer said. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“Obviously, they know I’m a state senator,” he said. “It’s a point of discussion and we’re down here three months a year. But I think they hired me because of my financial background.” </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Alliance, Packs’ construction partner on the project, employs Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Rockfield, as its director of business development and public relations. But DeCesare said he’s had nothing to do with the judicial center, and to be cautious, he tries to avoid involvement with any Alliance project that’s in the state budget. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“Just so there’s no perception of a conflict of interest, I stay away from projects that get funding from the state,” DeCesare said. “I don’t even get updates on their progress.”</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-15127046272894958232011-03-26T02:02:00.000-04:002011-03-26T02:02:50.639-04:00Uhh, Wait - We're NOT Getting Paid??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: black;">Slacked off this week, but <b>this</b> issue came to the fore, and I had to do a double-take. Odd that a group of people who endorse merit-based salaries are the very same who bristle at the idea of not getting paid when they themselves have accomplished nothing of merit.</span> Credit goes to <a href="http://www.lex18.com/">WLEX</a> for reporting this.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><h1><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Legislative Pay On Hold</span></span></h1><span style="font-size: x-small;">FRANKFORT- Lawmakers caught in legislative limbo with the House adjourned and the Senate in recess won't get paid for any additional days for now.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Legislative Research Commission Director Bobby Sherman said Friday he has ordered a hold on any further salaries and expenses associated with the special legislative session until Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear decides to veto or let stand language in a Medicaid budget bill that bars payment during a 10-day recess that would end April 6.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The total amount in question could exceed $600,000 for all of the state's 138 lawmakers.</span> <br />
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"In a normal situation, even though this is not normal, a session continues until the last chamber is out," Sherman said. "And normally that would mean both sides, all members, would get paid until the General Assembly ends, which is when the last chamber leaves."</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But the odd twist of some lawmakers being adjourned while others are in recess coupled with the no-pay provision complicates matters.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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"I don't know what's going to happen with that provision, because the governor could let it stand, or the governor could veto it in its entirely, or the governor could veto part of it and turn it into something that doesn't say exactly what it says now," Sherman said.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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Lawmakers had been meeting in special legislative session since March 14 at a cost of about $64,000 a day. Beshear called them back to Frankfort just days after they adjourned the regular session, which ended in discord and without an agreement on how to fill a budget gap in the Medicaid program that provides care for more than 800,000 elderly, poor and disabled Kentuckians.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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The Medicaid issue had become politically charged in a gubernatorial election year. Beshear is seeking re-election, though he's unopposed in the May 17 Democratic primary. Republican Senate President David Williams is one of three candidates seeking the GOP nomination to run against Beshear.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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The pay issue is certain to be fodder for stump speeches if Beshear and Williams end up facing each other in the general election.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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In an unexpected move that effectively ended the special session, the House voted Thursday night to accept a Senate proposal</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">to shore up Medicaid, but only after receiving assurance from Beshear that he would veto objectionable provisions.<br />
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The proposal includes cuts to most government agencies to free up money for Medicaid. The Democratic-controlled House had</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">vehemently opposed that.<br />
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Beshear has tentatively scheduled a press conference Thursday afternoon to address the issue.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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The governor had warned lawmakers that unless they pass legislation to fill the Medicaid gap by the end of the month, Medicaid providers would face 35 percent cuts in reimbursement rates, largely because of an influx of new recipients added to the rolls during the economic recession.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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Beshear had asked lawmakers to pass legislation transferring $166.5 from next year's budget to shore up Medicaid this year. Then, next year's $425 million budget gap will be plugged using privatization.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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The Senate's proposal that was approved by the House would require cuts to most government agencies of 0.35 percent in the current fiscal year and 1.74 percent next fiscal year. The House called those cuts unacceptable and proposed a measure earlier this week that calls for triggered cuts that would kick in only if the privatization doesn't work.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The governor has line-item veto power to essentially strike everything from the Medicaid bill except the transfer provision if he chooses. He assured House lawmakers in a letter Thursday that the proposed cuts would be vetoed.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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After passing the legislation late Thursday night, House lawmakers adjourned until January when they're scheduled to return or the 2012 session. Meanwhile, the Senate recessed until April 6 when it would return to Frankfort to consider overriding vetoes, an apparently futile move because the House would have to agree to overrides.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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Stumbo said the House has no intention of returning into session or of overriding Beshear's vetoes because members don't want to be paid for any additional days.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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"We adjourned sine die," Stumbo said Friday. "We believe our business is through. We suggest the Senate should reconvene itself and do the same."</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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Williams has an entirely different take on legislative pay, insisting that the language in the Medicaid budget bill halts it altogether.</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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"Legislators are not being paid," he told reporters.</span> </blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)</span></blockquote></div><span style="color: #660000;"> </span></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-41611870038707683462011-03-21T23:56:00.002-04:002011-04-04T14:20:21.379-04:00Do As We Say, Not As We Do...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I found this article <i>most</i> interesting, in that an attorney actually had the nerve to question the ethics of those whose job it is to, themselves, question ethics - and then wound up in hot water over it. Credit goes for this article goes to <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/">kentucky.com</a> and the author, <a href="mailto:jcheves@herald-leader.com">John Cheves</a> <br />
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<blockquote style="color: #660000;"><h1><span style="font-size: small;">Free-speech suit grows from lawyer's criticism of state ethics commission</span></h1></blockquote><div style="color: #660000; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A First Amendment lawsuit to be decided soon in U.S. District Court in Frankfort might establish whether a respected lawyer broke an ethics rule — risking his law license — by criticizing the state's Legislative Ethics Commission.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"This is a very important case because free speech is, I think, going out of style. The practice now is for someone in authority to say, 'We didn't like what you said, and we're gonna get you for it,'" said Stan Billingsley of Carrollton, a retired state trial judge who has written about the case extensively on his legal blog and in a new book.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nobody disputes John M. Berry Jr. was entitled to disagree in 2007 when the ethics commission dismissed a complaint against Kentucky Senate President David Williams involving campaign money solicited from Frankfort lobbyists.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The commission ruled Williams' Senate aides innocently erred</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">by asking lobbyists for up to $50,000 each at a fund-raising luncheon for Senate Republicans. State law forbids lobbyists from giving to state legislative campaigns.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">However, Berry — a Henry County lawyer, former state senator and brother of writer Wendell Berry — didn't nurse his disappointment privately. In a letter he sent to ethics commissioners, he said they failed in their duty. Then he went to their next meeting and shared his letter with reporters.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"It is very unlikely that a legislator would ever come before the commission and confess guilt," Berry wrote in his letter. "I do not agree with your conclusion, and I believe that the evidence filed with the complaint, with the other facts you found by the order, clearly indicate that what was going on was unethical and a violation of the statutes which you are charged to enforce."</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Berry's criticism didn't get much publicity that day. But it angered some on the nine-member ethics commission — appointed by the Senate president and House speaker — who thought their integrity had been questioned.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One ethics commissioner, Paul Gudgel, a retired state Court of Appeals chief judge, responded by filing a complaint against Berry two days later with the Kentucky Bar Association. The KBA licenses the state's lawyers and can discipline them with reprimands, fines and disbarment.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Intentionally impugning the reputation of the commission members without justification to advance his own agenda was improper," Gudgel wrote in a handwritten note to KBA chief bar counsel Linda Gosnell.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gudgel did not respond to a request for comment last week. The ethics commission's executive director, Anthony Wilhoit, said Gudgel was in Florida and could not be reached easily.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In a deposition in July, Gudgel acknowledged news coverage of Williams' ethics case was a sore point to him. Berry made it worse by "grandstanding," Gudgel said.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"As a matter of fact, I have coffee on a regular basis with a number of lawyers and others involved in the judicial process," Gudgel said in his deposition. "There was a great deal of talk from them to me about articles in the paper over this case — that it was another cover-up — 'You went in the tank again' — that kind of stuff."</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In response to Gudgel's concerns, the KBA launched a 15-month professional conduct investigation of Berry. It kept Gudgel apprised of its progress, even sending him Berry's response letters, according to court records.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Through a KBA spokeswoman, chief bar counsel Gosnell said Friday it is standard operating procedure to keep complainants informed during investigations. Gosnell did not directly respond to calls seeking comment on the case.)</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The KBA focused its attention on an ethics rule that states: "A lawyer shall not make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge, adjudicatory officer or public legal officer."</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gudgel said Berry made a recklessly false statement in his letter. Berry complained the ethics commission met privately with Williams to hear the case, ordering the public and the watchdog group that filed the complaint, Common Cause of Kentucky, to leave the room.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The closed-door hearing "gave cause for some to speculate that the deck was stacked and the senator would be exonerated," Berry wrote. He immediately added, "I was not, and am not, willing to go that far."</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Had Berry read the legislative ethics law before writing his letter, he would have known that it lets the commission hold private hearings with lawmakers accused of wrongdoing, Gudgel said. Therefore, nothing improper was done, and Berry's criticism was recklessly false, Gudgel said.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Those representations, in my opinion, were both inaccurate and untrue, and misrepresented what actually was going on, which was merely a closed preliminary inquiry consistent with the statute," Gudgel said in his deposition.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div class="story_body"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In March 2009, the KBA Inquiry Commission chose to dismiss Gudgel's complaint. But it sent Berry a warning letter.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #660000;"><figure class="vertical"><aside></aside></figure><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Read <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/21/1678983/free-speech-suit-grows-from-lawyers.html#ixzz1HIR6zbEo">more</a><a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/21/1678983/free-speech-suit-grows-from-lawyers.html#ixzz1HIR6zbEo"></a></span></div></blockquote></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-17586861520793274242011-03-19T23:51:00.003-04:002011-03-19T23:56:30.875-04:00Your State Government (?) at Work (???)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I thought this rather important to post, since much of it is glossed over in the media, so here is the list of what passed and what failed in Kentucky’s General Assembly this session.<br />
<blockquote><h3>WHAT PASSED:</h3></blockquote><blockquote><b>Justice:</b><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Control corrections costs, improve treatment options for drug offenders (HB 463)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Optometry:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Allow optometrists to perform certain procedures now limited to ophthalmologists (SB 110)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Hunting, fishing:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Amend constitution to protect right to hunt and fish (HB 1)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Adult abuse:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Prevent people convicted of abusing adults from inheriting from their victims or managing their affairs (HB 52)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Bath salts:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Ban synthetic drugs now marketed as “bath salts” (HB 121)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Guardianship:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Streamline guardianship standards (HB 164)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Fireworks:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Legalize fireworks that explode or shoot into the air (HB 333)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Textbooks:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Establish procedures for correcting textbook errors (HB 464)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Sewers:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Allow creation of regional sewer authority in Louisville area (HB 26)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Permitting:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Streamline business-permitting process (SB 8)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>School principals:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Give superintendents more say in hiring principals (SB 12)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Gambling:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>State licensing of companies that allow phone or online wagering on Kentucky horse races (HB 387)</blockquote><blockquote><h3>WHAT FAILED:<a name='more'></a></h3><span class="pp"></span><b>Medicaid:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Shore up this year's Medicaid budget (HB 305)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Adult abuse:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Create an adult-abuse registry (HB 101)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Methamphetamine </b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>enforcement:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Require prescriptions for medications containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth (SB 45)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Immigration:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Give law enforcement greater authority to arrest illegal immigrants (SB 6)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Domestic violence:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Expand domestic-violence laws to protect dating couples (HB 35)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>Payday loans:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Limit interest on payday loans (HB 182)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>School dropouts:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Raise dropout age to 18 (HB 225)<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span><b>School attendance:</b><span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Give children right to attend school closest to home, allow districts to establish charter schools (SB 3)</blockquote></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-86692961558173218522011-03-19T14:40:00.000-04:002011-03-19T14:40:59.821-04:00Truth, Politics, and the Judicial Industry Collided...HARD<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I would like to add to this, but I think the federal judge's statement at the end of this article says it best. <br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>FRANKFORT, Ky. — A former judge was sentenced Thursday to more than 26 years in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to gain power and control politics in eastern Kentucky’s Clay County.<br />
<span class="pp"></span>U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves said former Clay Circuit Judge R. Cletus Maricle, 67, headed the conspiracy and therefore got the longest sentence to date in the case.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>"Deterrence is a major factor in a case such as this," Reeves said.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Maricle and seven others were convicted in March 2010 of multiple charges, including <br />
<a name='more'></a>racketeering, money laundering and voter fraud stemming from the 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections. Later Thursday, Reeves sentenced another defendant, former Clay County Magistrate Stanley Bowling, to 15 years and 10 months.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Maricle, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, with his feet shackled and his gray and white hair askew, said little during the 45-minute hearing, noting that he testified at trial.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>"Thank you for that opportunity," Maricle said.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>One of his attorneys, Martin Pinales, said multiple issues would be appealed.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Nearly three dozen family members, friends and associates sent Reeves letters asking for leniency for Maricle.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>The Rev. Aaron W. Mobley, a Baptist minister in Manchester, described Maricle as a man of compassion, integrity and goodwill and wrote that he respected Maricle for his "Christ-likeness."<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>"He has been a pillar to this community and to his church," Mobley wrote. "This community was better because of him."<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Prosecutors have described the men's efforts as going beyond vote-buying toward an attempt to control Clay County. Jurors ordered them to surrender $3.4 million in assets as proceeds from the criminal conspiracy.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Parman said Bowling was essential in the conspiracy to fix elections.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>"He was absolutely a crucial cog in that wheel," Parman said. "What we have here is organized crime."<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>The judge agreed, saying the scheme would not have advanced far without Bowling.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Bowling declined to speak during his one-hour hearing.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Reeves recommended that Bowling, who suffers from multiple medical conditions, serve his time at a federal medical facility near his eastern Kentucky home.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Smith told Reeves that the group Maricle headed, which also involved elections commissioners, a former county clerk and school superintendent, allowed crime to flourish in Clay County.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>As part of the conspiracy, more than 8,000 people were paid $50 each for their votes in one election, and 150 votes were stolen by changing the voting machines, Smith said.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>"In the 21st century, we would think that would be unheard of," Smith said. "In Clay County, they found a way to do it."<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>Reeves chastised voters in Clay County who sold their voting rights but weren't charged.<span class="aa"></span><br />
<span class="pp"></span>"There's a lot of folks who should look in the mirror tonight and be ashamed of what they've done," the judge said.</blockquote></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-51146542295265580392011-03-18T13:32:00.002-04:002011-03-18T13:37:25.675-04:00A Voice Crying in the Wilderness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h3></h3>I found this editorial at <a href="http://richmondregister.com/">The Richmond Register</a>'s site, and I thought it well thought out and very lucid. So here it is. Please post any comments down below. <br />
<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="url entry-title" href="http://richmondregister.com/viewpoints/x814640058/SEEK-and-ye-shall-find-Medicaid-money" rel="bookmark">SEEK and ye shall find Medicaid money</a></span></blockquote><h3></h3><blockquote><div class="story_meta"><span class="author vcard"> <span class="story_credit fn">By Jim Waters</span> </span> <span class="source-org vcard story_source"> <a href="http://richmondregister.com/" style="color: black;">Bluegrass Institute</a> <a class="url org fn" href="http://richmondregister.com/" style="display: none;">The Richmond Register</a> </span> <span class="updated dtstamp" style="display: none;" title="2011-03-18T10:00:00Z">Fri Mar 18, 2011, 10:00 AM EDT</span> </div></blockquote><div class="entry-content"><blockquote>FRANKFORT — Not only does Gov. Steve Beshear refuse to consider cuts in education to solve Kentucky’s Medicaid crisis, but he accused Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, of wanting “our schoolchildren… to pay for a shortfall in the Medicaid budget” when Williams proposed paltry cuts in the amount of SEEK funding local school districts receive.<br />
<br />
The Support Education Excellence in Kentucky program uses a formula for allocating money to cover the costs of transporting and educating the commonwealth’s K-12 students.<br />
<a name='more'></a> <br />
<br />
Proposing even just a bit of belt-tightening for education — as the Kentucky Senate did — usually ranks up there with politically risky moves such as suggesting cuts to popular entitlement programs with big-spending lobbies and union bosses that exercise political voodoo over elected officials.<br />
<br />
However, Kentucky families and business owners know: These are unusual times.<br />
<br />
Families cut budgets. Businesses do more with less. Residents tighten belts. And all of them strongly suggest that government do likewise. That’s why November’s political tidal wave surged beyond Washington, D.C.’s boundaries and swept through state legislatures, where more than 600 seats, a record number, got new occupants.<br />
Reasonable Kentuckians get it. They can see through the politics. Increasingly, they understand that making painful — but reasonable — cuts now to balance Kentucky’s Medicaid budget avoids even deeper cuts next year — while ensuring the program’s survival.<br />
<br />
However, by proclaiming there may come “a time that we have to reduce all by an across-the-board cut, but now is not that time,” Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, shows how out of touch much of the political class in the Kentucky House remains with the rest of the commonwealth.<br />
<br />
Senators — in a very bipartisan vote — proposed a paltry 1.33-percent cut to just one revenue stream for school districts, just for the next fiscal year. Districts awash in stimulus and job-training money in recent years would hardly notice that cut if they have wisely managed their resources.<br />
<br />
What Williams proposed cutting — $38.5 million from SEEK only for the next fiscal year — is reasonable. Even many of his Democratic foes in the Senate agree.<br />
<br />
The Legislative Research Commission reported that local school districts have $775 million in their accounts, 49 percent more than in 2005. Districts also have received $460 million in stimulus and job-training money during the past few years.<br />
<br />
Again, what the Senate proposes impacts only one revenue stream. It would involve only the state portion of school district revenue, not local or federal sources.<br />
<br />
Yet, to hear the governor and his pals — education bureaucrats and their union-toting political soul mates in the Kentucky General Assembly — describe it, the proposed cut represents the equivalent of economic Armageddon for Kentucky schools.<br />
<br />
Where is the outcry over low test scores, widening achievement gaps and, as education Commissioner Terry Holliday recently revealed, the fact that far too many high schools are “dropout factories” where more than 40 percent of students give up on school?<br />
<br />
But start touching the money — even 1.33 percent of it, for one source only, for one year only — and, by golly, you will hear about how much our Frankfort politicians care about protecting their backsides, er, “our children.”<br />
<br />
In one sense, I’m surprised that so many oppose cutting education while other areas seem fair game. Aren’t these the folks usually lecturing fiscal conservatives about the sinfulness of “greed” and the need for “shared sacrifice?”<br />
<br />
It’s pretty hard to make across-the-board cuts without touching education, since nearly 60 percent of Kentucky’s two-year, $18.1 billion budget — more than $10 billion — gets spent on education on top of the 13 percent already spent on Medicaid.<br />
<br />
That’s doesn’t leave much “sharing” to occur, now, does it?<br />
<i><br />
Jim Waters is vice president of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. Reach him at</i> <a href="mailto:jwaters@freedomkentucky.com">jwaters@freedomkentucky.com</a>. <i>Read previously published columns at</i> <a href="http://www.bipps.org/">www.bipps.org</a>.</blockquote></div></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-55061758659528178812011-03-17T13:45:00.002-04:002011-03-17T15:26:03.400-04:00He Didn't REALLY Do Anything Wrong...Really<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
I know I shouldn't be surprised, but it rather galls me when public officials, especially those in law enforcement, hold everyone else to a higher standard than they apparently hold themselves.<br />
<br />
Once again, credit goes to <a href="http://www.lex18.com/">WLEX</a> for reporting on this. <br />
<br />
<blockquote><h1><a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/lexington-police-officer-faces-charges/#comments"><span style="font-size: large;">Lexington Police Officer Faces Charge</span></a></h1><div class="story_inlines"><div class="inline_storytools"><div class="share_code"><span class="sharebutton" style="line-height: 10px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lex18.com%2Fnews%2Flexington-police-officer-faces-charges%2F%23comments&t=Lexington%20Police%20Officer%20Faces%20Charges%20%7C%20LEX18.com%20%7C%20Lexington%2C%20Kentucky&src=sp" name="fb_share" style="text-decoration: none;" type="button_count"><span class="fb_share_size_Small "><span class="FBConnectButton FBConnectButton_Small" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="FBConnectButton_Text"></span></span><span class="fb_share_count_nub_right fb_share_no_count"></span><span class="fb_share_count fb_share_no_count fb_share_count_right"><span class="fb_share_count_inner"></span></span></span></a></span> <span class="sharebutton" style="left: 2px; line-height: 10px; position: relative; top: 4px;"></span> </div><div class="media-tabs" id="media-tabs-C48B0B559A2678D2DF68D47448E60C51"><span class="ratingtext"></span><span class="rater"><span class="star-rating-control"></span><input class="rstar star-rating-applied" name="star" style="display: none;" type="radio" value="2" /> <input class="rstar star-rating-applied" name="star" style="display: none;" type="radio" value="3" /> <input class="rstar star-rating-applied" name="star" style="display: none;" type="radio" value="4" /> <input class="rstar star-rating-applied" name="star" style="display: none;" type="radio" value="5" /></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/lexington-police-officer-faces-charges/#"><img src="http://www.lex18.com/images/thumbnails/C1B0C4193DACC859A95F54B417CF2637_250_250.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The Lexington Police Department has leveled charges against one of its own.<br />
<br />
The department and the Lexington Fayette-Urban County Council are looking into allegations that Sgt. Earl Rayford asked his officers to give money found on a fugitive to his stepdaughter.<br />
<br />
LEX 18 obtained a copy of the charges before they were made public. They were presented to the council during a disciplinary hearing Tuesday night.<br />
<br />
The charges stem from an incident in August of 2010. A statement of formal charges alleges Rayford was off duty and asked dispatch to send officers to arrest Delvagio Lax, a wanted fugitive. Rayford's attorney, William Jacobs, said Lax was dating Rayford's stepdaughter at the time.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
"Police officers went to where he was located. They did find him there. He was armed. He had drugs on him, and had some money on him," he said during the hearing.<br />
<br />
About $455, according to the statement of charges.<br />
<br />
"Sgt. Rayford called these officers and had that money returned to a family member," Lexington Fayette County Urban Government Keith Horn said.<br />
<br />
Rayford's attorney said the sergeant knew the money belonged to his stepdaughter and that she had taken almost that exact amount out of an ATM earlier in the morning.<br />
<br />
According to the statement of charges, Rayford's wife met officers and said she'd take the money for her daughter, Rayford, "never revealed the family relationship surrounding this incident," and charges against Lax were reduced from trafficking to possession of a controlled substance because the money was returned.<br />
<br />
Jacobs told council members that Rayford was honest about the family relationship, that he never ordered officers to do anything and that there was never and original trafficking charge in the first place.<br />
<br />
"He did what a police officer was supposed to do. Said the right thing. Did the right thing. As to this, I'm still at - what he did wrong? He didn't do anything wrong," Jacobs said.<br />
<br />
According to the statement of charges, signed by Lexington Police Department chief Ronnie J. Bastin, Rayford's conduct, "does not reflect favorably upon the division of police," and "brings disrepute to the division."<br />
<br />
The council decided to postpone the hearing. It will hear the case against Rayford on April 26 at 5 p.m.</div><div class="media-tabs-panel"></div></div></div></div>In the meantime, Rayford remains on the job.</blockquote></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-10209951400205754682011-03-16T23:22:00.002-04:002011-03-17T15:31:39.273-04:00Bidness in the Bluegrass<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> Found this today on <a href="http://www.lex18.com/">WLEX</a>'s website. Feel free to comment below.<br />
<br />
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<blockquote><h1><span style="font-size: large;">Williamsburg Attorney Pleads Guilty To Extortion Conspiracy With Local Sheriff</span></h1></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><div class="by"><i></i></div></blockquote><div class="content"><blockquote><div class="story_inlines"><div class="inline_media"><div class="media-tabs" id="media-tabs-C1C867859793F6B397BB0C7CC203B917"><div class="media-tabs-panel"><ul><li class="media" style="display: none;"> <div class="media-photos-wrapper"><div class="media-photos" style="height: 0px;"><ul><li class="active" style="left: 0px; opacity: 1;"><a href="http://www.lex18.com/images/news/ronnie_reynolds.jpg" rel="lightbox" title=" "><img alt=" " src="http://www.lex18.com/images/thumbnails/8837E0B126658893E945A5AFA95FD05F_250_250.jpg" /></a></li>
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<a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/williamsburg-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-extortion-conspiracy-with-local-sheriff/#"><img src="http://www.lex18.com/images/thumbnails/F777C41A3B898E2DF6DAFC34228B13D2_250_250.jpg" /> </a></div></div></div></div></blockquote><br />
<blockquote><div class="story_inlines"><div class="inline_media"><div class="media-tabs" id="media-tabs-C1C867859793F6B397BB0C7CC203B917"><div class="media-tabs-panel"><a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/williamsburg-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-extortion-conspiracy-with-local-sheriff/#">Williamsburg Attorney Pleads Guilty To Extortion Conspiracy With Local Sherif</a>f</div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote>Ronnie Wayne Reynolds, a criminal defense attorney in Williamsburg, Ky., admitted to conspiring with a former Whitley County sheriff to extort money from his clients according to a plea agreement filed with the federal court in Lexington Wednesday.At the hearing, Ronnie Wayne Reynolds, 54, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.Reynolds admitted that on at least three occasions between 2004 and 2007, he and the former sheriff conspired to extort money from individuals charged with felony drug offenses in state court in exchange for favorable considerations in their cases.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Specifically, Reynolds admitted to making cash payments to the former sheriff in excess of $57,000 so that the sheriff would refer individuals charged with crimes to Reynolds for representation. Each of these individuals expected and understood that they would face reduced charges and/or they wouldn't face any period of incarceration if they hired Reynolds based on the sheriff's recommendation.In addition, Reynolds, acting on behalf of the sheriff, also encouraged these same clients to make forfeiture payments and/or cash donations to the Whitley County Sheriff's Office (Whitley SO) in exchange for a favorable resolution to their cases.In each instance, the felony drug charges were reduced to misdemeanors with the sheriff's consent and approval.The sheriff's office received over $55,000 from this scheme. Reynolds will have to forfeit $199,000 representing the proceeds of the conspiracy.</blockquote></div></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-40837970654330029362011-03-14T22:00:00.001-04:002011-03-17T15:36:40.527-04:00So Many Problems, So Little Competency<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<b>Whilst slouching about looking for some good stuff to discuss, I stumbled upon the mother-load. Credit goes to the individual sites listed. Please feel free to post any comments here.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote><b>Today and executive order rescinding the order for Michael Carneal to testify in the case of Michael Carneal v. J. David Donahue, et al., was rescinded.</b> [<a href="http://pageonekentucky.com/%27http://apps.sos.ky.gov/executive/journal/journal2.aspx?showtext=1&doc=216365&rtype=M%22">SoS</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Tell me if this sounds familiar. </b> Efforts to boost transparency in states are often thwarted by old patterns of secrecy. [<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/13/government-transparency_n_835031.html">HuffPo</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Kentucky is the worst state in the country for cutting funding for mental health issues. </b>We are clearly winning the future here in the Commonwealth. [<a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/13/1668170/merlene-davis-mental-health-group.html">H-L</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Steve Beshear says he is turning up the heat on David Williams. </b>Maybe so. But let’s get real. Neither have a clue what’s really going on. Beshear just has more power to spend tax dollars campaigning. Or will the KDP be reimbursing the state for that airfare? And then for the use of state resources to push out press releases, talking points and such? Should we hold our breath? [<a href="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/nkypolitics/2011/03/14/beshear-turns-the-heat-up-on-lawmakers/">Amanda Van Benschoten</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Mitch McConnell, who has never had an original idea of his own, is now blaming Barack Obama for high gas and oil prices. </b> [<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/149141-mcconnell-blames-obama-for-high-gas-oil-prices-">The Hill</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>The world should still be afraid that these people thought Sarah The Quitter Palin was qualified to do anything but breathe.</b> [<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/rick-davis-sarah-palin_n_835004.html">HuffPo</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Ben Chandler is “Boehner Boy” and he is in action. </b>You are welcome. [<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2011/03/boehner-boys-in-action-big-time.html">DownWithTyranny</a>]<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<b>OxyContin abuse has spread from Appalachia across the United States. </b>It’s a shame our legislature and Hal Rogers wasted so much time on a ridiculous and costly meth bill instead of working to tackle the pill epidemic ruining Eastern Kentucky as we speak. [<a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/13/110243/oxycontin-abuse-spreads-from-appalachia.html">McClatchy</a>]<br />
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<b>Ten people died in ten separate crashes on Kentucky roadways Monday, March 7 through Sunday, March 13.</b> [Press Release]<br />
<br />
<b>Mental lightweight Michele Bachmann is mangling everything, duh.</b> This time it’s Revolutionary history. [<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/michele-bachmann-revolutionary-history_n_834906.html">HuffPo</a>]<br />
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<b>The Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act in its entirety, is set to be introduced on Wednesday.</b> [<a href="http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/03/14/DOMA_Repeal_Bill_to_be_Introduced_Wednesday/">The Advocate</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>An Italian author wrote a book on the history of Harlan coal miners.</b> [<a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/13/1669401/italian-author-pens-history-book.html">H-L</a>]</blockquote><br />
<blockquote><b>Some crazy stuff is happening in these United States of America. </b>Welcome to March 2011. Winning the future! [<a href="http://wonkette.com/440534/evil-obama-now-firing-people-for-acting-semi-human">Wonkette</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Oh, how true. </b><i>“On the one hand, it kills me to go another month without winged-skull seat covers for our Suburban, but on the other, I can’t bear the thought of my kids opening the kitchen cupboard and finding only three or four different kinds of Doritos,” Schmeltzer added. “But right now we just can’t have both. It’s a nightmare.”</i> [<a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/consumers-say-recession-changed-way-they-blow-payc,19691/">HAHAHA</a>]<br />
<br />
<b>Yes, health care costs have continued to rise. </b>But as we’ve reported multiple times, only about a percent of those increases can be attributed to health care reform – and that’s according to health insurance companies. [<a href="http://www.geoffdavis.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=229087">Geoff Davis</a>]</blockquote></div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-91038753951863263652011-03-13T20:53:00.000-04:002011-03-13T20:53:28.040-04:00Face of Muhammed: The 12 Muhammed Drawings - Drawings of MuhammedThis won't make a lot of people happy, but welcome to America - "Land of the First Amendment". You can thank Fred Phelps and that merry band of inbreds he refers to as a "church"...<br /><br /><a href="http://face-of-muhammed.blogspot.com/2006/12/12-muhammed-drawings.html#links">Face of Muhammed: The 12 Muhammed Drawings - Drawings of Muhammed</a>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-31959261575172218172011-03-13T14:27:00.001-04:002011-03-17T15:37:31.905-04:00We're Broke! Quick - Blame Somebody!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Here in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, things aren't as green as the Bluegrass would have you believe...<br />
<br />
For starters, the state is broke. Every bit of $1 billion in the red. Hence the furloughs that Frankfort is imposing on all state employees. One unpaid day a month for all state employees is somehow supposed to save TONS of cash. I guess they forgot about the fact that all these employees are just <b>waiting</b> to use their sick time, vacation time, or whatever freebie time they have accrued. So in essence, the money is still coming out of the treasury - from where in the treasury is a mystery. I don't know about the rest of you, but when my bank account is empty and I OWE people, cash does not magically appear in my pockets.<br />
<br />
So in any event, because Governor Beshear isn't having a successful run at selling his "<a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/beshear-issues-special-session-call-to-address-medicaid-budget-and-dropout-bill/"><span id="goog_1750476594"></span></a><a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/beshear-issues-special-session-call-to-address-medicaid-budget-and-dropout-bill/">Robbing-Peter-to-Pay-Paul</a>" scheme:<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The House and Senate had been in discussions for three days to try to reach an accord on Beshear's proposal to balance the Medicaid budget by using $166.5 million from next year's appropriation. Senate Republicans want across-the-board cuts to all government programs to fill the gap.</span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Beshear's proposal would not only shift funding from next fiscal year's budget to close this year's Medicaid budget gap but would also balance next year's budget with some $425 million in cost savings in the Medicaid program by entering into private contracts with managed-care organizations. Williams contends Beshear's plan won't work because he doesn't have time to enter into contracts with such organizations.<br />
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The GOP-controlled Senate has steadfastly rejected Beshear's proposal to fill the Medicaid gap. Instead, they have called for cuts of 1.58 percent to all government programs next fiscal year to transfer money into Medicaid.</span></blockquote>He (Beshear) would rather lay blame at the feet of Senate President (and Republican) David Williams:<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Beshear said Williams is putting thousands of jobs at risk at hospitals and clinics that provide medical care to the elderly, poor and disabled Kentuckians who rely on Medicaid.<br />
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"Sen. Williams has apparently declared and decided that he has better things to do," Beshear said. "Well, it is time to hold him accountable. It is time to remind him of the job he's been elected to do."</span></span></blockquote><br />
Hmm... Hold politicians <i>accountable</i> ? Remind them of <i>why</i> they were elected ?<br />
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That is a rather radical pair of notions. Might it actually work? Well...<br />
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<blockquote><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12425375">Egypt protests: Key moments in unrest</a></span><i><br />
</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Following more than two weeks of protests, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak has stepped down as president, ending three decades in power. What are the key events that led to this moment?</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">14 January: Tunisian president flees</span></b><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><img height="112" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51195000/jpg/_51195819_011009798-1.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" width="200" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Weeks of protests in Tunisia led to President Ben Ali fleeing the country </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12195025" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali steps down</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> and flees the country following weeks of anti-government protests and clashes with police.</b> </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The protests there were inspired by the self-immolation of a frustrated unemployed young man, Mohammed Bouazizi, in December.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The toppling of Mr Ben Ali after 23 years in power help galvanise the current anti-government protests in Egypt.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">25 January: Protests begin in Egypt</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12272836" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thousands of people join protests</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> in several Egyptian cities after an internet campaign</b>.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Clashes break out in Cairo's Tahrir Square between riot police and protesters, who say they are fed up with high levels of poverty, corruption and unemployment. Some protesters say they will not give up until President Mubarak steps down.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">28 January: Unrest spreads</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12303564" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The protests in Egypt continue</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> and gather momentum.</b> President Mubarak declares a curfew in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez and the army is deployed. The curfew is immediately and widely flouted, and there are further clashes between protesters and police amid growing reports of looting and lawlessness.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><img height="112" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51195000/jpg/_51195815_011182115-1.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" width="200" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There were two days of clashes around Tahrir Square between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After Friday prayers, tens of thousands of people join protests in Cairo and other cities to press the demand that Mr Mubarak step down.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The headquarters of the governing NDP party is set ablaze, while protesters also besiege the state broadcaster and the foreign ministry. </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Late on Friday, </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11777943" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">President Mubarak sacks his cabinet</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>.</b> In a televised address, he says he understands the protesters' grievances but defends the actions of the security forces. At least 26 people are reported to have died since the unrest began.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">President Barack Obama calls Mr Mubarak after his speech, telling him he must give meaning to his pledges to provide better economic and democratic opportunities to the Egyptian people. </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">29 January: Suleiman appointed vice-president</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12316731" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">President Mubarak names intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his first-ever vice-president</a></b><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Clashes continue, with at least 74 people reported dead in the last two days.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">31 January: Army rules out force</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The army gives heart to the tens of thousands of protesters by saying it recognises the "legitimate rights of the people" and </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12330169" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">will not use force</a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> against them.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Vice-President Omar Suleiman says Mr Mubarak asked him to open dialogue with all political parties on constitutional reform.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 February: 'March of a million'</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12340593" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Huge rallies take place in Cairo</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> and other cities after protest leaders call for a "march of a million"</b>. </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><img height="112" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51195000/jpg/_51195821_011169120-1.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" width="200" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Protest leaders called for a "march of a million" people in Cairo - many answered </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Journalists in Tahrir Square, the focus of the protests, estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have shown up - men, women and children from a broad spectrum of Egyptian society.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In another televised address, Mr Mubarak announces he will step down after September's presidential elections. He pledges constitutional reform but says he should stay in office to ensure an orderly transfer of power to his successor. Protest leaders call on the president to step down by Friday 4 February at the latest.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2 February: Army calls for protests to end</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12343402" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The army urges demonstrators to return to their homes</a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">, saying their message has been heard.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12350143" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Brutal clashes break out</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> </b>between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups as supporters of the president make an organised attempt to enter Tahrir Square. Stones, metal bars and petrol bombs are pressed into service as running battles continue late into the night on the edges of the square. </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">3 February: Cairo clashes continue</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12352938" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anti-government protesters clash</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> with groups of government loyalists once again,</b> 10 days since the mass protests began. </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">4 February: 'Day of departure'</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12362826" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Huge crowds again occupy Tahrir Square</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> </b>in what protest leaders hopefully call "day of departure" for President Mubarak. The army increases its presence and Mubarak supporters keep their distance, making for a peaceful rally after the last two days of violence.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">5 February: Ruling party resignations</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The leadership of the </span><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12374010" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">governing NDP resigns en masse</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>,</b> including Gamal Mubarak, the son of the president. Until Mr Suleiman was appointed vice-president, it was widely believed Gamal was being groomed as his father's successor.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">10 February: Mubarak 'may step down'</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ruling party officials and military leaders make </span><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12421000" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">statements suggesting that President Mubarak will step down</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">. But President Mubarak then surprises protesters by making a nationally televised speech in which he says he will stay in office until elections in September, though he will transfer some powers to his Vice-President Omar Suleiman.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">11 February: Mubarak resigns</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Shortly after nightfall on the 18th day of protests, <b>Vice-President Omar Suleiman </b></span><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">announces that Hosni Mubarak will step down</a></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">, with immediate effect. The tens of thousands gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square greet the news with joy. Earlier, Mr Mubarak was reported to have flown to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with his family.</span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> and Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq is appointed prime minister. </span></span></blockquote>Perhaps Mr. Beshear should consider himself on notice, as well. His actions (or lack thereof) also serve as a testament to the inefficiency and waste in Frankfort. <br />
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</div>EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-13925897951437189532011-03-07T21:36:00.000-05:002011-03-07T21:36:15.531-05:00Snatched from the Jaws of DeathThis is a little digression from the tenor of this blog, but I had an experience today which can only be described as a scene from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502404/">"Drive Angry"</a>. I was on my way to an appointment when, while approaching an intersection to make a left turn on a green arrow, some doofus approaching from my right ran his red light doing every bit of 60 mph very nearly t-boned me. For some reason I looked to my right just in time to hit the breaks, downshift, and apply the parking break all at the same time, causing me to power-slide through the intersection.<br />
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This maneuver placed me parallel and about 3 feet from the oncoming suv's driver-side door. I peed a little. There is no way I could have pulled this off <b>IF I HAD TRIED</b>. Proof that there are angels looking out for people, because said doofus also managed to not demolish the two cars that were in the lane to my right traveling through the intersection, and by all rights should have been turned into vehicular pop-tarts. Thank you, God.<br />
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Anyway, that is the post for today. In the next post, I plan on posting my first in a series relating to local (Kentucky) politics as it relates to the judicial process.<br />
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This should be pretty juicy stuff.EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964542286808369967.post-13231219937577446992011-03-06T22:37:00.000-05:002011-03-06T22:37:04.130-05:00This Isn't JusticeThat's exactly what the title means, and that is what this blog is about. I have witnessed first-hand the whittling away piece by piece of our constitutional rights in this country. I have seen (as have most of you) justice, common good, and personal liberty take a back seat to politics and personal enrichment. I have witnessed how politics greatly influences "justice" in Kentucky. <br />
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This blog exists so that discussion, enlightenment, and just plain venting can take place. You may (and probably do) know things I don't, and I'd like your insight. I got a few interesting facts about the judicial industry I am going to share. I don't know what direction this will take, but observe the blogosphere rules of etiquette, please.<br />
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So, off we go...EJGBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17317167614784945020noreply@blogger.com0