A Bit of Perspective

Courtesy of Truthdig and Mr.Fish 

Good News! Kind People have Survived

Why is this man taking off his clothes in a public place? Before you click on the link below, I'd like to hear your best guess. It's not hard to figure out but it helps to be in the right frame of mind. Positive, I mean.

Strip Search: the Supreme Court's Attack on the Fourth Amendment

by Nomad

In yet another questionable ruling, the Supreme Court has decided in a 5-4 vote that police departments have every right to demand a strip search from any person they arrested, even for minor offenses, “before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.” 

To clarify (somewhat) the meaning of the terms: According to Daphne Ha, writing for the Fordham Law Review:

A strip search is “[a] search of a person conducted after that person’s clothes have been removed, the purpose usu[ally] being to find any contraband the person might be hiding.”

Strip searches generally do not involve scrutiny of body cavities. However, policies in correctional facilities tend to include visual body cavity searches under the broad term “strip searches,” and only distinguish between visual and physical body cavity searches. This definitional problem is aggravated when courts describe strip search policies without clarifying whether a search includes a visual search of body cavities.

Facts You Should Know: Between Religion and Fear

(courtesy of http://cdn.front.moveon.org )

Feel free to tweet this far and wide.

The Shocking and Unnecessary Death of Kenneth Chamberlain

The Trayvon Martin case has deservedly attracted a great deal of attention. One incident that has received far less attention is this November 2011 event in White Plains, New York. 

First things first. My condolences to the Chamberlain family and friends. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like but I do wish them well. From all that we know, they have every right to be angry and to ask for justice.