RM111: We Can't Have Movements That Strip Us Of Our Fundamental Rights

Read Transcript of RM111: We Can’t Have Movements That Strip Us Of Our Fundamental Rights

This weeks episode has us running all over the whole spectrum of issues. Of those issues, we talk about the attorney that is defending Harvey Weinstein. Donna Rotunno is defending Mr. Weinstein because she believes the evidence isn’t there to convict him. Ms. Rotunno also stands by the concept that we can’t have movements that strip us of our fundamental rights. We have something in United States Law called due process. This affords you the right, not the privilege, that you can defend yourself in court from an allegation. You have the right to face your accuser. You have the right to challenge evidence. You have the right to a trial by your peers. What we have is mob rule and if you are accused of doing an inappropriate act, you are tried and convicted in public opinion without any ability to defend yourself.

This episode covers the range of issues ranging from how evil and diabolical prison is. Over to a probation office in Philadelphia that seems almost like a party. Then over to the economics of having jails in rural areas. Not exclusive to New Mexico, however, removing all contact visits from people in a jail there. We also talk about Microsoft develops technology to monitor chats looking for predatory behavior. A man on death row in Georgia is slated to execute a man for something no longer warrants the death penalty now. Volusia county Florida is trying to remove bail for certain sexual offenses. We quickly touch on an article in Reason magazine regarding women that are making changes for sex offenders. Parole and probationers are being denied legal medical weed. Davidson County sheriff’s deputy Tripp Kester says he will not enforce an unconstitutional law. I wonder if he’d have the same feelings about ALL unconstitutional laws. And does he even have the authority to make that determination? And last, but not least, out of Florida with the repeal of Amendment 4 barring felons from voting: The highest court in Florida has ruled that “all fines and fees, means all fines and fees” must be paid before someone can vote.

We continue our thread about doing advocacy work. We are at the time of the year when the legislative bodies are ramping up. This is the legislative season. Larry gives us some quick tips and tricks to searching your states website for bills and calendars. It’s impossible to cover each state, and to give a comprehensive look as they’re all different. All of the states do the same thing. Some better than others.

I have been toying with https://openstates.org/. At least it is the same thing for all states. Select your state. Then click on bills. You can then do a search (hint: look for filter bills on the right side, or else you’ll do a global search – not what you want).
https://openstates.org/ga/bills/?query=sexual+offense&session=2019_20 for example. Then you have to do the work of reading the various bills and see what the impact might be. You can see where it is in the process of being passed. Some other key words that might be of interest are: parole, probation, aggravated, sexual offense. Using these other terms might help you find a bill that slipped through the cracks.

It is Larry’s opinion that we are in the bill killing business. Rarely will you be in a position that you’re supporting a bill. But you will often find yourself in a position to try and wreck the train of a bill.

[10:26] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/13/us-states-move-to-stop-prisons-charging-inmates-for-reading-and-video-calls

[19:00] https://www.inquirer.com/crime/probation-nyc-new-york-neons-philadelphia-solutions-mass-incarceration-vincent-schiraldi-20200110.html

[24:50] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/rural-incarceration-hidden-scandal-us-criminal-justice

[31:30] https://apnews.com/40804cde022ec1fa77088da3988cc791

[35:20] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/nyregion/weinstein-woman-metoo.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/nyregion/weinstein-trial.html

[45:25] https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/01/09/artemis-online-grooming-detection/
https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/09/microsoft-project-artemis-online-child-abuse/

[52:00] https://theappeal.org/georgia-to-execute-a-man-for-a-crime-that-no-longer-gets-the-death-penalty/
https://theappeal.org/jimmy-meders-clemency-georgia-death-row/

[1:00:10] https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20200111/volusia-flagler-will-local-lawmakersrsquo-bills-on-smoking-age-fireworks-and-sex-offender-bail-pass

Fugler Order Revoking Bond

[1:04:29] https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/01/17/people-on-probation-and-parole-are-being-denied-perfectly-legal-medical-weed

[1:11:49] https://reason.com/2020/01/18/sex-offender-laws-are-broken-these-women-are-working-to-fix-them/

[1:12:49] https://twitter.com/1776Attitude/status/1217941787307921408?s=19