#Youth Charges lawyer

[reginacriminallaw]

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[fiercynn]

With Palestinians breaking free of their besieged ghetto, we suddenly hear the all-too-familiar chorus of “the cycle of violence” and other such clichés. As usual, this fixation on pacifism only arises when the oppressed strike back at their oppressors. It seems that the refusal to live in a cage is not a convincing explanation for violence and armed resistance. Regardless of whether Israelis were killed or not, there was no way Palestinians could have launched an effective resistance campaign without being widely condemned or demonized. Even when resorting to tactics such as BDS campaigns to effect change, Palestinians were quickly rebuked, with critics likening the tactic to a “Nazi campaign,” and eliciting draconian legislation to legally ban the practice in places like the United States. In 2018, Gaza launched the unarmed Great March of Return to challenge the occupation and demand the right of return. It was dubbed a “riot,” and met with sniper fire, killing over 300 Palestinians, and creating an entire generation of maimed youth. Palestinian administrative detainees — prisoners held without charge, trial, or access to lawyers — are demonized for daring to go on hunger strikes. Even merely trying to access the International Criminal Court, which in theory should be the most agreeable arena to air grievances in the supposed “rules-based-international-order,” was met with hostility and rejection. These specific examples were chosen not to imply that other forms of resistance are illegitimate but rather to illustrate how even when Palestinians try to play by the non-armed rules set out for their resistance to be seen as “legitimate,” they are still framed as aggressive terrorists. There is always a reason why even the mildest methods of resistance are deemed wrong, always some technicality explaining that while “usually” this would be the right way to do things, it doesn’t apply to Palestinians. The goalposts are infinitely shifting, and it becomes glaringly obvious that the issue is not with the methods, but instead with who is undertaking them.

fathi nemer on october 24, 2023 for mondoweiss

[genderkoolaid]

President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It's the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. [...] The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes over in January. He’s also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office. Those pardoned Thursday had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said. They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran. [...] Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and 34 other lawmakers are urging the president to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who was imprisoned or under house arrest for three years because of a contempt of court charge related to his work representing Indigenous farmers in a lawsuit against Chevron. Others are advocating for Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, paused federal executions. Biden had said on the campaign trail in 2020 that he wanted to end the death penalty but he never did, and now, with Trump coming back into office, it’s likely executions will resume. During his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of federal executions, carried out during the height of the pandemic.

[maxdibert]

What do you think would be a fair punishment for James and Sirius, considering the werewolf attack (murder attempt) and Snape's worst memory (sexual assault)? In real life, those actions are crimes and they could go to jail, but things are a little different in the magic world.

We know they didn't get any punishment because the school either didn't care or covered up everything. But if the truth came out, what would be the best way to hold James and Sirius accountable for their actions? To me, expulsion would be a start, but it's still the bare minimum.

Okay, we should take several things into account. First, we’re talking about 15-year-olds, so they are minors, which is always relevant when issuing a judgment or requesting any type of sentence. We’re also talking about different crimes, so on one hand, I would judge Sirius, and on the other, James. Perhaps, aside from these specific crimes, I would ask the judge to consider the fact that they committed constant bullying. And then we also need to consider that they are British, so we should base it on the legal system of that country, which I vaguely know. Let’s remember that we are not talking about normal criminal law but juvenile criminal law, which is different because minors are never really judged with the severity of adults, and I’m not going to deviate from that script.

I like this question because I’m a criminal lawyer but not specialized in minors nor am I British, so I’ll be guided by what I know about this type of law as well as the specific laws of the country.

The first thing, obviously, would be to separate the charges I would request for each because the crimes are different.

For Sirius, taking Snape to where Remus was during a full moon, knowing full well what could happen, that’s attempted murder or at the very least reckless endangerment. He was putting Snape’s life at risk with a dangerous creature, which is no small thing. Even if Sirius didn’t directly mean for Snape to die, the fact that he acted with such disregard for Snape’s life would qualify for attempted murder under reckless disregard for life.

James is a bit different. We’ve got him on assault, battery, false imprisonment (by levitating and holding Snape in the air), and indecent exposure (since he forcibly exposed Snape in front of everyone). All of these are serious charges, especially the public humiliation aspect of the SMW incident, which would be aggravated by the bullying nature.

Given that they were 15, they’d be tried in the Youth Court unless the crimes were deemed severe enough to move to the Crown Court. For Sirius, considering the gravity of the attempted murder charge, I’d push for a youth detention order, which could range up to the max of 2 years for the most serious cases. The court might also look at an extended sentence under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, if they believe he poses an ongoing risk.

For James, we’d likely be looking at a community rehabilitation order, given the multiple charges but also factoring in that it’s not as severe as attempted murder. The focus would be on rehabilitation, but the court might also impose a youth detention period if they find the indecent exposure and public humiliation severe enough.

Both would have conditions attached, like attending counseling, educational programs, and possibly community service. The aim would be to rehabilitate but also acknowledge the seriousness of their actions.

That’s as far as general terms go. But if you’re asking me personally what I would do as the prosecution attorney and what kind of strategy I would follow, the answer is that I would go all out. Because I always go all out in criminal trials, and because I’m quite competitive and I like not just winning, but winning the best possible outcome for my clients. So, in a case like this, I honestly wouldn’t have much mercy, especially knowing that the defendants are rich kids. So, well, my prosecution strategy would be something like this:

argue that the actions of both Sirius and James were not isolated incidents but part of a prolonged campaign of bullying against Severus Snape. This ongoing harassment exacerbates the gravity of their specific actions — Sirius’s attempted murder and James’s assault and humiliation — and establishes a pattern of behavior that warrants harsher scrutiny.

Evidence and Arguments:

1. Constant Bullying: We would present evidence from witnesses, including other students and possibly teachers, who can testify to the frequent and targeted harassment Snape endured at the hands of Sirius and James. This could include verbal abuse, physical intimidation, and orchestrated pranks that go beyond mere schoolyard teasing.

2. Collaborative Nature: It would be crucial to highlight how both Sirius and James often acted together, using their power and popularity to target Snape, who was frequently alone and without allies. This demonstrates a systematic effort to harm and humiliate him, which should aggravate their charges.

3. Power Imbalance: We would emphasize the socioeconomic and emotional vulnerabilities of Severus. Coming from a less affluent background and dealing with family struggles, Snape’s isolation and lack of resources made him an easy target for the more privileged Sirius and James. This context would further paint the defendants’ actions as exploitative and cruel.

4. Psychological Impact: I’d call on psychological experts to assess the long-term emotional and psychological damage caused by the continuous bullying. This would show that the harm inflicted went beyond the physical, leaving lasting scars that justify a substantial legal response.

Of course i would also would show asistí on al charges.

• Aggravated Assault: For both, given the sustained nature of their actions and the mental distress caused to Snape.

• Harassment: Under the Protection from Harassment, showing a course of conduct causing distress.

• Public Order Offenses: For creating a hostile environment within the school, disrupting not just Snape’s peace but potentially that of others.

For Sirius, adding these charges could push the court to impose the maximum youth detention period, with a strong emphasis on rehabilitation programs designed to address violent tendencies and lack of empathy.

For James, the aggravated charges and public order offenses might lead to a combination of a longer community order, including mandatory participation in programs addressing bullying and its impacts, and a possible detention period if the court deems the public indecency and assault severe enough.

And of course I would seek financial compensation for Severus under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which provides payments to victims of violent crime. Given the sustained nature of the abuse and its psychological impact, we’d argue for a substantial amount, citing:

• Medical and psychological treatment costs.

• Lost educational opportunities due to the hostile environment affecting his learning.

• General damages for pain and suffering.

This compensation would serve both as a recognition of the harm caused and a deterrent for similar future behavior in school environments.

And yes, I would demand a large sum of money from each of their families. I would also require a public apology from both of them, apologizing to Severus in front of their peers. And, of course, immediate expulsion from Hogwarts and a prohibition on continuing their studies in a standard school environment unless they complete and pass all reintegration processes and programs.

I think that covers everything lol.

[jupitersdoll]

Possible Career Paths for the Sun Signs🌞

As I explained in my second Astro Observations post, the sign and house your sun is in can tell you where you naturally shine best. Working in a career where you stand out naturally can benefit you in many ways because when work does not feel like work, you have more room to thrive.

Sun in Aries/1H - Management, Military, Self-Employed Entrepreneur, Acting*, Modeling.

Sun in Taurus/2H - Banking, Finance, Singing*, Chef, Real Estate.

Sun in Gemini/3H - Writer, Radio/Podcast, Middle Education Teacher (ages 7-14), Athlete*, Entertainment Critic

Sun in Cancer/4H* - Family trade (Nepotism), Early Education Teacher (ages newborn to 7), Interior Decoration, Family Therapist, Historian

Sun in Leo/5H - Entertainer, Relationship Therapist/Dating Coach, Film Director/Producer, Youth Advocate, Late Education Teacher (ages 14-18)

Sun in Virgo/6H - Healthcare, Social Work, Human Resources, Comedian, Politician

Sun in Libra/7H - Lawyer, Mediator, At-Home work, Visual Artist*, Business Owner

Sun in Scorpio/8H* - Insurance Agent, Funeral Services, Sex Therapist, Addiction Counselor, Acting*

Sun in Sagittarius/9H - Theology, Post-Grade School Education (ages 18 and over), Travel Agent, Life Coach, Blogger

Sun in Capricorn/10H* - Business Leadership (ex: C-Suite), Family Trade (self-starting), Board Member, Politics, Entertainment Executive

Sun in Aquarius/11H* - Socialite/Influencer, Entertainer, Entrepreneur (with others), Humanitarian, Project Manager

Sun in Pisces/12H* - Psychologist, Executor, Jail/Prison Employee, Artist*, Occult Worker

Notes: 

Actors, Singers, and Artists are usually found in all houses, but the work they go towards depends on the house they’re in. For example, Actors in Leo/5H tend to go for lighthearted roles like Will Smith, while Actors in Scorpio/8H tend to have darker-themed roles like Nicole Kidman.

Sun in Aquarius/11H can usually succeed in whatever career they venture into if they have passion for it because the 11H rules over hopes and dreams. It’s why most celebrities have 11H Sun.

Sun in Cancer/4H, Scorpio/8H, and Pisces/12H tend to have more mysterious or behind-the-scenes careers because the Sun prefers the attention to be on their work rather than on the person themselves.

Sun in Gemini/3H is good with athletics because the 3H is a social house along with 7H and 11H. Also, most professional athletes or athletic employees learn multiple languages to tend to their teams, which are made up of people from different cultures.

Sun in Capricorn/10H careers usually take time which is why the careers I listed are mostly leadership positions. These natives are ambitious so not being in charge is not a good direction for their sun energy.

Follow for more Astrology and Intuitive Content, readings are available! 💛

Tagged: @222-justfornow-333 @nummer626 @bcjkxs @starry-sky01 @mercurydombaby

[draggomon]

Very scared about everything that's going on. I'm going to talk a little about myself but can't say much, sadly.

I was an activist and a very outspoken one st that. I mostly advocated for queer rights, children's rights, and food / housing issues.

I got to help out an annual week long queer youth event, and this last year I taught a class on consent and boundaries.

I got to help out several food based nonprofits. I helped start one up that did free name changes, helped people get on hrt, and provided free clothes and gender affirming underwear.

I like to play ttrpgs, video games, and read sci-fi. I'm a huge fan of the world of darkness series of ttrpgs.

In 2024 someone approached me who was in need. I can't talk about it at length, but I currently have a felony charge. I've only recently been able to find work and my first paycheck won't be till later this month and then it will be biweekly.

I have a good lawyer who is charging me a flat fee. I still have yet to pay him off and I need to have him paid off by the time the case is resolved.

Anyone talking about the case or else spreading around the gofundme would be helpful. I know this is essentially doxxing myself.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/keeping-our-home-and-keeping-us-safe

[dragoneyes618]

The Left in the West is also almost uniformly hostile to Jews and Judaism, and the further Left one is on the political spectrum the more intense is the antisemitism. In the United States, for example, the Socialist Workers Party argued that "the major task confronting American revolutionaries [as regards the Middle East] remains that of educating the radicalizing youth...for destruction of the state of Israel. In 1972, the party's paper, the Militant, criticized the Palestinian terrorists' murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, but only on the grounds that it made "the criminal look like the victim." The Communist Party USA differed from the Socialist Workers Party in that it conceded Israel's right to exist. But typical of its view of Zionism is this statement in the party's journal by Hyman Lumer, the party's theoretician on the Middle East: "Zionism is...in its very essence a racist ideology. It sets the Jewish people apart as a special people, a 'chosen' people - if you will, a superior people. In Israel, the Zionist rulers have created a racist state."

Similar denunciations of Jewish nationalism were made by other Communist parties in the West. Individuals on the revolutionary Left were even more aggressive. Vanessa Redgrave, for example, the Academy Award-winning actress and a member of the Central Committee of the British Workers' Revolutionary Party (a Trotskyite Communist organization) made a propaganda film for the PLO in the late 1970s, at a time when the PLO was officially committed to Israel's destruction. In it, Redgrave performed a sensuous dance with a PLO machine gun. Under the guise of only attacking Zionists and Zionism (the film uses the Arabic word for Jew, Yahud, but the English subtitles speak of "Zionists"), the movie utilizes some classic Jew-hating images. In one scene Redgrave asks a young Arab girl, "What would you do if he [a Jewish soldier] tried to kill you?" Marie Syrkin, in a critique of the film, wrote: "At this point my mind wandered to the prioress of The Canterbury Tales who devoutly recounts a medieval tale of a Christian child murdered by the Jews. the killing of children: the hoariest of antisemitic libels."

The non-Communist far Left was similarly single-minded in its attacks on Israel and the Jews who identify with it. For example, during the 1970s the left-wing National Lawyers Guild sent a delegation to only one country in the world to examine human rights - Israel. The delegation met with PLO representatives, heard their story, and returned with a report denouncing Israel. A Jewish lawyer in the group wrote a dissenting report, but the National Lawyers Guild suppressed it.

At the Harvard Law School in 1979, leftist Third World students sponsored a conference on "Human Rights in the Third World." Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz reported that, "At that time, there were massacres in the Central African Republic, the blood of people killed by Idi Amin was still fresh in people's minds, and the atrocious record of Libya on human rights could well have been discussed. But only one item concerning human rights as placed on the agenda: 'The So-Called Nation of Israel's Terrorism and Genocide.'"

The title of the Harvard leftists' program on Israel exemplifies two characteristics of contemporary left-wing antisemitism: (1) the denial of Jewish nationhood, hence the appellation "the so-called nation of Israel," and (2) the constant accusation of genocide against the Jewish state. The charges are related in an Orwellian manner. The denial of Jewish nationhood legitimates all efforts at annihilating the Jewish state and Zionists, what may truly be called genocide. But this genocidal attempt against Israel is then inverted and projected from the enemies of Israel onto Israel itself.

Thus it is not coincidental that on one issue, the annihilation of Israel, the far Left, and neo-Nazis agree. On April 14, 1970, the New York Times reported that the radical Black power leader Stokely Carmichael declared, "I have never admired a White man, but the greatest of them, to my mind, was Hitler." In Chicago in October 1970, a speech by Israel's foreign minister, Abba Eban, was picketed by the far Left Youth Against War and Fascism and by the American Nazi Party.

Leftist antisemitism has also deeply infected left-wing Christians. Among Protestant groups, the World Council of Churches and affiliates such as teh (US) National Council of Churches were among the ajor advocates of recognizing the Palestine Liberation Organization, even though at the time the PLO was committed to the destruction of Israel and was the world's leading supporter of terrorism against Western democracies. Siilar support was offered by the American JFriends Services Committe, which represents American Quakers.

In 1976, the Christian Science Monitor was the only one of the fifty major newspapers in the United States to condemn Israel's raid on Entebbe, Uganda's main airport, where PLO terrorists were preparing to murder Jewish passengers on a hijacked plane.

The same situation holds for the Catholic Church, wherein Leftist theologians, clergy, and lay leaders with Third World Orientations have combined traditional church resentment of the "old Israel" with the Left's resentment of the new Israel. One such leader was Archbishop Hilarian Capucci, formerly of Jerusalem. On August 18, 1974, Israeli police caught Capucci, smuggling weapons and explosives for terrorists to kill Israeli civilians. Though Israel sentences him to twelve years in prison, it released him after fewer than three years at the personal request of Pope Paul VI.

Upon his release, Capuci declared, "Jesus Christ was the first fedayeen [Arab freedom fighter]. I am just following his example." A short time thereafter, he celebrated a Mass "in protest against the genocide perpetrated against the Arab people." A Catholic journal, Resumen, responded to Capucci's activities with a denunciation of his "propaganda pamphlets which revive the myths which make Capucci a Jesus and the Israelis deicidal mercenaries." In January 1979 Archbishop Capucci attended meetings in Damascus of the Palestine National Council, the supreme authority of the PLO, which had earlier made him an honorary member. Twenty-three years later, in 2002, Capucci repeatedly and publicly spoke up in favor of Palestinian suicide bombings directed against Israeli civilians.

Whereas in the past, Christian attitudes toward Jews were almost uniformly hostile, today such hostility emanates almost exclusively from Christianity's far Right and Left. On the other hand, moderate and conservative Christians in the United States are among the most aggressive supporters of Jewry and Israel's right to exist.

The Left has opposed Jews both for their religion and for their nationality. The Jewish fusion of religion and nationality is anathema to both the secularism and the universalism of the Left. This partially explains why the Left, though so hospitable and supportive of the national liberation movements of almost all other peoples, is so antagonistic to the nationalism of the Jews. It was regarding this Leftist hatred of the Jews that Social Democrat Irving Howe wrote, "In the warmest of hearts there is a cold spot for the Jews."

From Marx and the French socialists to to the Soviets, the Third World, and Western leftists today, an intense Jew-hatred has prevailed. As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Antisemitism has become a unifying global ideology of the totalitarian Left." And many on the nontotalitarian Left have been compromised by their "no enemies on the Left" attitude. Thus a movement founded, established, and supported in large part by Jews has come to constitute, along with the Arab/Muslim world, the Jews' greatest enemy at this time.

- Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism, Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, pages 133-136

[beardedmrbean]

What's New

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in TikTok's challenge to a law set to go into effect on the last day of Joe Biden's presidency, which would ban the popular app if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, does not sell it.

ByteDance has indicated it will not sell TikTok.

The justices granted certiorari Wednesday to take up the petition filed by ByteDance, which owns TikTok. The court will hear arguments on January 10 about whether the federal law that seeks to ban the app on national security grounds violates free speech laws.

Why It Matters

TikTok filed the challenge on Monday, arguing that the law, enacted with bipartisan support in April, impermissibly restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. Congress passed the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act earlier this year over concerns that the app's Chinese ownership presented a national security risk.

The popular social media platform has more than 170 million users in the United States.

What To Know

A federal appeals court unanimously upheld the ban in a ruling earlier this month, finding that the government does have a national security interest in regulating TikTok in the U.S.

If the Supreme Court does not issue a decision before the deadline, the ban will go into effect a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office—timing that TikTok's attorneys have pointed out in their filings.

Lawyers for the app said the ban "will shutter one of America's most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration" and "in turn, will silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern."

TikTok CEO Shou Chew met with Trump at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago home on Monday afternoon, just hours after the company asked the Supreme Court to wade into the matter.

Trump has suggested he could take a different approach to the app but has not indicated what that might look like. Still, TikTok picked up on that tone and urged the Supreme Court to block the ban to give "the incoming administration time to determine its position."

What People Are Saying

Trump, at a Monday press conference: "I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points, and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it."

TikTok, in a December 6 statement: "The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people. The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025."

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who led the charge against TikTok and is Trump's pick for secretary of state, said in an April 24 statement: "TikTok extended the Chinese Communist Party's power and influence into our own nation, right under our noses. I have been raising concerns about TikTok since 2019, so this new law forcing ByteDance to divest from TikTok is a huge step toward confronting Beijing's malign influence. It's official: Communist China is on the clock."

What's Next

It's unclear how quickly the high court might issue a decision. There are only nine days between oral arguments and the ban's effective date.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 16 June 1982, the Bradford 12, all members of the United Black Youth League on trial for preparing to defend their community from fascists, were acquitted of all charges in a landmark case. They had been arrested for preparing a cache of petrol bombs to protect themselves from fascists who had been active in the area, carrying out racist attacks. One of the defendants, Tariq Mehmood, defended himself in court, and along with the other defence lawyers they laid bare mass police negligence with regards to defending Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities from racist attacks. The not guilty verdicts effectively established the rights of Black and Asian communities to self-defence. The trial also saw a nationwide campaign for the activists' release with their comrades declaring "The politicians and police have failed us. Our youth are our only protection. [...] Now they have been taken away from us. We must not fail them. We must fight to bring them back. They have defended our community. We must now defend them." At that time in Britain, racists considered all people of colour as "Black", so Afro-Caribbean, Asian and other activists of colour formed the idea of "political Blackness" to try to build unity against racism. Learn more from Tariq Mehmood in our podcast episodes 33-34: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/09/18/e28-29-asian-youth-movements-in-bradford/ Pictured: the defendants celebrate the verdict outside the court https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=645677417605477&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

[someone-will-remember-us]

Taking the stand in France’s biggest ever rape trial, Patrice N, 55, an electrician from the southern town of Carpentras, said he was a “jovial” guy and a fun dad who once trained youth football teams and had a “great respect for women”.

He denied the charges of rape, claiming rape had never been his intention. “To my mind, it was a game,” he told the court.

Patrice N is one of 51 men on trial for the alleged rape and assault of Gisèle Pelicot, a former logistics manager, who has become a feminist hero for insisting the trial should be held in public.

For a nine-year period from 2011 to 2020, Gisèle Pelicot was unknowingly sedated and raped by her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, who crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her food and invited men to rape her at their home in the picturesque village of Mazan in Provence.

Gisèle Pelicot told the court this week that she felt “destroyed” but was driven by “the determination to change society” and expose “rape culture”.

After dozens of accused men have testified that they did not think what happened was rape, her lawyers said the court hearings have exposed a “profound problem” in society’s attitudes to sexual violence.

Despite video evidence in court showing Gisèle Pelicot in an unconscious state, snoring loudly, Patrice N claimed he had not noticed that she was sedated on the Monday night in February 2020 when he drove 20 minutes to the couples’ home after he he had been in contact with Dominique Pelicot online.

Dominique Pelicot ushered Patrice N into the bedroom, where he stayed for about one hour with the lights on. It was only at the end of the visit, when he said, “Your wife looks like she’s really asleep”, that Dominique Pelicot said he gave his wife “pills”.

Patrice N said he asked if this happened often, to which Dominique Pelicot replied that after drugging his wife, he would also take her to motorway laybys and “hand her to men”. Patrice N said: “I told him he was sick, I walked round the bed and left straight away … He didn’t even text me to see if I got home OK.”

One of the judges asked Patrice N: “You heard him say he delivered his drugged wife to men in laybys, but you did nothing to help her, you didn’t report it?”

He said: “I didn’t want to waste my time at the police station. I’m a humble neighbourhood electrician. If I went to the police and said she’s unconscious, who would have believed me?”

Gisèle Pelicot, watched from her seat in court, and shook her head.

From the dock, Dominique Pelicot told the court that he did not hand his then wife to men at roadsides, but had once drugged and raped her himself in a motorway layby on the way back from their daughter’s holiday home.

Patrice N, like several other men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot, was supported in court by a number of women who knew him who said they didn’t think him capable of rape. A longtime female friend, who worked as an education expert, told the court that Patrice N had always been a “teddy bear”, “wasn’t even a skirt-chaser” and wasn’t the type to rape. A care-worker, who 16 months ago became Patrice N’s girlfriend despite knowing he was charged with rape in the Pelicot case, said: “He treats me like a princess.”

Three accused men in court this week did take the rare step of admitting rape, saying they knew Gisèle Pelicot had been drugged and was unconscious.

Abdelali D, 47, a former canteen worker who had suffered a stroke since his arrest, said he went to the Pelicots’ home twice and raped Gisèle Pelicot when she was in a comatose state. The first time, one January night in 2018, he had asked his then girlfriend to drive him to the Pelicots’ village and wait an hour for him in the car. She told the court she had driven him because she was worried about him driving drunk. She thought he was meeting a couple for a sexual encounter, but had not sought details. “I didn’t want to know,” she said. She described Abdelali D as someone who “drank morning, noon and night”.

Jean-Luc L, 46, a mirror-maker, admitted raping Gisèle Pelicot on two occasions in 2018 and 2019 while she was unconscious. He had at first thought that because her husband had consented for her, “it wasn’t against the law”. He told a psychologist after his arrest that the definition of rape was instead something that “happens in the street” in the style of “if you don’t want it, I’ll hit you”. But in court, he admitted raping Gisèle Pelicot in her own bedroom.

The court heard Jean-Luc L had fled Vietnam by boat with his mother as a child and had lived in refugee camps before coming to France. His second wife, of 10 years, and the mother of his two youngest children, was also Vietnamese. Through an interpreter, she told the court that because her own mother was ill at the time, she had not wanted sex with her husband. Asked how she felt when she learned of the rape charges against her husband, she said in a soft voice: “I was very sad, in shock. But I think because I refused him all the time, as a man he had to look elsewhere.”

Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, told the court: “You thought that because you refused a sexual relationship, because your mother was very ill and your mind was on other things, you thought you had a role in what happened, and Gisèle Pelicot could not help reacting. For her, it’s not because you refused a sexual relationship that it led to this happening.

“There is never an obligation to have sexual relations with your husband. Do you understand that? … Gisèle Pelicot says you have no responsibility whatsoever in the fact that your husband decided to do what he did.”

The court heard that Dominique Pelicot had suggested he also drug Jean-Luc L’s wife so the two men could rape her. “I told him I’d think about it just to please him,” said Jean-Luc L. “But sex wasn’t really her thing.”

Quentin H, 34, was a prison guard in Avignon who had sold MDMA drugs on the website where Dominique Pelicot sought men. He admitted raping Gisèle Pelicot in her bed in November 2019. He said he realised “something wasn’t right”, and Gisèle Pelicot wasn’t moving. Asked why, as a prison warden, he did not report this to police, he said: “I was ashamed, I wanted to get it out of my head.”

The trial continues until 20 December.

(archive)

[connorthemaoist]

It’s been ten years since the Ferguson rebellion, and the police continue to kill Black and other oppressed people with impunity. A few killer cops have faced charges, trial, and prison time, but most of these murderers with a badge get away with their crimes. The police keep serving and protecting white supremacy and capitalism, and in that role, they are sanctioned to brutalize and kill.

Over 1,200 people were killed by police nationwide in 2023. The police respond to people in a mental health crisis with taser guns and bullets. In response to rising homelessness, homeless people are being criminalized, with police carrying out brutal raids on encampments. Squad cars creep through the hood, where the police harass Black, Latino, and proletarian youth, brutalizing them and throwing them into the prison pipeline. On reservations and in border towns, police murder Indigenous people at disturbing rates. And protestors have faced brutal repression from militarized police, including those opposing the construction of the Cop City police training facility in Atlanta, along with the college student encampments opposing the US-Israel genocidal war on Gaza.

Why haven’t waves of protests against police brutality changed this state of affairs? Because the protest movement has been derailed time after time by politicians promising reforms and grifters using the movement for their personal gain. Justice Department investigations, legislation, police review boards, and other reforms cannot end police brutality because it’s baked into the system that government on all levels serves. It’s a fundamental tool, alongside mass incarceration, to keep oppressed people controlled and subjugated. On top of this, grifters from the Black Lives Matter organization to Robin DiAngelo, Shaun King, and Ibram X Kendi have anointed themselves the spokespeople of the movement and collected hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, corporate sponsorships, and book deals while serving themselves rather than the masses of people subjected to police brutality. (Look up the interview of Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, in New York Magazine to see what we’re talking about.)

This Fall, Dare To Struggle is working to rebuild the movement against police brutality and the oppression of Black people on solid foundations. Join us for protests on October 22nd, the national day of protest against police brutality. The movement we’re seeking to build will put the families and loved ones of the victims of police murder on the forefront, reviving a powerful weapon against police brutality. We will work to mobilize the youth under the gun of police brutality to stand up and speak for themselves. We will unite all who can be united in this struggle, regardless of identity. And we will reject begging for reforms in favor of mass action, outside the official political channels, to exert the just demands of the masses. Grifters and lawyers looking to cash in on grief will be exposed and removed.

Join us on October 22nd to demand:

No more murders and brutality by the police! Send killer cops to prison!

End the criminalization of Black, Latino, and Indigenous youth!

End the criminalization of homelessness and mental illness!

No more militarized police repression of protest!

Rally / Protest Locations:

Los Angeles: City Hall 4:30 pm

(200 N Spring Street, Los Angeles)

New York City: Betsy Head Park 7pm

(154 Dumont Ave, Brownsville, Brooklyn, NYC)

Chicago: Outside the killer cop 11th Precinct 5:30 pm (3151 W Harrison St, Chicago)

More to be added!

DareToStruggle.org

[smolmakerel]

I decided to do it. I'm writing a full story. Let's hope I can complete it. 😂

Edit: I have a name for this au.

Home on the Range

Part(s) 1 . 2 .

■■■■■

“Mami?”

“Tara, I really don't want to hear your excuses anymore.”

Tara sunk down in her seat, shoulders up to her ears in shame. Her rumpled clothing pressed uncomfortably around her skin, no doubt leaving behind the indent of the inseam of her clothing. She gave a small tug at her shirt collar and wrinkled her nose at the pungent vodka dried into the fabric.

She took a glance at her mamá and ducked her head to keep from catching her eyes. Her face was carefully set, her eyes staring at the empty chair across from them. Her silence was loud, Tara was uncomfortable.

“You just had to go out after I specifically told you not to. Do you know what something like that does to this family?”

Tara scoffed, anger rising. “What family?”

The squeak she let out was of fear when Mamá snapped her head to the side to glare daggers at her.

“Don't talk to your mother that way,” Mamá snapped. “You don't get to talk to me like that after all I've done for you.”

Tara felt a flare of pride, or maybe it was remaining liquid courage. Either way, she was unfiltered and wading towards the danger zone rapidly.

“You haven't done anything for me! Look at where we are! You think this is what you call good parenting?!”

Mamá's face grew red. Before she could yell some more or worse, hit Tara, the door opened and a man in sleek khaki dress pants, white button up shirt, and a loud green tie stepped into the room. He barely paid the two women any attention before sitting down at the empty chair.

“I've looked at your case,” the lawyer started slowly, and Tara and her mom shared a look. “The police want to charge you for driving under the influence. Now, from what I've seen evidence-wise, your fingerprints weren't on that tank of gas, so arson won't be added to your charges.”

Tara let out a sigh of relief.

“But that doesn't mean the other charge is going to drop.”

Mamá hummed. She twisted the ring on her thumb slowly, intimately. It was nauseating.

“What are our options?” Mamá asked sharply. Tara flinched despite herself.

He sighed. “If you plead not guilty, you'll end up serving time in the county jail before being moved to a state prison. CCTV footage shows you and your friend leaving that building intoxicated and you getting in the driver's seat. And the police didn't like a fellow policeman's daughter being involved with troubled youths; especially one who supposedly set fire to that same building. Luckily everyone inside was okay.”

Tara winced. No, that's… They've got it all wrong.

“The jury won't appreciate the raw evidence contradicting what you said. You're not guilty? They won't believe you,” he said. Leaning forward, he rested his chin on her folded hands. “I have another option.”

Mamá sighed. “Out with it, then, I don't have all day.”

Tara rolled her eyes. This was probably the first time she's been decently sober in years, she's probably having spasms.

“You plead guilty.”

Tara froze. Mamá froze. The lawyer stared cooly at the 2 women processing this information.

It should be funny but it's not. Innocent little Tara Carpenter arrested and charged with a DUI and probably arson, too, managing to escape the actual fire but not the police. Graduated top of her class as valedictorian, shoved down to the bottom to grovel for mercy.

She was no better than her.

Tara grit her teeth at the mere thought of her.

“I will not have a daughter with a criminal record!” Mamá stood suddenly in anger. Her chair screeched and clattered back to the floor. “She's 18, she can deal with it herself!”

Fear filled Tara's body. “No, Mamá, please don't leave!” She turned back to the blank lawyer and shook. “Tell - Tell me what would happen if I plead guilty. Please.”

He quirked his lip. “You take a hit to your record, of course, but it can be requested to be expunged later down the line should you take probation seriously.” He waited for Tara's hurried nod before continuing. “You will stay in county jail for 5 days before being let out on probation in compliance with California's laws.”

Tara looked at her mamá, but the woman stood where she was with her arms crossed and face hardened. Swallowing, the teenager turned back to the lawyer.

“A-and the laws are..?”

The lawyer tutted, eyed her with distaste. “18 and you don't know the laws of your state?” Tara fought back her scowl. This lawyer was the worst. “For the entirety of your probation, you will need to be near this city where the sentencing will take place. I assume you live close by?”

… Oh. Oh no. Mamá was going to kill her for real.

Mamá set her hands on the table. “No, I don't. But…” Tara jolted at the word, confusion growing. “I do have someone just thirty minutes north of here with decent traffic. She lives on a farm by herself, but I'm sure she'd be glad to help out.”

Tara shakily breathed while the older adults were speaking.

What was her mamá talking about? Since when did she know some strange farm woman nearly 3 hours away from Woodsboro? She hoped it wasn't another Tía Isabel who she was pretty sure wasn't actually related to her.

“There is one more condition.”

“What is it?” Tara warily asked.

The lawyer smiled.

[coochiequeens]

“Is it safe for one violent perpetrator, who is biologically male, to disrupt the lives of hundreds of incarcerated women for up to 14 years?"

By Genevieve Gluck December 4, 2023

A trans-identified male in the Netherlands charged with committing a brutal murder has been placed in a women’s prison ahead of his final hearings. Known only as “Daniela D.,” the 32-year-old Chilean national is accused of having stabbed a man 214 times, targeting his eyes, ears, and genitals.

The incident is said to have occurred on December 23 of 2022 during an altercation that took place at the home of Danny Roth. Daniela was reportedly working as a prostitute at the time in the Rotterdam region, with Roth being an occasional client.

Details of the moments leading up to the killing are unclear, though Daniela’s lawyer has attempted to forward “a case of self-defense excess.” with Daniela testifying that Roth had taken drugs which caused him to hallucinate.

“Danny took a hallucinogenic pill, a coffee-colored capsule. He dragged me by the hair to the kitchen. He threw a knife at me and I deflected it with my hand. He shouted ‘fucking whore’ and proceeded to punch me in the face and it really hurt. I have silicone all over my body and it was causing injuries,” Daniela said. He stated that he repelled the attack with his hand, sustaining an injury, and during the struggle Roth dropped the knife. Grabbing it from the floor, Daniela then began stabbing the man.

However, a forensic expert argued that Daniela’s claims do not align with the blood patterns spattered across the wall. According to an analysis of the crime scene, the victim’s blood was dusted high up across the walls. In Daniela’s version of events, the expert said, the blood would have mainly been on the ground and not “in an upward direction all around.”

An autopsy also showed that while there was alcohol and cocaine in Roth’s body, there were no traces of other substances, such as the purported “hallucinogenic pill” his system.

Additionally, Daniela made a disturbing admission in a recorded phone call shortly after the assault.

“I stabbed both eyes, so that he cannot recognize me when the police show him a photo. I stabbed his ears, so that he cannot hear questions from the police,” Daniela told a friend. “And I broke the bottle on his head. I didn’t want to stop hitting him.”

The Public Prosecution Service presented a different scenario from the story told by Daniela and pointed to the significant amount of cuts all over Roth’s body as an important indication of anger.

“The stabbing was deliberate and targeted. That is not fear, but anger and revenge. It is not self-defense but an attack.” A coroner determined that Roth’s penis was slashed with a knife after he was already dead.

Roth’s body was found on December 26, three days after the fatal attack, by a friend and a neighbor who stopped by wondering where he was. Roth had not shown up for appointments, and his family had become concerned when they could not contact him over the holidays. Roth’s body was discovered lying on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood.

The victim’s sister testified in court and strongly condemned Daniela while requesting the maximum possible sentence.

“I hope your hand still hurts every day. When you go to sleep, I hope you see his face. You had an overwhelming anger, from the top of your head to your toes. So bad that the most gruesome horror film is nothing like it,” Roth’s sister told the accused.

Daniela D. has been residing illegally in the Netherlands since February 2022, where he has been involved in the sex industry. The court heard that he came from a broken home and that he had been ���bullied” as a youth by peers who did not accept his gender identity.

The Public Prosecution Service is seeking a sentence of fourteen years in prison. The court in Dordrecht will announce its final verdict on December 5.

Despite being fully intact, Daniela is being detained in Ter Peel women’s prison, and it is anticipated that should he be convicted, he will serve his sentence in a women’s institution.

Journalist Sybilla Claus, writing for Brabants Dagblad, called the situation “unacceptable” for female inmates.

“Is it safe for one violent perpetrator, who is biologically male, to disrupt the lives of hundreds of incarcerated women for up to 14 years? The director of the largest women’s prison, Ter Peel, between Venlo and Helmond, thinks it’s fine. He had the extremely violent Chilean suspect, with male genitalia, placed there among the 226 women,” Claus wrote.

“They have the right to their own protection, privacy and dignity… Research shows that a large proportion of imprisoned women have been victims of physical and/or sexual violence as children and afterwards, and end up in an abusive relationship.”

Claus emphasized that “there are few female criminals in the Netherlands. There are three women’s prisons … which house around 3,000 women annually. Most are released within three months, because they commit lighter crimes,” she wrote. “Behavioral scientist Katharina Joosen interviewed about four hundred former women inmates. She described in 2015 that half have a criminal or addicted partner and have been treated for serious psychological problems due to trauma.”

[transhoming-project]

Save Trans Lives

The "TransHoming Project" aims to build Tiny Home communities and RV Parks for Minorities fleeing red states. These homes could either serve as temporary lodging or permanent residence.

These communities would be established in sanctuary states such as:

New Jersey

New York

Oregon

Illinois

California

Any other state that is safe for LGBTQ+ individuals, Women, Children, and People Of Color.

The end goal is to have large-scale communities with little-to-no cost for the inhabitants, and a self-sustaining model for water, food, and electricity.

If the United States will not protect us, we will make our own sanctuary.

Why is this project needed?

As of April 7th, 2023, there have been over 450 anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed in the United States. These bills range anywhere from Banning transgender healthcare for youth (Idaho HB 71) and prohibiting Health Insurance from covering ANY Gender affirming care (Florida HB 1421), to Charging anyone who uses the “incorrect” bathroom with sexual assault (Arkansas SB 270).

To find more information, visit the ACLU’s website.

With these bills in the works, the safety of LGBTQ+ persons, their health providers, and their children are at risk. It is imperative that we start relocating to blue sanctuary states before these bills become law.

With our project, we will ensure that those who cannot afford to quickly relocate on their own can seek proper shelter through us.

How can I help?

Share Our Cause!

Spread the message to your friends and family! The more visibility this project gets, the faster it will succeed!

Subscribe to our social medias:

Youtube

Instagram

Discord

Tiktok

LinkTree

Help Financially

Each sale on our website goes into funding the project, or you can donate directly to the cause by subscribing to our website.

Updates On funding will be posted weekly on our social media.

Offer a Skill/Service

We are in need of:

(Illinois Residents Only)

Realtors

Construction Workers

Architects

Electricians

(Remote)

Artists

Advertisers (with prior successful results)

Lawyers

If you have any of the skills listed above, contact us! We are willing to pay for expertise.

[cosmicanger]

With Palestinians breaking free of their besieged ghetto, we suddenly hear the all-too-familiar chorus of “the cycle of violence” and other such clichés. As usual, this fixation on pacifism only arises when the oppressed strike back at their oppressors. It seems that the refusal to live in a cage is not a convincing explanation for violence and armed resistance.

Regardless of whether Israelis were killed or not, there was no way Palestinians could have launched an effective resistance campaign without being widely condemned or demonized.

Even when resorting to tactics such as BDS campaigns to effect change, Palestinians were quickly rebuked, with critics likening the tactic to a “Nazi campaign,” and eliciting draconian legislation to legally ban the practice in places like the United States. In 2018, Gaza launched the unarmed Great March of Return to challenge the occupation and demand the right of return. It was dubbed a “riot,” and met with sniper fire, killing over 300 Palestinians, and creating an entire generation of maimed youth. Palestinian administrative detainees — prisoners held without charge, trial, or access to lawyers — are demonized for daring to go on hunger strikes. Even merely trying to access the International Criminal Court, which in theory should be the most agreeable arena to air grievances in the supposed “rules-based-international-order,” was met with hostility and rejection.

These specific examples were chosen not to imply that other forms of resistance are illegitimate but rather to illustrate how even when Palestinians try to play by the non-armed rules set out for their resistance to be seen as “legitimate,” they are still framed as aggressive terrorists. There is always a reason why even the mildest methods of resistance are deemed wrong, always some technicality explaining that while “usually” this would be the right way to do things, it doesn’t apply to Palestinians. The goalposts are infinitely shifting, and it becomes glaringly obvious that the issue is not with the methods, but instead with who is undertaking them.

fathi nemer on october 24, 2023 for mondoweis

[gothicdicordia]

You idiots...glorious...idiot youth

Fun fact: if you get arrested and charged you might loose your right to vote.

Other fun fact: You aren't generationally wealthy and don't have lawyers or or people backing up with bonds to get out of jail you're going to be incarcerated, lose your job, sure to have lose your income, lose your kids, and lose your right to vote.

And lose your access to FAFSA.

(You also wont pass your classes by skipping finals and losing credit for the whole semester.)

So ask yourself WHO really wants you to protest or counter protest against human rights abuses in a country thousands of miles away where you know no one and has no effect on your daily life?