Page 363 - Tim Cushing News Today

Fri, Apr 16th 2021 12:12pm — Tim Cushing Another shooting of an unarmed person by police officers will likely see parts of Chicago burn over the next few days. But to get to where we are in the aftermath of this very disturbing shooting, we have to start at the beginning. Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Latino seventh grader, was shot dead in an alley by a Chicago police officer on March 29 following a foot chase. His mother had reported Adam missing. When officers came knocking on her door two da...

Fri, Apr 16th 2021 9:32am — Tim Cushing Mastercard is in the process of killing off another way for sex workers to make money. Its updated policy on "illegal adult content" takes aim at a bunch of adult content that isnt actually illegal. What the new policy does is make it impossible for streaming platforms to comply with the new rules. Since theyre not able to prescreen streamed content, theyre just going to start blocking anything that seems like it might lead to Mastercard pulling the plu...

Tue, Apr 13th 2021 3:41pm — Tim Cushing Laws written with good intentions are being used in bad faith by public servants hoping to shield themselves from public scrutiny. Multiple states have passed versions of "Marsys Law" -- legislation that grants more rights to victims of crime, including blocking the release of personal info under the theory this will protect victims privacy and head off abuse and harassment. Law enforcement officers have discovered this law and legislators seeming unwil...

The twist? This time the cops brought their own damnation to the party. Cops like to pretend they and the boys in actual camouflage uniforms are BFFs, united against the constant threat of evil. Cops think theyre soldiers. Its unclear whether soldiers think theyre cops, but the people sending them orders certainly think they are. I mean, we dont go from zero to "Team Heres where this all intersects: two Windsor (VA) officers decided the best response to what appears to be a routine traffic sto...

In 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court decided to align the state with one of the worst aspects of federal jurisprudence. Deciding it was too...

Tue, Apr 13th 2021 9:42am — Tim Cushing Theres no freer speech than compelled speech. Thats the conclusion some Tennessee legislators have come to. Sure, they managed to whip up an actual anti-SLAPP law thats starting to curtail the states reputation as a place where anyone can be sued for anything they say… including things they didnt actually say. But the stuff flowing out the states legislature lately has been atrocious. Late last year -- shortly after Donald Trumps election loss -- a st...

Tue, Apr 13th 2021 12:50pm — Tim Cushing Theres a new player in the automated license plate reader arena. Rekor Systems is a bit different. While it does sell its own cameras, it also sells software that turns existing cameras into plate readers. It recently contributed a couple of sponsored posts to Police1 touting its ability to fight all sorts of dangerous crime. Rekor’s system makes it easy for officers to detect and apprehend stolen/wanted vehicles. But ease of use is just the beginnin...

Mon, Apr 12th 2021 1:45pm — Tim Cushing For years, the FBI has threatened brown people with a miserable existence unless theyre willing to become informants. What should be illegal somehow isnt -- or at least hasnt generated enough courtroom precedent to force the FBI to knock it off. The FBI routinely approaches Muslims and people traveling to and from countries the US government considers questionable and tries to intimidate them into ratting out their friends, family members, and colleague...

In January -- shortly after the failed DC insurrection -- Dominion Voting Systems sued former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for defamation...

Fri, Apr 9th 2021 1:46pm — Tim Cushing The argument against anything perceived as "defunding" cops or going just a bit lighter on suspected criminals (like decriminalization of drug possession or the elimination of cash bail) is that the criminals will win. Apparently all theyve been waiting for is fewer laws so they can break more laws… or something. A few disingenuous people (some of them holding very powerful offices) have claimed it takes nothing more than people being angry at law enfo...