democracy now

DOJ: Most Fatal Shootings by Albuquerque Police were Unconstitutional

Recently, the Albuquerque Police Department has gone under investigation. The Justice Department has issued out what they call "systematic deficiencies" due to police who have shot and killed at least 23 individuals since 2010.  Additionally, the Albuquerque Police Department has also encountered scrutiny for the killing of a homeless man, James Boyd, who seemed to have been surrendering to the police before they opened fire. According to Jocelyn Samuels, the assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, they are looking at victims between 2009 and 2012. She also stated that they found that many of these shootings violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In addition, many of these shootings appeared to have used deadly force when it was not necessary. According to the investigation report, abuse such as tasers was once used on a 75 year old man who refused to leave a bus station, tased and continually beat a developmentally disabled man who was not able to talk, tased a 16 year old laying in broken glass, and tased a man who had poured gasoline on himself therefore setting him on fire.

Senate Report Finds CIA Exceeded Legal Authority, Misled Media on Torture

The CIA's torture program has recently been questioned by the secret Senate Intelligence Committee. The CIA's torture program is being questioned on their legal framework and has been accused of tampering with its overseers and manipulating the media. Reports, which were attained by McClatchy, the CIA has given out false claims about how many prisoners they held and subjected to so called enhanced interrogation practices. Additionally, they have falsely claimed the effectiveness of the practices, steered clear of Congress, the Justice Department, and its own inspector general. The CIA is also being accused of manipulating the media by releasing classified information in order to make it seem like their interrogation techniques were in fact working. The Senate Intelligence Committee has voted to not keep the investigation reports classified, but only before the CIA is able to go over them.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/11/headlines

-Alyssa Abayari