Search Results: violence (240)

Another night of violence, looting and property damage plagued Ferguson last night with the grand jury’s announcement that Darren Wilson would not be charged with the killing of Michael Brown. Although the initial reaction on South Florissant Road in front of the Ferguson Police Department seemed peaceful at first, the violence many were expecting ultimately prevailed.
Here is the arrest data provided this morning by the St. Louis County Police Department: 61 total arrests last night in Ferguson. There were seven for unlawful assembly, one for assault, one for arson, 29 for burglary second, six for misdemeanor possession of stolen property, ten for misdemeanor receiving stolen property, one for felony receiving stolen property, seven for trespassing, one for unlawful possession of a firearm, one for marijuana possession. Yes, the cops actually arrested someone for marijuana possession in the middle of all of this. Riverfront Times has more.

An attorney’s opinionated rant against marijuana in a Michigan courtroom last week cost her a case, even though most seemed to agree she had won.
In her closing arguments in a case against a Michigan medical cannabis patient accused of growing more than he was allowed, Alger County prosecutor Karen Bahrman went off on a tear on the state’s medical marijuana laws, the Alger Hemp Coalition, a local cannabis advocacy group, and patients in general. She said their vision was to live in a “country where everybody can walk around stoned.”

Danny Wicentowski.


The investigation into the death of Michael Brown has sprung a leak. Three leaks, in fact. First, the New York Times published details from the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot Brown, Darren Wilson. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch then got its hands on the official autopsy. And finally the Washington Post announced that several black witnesses have given testimony that matches Wilson’s version of events.
After months of keeping a tight lid on the grand jury and civil rights investigations into Brown’s death, the leaks feel like a little more than coincidence, especially as the city braces for the potential violence if Wilson is not indicted with a charge in Brown’s death.


Dope! That’s what comic books are! Dope! And those dirty books should be scrubbed, put through the wringer and have the dirt squeezed from them!
At least, that’s the gist of this December 30, 1948 column in the Steamboat (Colorado) Pilot by George Bowra, an (at the time) relatively well-known figure in the American West. The tone of the article is over the top, bordering on satire — which might make sense considering Bowra’s history as a colorful character. But we’re not so sure he was joking.


It is not unusual for a court to hear testimony in a particular case where the defendant uses the excuse of being addicted to drugs in hopes that the judge will sentence them to substance abuse classes and not jail. However, a Massachusetts courtroom took a bizarre turn earlier this week when a woman told the judge that her boyfriend beat the living snot out of her because he wasn’t stoned on marijuana.


Remember the itty-bitty pot raid that Santa Ana PD carried out on July 31st? September 2nd was the arraignment for some 123 total marijuana misdemeanor violations. And so far it seems only one out of this smorgasbord of arrestees plead guilty and swallowed the $500 fine. That’s right folks. A large number of them waived their right to a speedy trial and are opting to fight the charges.
Meanwhile the judge is none too happy with the local prosecutors.


It’s been said that while marijuana doesn’t kill people, the war on marijuana does.
A 42-year-old man allegedly shot himself yesterday after a standoff with Ashville, Ohio police that stemmed from seven marijuana plants and a few jars of herb. News reports say that Timothy Sturgis stood with a gun to his head on the property of his 21-acre home in the woods of Ashville for about two hours before taking his own life as cops moved in. All of this thanks to about $25,000 in herb.

Matt Green/Flickr.


The correctional officer-jail inmate relationship is often a fraught one, rife with resentment, misunderstandings and violence. But sometimes, just sometimes, the two groups can put aside their differences and work together. That’s the silver lining we can take from the news that two current Rikers COs, Steven Dominguez and Divine Rahming, have been charged with smuggling cocaine and oxycodone into the prison with the help of an inmate and his girlfriend. Another former Rikers guard, Deleon Gifth, who resigned earlier this year, was arrested Monday on charges that he was paid $500 to deliver what he thought was oxycodone to an inmate back in February.
The Village Voice has more on these three stooges.

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