Bulletin: Pedro Hernandez; New York; Retrial in Etan Patz case set for September..."Hernandez confessed to the crime in 2012 after police were tipped off by a relative, but the defense contends he fantasized committing the crime because of a mental disorder." Newsday;

 

"The retrial of bodega worker Pedro Hernandez for the long-unsolved 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz will begin right after Labor Day, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley ordered on Tuesday. The trial of Hernandez, 55, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, on charges that he kidnapped and murdered 6-year-old Etan ended in an 11-1 deadlock for conviction last year. The scheduling of a retrial was delayed by defense lawyer Harvey Fishbein’s back problems.  He has been in custody since 2012."

http://www.amny.com/news/pedro-hernandez-retrial-in-death-of-etan-patz-set-for-after-labor-day-1.11836362

See Wikipedia report: "On May 24, 2012, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that a man was in custody who had implicated himself in Etan's disappearance.^[18]
According to The New York Times, a law enforcement official identified the man as Pedro Hernandez of Maple Shade, New Jersey, age 51, and said that he had confessed to strangling Etan.^[19] According to a 2009 book about the case, After Etan, Etan had a dollar and had told his parents he planned to buy a soda to drink with his lunch.^[18] Hernandez was an 18-year-old convenience store worker in a neighborhood bodega at the time of Etan's disappearance.^[20] Hernandez said that he later threw Etan's remains into the garbage.^[21] Hernandez was charged with second-degree murder. According to a New York Times report from May 25, 2012, the police at that time had no physical evidence to corroborate his confession.^[22] Statements in May 2012 by Hernandez's sister, Nina Hernandez, and Tomas Rivera, leader of a Charismatic Christianity group at St. Anthony of Padua, a Roman Catholic church in Camden, New Jersey, indicated that Hernandez may have publicly confessed to murdering Etan in the presence of fellow parishioners in the early 1980s. According to Hernandez's sister, it was an "open family secret that he had confessed in the church."^[23] A New York grand jury indicted Hernandez on November 14, 2012, on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.^[24] His lawyer has stated that Hernandez was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder, which includes hallucinations.^[24][25] The lawyer has also said his client has a low IQ of around 70, “at the border of intellectual disability.”^[26] On December 12, 2012, Hernandez pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping in a New York court.^[27] In April 2013, Harvey Fishbein, a defense lawyer for Pedro Hernandez, filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing that Hernandez's "confession in one of the nation's most notorious child disappearances was false, peppered with questionable claims and made after almost seven hours of police questioning".^[28] The next month, however, Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley ruled that the evidence was "legally sufficient to support the charges" and that the case could move forward. He also ordered a hearing to determine whether the defendant's statements could be used at trial.^[29] Hernandez had a hearing in September 2014 about whether his statements made prior to police giving him his Miranda warning were legally admissible at trial. This would be influenced by whether he felt free to leave during the time before he was informed of his Miranda rights. The hearing was also to determine whether he understood the significance of the Miranda rights and was competent to waive them when he did so. This was significant because it would decide whether any statements made after that point by Hernandez were legally admissible at trial. The actual truth or falsehood of the statements was not the focus of the hearing;^[26] rather, the question of the statements' truthfulness was to be discussed in the trial, which began on January 5, 2015.^[30] The case was tried in Room 733, 111 Centre Street, New York, New York. It resulted in a mistrial in May 2015 after the jurors deadlocked 11-1 for conviction.^[8]"
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Etan_Patz

Bulletin: Hassan Diab: Ottawa: A French appeal court has ordered him back to jail pending trial..."French authorities have so far presented little concrete evidence against Diab other than unsourced intelligence reports that Canadian federal prosecutors representing France were forced to withdraw because they couldn’t prove they were not gleaned from torture. That leaves French handwriting analysis comparing Diab’s handwriting with words on a hotel register written by one of the alleged perpetrators. Three internationally renowned experts called by Bayne to testify at the extradition hearing unanimously dismissed the analysis as incompetent. Maranger (Judge who made the extradition order HL) characterized the handwriting analysis as “convoluted, very confusing with conclusions that are suspect” and doubted it would be enough to convict in a Canadian criminal court. Despite those reservations, he said Canadian extradition law left him no choice. Both the handwriting evidence and the intelligence reports will apparently be part of the prosecution case when, and if, the case goes to trial." Reporter Chris Cobb; Ottawa Citizen;

 

"Former Ottawa academic Hassan Diab is back in a Paris jail barely a week after he was released on bail. French prosecutors had filed an appeal on Saturday, after terrorist suspect Diab was released on May 17, alleging he was a flight risk and a threat to civil order.  His defence team had hoped that the appeal judges would accept Diab’s presence at Tuesday afternoon’s appeal hearing, and the lack of public interest in his release, would be a successful counter to the prosecution grounds for keeping the 62-year-old Canadian citizen in jail. Diab’s Canadian lawyer Don Bayne called the decision “tragic.  “It’s an extension of an ongoing tragic miscarriage of justice and a wrongful conviction in the making,” Bayne said. “He shouldn’t have been extradited by Canada, and look at what’s happened to him and his family. Eighteen months in custody, then out, then in custody, and still no trial and no mention of a trial.” Diab’s wife Rania Tfaily said she was “crushed” by the decision. “Hassan fully abided by his bail conditions for several years in Canada,” she said. “In fact, a journalist informed Hassan that he was under investigation more than a year before France submitted a request for his extradition. Hassan could have legally travelled anywhere during that period.” Diab’s Paris lawyer, William Bourdon, said the defence would appeal Tuesday’s decision to the French Supreme Court  Diab is accused of murder and attempted murder for his alleged involvement in an October 1980 Paris terrorist bomb attack. The blast, allegedly carried out by an arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, killed four passersby and injured more than 40 inside and outside the synagogue. The former Carleton and University of Ottawa sociology lecturer denies any involvement, denies he was in Paris at the time and says he is an innocent victim of mistaken identity. A legal roller coaster has surrounded Diab’s release, with the investigating magistrate overseeing the case ruling that the academic is neither a flight risk nor a threat to French public order... French authorities have so far presented little concrete evidence against Diab other than unsourced intelligence reports that Canadian federal prosecutors representing France were forced to withdraw because they couldn’t prove they were not gleaned from torture. That leaves French handwriting analysis comparing Diab’s handwriting with words on a hotel register written by one of the alleged perpetrators. Three internationally renowned experts called by Bayne to testify at the extradition hearing unanimously dismissed the analysis as incompetent. Maranger (Judge who made the extradition order HL)  characterized the handwriting analysis as “convoluted, very confusing with conclusions that are suspect” and doubted it would be enough to convict in a Canadian criminal court. Despite those reservations, he said Canadian extradition law left him no choice. Both the handwriting evidence and the intelligence reports will apparently be part of the prosecution case when, and if, the case goes to trial."

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/french-appeal-court-orders-diab-back-to-jail-pending-trial

Bulletin: Ben Butler: UK; Ongoing trial: The Daily Mail reports on cross-examination of his partner - Ellie's mother - Jenny Gray; "Mother accused of covering up her six-year-old daughter's murder says girl fractured her skull when being looked after by social services or relatives; Ben Butler, 36, is accused of murdering daughter Ellie in October 2013; His partner Jennie Gray, 36, was cross-examined at the Old Bailey today; She said Ellie suffered a fractured skull while in care between 2007-2012; Also insisted Butler was a 'laddie man' who was only violent towards men; Butler and Gray deny child abuse and Butler denies murder. Trial continues."..."A woman accused of helping her partner cover up his murder of their six-year-old daughter has told the jury the girl was injured while in the care of grandparents or social services. Jennie Gray, 36, told the court that their daughter Ellie appeared to have suffered a fractured skull in the years she spent away from her parents."

"A woman accused of helping her partner cover up his murder of their six-year-old daughter has told the jury the girl was injured while in the care of grandparents or social services. Jennie Gray, 36, told the court that their daughter Ellie appeared to have suffered a fractured skull in the years she spent away from her parents. The girl was taken in 2007 after being rushed to hospital with head injuries. Gray also insisted that Butler, 36, never physically abused her or Ellie, saying he was a 'laddie man' who was only violent towards other men. Under cross-examination at the Old Bailey today, Gray also dismissed the prosecutor's claim that she allowed her 'devotion' to Butler to overcome her 'proper concerns for her child' and herself.    The court also heard that Gray has visited Butler in prison 190 times since he was charged with Ellie's murder and remanded in March 2014...Under cross examination, Ben FitzGerald asserted that Butler and Gray's lies were 'bound together'......Turning to the stream of abusive texts Butler sent Gray in 2013, the prosecutor said: 'You have always maintained that Ben Butler has not been violent. You have always been hiding the truth.  'Because once you have admissions of him being violent, you would destroy any chance of you keeping (Ellie) and maintaining your relationship with him.' Gray said: 'Ben was not violent to me and he certainly was not violent to my (daughter) and I maintain that 100 per cent.' Citing her own words in a 'desperate prayer' she wrote, Mr FitzGerald went on: 'You allowed your devotion to Mr Butler to overcome what should have been your proper concerns for your child.' Gray said it was 'not true'. She denied that, when she wrote that Butler was 'angry, hateful and violent', she was referring to violence against her.  She told jurors he was a 'laddie man' who could be violent to other men when he was out but not to her. Asked if Butler had a temper, Gray said: 'I have a temper. You have a temper. We all have a temper.'...The court heard that Gray went back to work with a bump on her head. She put it down to an accident slipping on steps, adding that she was a 'clumsy' person. The trial has heard that Butler, 36, of Sutton, south London, was convicted of shaking Ellie in 2007 but cleared on appeal.The couple won their custody battle to get Ellie returned to the family 11 months before her death."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3608641/Mother-accused-covering-six-year-old-daughter-s-murder-says-girl-fractured-skull-looked-social-services-relatives.html

William Amor: Illinois; Outdated arson 'science' investigations; The Illinois Innocence Project is challenging the ‘junk science’ which led to his conviction for first degree murder and 45 year prison term (21 years already served)..."Springfield attorney Erica Nichols Cook previously worked for the Illinois Innocence Project, and although she now works for the Illinois Office of the Appellate Defender, she continues to work on Amor’s case. She says the field of fire science has evolved significantly since the Miceli fire. “Experts and fire investigators are now required to base their opinions on data and scientific findings, and burn patterns like those seen in Amor’s case are not sufficient,” she said. “Neither is an uncorroborated confession.” When the Illinois Innocence Project accepted Amor’s case, the group asked Douglas Carpenter, a professional fire investigator from Massachusetts, to review the case. Carpenter’s report condemns the investigative methods used after the fire that killed Marianne Miceli, saying the original investigators “relied upon misapplication of the scientific method, as well as scientifically unreliable myths and misconceptions that had permeated the fire investigation community for years prior to the time of their investigation and testimony."

STORY: "Challenging ‘junk science’ in arson case," by reporter Patrick Yeagle, published by The Illinois Times on May 19, 2016.

GIST: "A Naperville man is asking a judge to overturn his murder conviction on the grounds that the prosecution’s case was built on junk science. William Amor spent the last 21 years behind bars for the death of his mother-in-law in a 1995 condo fire that investigators ruled as arson. His exoneration bid hinges on convincing the judge that new scientific research debunks old beliefs about how fire behaves. The Illinois Innocence Project, based at the University of Illinois Springfield, took on Amor’s case and is working to get his conviction overturned.........Amor was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 45 years in prison. His conviction was largely based on his contested confession and testimony from fire investigators who acted as the state’s expert witnesses.
Springfield attorney Erica Nichols Cook previously worked for the Illinois Innocence Project, and although she now works for the Illinois Office of the Appellate Defender, she continues to work on Amor’s case. She says the field of fire science has evolved significantly since the Miceli fire. “Experts and fire investigators are now required to base their opinions on data and scientific findings, and burn patterns like those seen in Amor’s case are not sufficient,” she said. “Neither is an uncorroborated confession.” When the Illinois Innocence Project accepted Amor’s case, the group asked Douglas Carpenter, a professional fire investigator from Massachusetts, to review the case. Carpenter’s report condemns the investigative methods used after the fire that killed Marianne Miceli, saying the original investigators “relied upon misapplication of the scientific method, as well as scientifically unreliable myths and misconceptions that had permeated the fire investigation community for years prior to the time of their investigation and testimony. He says the current standard handbook for fire investigation was first published in 1992 – three years before the Miceli fire – but the methods it contained were resisted by investigators until the early 2000s. Widely used benchmarks like the “normal” speed for a fire to burn versus an intentional fire were untested at the time, he says, yet they were treated as science and have since been debunked. In Amor’s case, Carpenter says the original investigators failed to recognize the effects of “flashover,” in which heat from a fire in a room rises to the ceiling but can’t escape, so it forms a superheated layer overhead and eventually causes the entire room – including materials below the fire’s origin – to “autoignite.” Because many fire investigators previously believed that fire only burns upward, burnt flooring like that found in the Miceli fire was assumed to mean the fire started on the floor, probably with a flammable liquid."

The entire story can be found at:

http://illinoistimes.com/article-17235-challenging-%E2%80%98junk-science%E2%80%99-in-arson-case.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;

Harold Levy;

Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

Bulletin: William Haughey: Connecticut; Outdated arson 'science; Major Development; After serving eight years in prison for setting a fire in a restaurant he has been exonerated after prosecutors agreed there wasn't enough proof he had done anything wrong or that the fire had even been deliberately set..."He also reached out to the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice. "It was a breath of fresh air how (Tendy) responded, really being an administer of justice as a District Attorney should be," said Deskovic, who formed the foundation after his own exoneration. He was freed in 2006 after serving nearly 16 years in prison for the rape and murder of a Peekskill High School classmate when new DNA testiing identified the real killer. The new probe into the Smalley Inn fire determined that the findings of the original fire investigator, Robert Geoghegan, were "fundamentally flawed." Lohud.

"A Connecticut man who spent eight years in prison for setting a fire in a Carmel restaurant has been exonerated after Putnam prosecutors agreed there wasn't enough proof he had done anything wrong or that the fire had even been deliberately set. A federal judge on Monday threw out the arson conviction of 44-year-old William Haughey. A Putnam County jury in 2008 had found Haughey guilty of setting the March 10, 2007 fire at Smalley’s Inn. Haughey was initially freed on bail May 9 after Putnam District Attorney Robert Tendy told a magistrate judge that his office was supportive of Haughey's bid for freedom. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Vincent Bricetti vacated the conviction and sentence and ordered Haughey's unconditional release, finding he was actually innocent......Tendy said he initially got involved while running for district attorney last year when Haughey wrote to him. He became convinced of Haughey's innocence and said he would review the case if elected. "I don't think it was anything egregious, I think it was just a series of ... unfortunate events that wound up with Mr. Haughey convicted," Tendy said. Haughey’s state appellate efforts — centering on insufficient evidence and ineffectiveness of counsel — had all failed. He filed a federal motion to overturn the conviction in 2013.  He also reached out to the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice. "It was a breath of fresh air how (Tendy) responded, really being an administer of justice as a District Attorney should be," said Deskovic, who formed the foundation after his own exoneration. He was freed in 2006 after serving nearly 16 years in prison for the rape and murder of a Peekskill High School classmate when new DNA testing identified the real killer. The new probe into the Smalley Inn fire determined that the findings of the original fire investigator, Robert Geoghegan, were "fundamentally flawed." Geoghegan testified at the trial that the fire was "incendiary in origin" and not caused by an electrical problem. But according to Tendy's office, Geoghegan could not adequately rule out unintentional causes because he limited his investigation to the area around the bathroom. He also never inspected the area around an electrical smoke-eater, even though witnesses had observed smoke and flames in a vent that went to the smoke-eater..........The original defense lawyer, Edward McCormack, was also faulted for not hiring his own fire investigator to counter Geoghegan's contentions."

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/2016/05/24/2008-putnam-arson-conviction-tossed/84860494/


Sent from my iPhone

Bulletin: Ben Butler: UK: 'I think Ellie's dead' Mum lied about delaying 999 call to protect partner, court hears The mum of tragic tot Ellie Butler waited 45 minutes before dialling 999 because she was afraid her partner would be blamed for her death, a court heard," the Daily Star reports..."Her partner, Ben Butler, denies murdering her daughter and denies a charge of child cruelty. Gray sobbed as she gave evidence, claiming her actions at the time were out of fear that partner Butler would be blamed – as he had been in 2007 when he was accused of shaking Ellie as a baby. Giving evidence today at Old Bailey, Gray told jurors: "Mr worst fear came true – exactly what I thought would happen." Explaining why she initially lied, she insisted: "I said those things in reaction because I was terrified they were going to blame him when he has never laid a finger on my child, as they did this before." Ben Butler was jailed for 19 months for violently shaking Ellie as a baby in 2007. He was later cleared and the family were reunited in 2011after a long legal battle. The couple won a custody battle to get their child back just 11 months before she was allegedly battered to death by Butler while he was home alone with her and another child. The former car salesman is now accused of losing his temper and bashing Ellie's head in while Gray was at work on October 28, 2013."

"Jennie Gray, 36, arrived home to find her daughter motionless before picking up the phone to call police almost an hour later.The Old Bailey heard how Gray maintained the story for the next year and a half that she had phoned authorities immediately when she found Ellie – despite police beginning to unravel the lies. The six-year-old girl was found dead on her bedroom floor by Gray at the family's south-west London home in Sutton in 2013. Her partner, Ben Butler, denies murdering her daughter and denies a charge of child cruelty. Gray sobbed as she gave evidence, claiming her actions at the time were out of fear that partner Butler would be blamed – as he had been in 2007 when he was accused of shaking Ellie as a baby. Giving evidence today at Old Bailey, Gray told jurors: "Mr worst fear came true – exactly what I thought would happen." Explaining why she initially lied, she insisted: "I said those things in reaction because I was terrified they were going to blame him when he has never laid a finger on my child, as they did this before." Ben Butler was jailed for 19 months for violently shaking Ellie as a baby in 2007. He was later cleared and the family were reunited in 2011after a long legal battle. The couple won a custody battle to get their child back just 11 months before she was allegedly battered to death by Butler while he was home alone with her and another child. The former car salesman is now accused of losing his temper and bashing Ellie's head in while Gray was at work on October 28, 2013. Jobless Butler, 36, urgently called her home to Sutton, south-west London, that afternoon – but waited two hours before ringing 999, the Old Bailey heard.

In that time, the couple allegedly destroyed evidence in an attempt to cover up the circumstances of Ellie's death. Gray denied that he said anything to her on the phone about Ellie being ill when he told her to "come home". She arrived at about 2pm and went to the bathroom before going downstairs. She said: "I saw Ben on the floor shaking and I was frightened. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what was going on. He said to me 'I think Ellie's dead'. "I said 'what are you talking about'. My whole body froze. I didn't know what to do, I could feel myself shaking. "I just went upstairs. I went into Ellie's room. I saw Ellie on the floor and she was just lying there, and I looked at her eyes - her pupils were big. I've never seen that before in my life. "She was just so still and I could not think, my whole body froze. I got down near her. I tried to breathe air in her mouth. I heard a noise in her stomach and I saw her tummy come up and then this smell - a terrible smell. "I knew she was gone, she was gone already." Ben wrote notes listing the things Ellie did wrong Gray denied that the desperate 999 call in which she carried out CPR on Ellie was a charade. She added: "That's not true. That's not a charade. I wanted to try and save my little girl. Half of me knew she was gone but half of me didn't accept it." And she denied planning and scheming with Butler in the 45 minutes before they called emergency services after her arrival home. She said: "He said something about wanting to get some air. It was like my whole body froze and time stood still." The trial continues."

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/517955/ellie-butler-jennie-gray-ben-butler-murder-trial-london?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-star-latest-news+%28Daily+Star+%3A%3A+News+Feed%29

Cameron Todd Willingham; Texas; Even Pravda recognizes Texas's role - especially the role played by then Governor Rick Perry - in the execution of an innocent man: The story, which is headed: "USA: Let Texas Secede," is written by Pravda's Legal Correspondent David R. Hoffman, who refers to Texas as a "cancer' - and rails against a "corrupt legal system."..."Several years ago, a man named Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of setting a fire that killed his children. Despite evidence that the so-called "arson science" used to convict Willingham was seriously flawed, Perry signed Willingham's death warrant, and then, after Willingham's execution, pathetically tried to justify his actions by noting how, shortly before being executed, Willingham had used foul language to criticize his ex-wife, whose testimony had helped to convict him. Logically and morally it would seem that any politician so rabid to execute human beings despite evidence of their innocence would find his/her career in shambles. Corrupt legal system But not in Texas. To a majority of Texas voters, the survival of its well-oiled execution machine, fueled by one of the most corrupt legal systems in the nation, was more important than "minor nuisances" like executing the innocent. Needless to say, not only was Perry reelected, he even endeavored to run for President of the United States. As if that isn't vile enough, Texas voters weren't done yet. After Perry left office, they elected Abbott, who had, while serving as Attorney General under Perry, done everything in his power to thwart any official investigations into Willingham's trial, conviction, and execution." (Yes, it's Pravda- but that doesn't ncessarily mean its wrong." HL);

 
STORY: "Let Texas Secede" by Legal Editor David R. Hoffman, published by Pravda on May 19, 2016;

GIST:  "Several years ago, during the nightmare of the Bush dictatorship, controversial comedian Bill Maher remarked that America might have been better off if the South had seceded from the Union. At first glance, such a sentiment appeared impossible to justify.......... But the state of Texas has been a particular cancer on the people of the United States, not just because of its number of Electoral College votes, but also because of the inordinate number of demagogues it has unleashed on the national landscape, such as Tom Delay, George W. Bush, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, and Greg Abbott.  In fact, if there is anybody that personifies how readily the "good-old-boy" Texas political system can result in the most egregious of actions, it is Perry and Abbott.  Several years ago, a man named Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of setting a fire that killed his children.  Despite evidence that the so-called "arson science" used to convict Willingham was seriously flawed, Perry signed Willingham's death warrant, and then, after Willingham's execution, pathetically tried to justify his actions by noting how, shortly before being executed, Willingham had used foul language to criticize his ex-wife, whose testimony had helped to convict him.  Logically and morally it would seem that any politician so rabid to execute human beings despite evidence of their innocence would find his/her career in shambles. But not in Texas.  To a majority of Texas voters, the survival of its well-oiled execution machine, fueled by one of the most corrupt legal systems in the nation, was more important than "minor nuisances" like executing the innocent.  Needless to say, not only was Perry reelected, he even endeavored to run for President of the United States. As if that isn't vile enough, Texas voters weren't done yet.  After Perry left office, they elected Abbott, who had, while serving as Attorney General under Perry, done everything in his power to thwart any official investigations into Willingham's trial, conviction, and execution.........So, while allowing Texas to secede would dilute its negative impact on the rest of America, it would also be an interesting sociological experiment:  It will give revisionists, homophobes, racists, anti-intellectuals, and pseudo-Christians a safe-haven for their philosophies, and the world could watch this new country implode as these respective groups fight for dominance. So, while there are many treatments for cancer, one of the most drastic, but sometimes the most necessary, is to cut out the affected area.  Since many in Texas want to secede, I say let them.  The rest of the United States will be better because of it."

The entire story can be found at:

USA: Let Texas secede

19.05.2016

Several years ago, during the nightmare of the Bush dictatorship, controversial comedian Bill Maher remarked that America might have been better off if the South had seceded from the Union.

At first glance, such a sentiment appeared impossible to justify.  After all, despite all its platitudes about "states' rights," what the Confederacy was really defending was the horrific institution of human slavery.  Not only did the Civil War end this institution via passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, it also applied the Bill of Rights to the states and guaranteed Equal Protection of the laws via the Fourteenth Amendment, and promised African-American males the right to vote via the Fifteenth.

But once one realizes how rapidly these lofty amendments became nothing more than empty words, it's not difficult to see why satirist Thomas Nast called the plight of African-Americans during the post-civil war years "worse than slavery."

Refusal to honor promises

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First, Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, rescinded or refused to honor many promises made to African-Americans; then, in order to win a hotly disputed election, Rutherford B. Hayes terminated Reconstruction Policies that had protected the newly freed slaves; the United States Supreme Court, in the now infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case, made racial segregation the law of the land; and lynchings and massacres of African-Americans became commonplace.

For decades, the perversity of Southern racism and political backwardness served as an anchor on the ship of progress, elevating to political prominence men like Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, and George Wallace, and even today it has plagued America with people like Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Roy Moore, Phil Bryant, and Pat McCrory.

This, of course, is not to say that the North doesn't have its share of political backwardness, as evidenced by the governorships of Paul LePage (Maine), Scott Walker (Wisconsin), Rick Snyder (Michigan), and Mike Pence (Indiana)-although, in fairness, Indiana's unofficial nickname is "the Northernmost Southern State."

Texas has been a cancer

But the state of Texas has been a particular cancer on the people of the United States, not just because of its number of Electoral College votes, but also because of the inordinate number of demagogues it has unleashed on the national landscape, such as Tom Delay, George W. Bush, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, and Greg Abbott.  In fact, if there is anybody that personifies how readily the "good-old-boy" Texas political system can result in the most egregious of actions, it is Perry and Abbott. 

Several years ago, a man named Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of setting a fire that killed his children.  Despite evidence that the so-called "arson science" used to convict Willingham was seriously flawed, Perry signed Willingham's death warrant, and then, after Willingham's execution, pathetically tried to justify his actions by noting how, shortly before being executed, Willingham had used foul language to criticize his ex-wife, whose testimony had helped to convict him.

Logically and morally it would seem that any politician so rabid to execute human beings despite evidence of their innocence would find his/her career in shambles.

Corrupt legal system

But not in Texas.  To a majority of Texas voters, the survival of its well-oiled execution machine, fueled by one of the most corrupt legal systems in the nation, was more important than "minor nuisances" like executing the innocent.  Needless to say, not only was Perry reelected, he even endeavored to run for President of the United States.

As if that isn't vile enough, Texas voters weren't done yet.  After Perry left office, they elected Abbott, who had, while serving as Attorney General under Perry, done everything in his power to thwart any official investigations into Willingham's trial, conviction, and execution.

Unfortunately, the cancer spread by Texas doesn't just infect America's political system:  It infects its educational system as well, as demonstrated by several members of the Texas Board of Education who sought to rewrite school textbooks so they could indoctrinate students with their distorted version of history and politics.

While this would be contemptible enough even if it was just confined to Texas, the reality is that the state's consumption of textbooks is so immense that publishers were concerned that the costs of publishing two different versions-one for Texas and one for the rest of United States-would be too prohibitive, which, in turn, created the very real prospect that Texas's textbooks would become the norm throughout America.

The unspoken motive behind this textbook manipulation is simplistically sinister.  The "Great Lie Theory," outlined by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf and exploited by demagogues, tyrants, megalomaniacs, hypocrites, and pseudo-religious leaders throughout history, asserts that if great lies are repeated often enough, people will come to accept them as truth.

The major flaw in this theory is that "great lies" can readily be recognized by informed people.  As I stated in several previous Pravda.Ru articles, there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity.  Ignorance is a conscious decision by an individual to intentionally refuse to research and/or seek out information, while stupidity results from an inability, beyond one's control, to conduct such research and/or locate such information.  

The manipulators of Texas's educational system know that ignorant people can always become informed people, but stupid children are destined to become stupid adults if they are denied the proper educational resources.  

And this stupidity is what the Texas political machine hopes to thrive on.

Those who doubt this only need to examine a recent ruling by the right-wing Texas Supreme Court that upheld the "constitutionality" of Texas's unequal funding of public schools.

So, while allowing Texas to secede would dilute its negative impact on the rest of America, it would also be an interesting sociological experiment:  It will give revisionists, homophobes, racists, anti-intellectuals, and pseudo-Christians a safe-haven for their philosophies, and the world could watch this new country implode as these respective groups fight for dominance.

So, while there are many treatments for cancer, one of the most drastic, but sometimes the most necessary, is to cut out the affected area.  Since many in Texas want to secede, I say let them.  The rest of the United States will be better because of it.

David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda.Ru

- See more at: http://www.pravdareport.com/opinion/columnists/19-05-2016/134479-texas_secede-0/#sthash.CgAkdNyw.dpuf

http://www.pravdareport.com/opinion/columnists/19-05-2016/134479-texas_secede-0/
 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

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Harold Levy;

Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;