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Mich. - A Michigan town may
Kalamazoo, Mich. - A Michigan town may be waffling on welcoming Guant¨¢namo Bay detainees.
On Monday, the Standish City Council passed a unanimous resolution expressing interest in inflatable water games having a federal prison at the Standish Max Correctional facility, slated to close Oct. 31 due to budget cuts. But the resolution stripped out all reference to the detainees currently being housed at the US base in Cuba.
While some reports have interpreted the change in language to mean that the welcome mat has been officially yanked, the community 120 miles north of Detroit is not ruling out taking the more than 200 detainees, says Ruth Caldwell, vice president of the Standish Chamber of Commerce.
"[The City Council] watered it down a little because a few people don't want it and have been very vocal, but akoya pearl necklace they did pass it last night," says Ms. Caldwell, who owns Pleasantries gift boutique. And the motion "states we're in favor of a federal option."
President Obama has said he wants to close the facility at Guant¨¢namo by year's end. The prison at Standish, which can hold about 600 inmates, is reported to be one option the federal government is considering. Another is Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, home of the military's only maximum-security prison.
Arenac County, where Standish is located, passed a resolution that supported housing the pearl earrings detainees last week. Arenac County Commissioner Mike Snyder says he has been assured that Standish's door is still open. "The whole point of [the wording change] was to remove the detainee language and replace it with 'federal prisoners.' Did the change in fact exclude Guant¨¢namo detainees? The mayor says it does not," says Mr. Snyder.
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Posted: 4:54 AM, 10/30/2009 |
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Opposition to the plan includes
Opposition to the plan includes The Coalition to Stop Gitmo North and Republican Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who is believed to be a contender for the 2010 Michigan gubernatorial race. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) has also expressed concerns about bringing the freshwater pearl ring detainees to Michigan.
On Tuesday, the Coalition launched a move to recall the Standish City Council, three of whom are already at the end of their terms, Commissioner Snyder says.
"My extreme concern is about the hatemongering and mistruths and lack of information" on the part of the Coalition, says Snyder. Until the government makes a decision, "we're dealing with wild speculation that's hurting everyone. It's incredibly detrimental to a real understanding of what's going on."
Ms. Caldwell says her own stance is wholesale pearl jewelry unchanged: "We need to have something here."
The city must repay bonds taken out when the prison was built in 1990, and one-quarter of its budget ($36,000 a month) comes from the prison's water and sewer bill. Pennsylvania is reportedly also considering the site to help ease overcrowding at its prisons.
But with less than two weeks until the prison closes, Standish is running out of options to replace its largest employer. On Thursday, 100 employees at Standish Max and Camp Lehman in Grayling received notice of layoffs, and others received transfer notices.
Ultimately, Caldwell points out, the multi-strand necklaces city itself has little say in the future of the prison. "It really doesn't matter: If the federal government wants it here, it will be here."
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Posted: 4:52 AM, 10/30/2009 |
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The US Supreme Court has
The US Supreme Court has let stand a ruling in Virginia that police officers must personally observe erratic driving before stopping a suspected drunken driver.
On Tuesday, the wish pearl jewelry high court declined to take up an appeal involving a Richmond motorist who was pulled over by a police officer based on an anonymous tip that he was driving under the influence of alcohol.
The issue in the case, Virginia v. Harris, was whether the officer was justified in confronting the driver with a roadside sobriety test, or whether he should have waited until Harris' driving gave rise to a reasonable suspicion of drunk driving independent of the anonymous tip.
The case stems from pearl earrings a December 2005 telephone call received by police. The caller said that an intoxicated driver named Joseph Harris was driving an Altima, southbound on Meadowbridge Road in Richmond. The caller gave a partial license plate number.
Officer Claude Picard of the Richmond Police Department soon located an Altima being driven by a man with akoya pearl necklace a license plate similar to the number offered by the caller.
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Posted: 4:50 AM, 10/30/2009 |
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The officer followed Mr. Harris
The officer followed Mr. Harris and watched as the motorist slowed down before crossing an intersection where he had the right of way, and slowed down again 50 feet before reaching a red stop light. At other times the car was traveling at the freshwater pearl stipulated speed limit of 25 mph.
Once through the intersection, Harris pulled his car over to the shoulder and stopped. Officer Picard pulled up behind Harris and activated his lights and siren.
The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol on Harris' breath and noticed that his speech was slurred. Picard administered a field sobriety test. Harris failed. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Harris had been convicted of opera or rope necklace the same offense twice before.
At trial, Harris' lawyer argued that the charge should be dropped because the police officer lacked the level of reasonable suspicion needed to justify the traffic stop. The trial court rejected the argument and Harris was convicted and sentenced to serve 90 days in prison. A state appeals court affirmed the decision.
The Virginia Supreme Court voted 4-3 to throw out the conviction. The state high court said the sterling silver jewelry anonymous tip did not provide enough evidence of criminal wrongdoing to overcome Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
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Posted: 4:44 AM, 10/30/2009 |
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The police officer must personally
The police officer must personally observe criminal activity before an investigative stop is justified, the pearl jewelry Virginia court ruled.
The Virginia attorney general's office appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court, urging the high court to overturn the opinion and make clear that in cases involving suspected drunk drivers, police officers are justified in conducting a brief traffic stop.
The Supreme Court turned down the appeal without comment. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a dissent, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia.
Chief Justice Roberts said a sharp disagreement had emerged in federal and state courts over this particular Fourth Amendment issue. Most courts have upheld the inflatable police stop, but some have ruled for the motorist. "The conflict is clear and the stakes are high," he wrote.
"The effect of the rule below will be to grant drunk drivers 'one free swerve' before they can legally be pulled over by police," Roberts said.
"It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to cheap pearl jewelry pull him over, even for a quick check."
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Posted: 4:42 AM, 10/30/2009 |
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