Red Clay Citizen

NC Probation Fails & SC Pays For It

More details are beginning to emerge about just how South Carolina serial killer Patrick Burris was able to slip through the fingers of North Carolina's justice system and kill five people just across the border in Gaffney, SC.  Gary Wright of The Charlotte Observer has the story in detail.

Despite claims by Corrections officials that they had attempted to revoke his probation when he was arrested for driving while his license was revoked in Lincoln county, the reality is that Burris' probation officer never called the Lincoln county jail to have deputies hold him.  Two weeks later, Burris went on his killing spree.

Just who was this guy?  The Charlotte "O" tells it:

"A Maryland native, Burris had been arrested more than 30 times in North carolina and had an extensive record across the Southeast.  He served time in prison in several states."

The sad thing in the whole affair is that while the North Carolina Community Corrections system failed to keep a killer off of the street, it was South Carolina's citizens that paid the price.

Fortunately for the citizens of both states, there will be no long drawn out trial and pretend death sentence for Burris.  Gastonia police killed him in a gunfight last week.  There has been no confirmation on whether or not a board certified physician was in attendance during the procedure. 

Last Hope for Chrysler Bondholders, Possibly the Bond Market

By 4 p.m. today, the U.S. Supreme Court must decide if it will hear a case for some Chrysler bondholders. This last effort by pensions in the state of Indiana may hold the future for the bond market as a whole. Historically, secured bondholders have had very safe investments because they are first in line to receive liquidated assets upon bankruptcy. This time, the US government ran the bankruptcy and over-turned 100 years of bankruptcy procedures. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will overrule the previous verdicts and uphold bankruptcy law. If not, then I'm afraid that the bond market will take a huge hit, since most of the market is run off speculation and anticipation.

If secured bondholders no longer are safe, what about the bondholders in U.S. securities? What about the FDIC? I would be willing to assert that if bankruptcy law is being overturned, what stops them from  overturning FDIC or declaring Treasury bonds to be worthless? I'm worried about the precedents that we are currently setting in America.

Death Penalty Popular in North Carolina

Our latest survey included a standard question about the death penalty. The results show support increasing from the last time we polled in 2008. Death penalty opponents are not going to go away because of broad public support for the Death Penalty. As Chris Hayes posted earlier on an article by Tara Servatius, opponents are already working on their next strategy for keeping killers off of death row.

Of course if you want to know the unfiltered opinion on the death penalty, read the comments at the bottom of thisWTVD story Support for death penalty strong in NC!

"Affirmative Action for Killers"

That's how WBT radio host and Creative Loafing columnist Tara Servatius appropriately describes the "Racial Justice Act" that has been passed in different forms by each the NC House (HB 472) and NC Senate (SB 461) in a recent article.

The Racial Justice Act would allow convicted murderers who are sentenced to death to appeal their sentence based on race be somehow a factor in the jury's decision.  What exactly is "a factor"?  Well, that can be just about anything. Tara writes:

The beauty of this bill, from an ax murderer's perspective, is that there are no limits on which statistics you can use. So if you don't like the 2009 FBI statistics, and your case stretches over a few years, as most death penalty cases do, you could use the 2010 statistics. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, though most law enforcement agencies increasingly do it. In 2004, 380 North Carolina law enforcement agencies reported homicides to the FBI. In 2005, 448 did. That means the stats fluctuate annually, so there's plenty of statistical "diversity" to choose from.

And if all of that fails, you could always use the statistical racial makeup of the jury. The law is so nuts, your own lawyer could later testify that he might have discriminated against you in jury selection, and that could work, too. Or you could simply argue that your jury's racial makeup didn't mirror the state's or your county's or, well, as you can see, the possibilities are endless.

She then closes with the most important aspect of the impact of this bill, on the victims' families and the way justice is dispensed in our state:

The most offensive part of this bill, from a victim's perspective, is the line stating that statistical proof that those of your race have been discriminated against in sentencing will trump every other aggravating factor in determining whether your death sentence is overturned.

So you robbed your victim before you tortured her for three days, stabbed her 83 times, recorded the whole thing and uploaded it to YouTube along with your signed confession? No biggie.

Race, from now on, is the only thing that will matter.

Hopefully legislators will see this bill for what it really is before final passage.

Free Speech and an Exotic Dancer at UNC

The second round of the suppression of free speech at UNC-CH happened last night, April 22nd.  You may recall that, last week saw secure borders advocate, former Congressman, Tom Tancredo yelled down by liberal thugs in Chapel Hill while attempting to express his free speech rights before a conservative student group opposed to illegal immigration.  Since they couldn't get their way inside of the lecture hall, these stalinist bullies smashed a window and the UNC Police canceled the rest of the event.  Civitas' own Bob Luebke wrote about it here and here.

Another former Congressman with strong opinions on illegal immigration came to UNC in the wake of the Tancredo incident and the university administration was quick to point out that there would be no trouble this time from the lunatic left.  Well, guess what happened?  When former Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode began to speak, the looney leftists played a verbal game of wacka-mole.  One would shout out an incoherent screed long enough to be warned by police only to sit down and be replaced by another mouthy Bolshevik.  These so called students of higher education also thought it would be cute to bring a noise makers to the event but to no avail.

Final Score:  UNC Police 6 arrests, Lefties 0, College Windows broken 0, Free Speech immeasurable.

While the university administration has claimed victory by actually having a conservative speaker complete a speech on campus, questions remain about the administration's handling of the first incident.  (Rumor has it that there are now 4 honor code violation investigations underway.)

Incidentally, another controversial speaker at UNC didn't run into protests or disruptions last night.  Crystal Gayle Mangum, of Duke Lacrosse Witch hunt fame came to gripe about how poorly she was treated in the media.    Fortunately, there were no reports of lacrosse players smashing windows during the event.  I guess her speech was just a little more free than Virgil Goode's.

Earth Day Remembrance

Let us look back on Earth Day and a too little remembered story that is forever linked to its founding. It is a story I had heard before but had not thought about recently until I heard Rush Limbaugh read the story today in honor of Earth Day. Today we should take a moment to remember Holly Maddux brutally murdered by earth day co-founder Ira Einhorn. The story is courtesy of the Philadelphia Bulletin. I challenge anyone to show me conclusive proof that more people have been killed by "climate change" than by this murdering environmentalist.

The Cost of Illegal Immigration?

While not actually discussing the "cost" of illegal immigration, Civitas Senior Fellow Jameson Taylor penned a great piece on "How Much Is The Rule Of Law Worth?" It is a discussion of the "costs" of admitting illegal aliens into the North Carolina Community College system. The costs are more than the dollars and cents that would be paid by taxpayers or students. Read the article and find out.

The Left Attacks Again: Destroy the Messenger!

The Wall Street Journal details the lefts "Attack Machine" at the national level. On a personal level I recently experienced (again) how the left demonizes the individual and ignores any debate on policy. I wrote a piece about "Another Federal Bailout" that appeared in the Charlotte Observer and in response I received the below letter at my home.

The person who wrote this letter attacks me personally rather than discuss any factual or philosophical arguments, They also attack my service in the USMC and the military as an institution. The attack on the Marine Corps was about as close to a policy debate as they get. I am not going to debate this letter but I have posted on this to make you aware that the left is doing this on every level so:

When you see a news story about an individual and not a policy, stop and ask why they are discussing personalities and not discussing the issue? That is because they don't want to discuss the issues, they want to demonize individuals.

 

Narco Gangs in North Carolina

In an effort to remain objective and considerate of the plight of poor illegal aliens that just want to come here for a better life and who tremble at the sight of a sheriff's deputy in their rearview mirror, I present the following: A recent report from the National Drug Intelligence Center, an agency under the U.S. Justice Department outlines how foreign gangs are targeting North Carolina.
(Map of NC cities reporting the presence of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations, Jan. 1, 2006- April 8, 2008)

The report says:

"Mexican criminal groups are expanding Mexican heroin distribution in eastern states, where previously only South American heroin had been available. Mexican heroin distribution groups are distributing the drug in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. For example, in February 2008 DEA announced the sentencing of a Mexican national convicted of leading a black tar heroin distribution group in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Members of the Charlotte criminal group had worked with other Mexican nationals in Arizona, California, Indiana, and Ohio to smuggle 10 to 15 kilograms of black tar heroin each month from Nayarit, Mexico, for distribution throughout the United States. The Charlotte organization had also established distribution cells throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee."

  Clearly the lack of border protection is not just about making sure there are enough workers here.  And don't think for a minute that this is merely a question of a threat from south of the border (and, no, I don't mean South Carolina).  Read on:

"Furthermore, law enforcement reporting indicates that Nigerian drug traffickers are expanding their distribution of heroin (most likely Southwest Asian heroin, although the origin has not been confirmed by signature testing) in the Southeast Region. For example, in June 2008 a Nigerian national smuggling heroin on a commercial flight departed from Nigeria, arrived in New York City, and proceeded to North Carolina. Upon arrival in there, the smuggler was hospitalized, and doctors removed  approximately 600 grams of heroin (42 balloons) from his body. The smuggler lived in North Carolina, and the heroin was most likely intended for local distribution."

Apparently, North Carolina has some wolves among the sheep.  Maybe one of these foreign drug dealers will get stopped in Alamance County for a "routine" traffic offense and get removed from our streets.  We can no longer allow criminal organizations to ply their trade in our state without fear of being caught.  Illegal border crossing is only a misdemeanor under US law but it opens the door wide to countless felonies that ruin our communities.  While the ACLU is trying to harass our Sheriffs that have taken a stand for the rule of law, what has the ACLU done to keep heroin out of your neighborhood?

Watch Out, Sheriff!

Arizona's Maricopa County has one tough sheriff by the name of Joe Arpaio.  Joe is under attack by the usual suspects on the left for enforcing his state's laws with regards to illegal immigrants.  While the typical whinings of the ACLU and the National (sic) Council of "The Race" can be expected whenever their plans of a borderless United States are opposed, Sheriff Arpaio has new problems.  The Obama Justice Department and the Democrat controlled Congress has targeted the sheriff under the guise of looking for civil rights violations of illegal aliens.

How has he abused their rights?  His department uses the 287G program to identify the legal status of inmates in his jail so they can be identified to determine if they have outstanding charges in other jurisdictions or deportation orders. 

The citizens of Maricopa county seem to agree with the sheriff, having elected him 5 times.  The Arizona Republic calls the investigation a "witch hunt."

North Carolina's sheriffs that participate in the 287G program may want to watch out.  Local illegal immigrant advocates El Pueblo might get Obama's Justice Department down here to lean on then to stop enforcing the law in the counties that elected them.  You don't have to look hard to find the first shots in this skirmish.  Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell has already been raked over the coals for his politically incorrect comments to the News and Observer.

Apparently, when you can't influence an election for sheriff through negative press and character assassination, you try to remove them from office by federal indictment.  Stay strong sheriffs and remember those who elected you and also remember a few names.

Scott Gardner, Wanda Altman, Leeanna Newman, Meghan Hughes, Jennifer Carter, Ben Leonard, George Smith, Lewis Fetterman Jr., Jerry Braswell, Jerry Braswell Jr. and Marcus Lassiter are just a few of North Carolina's men, women and children killed by illegal immigrants in just the past couple of years.  They died because someone wasn't enforcing the law.