#state corruption

[stonedcymro]

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.

— Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

[myfuckingbudapestmovie]

Az állami korrupció szép példája az ócska, elavult orosz metrószerelvények beszerzése.... Tarlós Pucuka bácsi meg Budapest díszpolgára lett Karácsony nemes/gyáva gesztusa miatt.

"ha bebizonyosodik, hogy ezek új kocsik, akkor ez súlyos bűncselekmények gyanúját vetheti fel: hivatali hatalommal és közpénzzel való visszaélés, a tenderkiírási szabályok megsértése, uniós előírások kijátszása, vám- és áfacsalás." (Vágó István)

[fiapple]

The state of exception in Honduras is endangering innocent lives

The heavy-handed security measures introduced to tackle gang violence have triggered a spike in abuses and deaths.

"Amnesty International has also uncovered evidence of widespread abuses. Rihanna Ferrera, an activist and member of the National Mechanism Against Torture, a body made up by government officials and independent organisations, told an Amnesty team they have seen an increasing number of cases of young men from marginalised areas being detained without any concrete evidence. She said the authorities are criminalising poverty.

Ferrera has documented cases of young men who are detained and then driven around to be beaten and abused before their arrests are even registered at the police station. She claimed this is a way of encouraging forced confessions, to show authorities are doing something to tackle crime.

The situation in prisons has also deteriorated, with the military police taking charge of the whole prison system in June. This move came after the eruption of violence between two gangs in a prison in Támara, near the capital Tegucigalpa, took the lives of 46 women.

But activists said that instead of working to make prisons safer, the authorities are punishing those held behind bars by withholding food and banning family visits, which for most are the only way to access basic products. Human rights organisations are also being prevented from entering prisons, which opens the door for more abuses to take place.

Activists who have tried to report the growing number human rights violations taking place during the state of exception have been harassed and subjected to smear campaigns or worse – have become targets of abuses themselves. It is not surprising many are scared to even speak up."

[redrubied]

University of California Divests $25 Million From Private Prison Companies

The University of California (UC) system has announced that it will no longer invest in private prison companies and divested the $25 million it held in GEO Group Inc, G4S, and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), according to the Los Angeles Times.

More of this should happen. 

Columbia University, now UofC... All education places should follow suit and divest too. I’ll never understand for-profit prisons, many more built when schools and higher ed places are not built at the same rate. The worst of any of these, is the for-profit prisons have a deal with the states that there has to be a minimum occupancy at any given time.... wth? The state has to provide prisoners at a certain rate, all year round. And people wonder why Baltimore sent so many to jail for the littlest of things, or for no reason at all. 

Sigh.

[micdotcom]

Harvard study reveals the most corrupt states in America 

With Congress stuck in the least productive rut in American history, the bulk of important legislative action is taking place in state legislatures. But according to one study, all that power might not be in the best hands.

Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics published a study last week looking at state-level corruption throughout the U.S. But instead of relying on public corruption conviction data, researchers surveyed some 280 regional reporters and asked them to rate their states' executive, legislative and judicial corruption. 

Overall, Arizona came out on top for most perceived corruption, although other states didn't have a great record either.

[leonine-antiheroine]

Dr Shiping Bao, whom performed the autopsy on the body of Trayvon Martin, is suing the state of Florida for sacking him unlawfully. Bao says the state threw the case against Zimmerman. In another 'case', a Black man, Marlon Brown, was run over and killed by a police officer and while Bao said it was a 'traumatic homicide' in his autopsy report, his boss overruled it. The state attorney and a grand jury refused to charge and indict the police officer.

"...dash-cam video from the night of May 8 shows Brown, 38, running from two police cars into a vegetable garden. One car stops, but the car driven by rookie DeLand Police Officer James Harris can be seen speeding after - and into - Brown.

Officer Harris was fired immediately after his chief viewed the video on May 31, but State's Attorney R.J. Larizza did not indict Harris on charges of vehicular homicide, which in Florida isdefined as "the operation of a motor vehicle by another in a reckless manner likely to cause the death of, or great bodily harm to, another."

Instead, Larizza gave the case to a grand jury, which declined to press charges."

...

"Complicating the case is the fact that the autopsy was actually performed by Dr. Shiping Bao - the same doctor who performed the autopsy on Trayvon Martin - but signed by Herrmann. Bao wasfired from his position in the M.E.'s office in September. According to the complaint, Bao told the Brown family that he concluded the cause of death was not an "accident" but "traumatic homicide," but that he was overruled by his supervisor, Dr. Herrmann."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57605032-504083/marlon-brown-death-family-of-fla-man-run-down-by-police-car-files-complaint-against-medical-examiner/

Other reports - which I will not link - are racist against Dr Bao. One report actually shows the video of Marlon Brown being charged at and run over by police as he's running away. 

[stateintegrity]

Maine lawmakers, Gov. LePage close ethics disclosure loopholes

By Naomi Schalit and John Christie, ©Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting

The state has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations run by legislative leaders or the spouses of high-level state officials since 2003. But because of a loophole in ethics law, the public didn’t know about it.

That won’t happen again.

A bill to require disclosure of state contracts with legislators and executive branch officials has sailed to approval through the House and the Senate. The bill, L.D. 1806, now awaits the signature of Gov. Paul LePage, who said Thursday he will sign it.

““It is reasonable to ask our elected leaders to disclose who is paying them. It is good for the health of our democracy and the people of Maine,” said LePage.

“This will increase trust in the system and ensure that people have the opportunity to take appropriate action and make decisions accordingly.”

LePage proposed the bill after a January investigation by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting revealed that organizations run by top legislators or the family members of executive branch officials had received $235 million in state contracts between 2003 and 2010.

In some cases, lawmakers served on the committees that controlled the spending that went to their organizations.

But the spending was never disclosed to the public in state ethics filings.

Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, the senate president, was the lead sponsor of LePage’s bill. He said Thursday that the bill’s passage “means a greater degree of transparency” for citizens, who will be able to spot potential legislative conflicts of interests.

“They can be more confident that they’re aware of the circumstances surrounding individual legislators and their votes in the legislature,” said Raye.

Nathaniel Heller, head of Global Integrity, which co-sponsored a 50-state ethics-in-government study that recently gave Maine an “F," said, the bill’s passage “is an important step in the right direction when it comes to advancing transparency and accountability in Maine's government. It's encouraging to see the governor and other political leaders respond to reporting about governance challenges in the state by adopting specific, evidence-based reforms.

“In an era of limited budgets, it's especially crucial for Maine's citizens to know that every dollar spent by their government is being spent wisely," Heller said.

Current law requires that legislators or high-level state employees report state purchases of goods or services worth more than $1,000 only if they were purchased directly from the individual legislator or family member, not from a corporation or entity for which the legislator or family member works.

For example, $98 million in state contracts went to Portland’s Shalom House between 2003 and 2010. At that time, Sen. Joseph Brannigan, D-Portland, was executive director of Shalom House. He was also chair of the Appropriations and Health and Human Services committees. He was not required to disclose those payments from the state because they went to the organization he ran, not to him directly.

The new law will require legislators, executive branch officials and constitutional officers, such as the attorney general and secretary of state, to report if

Michael Carey

organizations they or family members were affiliated with — as owners or management-level employees — were paid more than $10,000 annually by the state. LePage’s original bill had proposed a $1,000 reporting trigger, but lawmakers amended that to the higher number.

Rep. Michael Carey, D-Lewiston proposed an additional amendment, which was adopted, requiring that lawmakers and executive branch officials report income above $2,000 to a corporation of which they are majority owner, even if the lawmaker or official isn’t paid by the corporation.

“If that entity is making money, just the fact that you’re choosing not to pay yourself doesn’t mean that you don’t have to report where that money comes from,” said Carey.

Carey said he proposed the amendment after state Treasurer Bruce Poliquin failed to report almost $10,000 in dues paid to the Popham Beach Club, which he owns. Poliquin later amended his disclosure form to reflect the payments.

The legislation closes another loophole that has allowed lawmakers and high-level executive branch officials to avoid disclosing their income during their last year working in state government. If the disclosure form filing deadline fell after they left office or state employment, they could simply ignore the requirement.

“The public will now have access to the officials’ financial information for their last year in office,” said Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

Naomi Schalit and John Christie are senior reporters at the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service based in Hallowell. Email: [email protected]. Web:pinetreewatchdog.org