VETERAN HOMELESSNESS - SEN RICHARD BURR WANTS TO END IN AMERICA

VETERAN HOMELESSNESS - SEN RICHARD BURR (NC) WANTS TO END IN AMERICA:

HOMELESS VETS CAN'T EVEN GET HOUSING ON US MILITARY BASES.

MANY HOMELESS VETS ARE FORGOTTEN.


Sources: Senate.gov, PBS, 60 Minutes, YouTube


***** US Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Reduce Veteran Homelessness


In May 2017, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Jon Tester (D-MT) introduced the Homeless Veterans Prevention Act of 2017.

This legislation would build on existing homeless veterans programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by investing in established programs that are proven to be effective and removing any residual barriers to housing for veterans.

“Veteran homelessness is a heartbreaking issue,” said Senator Burr. “We are making progress in combating veterans’ homelessness, and over the last 2 years, we have seen the number of homeless veterans decrease to around 40,000, but that is still far too many, and I will continue to address this problem until the number is zero. In particular, many women have been unable to fully participate in existing programs because their children were not allowed to live in the transitional housing. The Homeless Veterans Prevention Act bill addresses this shortcoming and increases the availability of housing for homeless veterans.”

“As we continue to work toward ending veteran homelessness, we can and must do more to ensure veterans have access to the services they have earned with their service to our country,” Senator Mazie K. Hirono said. “By expanding existing VA partnerships that provide Hawaii veterans with legal assistance, housing, and health care, the Homeless Veterans Prevention Act will not only help prevent veterans from becoming homeless, but also assisting them in moving out of homelessness.”

“It’s our responsibility to ensure that veterans facing homelessness have the resources they need to get back on their feet,” said Tester, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “This bipartisan bill makes sure that these veterans have access to health care, legal services and a safe and warm place to call home.”

Key Points for the Homeless Veterans Prevention Act of 2017:

Keeps veteran families together by allowing the VA to house the children of homeless veterans in transitional housing programs.
Requires the VA to enter into partnerships with public and private entities to provide legal services for homeless veterans and veterans at risk of becoming homeless.
Provides VA with the authority to provide dental care to homeless veterans.
Extends and increases the amount of money available for supportive services to very low-income veteran families in permanent housing.

Komen Reversal On Planned Parenthood Decision FALSE! Board Member: "No Reversal"! WashPo Reports

From 1973 through 2008, nearly 50 million Legal ABORTIONS occurred!
Sources: Guttmacher Institute
Jones RK and Kooistra, K., Abortion incidence and access to services in the United States, 2008, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2011, 43(1):41-50.




Komen Board Member Official Statement Per Washington Post

As you may have heard, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation just announced that it was reversing its decision to ban Planned Parenthood from applying for grants to cover breast cancer screenings — after a massive outcry that spread from women’s groups to social media to Capitol Hill.

The question now is what its announcement actually means.

I just got off the phone with a Komen board member, and he confirmed that the announcement does not mean that Planned Parenthood is guaranteed future grants — a demand he said would be “unfair” to impose on Komen.

He also said the job of the group’s controversial director, Nancy Brinker, is safe, as far as the board is concerned.

As some were quick to point out, the statement put out by Komen doesn’t really clarify whether Planned Parenthood will actually continue to get money from the group. The original rationale for barring Planned Parenthood was that it was under investigation (a witch-hunt probe undertaken by GOP Rep Cliff Stearns).

Komen said today that the group would “amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”

Does that mean Planned Parenthood will get Komen grants in the future?

I asked Komen board member John Raffaelli to respond to those who are now saying that the announcement doesn’t necessarily constitute a reversal until Planned Parenthood actually sees more funding.

He insisted it would be unfair to expect the group to commit to future grants.

“It would be highly unfair to ask us to commit to any organization that doesn’t go through a grant process that shows that the money we raise is used to carry out our mission,” Raffaelli told me. “We’re a humaniatrian organization.

We have a mission. Tell me you can help carry out our mission and we will sit down at the table.”

Pushed on whether this means the new announcement wasn’t really a reversal, Raffaelli pushed back, arguing that Komen, in response to all the criticism, had removed politics from the grant-making process. “Is it really unclear that we’re changing the policy to address criticism?” he said.

Others have pointed out that Komen’s handling of this issue should lead to skepticism of its announcement. Brinker had repeatedly said Komen’s funding decision was rooted in a larger policy change and wasn’t directed at Planned Parenthood in particular, suggesting the decision wasn’t related to the fact that Planned Parenthood was under assault by the GOP.

This was contradicted by at least one account. More broadly, the group’s rationale for the decision shifted over the last week.

Pressed on whether Brinker had been forthcoming, Raffaelli insisted: “Nancy was not trying to mislead anyone.”

Asked if there would be an internal look at how Brinker handled the episode, Raffaelli only said there would be some kind of general look at how to prevent the politicization of grant-making in the future.

Raffaelli blamed himself for the failure to handle the politics of this mess adequately, and stressed that Brinker’s career had been devoted to breast cancer prevention, and not politics.

Asked if Brinker’s job was safe, Raffaelli said: “Yes.” He added that the board “unequivocally” stood behind her.

Though Komen had hoped today’s announcement would defuse the politics of this fight, it seems plausible that pressure from both sides will only continue.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Is the Susan G. Komen Foundation backing down?

The Susan G. Komen Foundation has just released a new statement from CEO Nancy Brinker. The first line is a mea culpa: “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.”

But what does this mea culpa mean?

Brinker goes on to make clear that they will amend their guidelines so only “criminal and conclusive” investigations affect their funding decisions.

They will ensure that “politics has no place in our grant process,” and they will “continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.”

So they are, perhaps, backing down. Or perhaps not. Yesterday, the Komen Foundation said the investigation was not the cause of their reduced support for Planned Parenthood, and that the real issue was that Planned Parenthood did not directly provide mammograms. This statement doesn’t address that concern at all.

So it would appear to leave open the possibility that the foundation intends to reject Planned Parenthood’s future grant applications — albeit on less overtly political grounds.

I posed these questions to Leslie Aun, vice president for communications at the Komen Foundation. “I think our statement speaks for itself,” she replied. You can be the judge of that. The statement follows in full:

Statement from Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen.

We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation.

We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.

That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer.

Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process.

We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women.

We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work.

We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.


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Sources: CNN, Susan G. Komen Foundation, L.A. Times, MSNBC, Washington Post, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Obama Signs Executive Order To Control Churches & Faith-Based Organizations

Obama Signs Order To Reform Faith-Based Office


President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday (Nov. 17) that reforms the White House's Faith-based office in a bid to improve transparency and clarify rules for Religious groups that receive federal grants.

The nine-page order reflects numerous recommendations made more than six months ago by a blue-ribbon advisory council charged with streamlining and reforming the office created under former President George W. Bush.

"The recommendations that they've put forth make really concrete and tangible improvements to the government's relationship with faith-based organizations," said Joshua DuBois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The executive order, however, does not address controversial questions of whether grant recipients can hire and fire based on religion. Administration officials have said those questions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

DuBois and others said the new order gives better legal footing to public-private partnerships. "It ... clarifies that decisions about financial awards must be free from political interference or the appearance thereof," DuBois said.

In particular, the order reflects the council's special concern about the treatment of people who receive social services from a religious group receiving federal funding.

"The government has a responsibility to give a referral to a nonreligious program if the beneficiary objects to the religious program they're in," DuBois said in explaining the order.

Melissa Rogers, who chaired the advisory council, said the order both continues and changes the work begun under Bush. For example, grant recipients may continue offering services in buildings containing religious symbols, but will be required to provide beneficiaries with written information about their rights.

"In the case of Social Service beneficiaries, that's been a real worry for many of us, that they might not know what their rights are," Rogers said.

Responding to recommendations for greater transparency, the order calls for agencies to post rules affecting religious organizations online, as well as lists of federal grant recipients.

Rogers said such steps may dispel notions there is a "pot of gold" waiting solely for religious groups that apply for grants.

"By having all this easily accessible, it heightens the chances that we'll be able to demystify the process and watch the process," she said.

Obama's order implements most of the dozen reform recommendations crafted by the council's task force on internal reform, which included a former Bush administration staffer and church-state separationists.

With the new order in place, DuBois said "well over half" of the council's total 64 recommendations -- on topics ranging from poverty to interfaith relations -- will have been implemented.

Other council members, who represent both conservative and liberal religious organizations, said they were pleased with the order.

"President Obama has advanced America's social welfare sector and protected constitutional principles," said Nathan Diament, the top Washington lobbyist for Orthodox Jewish congregations.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said the new rules will "set the faith-based initiative on far firmer constitutional ground, and give much broader protections to both religious institutions and the beneficiaries than they've had so far."

The order calls for a new Interagency working group that will issue Guidance to Federal agencies within 120 days.

DuBois said new members of an advisory council, who will succeed the group that finished its work in March, will be announced "as soon as possible."


Sources: Huffington Post

Charlotte CATS Receives $28M Federal Funds For What?? More Gov't Waste!

CHARLOTTE CATS SYSTEM RECEIVES TWO ADDITIONAL FEDERAL GRANTS


Charlotte, N.C., November 3, 2010 -

The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) just received two additional federal grants that will help save money and protect the environment.

“We are constantly seeking grants and other revenue sources to leverage the investment Mecklenburg County citizens make to Public Transit through the dedicated sales tax,” said Carolyn Flowers, CATS CEO. “These two grants will assist us in reducing operational expenses.” CATS has been awarded over $28.5 million this year in state and Federal Grants.

Click here to learn how this money is being put to use to improve your transit system.

The Bus Canopy Solar PVS/Charging Project is part of the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER II) program. The $1.0 million award will be used at the CATS South Tryon Bus Facility which includes nine bus canopies in the middle of the lot that provide shade for the vehicles and allow the buses to cool quicker when going into service.

These canopies will be the site of 2,268 solar PV panels which could generate up to 50.5 megawatt hours of power each month and approximately 12 percent of the annual electric use at this facility.

CATS also received $421,580 for the Clean Fuels Bus and Bus Facilities Program. This grant award will be used to purchase more efficient and light weight Special Transportation Service (STS) vehicles as identified as part of CATS’ 2007-2012 Countywide Transit Services Plan.

CATS will replace five older, less efficient STS vehicles in the fleet with five new vehicles that emit 56 percent less carbon dioxide, get more miles per gallon, only require preventative maintenance every 10,000 miles and have an increased lifespan up to 7 years and 200,000 miles.

To learn more about CATS and its services, call 704-336-RIDE or visit us on the web at www.ridetransit.org.




Charlotte City Council Narrowly Approves Federal Streetcar Money


The Charlotte City Council narrowly agreed Monday night to take $25 million in federal money to begin the first 1.5 miles of its planned streetcar route.

The 6-5 council vote came after more than three hours of passionate debate from residents and the council. It also survived a last-minute effort to defer the issue until a later meeting.

Supporters said the streetcar would spur development along its eventual 10 miles and would provide another transportation option.

But opponents argued the city can't afford the project now, and that the streetcar would eat up money that could be used on other community needs.

Voting in favor of accepting the federal grant were Democrats Jason Burgess, Patrick Cannon, Nancy Carter, David Howard, Patsy Kinsey and James Mitchell.

Voting no were Republicans Warren Cooksey, Andy Dulin and Edwin Peacock, plus Democrats Michael Barnes and Warren Turner.

The first $37 million, 1.5-mile segment would run from Time Warner Cable Arena in uptown to Presbyterian Hospital in the Elizabeth area, with six stops or stations along the way. Construction will start within 18 months, and the city wants to have the streetcar up and running by 2014.

In addition to the federal money, the city will spend $12 million from three of its capital funds for the streetcar.

But that only covers construction. The first leg is also expected to carry a $1.5 million annual operating bill.

The Charlotte Area Transit System has said it can't cover the tab, pushing the costs to the city. Officials there haven't said how they would pay for the operating costs, only that the money would likely come from the city's general fund.

The lack of operating money fueled some of Monday's opposition to the streetcar. Many speakers said the community has more pressing needs, including crime-fighting and schools.

"Just because ... you vote against accepting that grant, it doesn't mean you don't believe in mass transportation," said Tariq Bokhari. "It just might mean that this expenditure doesn't make sense with our current priorities."

But other speakers said investing in the streetcar will pave the way for more development in the future, particularly in east and west Charlotte.

The city has proposed building a 10-mile streetcar line from the Rosa Parks Transit Center on Beatties Ford Road near Interstate 85 to Eastland Mall, via Trade Street uptown.

Malcolm Graham, a special assistant to the president of Johnson C. Smith University and a state senator, urged the council to "not make a decision for today, but to make a decision for tomorrow."

"Invest in our community the same way many on council who sat in those chairs before invested in our community," he said.

Comments from council largely mirrored that of citizens who packed the chamber.

Many council members who voted against the grant money lamented that the city had not identified a way to pay for the operating costs.

They also worried that moving ahead with the streetcar meant the city was pushing aside previously announced plans to extend the Lynx light rail line to the University City area, as well as commuter rail to the northern Mecklenburg towns.

Other council members argued they weren't sidestepping those projects but were taking advantage of federal money that's become available.

Under the Bush administration, federal transit money wasn't available for streetcars. That changed under the Obama administration, and earlier this month, Charlotte was among the cities awarded $130 million in streetcar grants.

Leaders have said they plan to keep looking for more money to help pay for the rest of the project, though they said they likely would only be able to build 2- or 3-mile segments at a time.

The entire 10-mile stretch could cost about $500 million.


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Wikipedia, Google Maps

North Carolina's Wake County Schools Loses $10.3 M Over Anti-Diversity Policy

Feds Deny North Carolina's Wake County Schools Magnet Program Grant


North Carolina's Wake County Schools' request for $10.3 million in Federal money to expand its magnet school program has been rejected by the U.S. Department of Education, adding fuel to the debate about ending the school district's diversity policy.

North Carolina's largest school district will not be among those sharing the $100 million in grants expected to be announced today by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, according to Wake school board member John Tedesco. Education officials have been informing members of Congress who represent winning school districts, and Tedesco said his congressional contacts told him no systems in the state won magnet grants this year.

No reason was given for why Wake fell short. But the news comes at a critical time, with Wake facing the loss of $100 million next year from the end of federal stimulus dollars and state budget cuts in education funding.

"Anytime you don't get money that's not good news," said Tedesco, a member of the school board's ruling coalition. "Would I have liked to get the money? Of course."

The $10.3 million, which would have been distributed over the next three years, would have been used to expand new magnet programs at Smith Elementary School in Garner and Brentwood Elementary School and Millbrook High School in North Raleigh. All three received magnet programs as part of an effort to reduce poverty rates and raise test scores.

The federal magnet money would have expanded teacher training at Smith and Millbrook for their International Baccalaureate programs and allowed Brentwood to expand its magnet engineering program schoolwide, according to Wake's magnet application.

Chris Lassiter, principal of Smith, said the grant would have also allowed the school to offer Mandarin Chinese. But he said they haven't been relying on getting the money.

"The grant would have been a nice supplement to the program," Lassiter said. "But we'll be successful without it."

The fate of Wake's magnet grant has been heavily debated for months.

Opponents of the school board majority have repeatedly warned that ending the district's policy of diversifying schools by socioeconomic status would jeopardize winning the magnet grant.

The school board majority disagreed and in May gave final approval to eliminating diversity from its student assignment policy. A school board committee headed by Tedesco is working on a draft student assignment plan thatwould divide the county into 16 neighborhood zones and stress proximity, stability and family choice.

"Their decisions have caused a nationally recognized school system to be called into question," said Yevonne Brannon, chairwoman of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, a community group that opposed the elimination of the diversity policy. "I don't think the federal government was going to hand over millions of dollars when our judgment is in question."

Brannon noted that Wake has won $36 million in magnet grant money since 1985.

But Tedesco said it can't be proven that there's a connection between eliminating the diversity policy and not winning the grant. He pointed out that Wake didn't win a $7.5 million grant in 2004 when it had the diversity policy.

"I don't know how an intelligent person would make the leap and say that's why we didn't get the grant," Tedesco said.

Tedesco said that if Wake's change in assignment policy were a problem then the U.S. Education Department would have rejected the district's request this year for a one-year extension to finish using $1.3 million in unspent magnet grant money.

Tedesco pointed to additional competition nationally this year for federal magnet money. He also speculated that federal officials didn't give any magnet money to school districts in the state because North Carolina recently won the $400 million federal Race to the Top education grant, aimed at paying for school reform efforts in the state. It's uncertain how much of this federal grant Wake will get.

In addition to Wake, the Cumberland, Guilford and Winston-Salem/Forsyth school systems also applied for the magnet grant this year.


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Sources: NAACP, McClatchy Newspapers, Wikipedia, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps

Nick Mahone Vs Anthony Foxx & Charlotte's $200,000 Prize!

So The Life Of A Young Black Man These Days Has Been Reduced To $200,000 In Federal Dollars!

Let's See Nick Mahone Was Killed Last Friday.

Than Early This Afternoon CMPD Receives A $200,000 Crime Fighting, Anti-Gang Grant?

Something Smells "Fishy" To Me.

Nick Mahone A Rumored Charlotte, NC Drug Dealer Was Killed Last Friday At A Popular, Uptown Charlotte Club.

This Entertainment Establishment Was Not Some "Hole In The Wall" Kind Of Establishment.

It Was A Very Nice Club Located In The Heart Of Uptown Charlotte With Tight Security.

So How Was A Young Black Woman According To Other Patrons Who Witnessed The Incident, Allowed To Walk In With A Handgun & Blow Nick's Brains Out In Plain View & Than Allowed To Walk Calmly Out Past Security Guards?

Easy It Was A Set Up! A Hit!

Possibly With The FBI's & Charlotte City Officials Involvement.

Nick's Death Made Major Headlines & Sent A Message Throughout The Charlotte Community.

However Almost Immediately Upon Learning Of His Death Many White & Black Citizens Began Celebrating!

How Sad.

I'm NOT Celebrating!

Why?

1) He Was Still Someone's Son.

2) I Believe He Wanted To Get Out Which Is Probably The Reason Why He Was Killed. His Death Sent A Message To Others.

3) There Have Been More Young, Black Men Who Were "Rumored" Drug Dealers, Killed In Charlotte This Year Than In 20 Years!

4) Since Charlotte Now Has A Black Mayor & A Black Police Chief, To Have So Many Young Black Men Killed In One Year Reeks Of Possible Local Law Enforcement, FBI & CIA Involvement.

Wake Up Black People!

Is This Is A Coincidence?

I Don't Think So But I Could Be Wrong.

Please Understand That I Don't Condone Drug Trafficking, Abusing Illegal Drugs Or Coddling Rumored Drug Dealers.

Neither Do I Condone Black Leaders Who Possibly Conspire With Feds To Kill Off Young Black Men & Women.

First Tiffany Wright, I Told You All That DNA Test Was Bogus!

God Exposed The Truth Last Month When Local Media Revealed That North Carolina's SBI Lab Was Corrupt. Especially As It Relates To Tampering With Evidence, Including DNA Tests.

Now Nick Mahone. Who's Next?

Might I Remind You That Charlotte Has A Black Mayor & Black Mayor Pro Tem?

So Sad.

Don't Forget To Not Re-Elect Most Of Charlotte's Current City Council Members In 2011.

The No Re-Elect List Includes: Mayor Anthony Foxx, Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Cannon, David Howard, James Mitchell, Warren, Turner, Nancy Carter, Patsy Kinsey & Edwin Peacock.

Check Out The Related Articles Below.

By The Way You Can Still Read My Daily Commentary By Visiting My Facebook Page.

I'm Now Also On Blog Talk Radio.

Peace




Charlotte, NC Officials Land $200,000 Grant To Fight Gangs, Youth Crime After Nick Mahone's Death


Charlotte has landed a $200,000 federal grant to boost the city’s crime-fighting programs among youth.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the grant Tuesday, saying it was awarded through a congressional program designed to help combat juvenile crime and assist its victims.

Charlotte officials say they will use the money to continue Anti-Truancy programs that target students. Those include the Gang of One, Truancy Court, and other community projects. Gang of One is a gang prevention initiative of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, in partnership with other local agencies. Truancy Court is a school-based program that targets families of students with high numbers of absences from school.

Community impact projects will include the Police Athletic League, the McCrorey YMCA, and Right Moves for Youth.




Nick Mahone Dies After Being Shot In Uptown Charlotte, NC Club



Witnesses say a woman calmly walked up to Dominic Nicholas Mahone while he was dancing on the floor of an uptown Charlotte club early Friday, pulled out a gun and shot him twice.

Mahone, 25, died several hours later, leaving friends and police with plenty of questions and not many answers.

The shooting happened during a private party at the Breakfast Club, a popular nightspot at North Caldwell and East Sixth streets.

Police say they aren't sure what provoked the shooting. Friends of Mahone said they don't know how the shooter managed to get past security guards with a handgun.

"This didn't appear to be a case of something that happened in the club," said Capt. Jeff Estes, commander of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Central Division, which oversees the uptown area.

Police said later Friday they weren't sure if the shooting might have resulted from some type of domestic dispute between Mahone and the female shooter.

What they know is that the woman walked up to Mahone and, without apparent provocation, shot him in the head. Mahone was taken by Medic to Carolinas Medical Center, where he died shortly before 9:30 a.m.

A friend of the victim, Nakeya Land, told WCNC-TV, the Observer's news partner, that she can't understand how the woman managed to bring the gun inside.

"They pat me down head to toe, so how does she find some way to get into the club with a gun?" Land said.

The club's owner was not available Friday afternoon, but an employee said the club had been rented out for a private party. The Breakfast Club is a popular site for bachelor parties and other similar events.

"We don't have many problems here," said the employee, asking not to be identified. "I've been here several years, and our problems are usually a fender-bender in the parking lot. This was something we don't see."

The employee said he expects security will be tightened at the club, but he said people who rent the club for private parties sometimes provide their own guards. It is not clear who was responsible for hiring guards at the party early Friday.

Witnesses told police the shooter was accompanied by two men, and they drove off in a royal blue Chevrolet with custom rims.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call 704-432-TIPS, or information can be left with Crime Stoppers.




Scathing North Carolina SBI Audit Says 230 Cases Tainted By Shoddy Investigations


The North Carolina justice system shook Wednesday as an audit commissioned by Attorney General Roy Cooper revealed that the State Bureau of Investigation withheld or distorted evidence in more than 200 cases at the expense of potentially innocent men and women.

The full impact of the disclosure will reverberate for years to come as prosecutors and defense attorneys re-examine cases as much as two decades old to figure out whether these errors robbed defendants of justice. Some of the injustices can be addressed as attorneys bring old cases back to court. For others, it's too late: Three of the defendants in botched cases have been executed.

"This report is troubling," said Cooper, who oversees the SBI. "It describes a practice that should have been unacceptable then and is not acceptable now."

The revelation came after a five-month review in which two former FBI agents pulled dusty case files from shelves to find the truths that analysts chose to keep to themselves.

Two former FBI agents, Chris Swecker and Mike Wolf, examined more than 15,000 cases at the invitation of Cooper, a Democrat who has been attorney general since 2001. The exoneration of Greg Taylor, a Wake County man imprisoned 17 years for a murder he didn't commit, prompted the review. SBI analyst Duane Deaver admitted in February that he failed to report tests indicating a substance on Taylor's SUV was not blood. Deaver, who was suspended Wednesday, said that his bosses told him to write reports that way.

He was telling the truth. Swecker determined that the practice of not reporting results of more sophisticated blood tests was sanctioned by some analysts. In 1997, it became written policy. That policy remained in effect as recently as 2003.

Swecker said his findings signal potential violations of the U.S. Constitution and North Carolina laws by withholding information favorable to defendants. Swecker stopped short of determining whether the hidden results affected guilt or innocence in the cases he examined; often there was other evidence in the cases that linked defendants to the crimes. Still, the withheld information could have made a difference in the sentences handed down.

"This is mind-boggling," said veteran Wayne County District Attorney Branny Vickory, a Democrat. "It is really a nightmare for everyone. I don't know how we are going to make this right."

The audit is another black eye for a beleaguered SBI.

The News & Observer reported this month in a series, "Agents' Secrets," that analysts across the laboratory push past the accepted bounds of science to deliver results pleasing to prosecutors. They are out of step with the larger scientific community and have fought defense attorneys' requests for additional information needed to review the SBI's work. Cooper last month dismissed SBI Director Robin Pendergraft after she struggled to answer questions about SBI cases and policies.

"This is such a damning indictment on the SBI," said Staples Hughes, the state appellate defender, whose office oversees appeals of all defendants convicted by juries. "Why didn't they just say 'we lied.' That's what they did. Sadly, I'm not surprised."

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scrambling to review the 230 problem cases cited in Swecker's report. At least 80 defendants are still in prison, a top priority for Prisoner Legal Services, said executive director Mary Pollard.

No Rules, Bad Science

Swecker's report paints a picture of a renegade unit at the SBI crime lab acting without rules and with misguided notions about the science behind blood analysis.

In serology, police use rudimentary presumptive tests at crime scenes to determine where blood might be. Those tests are fallible, prone to giving false positives. So analysts depend on more sophisticated, confirmatory tests to determine whether a substance is, in fact, blood.

Before 1997, the serology unit operated without report-writing guidelines. Analysts set their own criteria until 1997; that policy sanctioned the practice of not reporting negative or inconclusive results of confirmatory tests.

Swecker found policies and practices out of step with the rules of serology. They were also far afield of fairness, according to the report.

"There was anecdotal evidence that some Analysts were not objective in their mindset," Swecker wrote.

Tests used to confirm the presence of blood never yield "inconclusive results," Swecker noted. Two analysts interviewed for the report told Swecker that despite volumes of warnings about the potential for false positives on presumptive blood tests, they didn't believe it because they had not gotten a positive result when testing plant material and bacteria known to signal false positives. Those two analysts believed that positive presumptive tests were absolute indications of blood.

Eight analysts were involved in these bad practices. Some are dead; a few are retired.

Four still work for the SBI, and another performs contract work for the agency.

Behind the five cases Swecker deemed most problematic: Deaver, a 23-year veteran of the agency.

New SBI Director Greg McLeod suspended Deaver on Wednesday, pending further investigation.

"An Abomination"

The cost of these errors was tough for lawyers to comprehend Wednesday.

"This report reveals staggering lack of competence at the lab," said Mike Klinkosum, a Raleigh lawyer who represented Taylor in February and helped discover Deaver's withheld test results. "It's an abomination of the criminal justice system and an affront to all the decent law enforcement officers out there doing their jobs."

Cooper delivered copies of the report and a list of affected cases to district attorneys across the state little more than an hour before announcing his findings to the public.

At least one met the findings with anger.

"We've been out here asserting things as fact that just weren't," said John Snyder, district attorney of Union County. "Now, when I've got jurors coming in, I've got to enter into a whole line of questioning I never should have been forced to do. They won't trust us."

Snyder, a Republican , called for an independent audit of the entire crime lab.

On Wednesday, Cooper promised a more independent review would follow and that McLeod, the new director, would bring in experts.

"The lab cannot accept a lack of thoroughness," Cooper said. "It cannot accept attitudes that are not open to the possibility that a mistake has been made. It cannot ignore criticism and suggestions from the outside."


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