The Greene County Democrat

Tag: a former prosecutor

  • Newswire: Donald Trump arrested, ex-Prez is officially an accused felon

    Donald Trump in NYC courtroom for his arraignment


    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Former President Donald Trump is now criminal defendant Donald Trump.
For at least several moments on Tuesday, April 4, Trump was placed under arrest.
His Miranda rights read, and fingerprints taken, but authorities spared him a mugshot and customary perp walk.
    Still, as he headed to the 15th floor courtroom at 100 Centre Street downtown, Trump joined the nearly 8,000 other non-violent felony defendants who have been arraigned in Manhattan so far in 2023.
    Shortly before 2 p.m. EST, Trump became the first former U.S. President arrested and criminally charged. This after becoming the first to have been impeached twice.
“Can’t believe this is happening,” Trump posted as he headed into a courtroom where he found, perhaps for the first time in his adult life, that he wasn’t in control of the proceedings in front of him.
    It’s an ironic, if not predictable, fall for a man who campaigned in 2016 by mercilessly leading chants of “Lock her up,” against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
And as unprecedented and surreal was the arrest, the charges leveled against the bombastic MAGA leader reveal what prosecutors claim is a man who operated as if he were above the law for a long time – including when he ruled the Oval Office.
    Indeed, the freshly unsealed indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg included 34 criminal charges – all felonies related to falsifying business records, including several relating to allegedly making hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
    Judge Juan Merchan, a former prosecutor with 16 years on the bench, unsealed Indictment No. 71543-23, after Trump’s team reviewed them. Bragg alleged that Trump falsified business records to hide other crimes, including illegally pumping up his presidential campaign with ill-gotten cash.
    Specifically, the indictment alleges that Trump conspired with others to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election, a contest in which Trump defeated Clinton.
Prosecutors alleged that Trump took part in an unlawful “catch and kill” scheme that included an illegal $130,000 payment he ordered to suppress information that would hurt his presidential campaign.
    Trump allegedly violated state and local election laws, making the charges a felony.
The charges potentially carry a four-year prison sentence, which could mean that Trump, the current GOP 2024 presidential frontrunner, has entered a race that could end with him either in the White House or in prison.
    Despite an apparent somber mood displayed by Trump which signaled just how weighty the proceedings were, his campaign released a fundraising email seeking contributions of at least $47 for a T-shirt that contained a fake mugshot of the ex-president emblazoned with the words “Not Guilty.”
    Reportedly, Trump has raised more than $10 million in campaign contributions since word of an indictment spread.
    
With security a big issue in the ex-president’s arraignment, prosecutors in Atlanta and Washington continue to investigate Trump, which could also lead to criminal charges, were provided the ability of witnessing how New York handles a case involving a divisive former commander in chief in a safe and drama-free way could be a critical test case.
    The potential cases against Trump in Atlanta and Washington relate to the former president’s interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia and the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill that left several people dead.
    Many top Republicans, including some of Trump’s potential rivals in next year’s GOP presidential primary, have criticized the case against him.
    President Joe Biden, who has yet to announce that he’s seeking reelection next year, and other leading Democrats have primarily had little to say about it.
    Trump is scheduled to return to Manhattan for a second court date in December.
Prosecutors insist their case against Trump has nothing to do with politics.
“Manhattan is home to the country’s most significant business market,” Bragg stated.
“We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct. As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law.”

  • Newswire: President signs law to reduce costs of phone calls from prison

    Washington, DC – Last Thursday, President Joe Biden signed into law the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, a law that will ease the high costs associated with phone calls from prisons. The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) commends President Biden for signing this bill into law, as it puts an end to the price gouging of families trying to stay connected to their loved ones who are incarcerated.

    The NCBCP worked, along with tireless advocates and the civil rights community, to move this legislation through the Congress and ultimately to President Biden’s desk. Our community will remain vigilant in seeing that the Federal Communications Commission will implement the provisions of this law fairly and expediently.

    The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act is a crucial step towards ensuring that incarcerated individuals are able to maintain meaningful connections with their loved ones. Not only is this law just, it is also a compassionate law, as it helps reduce recidivism by providing incarcerated people the opportunity to stay in touch with loved ones and their community without incurring undue and exorbitant financial costs.

    In 2017, Reesy Floyd-Thompson, who calls herself a “digital wonder woman,” said she had to deal with the shame of the incarceration of a significant other. Her husband’s incarceration also meant that calling him would be difficult, if not impossible.
“I used to maintain a side hustle to take care of these calls alone. My husband and I used to endure monthly bills as high as $500 to stay connected,” said Floyd-Thompson, who headed an organization called “Prisoner’s Wives, Girlfriends, and Partners,” a support group for spouses and partners of those incarcerated.
    Exorbitant telephone call rates have historically made it almost impossible for loved ones to keep in touch with family and friends behind bars. With rates as high as $20 per call in some areas, Congress has finally acted, and in 2023, inmates and family members will pay a lot less.
    Both the House and Senate passed the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, which gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to guarantee reasonable charges for telephone and video calls in correctional and detention facilities.
    “Too many families of incarcerated people must pay outrageous rates to stay connected with their loved ones,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel remarked in a statement.
    “This harms the families and children of the incarcerated — and it harms all of us because regular contact with kin can reduce recidivism.”
    “These are friends, family, and religious connections. We know from decades of correctional research studies that prosocial contacts and opportunities are important mechanisms for rehabilitation and reentry.
“To the extent that the programs reduce these interpersonal contacts, not only are prisoners worse off. It can be detrimental to family members themselves, particularly children,” she said.
    African Americans comprise about 13 percent of the U.S. population, and they also make up 35 percent of inmates. According to a U.S. Department of Justice report, approximately 37 percent of the 2.2 million male inmates are Black.
    “The astronomical fees are predatory and perpetuated by the phone companies and prisons, creating a mini-monopoly,” D.C. Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton said. She said that the profits from the calls are sometimes shared with sheriff’s offices, who say they use the money for security needs.
    A strong social support network is an essential tool in reducing re-offending, mainly for drug-related crimes, said Matt C. Pinsker, a former prosecutor, and magistrate who’s an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Virginia Commonwealth University.
    “I find the high cost of phone calls concerning. Anything that limits one’s opportunity to be better connected with family is cause for concern,” Pinsker said.
“I have had numerous cases where clients, especially indigent ones, were unable to talk to loved ones because they had no money on their accounts,” he said.
    Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn challenged the high rates, calling them a civil rights issue that prevents inmates from connecting with the nearly 3 million children in America with at least one parent in prison. It’s the greatest form of regulatory injustice I have seen in my 18 years as a regulator in the communications space,” Clyburn said.