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November 17, 2016
February 13, 2015
Enact the American Equal Justice Act (EAJA) of 2015 (2nd Draft Petition)
This proposed federal statute addresses cases highlighted, concerns and issues raised by traditional and digital civil rights and civil liberties groups, advocates for criminal justice reform, afrosphere blogs and participants, our communities, supporters and allies. It gives effect to the founding principle of equal justice and under the law.
We, the undersigned, do hereby endorse and urge the introduction, passage, enactment and enforcement of the American Equal Justice Act (AEJA) which provides that: "No person shall be prosecuted or punished beyond the manner and extent to which white males normally would have been prosecuted or punished under similar circumstances."
THE AMERICAN EQUAL JUSTICE ACT OF 2015
(1) It is the determination of the United States Congress that the United States of America, including its national government, states, territories and subdivisions, shall treat equally all those who are subject to its laws and requirements in the administration of government and justice. Every person has the right to be free from unequal prosecution. In every every public function where government seeks to regulate individual behavior -- including but not limited to police and prosecution, courts, workplaces, grade schools, colleges and universities and correctional institutions -- justice must be equal. An individual prosecuted unequally may lose days of school, weeks of work, months of pay and years of life.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission created in 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 codified this nations determination to extinguish discrimination in the public sphere. However, notorious instances of unequal justice continue to divide our nation and undermine faith in our justice system, while troubling statistical evidence indicates that more such cases exist. We cannot rest while our nation's quest for equal justice goes unresolved.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission created in 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 codified this nations determination to extinguish discrimination in the public sphere. However, notorious instances of unequal justice continue to divide our nation and undermine faith in our justice system, while troubling statistical evidence indicates that more such cases exist. We cannot rest while our nation's quest for equal justice goes unresolved.
It is self-evident that all persons are created equal, with fundamental, equal and inalienable liberty rights that are guaranteed by our laws, our Constitution, our system of justice and our institutions. It is unconstitutional for the federal government, territories, any state or its subdivisions to intentionally or unintentionally subject one or more persons to unequal justice. Unequal prosecution and punishment, whether intentional or unintentional, are deleterious to our national economy, burdening interstate commerce by obstructing the interstate provision of goods and services, and discouraging or preventing persons from traveling within our borders or outside them. Unequal justice deprives persons of the privileges and immunities guaranteed by our Constitution.
No person in any state, territory or subdivision thereof shall be made to bear the weight of proceedings, prosecution, penalty or punishment beyond the manner and extent to which white males normally would be prosecuted and punished under similar circumstances.
(2)(a) Be it hereby enacted that no local, state or federal official, person, body, agency or entity, or person, body, agency or entity acting by, for or under them, shall prosecute or punish, levy or impound upon any person or property for any civil or criminal violation or offense, comportment or failure thereof, beyond the manner and extent to which white males or their property would normally be subject to such prosecution or punishment under similar circumstances.
(b) An "actor" is a person who may be subject to civil action under the terms of this statute.
(c) Nothing in the terms of this statute prohibits an actor from prosecuting or punishing any person(s) up to and including the same manner and extent to which white males or their property would be normally be prosecuted or punished under similar circumstances.
(b) An "actor" is a person who may be subject to civil action under the terms of this statute.
(c) Nothing in the terms of this statute prohibits an actor from prosecuting or punishing any person(s) up to and including the same manner and extent to which white males or their property would be normally be prosecuted or punished under similar circumstances.
(d) For the purposes of this statute, the term "prosecute or punish" shall include but shall not be limited to the following acts and behaviors, committed singularly or in any combination: to question, interrogate, investigate, search, seize, restrain, confine, compel, coerce, threaten, intimidate, deny, detain, arrest, jail, imprison, subject to harm, humiliation, injury or death, charge, plea bargain, try, convict, sentence, punish, deprive, discipline, disenfranchise, disinherit, ban, deport, expel, execute, fine, levy, forfeit or impound upon, limit, mislead, enslave, refuse, require, sanction, subject, suspend or persecute. This list of behaviors, each unlawful and prohibited if conducted unequally, is descriptive but not exhaustive.
(3) Persons alleging individually, or as a group or class, that their right to be free from unequal prosecution has been violated may file claim(s) in the courts of the state(s) where the violation(s) occurred, or in the federal courts with jurisdiction over such state(s), against any government actor and the actor's employer and/or those acting by, for or under them, and no local, state or federal official, person, body, agency or entity, or person, body, agency or entity acting by, for or under them, shall be immune from prosecution under this statute.
(4) A court having found one or more instances of unequal justice shall order immediate, complete and effective remedies and relief, which may include but shall not be limited to habeus corpus; stays of execution, reformation or vacation of sentence(s); vacation of punishments and disabilities; sealing and or/expungement of records, compensatory damages; restitution, punitive damages; injunctions; and such other relief as may be required to provide an immediate, complete and effective remedy. When determining the elements of an immediate, complete and effective remedy, considerations shall include relief from the burden of unequal justice, compensation, making the victim whole, punishment of the violating defendant(s) and effective deterrence.
(5) A plaintiff who wins a claim under this statute shall be granted attorneys fees in addition to other remedies. Violations of this statue shall be found and remedies under this section shall be granted when a plaintiff has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant(s) have failed to treat the plaintiff(s) as white males would normally be treated under similar circumstances. Plaintiff(s) shall not be required to allege or establish that defendant(s) targeted or disadvantaged the plaintiff(s) because s/he was not a white male, and plaintiff(s) shall not be required to establish defendant(s) intent; however plaintiff(s) must establish that plaintiff(s) were not treated as white males normally would have been under similar circumstances, and that the plaintiff(s) suffered a moral, mental, physical, financial, professional, educational, reputational, social and/or existential or harm as a result.
(6) (a) Actors shall be presumed to know the manner and extent to which white males would normally be subject to prosecution and punishment under similar circumstance. Ignorance of facts and mistake of fact shall not be defenses to actions under this statute.
(b) Statistical, demographic, sociological, historical, forensic, medical, psychiatric and anthropological evidence and expert testimony shall be admissible and probative for the claims asserted. This statute establishes the right to be free from unequal justice and the right to immediate and effective redress where that right has been violated.
(c) An actor asserts a defense under this statute by proving by a preponderance of the evidence that s/he did not subject the plaintiff(s) to prosecution or punishment in a manner and extent exceeding that to which which white males are normally subject under similar circumstances.
(b) Statistical, demographic, sociological, historical, forensic, medical, psychiatric and anthropological evidence and expert testimony shall be admissible and probative for the claims asserted. This statute establishes the right to be free from unequal justice and the right to immediate and effective redress where that right has been violated.
(c) An actor asserts a defense under this statute by proving by a preponderance of the evidence that s/he did not subject the plaintiff(s) to prosecution or punishment in a manner and extent exceeding that to which which white males are normally subject under similar circumstances.
(7) A plaintiff or plaintiffs subjected to an act proscribed herein may file a claim for relief under this statute during the period beginning when any proscribed acts commence and until five years after the proscribed acts have ceased, or until five years after the age of plaintiff(s) majority, or until five years after the discovery of a violation, whichever comes last. A parent, guardian or next friend may file an action on behalf of a person lacking legal capacity to file an action.
(8) This statute, guaranteeing equal immunities under the law, provides a right to be free from unequal prosecution. This statute shall not be interpreted as a complete or exclusive statement of rights or remedies available to any person or persons.
(9) A right or claim under this Act shall not be interpreted to limit, preclude or supplant other claims, rights or remedies available to one or more plaintiffs.
(10) No immunity to legal action or remedies shall be a defense under this statute.
(11) A federal court with jurisdiction over a claim brought hereunder shall have the authority to reform or invalidate a state or federal law found by form or effect subject one or more plaintiffs to unequal justice. A state court with jurisdiction over a claim brought hereunder shall have the authority to reform or invalidate a state law found by form or effect to subject one or more plaintiffs to unequal justice.
(12) The claims under this statute of deceased plaintiff(s) or potential plaintiff(s) may be prosecuted by their estate(s), survivor(s) and/or descendant(s).
(13) The privileges and immunities that are guaranteed and incorporated by our Constitution, our laws and our courts and respected by government at every level shall be guaranteed to every person in the same manner and to the same degree that they are guaranteed to white males. The federal government shall withhold funds from any state wherein a court or courts fails to hear and adjudicate claims under this statute and/or fails to order and compel immediate, effective and complete relief and redress for plaintiff(s) with proved claims. Federal funds allocated to the states for the implementation of and compliance with this statute, and funds allocated for the administration of justice, shall be restricted or denied to any state which does not assure equal justice under the law to all persons by implementing the provisions of this statute and by investing courts with the full authority to order the redress required to fulfill the purposes herein.
(14) Within 180 days of the passage of this statute, the United States Department of Justice and each of the several states and territories shall issue implementing regulations.
(15) This Act is entitled, The American Equal Justice Act of 2015 (EAJA).
(15) This Act is entitled, The American Equal Justice Act of 2015 (EAJA).
References:
1. Declaration of Independence
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
2. Privileges and Immunities Clause, Article IV, Section 2 of United States Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment).
3. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution (Commerce Clause).
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/chapter-21
5. Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S. Code § 1971
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1971
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/3604
February 11, 2015
The American Equal Justice Act of 2015 (Draft Proposal)
"No person shall be prosecuted or punished beyond the manner and extent to which white males normally would have been prosecuted or punished under similar circumstances."
This proposed federal statute addresses cases highlighted, concerns and issues raised by Color of Change, afrosphere participants, our communities, supporters and allies. It gives effect to the founding principle of equal justice and immunities under the law.
We, the undersigned, do hereby endorse and urge the introduction, passage, enactment and enforcement of the American Equal Justice Act which follows:
THE AMERICAN EQUAL JUSTICE ACT
(1) It is the determination of the United States Congress that the United States of America, including its national government, states, territories and subdivisions, shall treat equally all those who are subject to its laws and requirements in the administration of government and justice. Every person has the right to be free from unequal prosecution. In every every public function where government seeks to regulate individual behavior -- including but not limited to police and prosecution, courts, workplaces, grade schools, colleges and universities and correctional institutions -- justice must be equal. An individual prosecuted unequally may lose days of school, weeks of work, months of pay and years of life.
It is self-evident that all persons are created equal, with equal and inalienable liberty rights that are guaranteed under our laws, our Constitution, our system of justice and our institutions. 1 It is unconstitutional for the federal government, territories, any state or its subdivisions to intentionally or unintentionally subject one or more persons to unequal justice. Unequal prosecution and punishment, whether intentional or unintentional, are deleterious to our national economy, burdening interstate commerce by obstructing the interstate provision of goods and services, 2 and discouraging or preventing persons from traveling within our borders or outside them. Unequal justice deprives persons of the privileges and immunities guaranteed by our Constitution.3
(2)(a) Be it hereby enacted that no local, state or federal official, person, body, agency or entity, or person, body, agency or entity acting by, for or under them, shall prosecute or persecute, levy or impound upon any person or property for any civil or criminal violation or offense, comportment or failure thereof, beyond the manner and extent to which white males or their property would normally be subject to such procedure, prosecution, penalty or punishment under similar circumstances.
(b) For the purposes of this statute, the term "prosecute or punish" shall include but shall not be limited to the following acts and behaviors, singularly or in any combination: to question, interrogate, investigate, search, seize, restrain, confine, compel, detain, arrest, jail, imprison, subject to harm, humiliation, injury or death, charge, plea bargain, try, convict, sentence, punish, deprive, discipline, disenfranchise, disinherit, ban, deport, expel, execute, fine, levy, forfeit or impound upon, enslave, sanction, subject, suspend or persecute. This list of behaviors, each proscribed if conducted unequally, is descriptive but not exhaustive.
(b) For the purposes of this statute, the term "prosecute or punish" shall include but shall not be limited to the following acts and behaviors, singularly or in any combination: to question, interrogate, investigate, search, seize, restrain, confine, compel, detain, arrest, jail, imprison, subject to harm, humiliation, injury or death, charge, plea bargain, try, convict, sentence, punish, deprive, discipline, disenfranchise, disinherit, ban, deport, expel, execute, fine, levy, forfeit or impound upon, enslave, sanction, subject, suspend or persecute. This list of behaviors, each proscribed if conducted unequally, is descriptive but not exhaustive.
(3) Persons alleging individually, or as a group or class, that their right to be free from unequal prosecution has been violated may file claim(s) in the courts of the state(s) where the violation(s) occurred, or in the federal courts with jurisdiction over such state(s), against any government actor and the actor's employer and/or those acting by, for or under them, and no local, state or federal official, person, body, agency or entity, or person, body, agency or entity acting by, for or under them, shall be immune from prosecution under this statute.
(4) A court having found one or more instances of unequal justice shall order immediate, complete and effective remedies and relief, which may include but shall not be limited to habeus corpus; reformation or vacation of sentence(s); vacation of punishments and disabilities; compensatory damages; punitive damages; injunctions; and such other relief as may be required to provide an immediate, complete and effective remedy. When determining the elements of an immediate, complete and effective remedy, considerations shall include relief from the burden of unequal justice, compensation, making the victim whole, punishment of the violating defendant(s) and effective deterrence.
(5) A plaintiff who wins a claim under this statute shall be granted attorneys fees in addition to other remedies. Violations of this statue shall be found and remedies under this section shall be granted when a plaintiff has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant(s) have failed to treat the plaintiff(s) as white males would normally be treated under similar circumstances. Plaintiff(s) shall not be required to allege or establish that defendant(s) targeted or disadvantaged the plaintiff(s) because s/he was not a white male, and plaintiff(s) shall not be required to establish defendant(s) intent; however plaintiff(s) must establish that plaintiff(s) were not treated as white males normally would have been under similar circumstances, and that the plaintiff(s) suffered a moral, mental, physical, financial, professional, educational, reputational, social and/or existential or harm as a result.
(6) Statistical, demographic, sociological, historical, forensic, medical, psychiatric and anthropological evidence and expert testimony shall be admissible and probative for the claims asserted. This statute establishes the right to be free from unequal justice and the right to immediate and effective redress where that right has been violated.
(7) A plaintiff or plaintiffs subjected to an act proscribed herein may file a claim for relief under this statute during the period beginning when any proscribed acts commence and until five years after the proscribed acts have ceased, or until five years after the age of plaintiff(s) majority, or until five years after the discovery of a violation, whichever comes last. A parent, guardian or next friend may file an action on behalf of a person lacking legal capacity to file an action.
(8) This statute, guaranteeing equal immunities under the law, provides a right to be free from unequal prosecution. This statute shall not be interpreted as a complete or exclusive statement of rights or remedies available to any person or persons.
(9) A right or claim under this Act shall not be interpreted to limit, preclude or supplant other claims, rights or remedies available to one or more plaintiffs.
(10) No immunity to legal action or remedies shall be a defense under this statute.
(11) A federal court with jurisdiction over a claim brought hereunder shall have the authority to reform or invalidate a state or federal law found by form or effect subject one or more plaintiffs to unequal justice. A state court with jurisdiction over a claim brought hereunder shall have the authority to reform or invalidate a state law found by form or effect to subject one or more plaintiffs to unequal justice.
(13) The privileges and immunities that are guaranteed and incorporated by our Constitution, our laws and our courts and respected by government at every level shall be guaranteed to every person in the same manner and to the same degree that they are guaranteed to white males. The federal government shall withhold funds from any state wherein a court or courts fails to hear and adjudicate claims under this statute and/or fails to order and compel immediate, effective and complete relief and redress for plaintiff(s) with proved claims. Federal funds allocated to the states for the implementation of this statute, and funds allocated for the administration of justice, shall be restricted or denied to any state which does not assure equal justice under the law to all persons by implementing the provisions of this statute and by investing courts with the full authority to order the redress required to fulfill the purposes herein.
(14) Within 180 days of the passage of this statute, the United States Department of Justice and the several states and territories shall issue implementing regulations pursuant to this statute that promote immediate, complete and effective remedies to plaintiffs throughout the United States of America, its territories, states and subdivisions thereof.
1.↩ The Declaration of Independence
2.↩ Privileges and Immunities Clause, Article IV, Section 2 of United States Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment).
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv
3.↩ Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution (Commerce Clause).
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section8
February 09, 2015
Suicide Prevention as a Public Health Emergency: 40,000 Deaths Are Too Many
If you even suspect you have a house fire, you can call the fire department and highly-trained professional government firefighters come to your house immediately and put out the fire with no discussion of payment before or after.
If you have a head fire, there is no specially trained professional who will respond to the scene of the emergency.
Few cities if any have anything vaguely resembling a 24-7 corps of professional head firefighter first-responders, even though the annual number of deaths is 13 times greater.
I one smells the "smoke" of suicide, s/he can call a 24-hour hotline, but these are rarely located in the area of the emergency; do not respond to the scene; rarely have lines staffed by persons competent to assess or treat a psychiatric disorder; frequently have only one telephone operator for the entire nation available; and they do not respond to the scene of the emergency.
If the government-sponsored house fire efforts were as anemic as head fire efforts, then there might be as many house fire deaths as head fire deaths.
And yet the example of the fire department shows what a serious head fire response campaign would consist of: highly trained specialists in every city and town, who are paid by local government to respond to the scene of psychiatric emergencies 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, at no charge to the caller.
If that seems like a paradigm shift, a radical departure from the present public policy, that is exactly what is required to save some of those 40,000 lost lives.
Each year, there are THREE TIMES AS MANY suicides as homicides. Yet, while there are 1,100,000 police officers, there is a combined total of only 100,000 members of the American Psychiatric Association and estimated psychologists and virtually none of them respond to the scene of head fires.
Suicide prevention measures cannot be meaningful public health intervention unless and until they are professionally staffed proportionate to the size of the head fire public health emergency.
Perhaps if the suicide rate were contained by a serious government response, then the notorious incidence of murder-suicide would be reduced as well.
None of our of our families or communities will be safe until the public health response to head fires is as well-staffed and robust as the response to house fires.
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