MGx - Musings, Essays & Ballads

The US government was created by, for and of the people and operates at the ‘consent’ of the governed. Governments provide and maintain infrastructure and services for the public benefit and are also charged with maintaining order and enforcing public safety. The US Constitution is designed to ensure government serve the people for […]

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Readers of this blog may know that an applicant for the position of new police chief took an interest in the Leah Freeman case. After reviewing the only case files available to the public the seasoned investigator came to these cursory conclusions…
I have read the documents on her website and I am amazed that […]

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From 22 applicants five hopefuls have been chosen by O’Connor. The group, from Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan and Oregon (the sargeant, maybe?), will be on public display here in Coquille beginning July 21 where they will take part in an ‘assessment center’. The city will host a meet and greet from 5:30 to […]

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The suggested select hiring committee for the new Coquille Police Chief is not, in my opinion, representative of the community. In addition to two city councilors, the mayor and a representative from the school district and district attorney, the two (why only two?) committee members from the citizenry at large are likely to be […]

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According to the Coos County site we had a pretty high voter turn out in the county for a primary election, probably spurred by the commissioners race.
REGISTERED VOTERS - TOTAL . . . . . 35,769
BALLOTS CAST - TOTAL. . . . . . . 21,891
VOTER TURNOUT - TOTAL . . . . . . […]

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…finally! It is no secret that I do not hold Chief Reaves, his policies, his public manner or his contempt for fellow citizens in high regard. That said, it is too early to celebrate until we see what city manager O’Connor finds for a replacement. Since O’Connor has repeatedly defended the chief […]

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This comment by BetteJo deserves highlighting here. No one I know is anti-police, no one. The motivations vary but everyone I know supports police accountability, everyone, except evidently some police wives and some officers themselves. What logical reason would police officers have for not wanting to be accountable to the public they […]

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In 1999, Edward Humes published Mean Justice detailing a factual account of how corrupt prosecutors can run amok and destroy innocent lives and communities. Now a DA is suggesting that prosecutors who withhold evidence that might aid a defendant be penalized, perhaps even imprisoned.
A district attorney whose office leads the nation in wrongful convictions […]

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A citizen review board in Eugene found that a police officer caused unnecessary harm to a member of the public.
The five-member advisory board reviews closed investigations of allegations against Eugene police employees. Although it has no power to change the outcome of an investigation, it serves as the public voice of the city’s new police […]

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As a result of speaking out for police accountability, I am the recipient of a lot of information regarding cases past and pending handled through the Coos County District Attorney’s office. Some of the cases chosen for prosecution and consequently tried and funded by the taxpayer give rise to the concept that it […]

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Interim District Attorney Paul Frasier has revealed that some laws are less important to him than others. Frasier has apparently declined to prosecute the owners of horses starved to death for animal cruelty and he will not prosecute two Coquille police officers for breaking a suspects neck.
He will, however, prosecute a sixteen […]

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A civil jury didn’t believe the findings of an internal police investigation and awarded a shooting victim $2.4M in damages. There are striking similarities in this case to the Foster case
…the jury award sent a strong message.
“This jury really spoke clearly,” Blair said. “They are tired of young men in our community being shot, […]

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Evidently some crimes are more important than others to prosecute - crimes like not wearing a seat belt, or hording the left lane or going after some teenage kid for smoking a joint in the park. Perhaps he believes this is low hanging fruit whereas animal abuse and breaking someone’s neck are not worthy […]

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This is the difference between a DA in Fresno and the DA in Coos County, 1200 pages of testimony and five days for hitting people with a nightstick. Compare that to two days and many potential witnesses uncalled in the case presented by DA Paul Frasier regarding breaking the neck of Carl Foster.
Family and […]

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Congress has been refusing to do its job for quite some time also and Mukasey’s decision not to pursue contempt charges against White House staff as riled some feathers.
As promised, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she has given the Judiciary Committee authority to file a lawsuit against Bolten and Miers in federal court.
“The House […]

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