Ben Crump and Al Sharpton say the fatal police shooting of white Arkansas teen could be a pivotal event in the drive to reform broken policing system

Hunter Brittain

 

The influence of black civil-rights leaders Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump on a fatal police shooting in rural Arkansas could lead to much-needed reform for American policing, according to a report at CNN.

Sharpton and Crump have tended to speak out on police-brutality cases where the victims are black -- largely because the overwhelming majority of victims are black.The victim in Arkansas -- 17-year-old Hunter Brittain -- was white. But Sharpton delivered the eulogy at Brittain's funeral, and Crump (along with Pennsylvania lawyer Devon Jacob) has signed on to represent the family. Are Sharpton and Crump involved because they recognize police brutality crosses racial boundaries, and they want to call attention to that fact? We certainly think that's possible. But a political calculation -- one that could be important to Americans of all colors -- also might be in play.  From the CNN report:

The Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump are taking up their first case involving a White person who was killed after being shot during an encounter with a police officer.

The civil rights leader and the high-profile attorney, who Sharpton has dubbed "Black America's Attorney general," deemed the police shooting of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain "one of the most significant" cases in the fight to push Congress for landmark police reform legislation. 

Attorneys Crump and Devon Jacob, along with Sharpton and representatives from the NAACP, were invited to attend Brittain's memorial on Tuesday at Beebe High School in Beebe, Arkansas. 

Brittain was fatally shot June 23 by a Lonoke County sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop around 3 a.m. outside of a local auto repair shop along Arkansas Highway 89 south of Cabot, a Little Rock suburb, according to Arkansas State Police.

What raises the stakes on the Brittain case? CNN explains:

Crump told CNN . .  that he believes Brittain's death could push lawmakers to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which has stalled in the Senate since early March as bipartisan negotiators attempt to reach a compromise on several key sticking points. 

The attorney has represented the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Michael Brown and several other Black people who were fatally shot by police. 

But Crump said the image of an unarmed, White teenager killed by police will start to change the narrative as the country sees that children of all races and ethnicities can be victims of police violence. 

"That is going to be looked at differently because he wasn't a teenager who was a child of color," Crump said. "Because we've always said that our White brothers and sisters couldn't fathom their child being killed by the police. That people are supposed to protect them. But that's a reality that parents of children of color literally deal with every day of their lives."

Sharpton expanded on that idea:

In his eulogy, Sharpton said, "The issue of policing is not about Black and White. It's about right and wrong." 

 

Sharpton said this was the first time in his nearly 40-year career advocating for civil rights that he was invited to present the eulogy for a White person who was a victim of police brutality.

Ben Crump in Arkansas

          Brittain's death has sparked protests outside the              sheriff's office, as well as a proposal for a so-                called "Hunter's Law" in the state.

 A petition calling for officers and sheriff's deputies to wear and activate body-worn cameras during their entire shift has already garnered thousands of signatures.

 

The George Floyd Act also contains a provision requiring body cameras and calls on federal law enforcement officers to activate them when responding to calls or initiating a stop "at the first reasonable opportunity to do so."

Statistics show that police brutality is both a black and white problem. By percentages, however, the burden falls disproportionatly on people of color:

Since January, 156 White people and 102 Black people have been killed by police, according to Mapping Police Violence, a database that collects data on police killings. That includes 14 unarmed White people and six Black people killed by police this year, according to the data. The database includes the number of off-duty police killings as well as incidents where police kill someone "through use of a chokehold, baton, taser or other means," their website states.

 

Black people, who make up roughly 14% of the US population are three times more likely to be killed by police than White people, who account for 76% of the country's population, according to data from Mapping Police Violence.

 

Crump, who has previously represented White inmates who were killed or died while incarcerated, said he had to "help give his (Brittain's) family the voice to say Hunter Brittain's life mattered."

 

"I want to be able to talk to senators on both sides of the aisle and say, 'This isn't just about Black children, it's also about brown children and White children and Asian children,'" Crump said. "This is about our citizens being brutalized or killed because the federal government hasn't acted."

 

Sharpton said he didn't know what to expect when he arrived in Arkansas for Brittain's memorial, but knew he had to "take the risk" knowing that it was a significant moment.

 

"I think it may have been (300) or 400 people there, maybe 20 Black, and for them to give me five or six standing ovations showed that this is a real possibility of us bridging, a real police accountability movement that is based on race, and class," Sharpton said, adding, "As I said in the eulogy, that if Hunter had been a rich guy in another part of the White community, would they have shot him like that?"

Secrecy and star chambers are running rampant in Alabama's "public" courts, as rogue judges trample the law and tell the people, who own the courts, to butt out

Sheriff Mike Blakely (al.com)

 

In the first post ever published at this blog -- dated June 3, 2007, and titled "Is your honor really honorable?" -- we wrote about an Alabama judge who refused to apply simple, black-letter law, and as a result, royally cheated  parties (Mrs. Schnauzer and me) before him. In that original post we did not cite details about the case in question -- the point of the post was to set the stage for the general theme of the blog -- but we did dive into specifics in subsequent reports.

Here we are now, some 14 years later, and recent events indicate the problem only has gotten worse in Alabama -- and I have no doubt it is just as bad in many other states. The latest example of judicial chicanery in Alabama comes from the corruption trial of longtime Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely. 

As the Blakely trial was set to launch last week, Judge Pamela Baschab told members of the press and public that they would not be able to observe jury selection. After complaints from media outlets, Baschab changed course, and the trial became public. But why, in the first place, did she rule contrary to clear law that holds courts are public entities, and their business is not to be conducted in secret.

As banbalch.com noted, this is not the first time we've seen this issue crop up via Alabama courts in recent months. In fact, we wrote here at Legal Schnauzer about it as recently as March 29, 2021. Is the law so complicated that judges struggle to get it right? Not at all, as al.com reported in a piece about the Blakely trial:

Dennis Bailey, a lawyer for the Alabama Press Association, said a judge needs “incredibly good reasons” for closing a criminal trial to the public — particularly in a case involving an elected official accused of violating the public’s trust.

“Courts are supposed to be open,” Bailey said. “That’s what our constitution provides. I’m at a loss as to understand why you would conduct jury selection in secret in a case like this.”

Alabama law mandates that jury trials be open to the public. Bailey pointed to a 1992 state Supreme Court decision regarding public and press access to criminal court proceedings. The justices noted that jury selection has always been a public process “with exceptions only for good cause shown. . . .”

In their 1992 ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court justices, wrote about the importance of press access to court proceedings and the public’s right to examine whether unfairness, discrimination or incompetence are influencing court outcomes.

“Secrecy of judicial action can only breed ignorance and distrust of courts and suspicion concerning the competence and impartiality of judges,” the ruling says.

Improper court secrecy is not just a problem in Limestone County -- or in criminal cases. Ban Balch publisher K.B. Forbes -- under the headline "Lackeys: Alabama’s Unconstitutional and Secret Star Chambers" -- provides a summary of events in Jefferson County, in civil matters:

During the Newsome Conspiracy Case, we observed that Judge Carole Smitherman created a secretive “Star Chamber” where alleged criminal acts, perjury, and unsavory conduct were hidden from public view; and all hearings, pleadings, and oral arguments were held in secret with no public notice.

For 500 days, no one knew what was happening, except when appeals were filed and we learned about the counterfeit court order used to trample the due process of law, civil rights, and civil liberties of Burt Newsome. . . .

Finally, the Three Stooges (Alabama Power, Balch and Bingham, and Drummond Company) successfully sealed the entire $75 million civil lawsuit filed by ex-Drummond executive David Roberson in part due to scrutiny from media including BanBalch.com.

What are they hiding and who in heaven’s name is sitting in on these secretive hearings?

In Smitherman’s court it was her husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman, a non-party, who sat it on the hearings and received over $30,000 in questionable “contributions” from Balch-related allies and entities.

The Drummond case is so tightly sealed that our sources at the Jefferson County courthouse cannot obtain any information and believe an alleged miscarriage of justice could be occurring.

Here is more on the relevant law, from a March 30, 2021 post at Legal Schnauzer, on the sealing of the Drummond case in Jefferson County:

An Alabama judge cites a case styled Holland v. Eads, 614 So. 2d 1012 (Ala. Sup. Ct., 1993) as grounds for sealing the record in a $75-million lawsuit related to Drummond Company, the Balch Bingham law firm, and the North Birmingham Superfund bribery scandal. The citation, from Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tamara Harris Johnson, is ironic because the Holland opinion repeatedly states that American courts favor open court records -- available to the public and the press -- over secrecy.

So, is Johnson's ruling based on remotely solid legal footing? Not that we can find. Does that mean the judge has allowed herself to be intimidated by one of Alabama's "Big Mule" corporations, one with a lengthy record of dubious activity in South America -- and with likely motivation to keep the North Birmingham scandal from being reopened in the civil arena? Sadly, that's how it appears. 

How do American courts view the public's right to access court records. Holland states the case in powerful language, beginning with the highest court in the land:

The United States Supreme Court has recognized a common law right of public access to judicial records. Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 98 S. Ct. 1306, 55 L. Ed. 2d 570 (1978). "`It is clear that the courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.'" United States v. Criden, 648 F.2d 814, 819 (3d Cir.1981), quoting Nixon, supra, 435 U.S. at 597, 98 S. Ct. at 1312. In fact, this right of the public to inspect and copy judicial records antedates the United States Constitution. Criden, supra.

You read that correctly: The public's right to inspect judicial records predates the U.S. Constitution. But an Alabama judge, just a few days ago, sealed the record in a case involving two of Alabama's most powerful and "Big Mulish" corporate and legal entities. Would it be reasonable for an Alabamian to assume our courts are tilted to favor the powerful and the wealthy (and the white) -- even when the judge in questions is a black female Democrat, with a history of making claims about standing up for the under-represented and oppressed in our society? It sure would, especially now that Johnson appears to be an unabashed corporatist, carrying Drummond's water.

What about the law on public court records in Alabama? Again, from Holland:

It has long been the rule of this State to allow public inspection of judicial records. Brewer v. Watson, 61 Ala. 310, 311 (1878). More than a century ago, this Court held that "[a]n inspection of the records of judicial proceedings kept in the courts of the country, is held to be the right of any citizen."; see also Ex parte Balogun, 516 So. 2d 606, 612 (Ala.1987) (holding that "the public generally has a right of reasonable inspection of public records required by law to be kept, except where inspection is merely out of curiosity or speculation or where it unduly interferes with the public official's ability to perform his duties"); Excise Comm'n of Citronelle v. State ex rel. Skinner, 179 Ala. 654, 657, 60 So. 812, 813 (1912). The public's right to inspect court records derives from the "universal policy underlying the judicial systems of this country [that] secrecy in the exercise of judicial power ... is not tolerable or justifiable." Jackson v. Mobley, 157 Ala. 408, 411-12, 47 So. 590, 592 (1908).

In addition to a common law presumption of permitting public inspection of judicial records, which has been recognized by the United States Supreme Court and by this Court, public access to court records is permitted by statute. Ala.Code 1975, § 36-12-40, grants the public the right to inspect and copy "public writings," which term has been interpreted to include judicial records. Ex parte Balogun, supra; Stone v. Consolidated Publishing Co., 404 So. 2d 678, 681 (Ala.1981) (interpreting a "public writing" to be "a record as is reasonably necessary to record the business and activities required to be done or carried on by a public officer so that the status and condition of such business and activities can be known by our citizens"); State ex rel. Kernells v. Ezell, 291 Ala. 440, 442-43, 282 So. 2d 266, 268 (1973) (holding that records of the office of the probate judge are "public writings" within the meaning of the predecessor to § 36-12-40 and are "free for examination [by] all persons, whether interested in the same or not"); Excise Comm'n of Citronelle, supra; Brewer, supra.

Is the situation in Alabama hopeless? Is the public out of luck when it comes to courts that are funded with taxpayer dollars? Not necessarily, writes Forbes:

    The smoke and mirrors in Jefferson County could soon come crashing down if                     investigators find a pattern of hiding or obscuring criminal acts and trampling the         due process of law in obviously biasd and one-sided Star Chambers. . . .

     Sadly, Balch and Bingham and their cronies have a grip on Jefferson County’s judicial         branch that is unprecedented.

    And even public corruption investigators acknowledge the problem, which is a bold           and needed step forward.

These hardly are the only examples of Alabama judges intentionally butchering clear, simple law. We will examine others in upcoming posts.

Fatal shooting of white teen-ager by white deputy in rural Arkansas might launch America's police-brutality problem beyond the boundaries of black and white

A mostly white crowd protests the fatal shooting of Hunter Brittain

America's police-brutality problem has been framed in black and white, largely because significant evidence indicates people of color absorb the brunt of abuse that rogue cops dish out. But recent events in Arkansas might broaden that narrative a bit, suggesting police misconduct should concern (and anger) all Americans -- and that no one, of any color, is immune to it.

At the heart of the Arkansas case is Hunter Brittain, a white youth who was fatally shot by a white sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop in Beebe (pop. 7,315). Prominent black civil-rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump, have called attention to the case. From a report at ualrpublicradio.org: 

One day after a sergeant with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office was fired regarding the shooting death of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop, a memorial service [was] planned in Beebe, Ark. The funeral for the white McRae, Ark., teeanger, Hunter Brittain, was scheduled to feature nationally-known civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton.

Sheriff John Staley announced in a video posted to social media Thursday that Sgt. Micheal Davis was terminated for violating department policy by not turning on his body camera before the encounter with Brittain. Meanwhile the district’s prosecuting attorney is asking a special prosecutor to determine whether the former officer will face criminal charges.

As so often is the case where victims of police violence are black, it's hard to understand why the use of deadly force was deemed necessary in the Brittain shooting:

The teen’s uncle Jesse Brittain has said he was unarmed and holding a can of antifreeze after working on his truck when he was shot three times by Davis. The family has chosen to be represented in court by attorneys Benjamin Crump (of Tallahassee, FL) and Devon M.Jacob (of Mechanicsburg, PA), who have handled several high-profile civil rights cases such as the Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery cases.

Most recently, the attorneys represented the family of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes. The former officer involved in that incident, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced last week to 22 years in prison.

Ben Crump, known as the nation's "black attorney general," has spoken out about the Brittain shooting:

Crump released a statement on Thursday evening, after Staley’s announcement of the firing of the deputy, approving the sheriff’s actions.

“Body cameras are, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the only way to see the unbiased facts surrounding a police and civilian encounter resulting in injury and/or death. When officers turn their body cameras off, they turn off their intent to be transparent along with it,” the statement said.

The lawyers are not the only civil rights leaders who have come out in support of the white Arkansas teenager’s case. The Jacksonville, Ark. chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People has expressed condolences for Brittain’s family and friends, and pledged to stand alongside them in their fight for justice in his death.

 

 What is the sheriff's office version of events?

The sheriff’s office says on June 23, the teenager was pulled over for a traffic stop at approximately 3 a.m. on Arkansas 89 south of Cabot. The stop resulted in Sgt. Davis discharging his weapon, with the teenager dying at a North Little Rock hospital.

That evening a crowd of about 200 people gathered outside the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office to protest the shooting. Chants of “No justice, no peace” could be heard by the crowd.

  There are signs the Brittain case already has gone beyond the boundaries of race:

Reginald Ford, vice president of the NAACP chapter, said in an interview with KUAR News on Thursday that he felt the mostly white crowd using a chant often heard during George Floyd demonstrations was appropriate given Brittain’s situation.

“It doesn’t bother us at all. We don’t have a problem with that because — equity — it’s not tied to just one group of people,” Ford said.

Asked why the NAACP felt the need to become involved in Brittain’s case, since the deceased is a white teen, Ford said it all comes down to equity.

“I think the premise is that the NAACP only cares about equity when it comes to minorities and that is untrue,” Ford said. “I think that’s an idea that’s been propagated too much. We deal with equity regardless of who it is. There’s no real difference, really.”

A press release from the group said members are monitoring the situation and are reassured that authorities say there will be a thorough investigation into the death. “We stand with the family of Hunter Brittain. As a civil rights organization, equity for all people regardless of race is of the utmost importance,” the press release read.

Sheriff Staley said in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, that he welcomes the NAACP’s involvement in the family’s hunt for justice.

“They want the same thing I want. I want to do what’s right and not what’s easy. That’s why we immediately called the state police to do an investigation,” said Staley.

Louisville Police Department faces lawsuit that alleges cops lied about the existence of body-camera footage from raid that led to the death of Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor (wdrb.com)

 

Stories of police brutality, where thuggish cops leave citizens seriously injured, or dead, seem to pop up almost daily in recent months. Along with those, come stories of police dishonesty, where cops lie in apparent attempts to cover up misdeeds. The latest example of that comes from Louisville, KY, where the police department has been sued for allegedly lying about the existence of body-camera footage from the raid on Breonna Taylor's home, which ended in her death. From a report at wdrb.com:

An attorney for Breonna Taylor’s family has filed a lawsuit claiming Louisville Metro Police may have given the public "misinformation" about the existence of some body camera footage from  the raid of Taylor's home. The lawsuit, filed against LMPD in Jefferson Circuit Court on Wednesday, claims police are also improperly withholding public records that would prove whether there are additional body camera videos from the night Taylor was shot and killed by officers.

LMPD has said there is no officer body cam footage of the early morning raid on March 13, 2020. 

Officer Anthony James failed to turn on his body cam and other officers were not wearing them during the raid, police have said. Photos of former Officer Myles Cosgrove show him wearing a mounting bracket for a body camera but the camera is not attached. 

Some footage from after Taylor was shot has been publicly released. 

Attorney Sam Aguiar, who represented Taylor’s family in the $12 million wrongful death lawsuit paid out by the city, has previously argued that  documents turned over by LMPD show there may be more body camera footage that is being withheld. 

The lawsuit says that several officers involved both before and after the raid had been given body cameras.

And the department had implemented upgraded body camera equipment that automatically activates an officer’s camera — as well as all nearby body cams — when an officer’s cruiser emergency lights are turned on, according to the suit.

Is the Louisville PD trying to get away with covering up evidence?

The lawsuit says that several officers involved both before and after the raid had been given body cameras.

And the department had implemented upgraded body camera equipment that automatically activates an officer’s camera — as well as all nearby body cams — when an officer’s cruiser emergency lights are turned on, according to the suit.

The lawsuit says there were several LMPD vehicles at or near the scene while police planned the raid of Taylor’s home and then carried it out. Any of these vehicles, according to the suit, could have sent out a signal to activate nearby body cams.

For example, the suit alleges that Cosgrove’s unmarked vehicle had lights activated at various times while at the scene.

“Simply put, it would have been difficult for most of the LMPD members with body cameras and who were associated with … events at Breonna’s” home “to not have had their Axon body cameras activated at one point or another,” the suit says. (See footage at the end of this post.)

“Given that Metro was able to verify that certain LMPD members’ body cameras were specifically assigned on March 13, 2020, there is a reasonable basis to believe that misinformation has been presented to the general public regarding the usage of body cameras” by officers.

The handling, or mishandling of police records is at the heart of the Taylor lawsuit:

Police shot and killed Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room tech, during an undercover raid on her apartment on Springfield Drive as part of a series of raids elsewhere that targeted narcotics trafficking.

No drugs or money were found in her home. 

The suit claims LMPD has failed to turn over an audit trail of the footage from the Axon body cameras for the night Taylor was shot and killed by police, requested under the Kentucky open records law on June 1. 

That audit trail, according to the suit, would identify the time of the recordings, the user and the identity of anyone who accessed the footage.

The “audit trails should assist in verifying whether Metro has been truthful to the public regarding the existence of footage,” the suit says.

Former Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who was was shot in the leg during the raid, has claimed “under oath that he was never issued a body camera," the suit says. 

But records provided to Aguiar by police show he was assigned a body camera prior to the Taylor raid, according to the suit.

The suit also claims Cosgrove and former Det. Brett Hankison, among others involved in the raid, had also been assigned body cameras. 

The public, according to the lawsuit, has “an uncompromised right to know whether undisclosed body camera footage exists, or otherwise previously existed, from LMPD Axon Cameras which related to the events surrounding the death of Breonna Taylor.

 

Do Balch & Bingham's "Pimps of Mississippi" have a genuine interest in helping the poor escape evictions from the fallout of COVID-19? It seems doubtful

"The Pimps of Mississippi" (banbalch.com)

A number of unflattering adjectives -- "criminal" and "racist" are two that readily come to mind -- pop up in reporting about actions of the Balch & Bingham law firm since the  North Birmingham Superfund bribery scandal broke. Now, it looks like we need to add a new adjective -- "hypocritical."

Why that word? It grows from recent reports about Balch's role in distributing $200-million in COVID-19 relief funds to help Mississippi residents avoid evictions. This from a law firm that touts its ability to help landlords execute on evictions and to help lenders collect on debts. In other words, Balch specializes in the kind of law that Mississippians, under the stress of possibly losing their homes,  absolutely do NOT need. Here is more from banbalch.com, featuring a headline for the ages, "Pimps of Mississippi: Balch, the Evictor and Collector, Now Processing Housing Assistance." Writes Publisher K.B. Forbes:

Undoubtedly an absolute conflict of interest.

On their website, Balch & Bingham boasts, “Commercial landlords look to Balch for representation in evicting tenants and collecting unpaid rent.”

Balch also relishes their collection efforts, writing, “Balch is knowledgeable and experienced in locating assets and using garnishments, sheriff/marshal sales, and other collection tactics to turn a judgment into cash.”

As we reported yesterday, the Mississippi Housing Corporation has “outsourced” the processing of housing assistance to the the evictor and collector extraordinaire, Balch & Bingham, an alleged racist law firm.

Is it likely that quite a few of those who need help in Mississippi are people of color? I would say yes, which adds to the Balch hypocrisy. Writes Forbes:

Balch’s once esteemed ex-partner Joel I. Gilbert was convicted of bribery and money laundering in 2018 in a scheme to suppress poor African-Americans In North Birmingham from having their toxic property tested by the EPA. Balch has refused to apologize to the African-American community.

The housing assistance program in Mississippi has been plagued with delays and little payouts, according to NBC News.

The Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) is being administered by the Mississippi Home Corporation for the State of Mississippi, which received $186,696,633.80 in federal funds.

These funds were provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury through the CARES Act.

Do you see a pattern here? If the federal government seeks to help poor people, especially those of color, Balch is likely to perform unethically, incompetently -- or both. But if a creditor or landlord wants your money or your home, they can count on Balch to get the job done. Forbes adds perspective suggesting Balch might have stepped in doo-doo with the feds:

Two questions come to mind:

• Is Balch truly qualified to be processing housing assistance, or was this a “no-bid” contract handed off to political cronies?
• Have any of Balch’s clients and commercial landlords been given preferential treatment?

Thankfully the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Treasury Department can investigate and by law “is assigned responsibility to conduct monitoring and oversight of the receipt, disbursement, and uses of Coronavirus Relief Fund payments.”

The pimps of Mississippi may control the state politicians in the Magnolia State, as they do the political prostitutes of Alabama, but now that federal funds are involved, an independent, federal forensic audit is possible and could be obligatory as controversy escalates.

Missouri's GOP governor keeps his head stuck in the sand, discouraging federal help with low vaccination rates, as COVID crisis looms at overloaded hospitals

 

COVID clusters that threaten health across U.S.

Missouri leads the nation in new COVID-19 cases, thanks largely to low vaccination rates and the emerging Delta variant. The state also is among five undervaccinated COVID clusters -- all in the Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest -- that could give rise to a new surge to threaten the health of the entire nation, according to an analysis by Georgetown University researchers. But Missouri's Republican governor is pushing back against federal efforts to enhance  vaccination rates. Is Gov. Mike Parson practicing a form of "stupidity on steroids," placing GOP "principles" over matters of life and death?

That seems to be a reasonable question to ask, given that Parson appears to be out of touch with reality, even denying his state's hospitals are overloaded due to COVID and in a state of crisis -- contrary to the words of those who lead those facilities. From a report at ky3.com in Springfield, MO, where we live:

The Ozarks surge in new COVID-19 cases and low vaccination rates continue to draw national attention.

On Thursday public information officers at Cox, Mercy and the Springfield-Greene Co. Health Department confirmed that they are being inundated with media requests from both national and state outlets and a study by Georgetown University led to this headline all across the country:

“Five Undervaccinated Clusters Put the Entire United States at Risk”

The story shows five circles that cover parts of eight states, all in the southern part of the U.S., including southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas. The research by Georgetown found that because of their low vaccination rates, around 30 counties in these areas are vulnerable to outbreaks that could end up as breeding grounds for another nationwide surge.

“These clusters of unvaccinated people are what is standing in the way of us putting this virus down permanently,” said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, in an interview with CNN.

At a national news conference on Thursday the White House COVID-19 Response Team announced that the more transmissible Delta variant is now the most prevalent strain in the country, especially in the Midwest where CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Wolensky said, “The Delta variant accounts for approximately 80 percent of cases. This rapid rise is troubling. We know that the Delta variant has increased transmissibility and is currently surging in pockets of the country with low vaccination rates.”

That would be Springfield and Greene County, where the rate is below 40 percent and the federal government is sending one of its first COVID-19 surge response teams in Missouri.

The surge response teams were announced by President Biden as a way to provide federal help to states with high rates of new cases and low vaccination rates.

Does Gov. Parson welcome such help, no matter how badly it's needed? Not exactly. From ky3.com: 

Speaking in Kansas City, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said, “Right now there’s only one federal employee in the state doing the same thing they were doing before when we had the outbreak in southwest Missouri.”

But in a Facebook post on Wednesday night Parson sent out word that he does not want the surge team’s strategy to include going door-to-door asking people to get vaccinated.

“I have directed our health department to tell the federal government that sending employees or agents door-to-door to compel vaccination would NOT be an effective OR welcome strategy in Missouri.”

Parson later expanded on those remarks:

“I object to the federal government coming in and going door-to-door to anyone’s houses in Missouri,” he said. “But I want to be clear too. Regardless of whether it’s President Trump’s administration or President Biden’s, we’ve had federal authorities on the ground and we want them here to assist. But it depends on what that role is. I don’t think we need to be out there trying to scare people into taking a vaccine.”

Whatever gave Parson the notion that the feds were seeking to "compel" or "scare" Missourians into getting vaccinations? That's not clear, but Jeff Zients, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, had this to say:

“We are working with local health officials and getting more treatments for people with COVID,” he explained. “And helping states increase vaccine confidence, answer questions and expand access to vaccinations and testing.”

Zients even responded to Parson's concerns about a door-to-door approach:

“As part of our efforts trusted messengers may go door-to-door,” he said. “Doctors, faith leaders and community leaders that people look to for this type of advice. And we’ve seen movement by going person-by-person. This is important work that is leading to more vaccinations. So for those that are feeding misinformation and trying to mischaracterize this type of trusted messenger work, I believe you are doing a disservice to the country.”

That's a polite way of saying Parson is a whack job, which appears to be true, based on this report about the challenges facing Missouri hospitals, especially in the southwest corner of the state:

The surging COVID-19 case loads are draining resources and drawing out wait times in emergency rooms across the Ozarks.

Hospitals across the Ozarks say the recent spike is having an impact on just how soon they get to patients. A spokesperson with CoxHealth told KY3 response efforts these days are consumed by very fluid situations. The hospital has had to quickly adapt, and in some cases send COVID-19 patients outside the area to get care.

In one case, a COVID-19 patient was sent to Dallas, Texas. While Mercy has not sent patients out of the area, both hospitals say emerging needs are taking a toll across the board.

“Patients are much sicker than the patients we’ve been seeing in the past,” Mercy Springfield nurse Tracy Hill said on Thursday. “That cuts down the nurse to patient ratio.”

The spreading delta variant is now why local hospitals describe the area as the “heart” of COVID-19. There are now more cases, higher illnesses, and not enough medical staff.

”Math will tell you we can’t take care of as many patients when they’re that sick,” Hill said.

Has any of that made an impact on Gov. Parson? Apparently not:

While local hospitals say Southwest Missouri is in the middle of a crisis, Gov. Mike Parson said the contrary on Thursday.

”The hospitals are not overwhelmed at this point, or bed space, we know that looking at the data everyday,” Gov. Parson said. “We’re all concerned about the spike in the Delta variant, but to try to mislead people that we’re in a crisis is totally misleading. We’re not in a crisis mode in this state.”

The governor added that the focus should be on finding a solution on getting more people to take the vaccine. A spokesperson with CoxHealth said in the area is “in the middle of a crisis.”

Doctors with Cox said the crisis is one that even goes beyond the COVID-19 ICU.

”We’re seeing all of the regular problems that would bring patients to the emergency department, all those levels are essentially back to normal,” said Dr. Howard Jarvis, Medical Director of Emergency Departments for CoxHealth. “But on top of it you’ve got a really high COVID volume.”

Those patients have taken more time and more effort,which Jarvis said has certainly increased waiting time.

”There’s still a limited number of beds, there’s a limited number of physicians, a limited number of nurses, so and quite honestly it takes quite a bit longer to see COVID patients than it does to see some other patients,” he said.

Many COVID-19 patients are now hospitalized for longer periods of time. Nurses with Mercy say a shortage of beds is not the biggest issue.

”It doesn’t matter if you have a thousand beds, if you don’t have nurses to take care of a thousand patients, and physicians for that matter, it doesn’t really matter how many beds you have,” Hill said.

How did Birmingham's Balch & Bingham get involved with a $200-million COVID-19 relief fund in Mississippi, and what's happening with all that cash?

Birmingham's Balch & Bingham law firm, which seems irresistibly drawn to dubious schemes, apparently is involved with a new one -- this time, in Mississippi -- according to a report at banbalch.com. 

Balch, which has historic ties to segregation and white supremacy, now is involved with -- of all things -- a COVID-19 relief fund totaling $200 million. But an NBC News investigative report last week raises questions about where all that money is going and how it is being distributed. The funds are designed to help prevent pandemic-related evictions, but it's not clear that is what's happening. Writes Ban Balch Publisher K.B. Forbes, under the headline,"Balch and the Mississippi Rental Assistance Flop":

Mississippi and its two largest counties received $200 million in federal Covid-19 relief funds to cover back rent, with the aim of preventing evictions, according to NBC News.

“But the vast majority of that money has not been spent, and there are large disparities in who is receiving help, and how quickly they’re getting it, according to a review of the latest program data and interviews with experts and advocates, ” NBC News wrote.

NBC News published the exposé last week with a glaring headline. Here is that headline: "Mississippi received millions in rent aid. But many struggling tenants are still waiting: There are large disparities in who is receiving help, and how quickly they’re getting it." Writes Forbes:

NBC News also reminded us in their report that Balch & Bingham is a truly “talented” firm.

From the North Birmingham bribery scheme that was born at Balch’s offices in Birmingham, to the prolific ghost-letter writing of convicted felon and ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert, from the alleged elderly exploitation of Mrs. B and her $218 million estate, to the alleged targeting, staged arrest, and defamation of an innocent competitor in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Balch & Bingham appears to have surprised if not duped many.

Now add housing assistance to the list of “talents.”

NBC News Reports:

The Mississippi Home Corporation, which was created by the Legislature and offers assistance to homebuyers, runs the state-level program but has outsourced some of the work to Balch and Bingham, a law firm with a Jackson office. Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Home Corporation, said the program launched without software that could help speed up the review of applications. Now that a fuller process is in place, he expects to be able to handle hundreds of applications per day going forward.

“I would rather have more money that has been approved for payment than the roughly $2 million that we’re sitting at right now,” he said. “But that just means we have to work harder and play catchup.”

The North Birmingham bribery scandal, alone, is enough to call Balch's integrity into question. The Mississippi-eviction fund seems to raise questions about the firm's competence:

Why in heaven’s name is Balch, a well-connected but allegedly racist law firm, processing housing assistance for homebuyers?

Was there a truly “open-bidding” process to find an “outsource” vendor? Why were not banks, mortgage lenders, or community not-for-profits engaged instead of Balch & Bingham?

Better yet, why was not a cutting-edge online service used to facilitate applications, conduct identity verification, and issue the prompt electronic payment of assistance to homebuyers?

How, we ask, is Balch & Bingham “qualified” to provide housing assistance?

Where is all of this headed? Forbes, who probably could teach a Ph.D.-level course in "Balchology," has some ideas:

We believe the $200 million in assistance could eventually pale in comparison to the fees and retainer that Balch & Bingham could collect for providing a “fuller process” — one full of attorneys, paralegals, and others.

State investigators and media should begin public records requests and make sure an abuse of the system is not happening.

Mississippi, which prides itself on being fiscally conservative, needs to take a hard look at this absurdity for what it is.

Aging condos, often featuring flawed governance practices, can become "ticking time bombs" and lead to deadly building failures like the one in Miami, FL

 

The deadly collapse of Champlain Towers South in the Miami, Florida, area raises concerns about the soundness of condominium construction. It also raises questions about the condo governance model, according to a report at Axios (with original reporting from Peter Coy of Bloomberg Businessweek.) From the Axios e-newsletter report:

It's not just the structural soundness of high rises that's being scrutinized after the Surfside calamity. The amateurish way many condos are governed is also being challenged.

• "Some economists argue that the U.S. and other countries made a mistake by going too heavily into condos ... in the decades after World War II," Peter Coy of Bloomberg Businessweek reports. 

• Florida's strict building regulations for high rises "have been enforced unevenly by local governments, and sometimes not at all," the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).

Bloomberg's  Peter Coy writes under the headline: "Aging Condos Are a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ and Need More Oversight: Maintenance is a problem at some of the condos, housing co-ops, and HOAs that house 74 million Americans": 

It’s not just condominium buildings that are showing their age, as was the case in the deadly collapse of a condo in Surfside, Fla. The condominium form of ownership itself is under strain. Some condo buildings are even being “de-converted” to rental properties—including the 391-unit 1400 North Lake Shore Dr. in Chicago, which was bought by a New York developer in 2019 for about $107 million. 

Some economists argue that the U.S. and other countries made a mistake by going too heavily into condos and related forms of ownership, including housing co-ops and homeowner associations, in the decades after World War II. Some 73.9 million Americans lived in condos, housing co-ops, and HOAs in 2019, according to the Foundation for Community Association Research. The shared form of ownership is also popular in Europe, Israel, Australia, China, and Russia, among other parts of the world, says Amnon Lehavi, dean of the Harry Radzyner Law School of IDC Herzliya in Israel.

Shared ownership, however, can lead to problems, Coy reports:

The rap on condos is that owners and the boards they elect are poorly equipped to make important decisions about maintenance. “Association homeowners and boards often are focused on keeping regular assessments low and only investing in visible, immediate outcomes,” says Breaking Point: Examining Aging Infrastructure in Community Associations, a 2020 report by the Foundation for Community Association Research.

This bit from the report will sound familiar to condo owners: “While homeowners will tolerate a modest special assessment in an emergency, evidence in this study suggests that it’s often hard to convince them to contribute to long-term maintenance, i.e., higher regular assessments. Substantial special assessments are particularly unwelcome.”

In theory, at least, a landlord-tenant form of ownership can be more stable because the landlord has a stronger financial interest in maximizing a building’s long-term market value than does a typical condo owner, who may be cash-strapped or hoping to sell and move before the building’s flaws become apparent, says a 2018 working paper by Michael Makovi, a professor at Northwood University in Midland, Mich. 

Short of de-conversion projects such as those in the Chicago area, though, condos and related forms of shared ownership are here to stay. The question is what can be done to make sure they have the right governance and the financial wherewithal to keep the housing stock safe. 

The U.S. on the whole actually does a better job of overseeing condos than some other countries do, says an article in The Atlantic by Matthew Gordon Lasner of Hunter College in New York City, author of High Life: Condo Living in the Suburban Century. Miami-Dade County, where Surfside is, requires a recertification of condos’ safety after 40 years. The state has outlawed deceptive practices by developers such as keeping sales prices artificially low by retaining ownership of common areas and renting them back to associations at inflated rates, Lasner writes. Disputes between owners and associations are often resolved swiftly through out-of-court procedures. 

But more could and should be done. Lehavi, the Israeli law school dean, says developers should be required to set up a large financial reserve for future repairs. They don’t want to do that because the cost of funding the reserve raises monthly fees for condo buyers, discouraging sales. But it’s better than keeping monthly costs low at first and then attempting to raise them later, Lehavi says.

Since condos likely are not going away, how can their management be modernized?

Reserve fund requirements for condos already exist in almost all states, but “what’s missing is how much is supposed to be in them,” says Evan McKenzie, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago Law School. Only nine or 10 states require condos to conduct regular studies of reserve adequacy, McKenzie says. And if reserves are judged inadequate, there’s nothing to force the condos to add to them, he says. “It’s bonkers.”

McKenzie calls aging condos, especially in less-coveted neighborhoods, “a ticking time bomb.” He says governments should provide low-interest loans to ailing condos in return for oversight of their operations. That, he says, would generally be better than knocking them down or de-converting them. “I think you need low-priced and moderately priced condos for people who are just trying to get into the housing market. It’s the first rung on the ownership ladder.”

How are Balch & Bingham's diversity efforts going? Not so well, considering that a black attorney has bailed out after eight months at the embattled firm

Stephen McKitt

 

Birmingham's Balch & Bingham law firm, with racism and segregation in its past, has seen one of its few black attorneys hit the exits after only eight months on the job, according to a report at banbalch.com. After watching Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank acquire its No. 2 revenue-producing client (BBVA USA) last November, Balch made quite  a show of forming a diversity initiative -- apparently designed to impress PNC, which has a history of taking diversity seriously. But the effort, it appears, did not make a lasting impression on Balch attorney Stephen Phillip McKitt. Reports Ban Balch Publisher K.B. Forbes:

With about one percent of their partners being people of color, Balch & Bingham’s claims of “diversity and inclusion” smell worse than a manure lagoon.

Now attorney Stephen Phillip McKitt, an African-American who joined Balch & Bingham last November, has left the alleged racist firm after only eight months.

McKitt recently joined the prestigious Akerman firm, with 25 offices and 700 attorneys nationwide.

Did McKitt realize he was little more than a token at Balch? That's not clear, but the firm's roster of attorneys with non-white skin does not appear to be growing -- at least not very fast:

Balch’s hypocritical managing partner Stan Blanton had the foolish audacity to call “diversity and inclusion” a core value of the embattled firm long accused of racism and tokenism.

In recent weeks, Balch has boasted about expanding its footprint to Austin (with a one-man pony) and hiring new associates and partners in Florida, none of whom appear to be African-American.

Earlier this year, Balch announced the hiring of a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. We believe the hire was simply more window dressing by the embattled firm.

In February, Balch promoted McKitt’s involvement in the University of Alabama School of Law’s Diversity Matters Open House, and likewise in April, Balch promoted McKitt’s presentation before UAB Honors Students on pursuing a law school education.

Like an Orwellian memory hole, both Balch news releases and his hiring announcement from November have been scrubbed clean.

How does Balch outrun the ugliness in its recent and more distant history? There probably is no easy answer to that question, but the firm's initial steps seem shaky, at best:

The hubris and sheer stupidity of Balch & Bingham’s leadership is an enormous embarrassment not only to the legal community but the honorable men and women who work at Balch & Bingham.

Stan Blanton should be removed as managing partner and the new leadership should boldly apologize for the firm’s alleged criminal and racist misconduct.

Venable, a big-name law firm from Baltimore, reportedly enters the North Birmingham fray with former Trump U.S. Attorney Jay Town as the top draw

A prestigious East Coast law firm is investigating the apparent framing of former Drummond Company executive David Roberson in the North Birmingham Superfund case, according to a report at banbalch.com. At the heart of the probe is Jay Town, the Trump-era U.S. attorney who led the prosecution in the Northern District of Alabama. Writes Ban Balch Publisher K.B. Forbes, under the headline "Prosecutorial Abuse of Power? Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town’s Alleged Misconduct Becomes a Tinderbox":

Our sources in Washington, D.C. tell us that famed Baltimore legal powerhouse Venable appears to be engaged in looking into the alleged framing and set up of “fall guy” and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson, whose criminal lawyers rejected a no-brainer full-immunity deal with federal prosecutors.

As readers may recall, Balch & Bingham hired Venable in 2017 allegedly in an attempt to prevent the criminal indictments or prosecution in the North Birmingham Bribery Case. The effort failed.

So what is causing this stir and behind-the-scenes anxiety in Baltimore and Birmingham?

Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town we are told.

Forbes provides a laundry list of Town's actions, and inactions, that might be drawing scrutiny:

His alleged misconduct is stunning.

• Town allegedly told others, according to sources, that his nomination was confirmed too late in 2017 by the U.S. Senate for him to kill the North Birmingham Bribery Trial and that some would have to stand trial. 

• Town appears to have cut a secret deal to keep Alabama Power “unmentionable” during the trial. 
  

• After the criminal convictions, Town refused to expand the North Birmingham Bribery investigation and declared that Balch’s Joel I. Gilbert and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson were “lone wolves,” which law enforcement officers and others saw as a betrayal. 

• The publication of jaw-dropping photos of Town chugging cocktails with Alabama Power CEO and former Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite allegedly during the height of the criminal trial rocked Town who was shaken according to sources. 

• Town allegedly blocked four different FBI investigations of the Newsome Conspiracy Case. 
  

• Knowing there are no such things as coincidences, the half-baked deposition with Verizon in the Newsome Conspiracy Case appears to be a centerpiece in the alleged dirty work linked to Town. 
  

• And what law firm represents Verizon regularly? McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown, New Jersey, just one mile away from Verizon’s Corporate Headquarters. And who worked for McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter before his career as a prosecutor? Jay E. Town.

Who might have drawn Venable back into an Alabama mess that involves some of Birmingham's biggest legal and corporate names?

Now, we are wondering who is behind the latest efforts. Did one of the Three Stooges engage Venable? Was it Alabama Power, Balch & Bingham, Drummond Company or someone else?

Who are they trying to protect? Are more indictments coming? Is there a deep investigation happening as we write?

Tongues are on fire as the United States Congress investigates prosecutorial abuse of power. And sources tell us that as Venable snoops, Balch boosters and defenders are stressed out with excessive anxiety just as Town’s tinderbox appears to be ready to burn up.

What could this all mean, we ask? What could this all mean?