Category: Law enforcement

A Headline Begs for a Constitutional Briefing

federal court upholds prayer in congress
Let’s start with order and word counts in the first three articles of the Constitution, as amended.

The order of the three branches of federal government and the word counts are thus:

Legislative Branch, Article One, has ten sections and 2,268 words.

Executive Branch, Article Two, has four sections and 1,025 words.

Judicial Branch, Article Three, has three sections and 377 words.

Do you see a pattern?

Think in terms of a board game.

The Legislative Branch makes the rules.
The Executive Branch moves the pieces on the board.
In the case of disagreement among the players, the Judicial Branch resolves the conflict.

I ask again. Do you see a pattern?

The three are not ‘co-equal’; they do not have equal powers (authority).

A former pastor used to say, “Anything with two heads is a monster.” He was referring to those old Japanese Godzilla movies featuring huge multi-headed creatures. If we surrender ourselves to the myth of three co-equal branches of government, we submit ourselves to a tyrannical monster.

Have you not the time to read and study the U.S. Constitution?

Here is a link to the official document, updated by amendments. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

The Judicial Branch has no authority to either grant or to deny our natural rights.

Jesus Christ is the highest authority, our lawgiver, executor of the Will of God, and our ultimate Judge. As He said on the Mount of Olives, “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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SB4 – Fears and Facts

SB4 - immigration status on a whim
Addressing Fear

Many Hispanics dread being stopped by police officers for fear of being profiled. SB 1074 specifically outlaws racial profiling. Read the full text: 2012 Texas Law on Racial Profiling

Specific to law enforcement officers: Art. 2.131. RACIAL PROFILING PROHIBITED. A peace officer may not engage in racial profiling.

Does racial profiling happen? Indeed, it does. Why? My best answer: human nature.

Unjust and unlawful profiling by some police officers affects people of all skin colors and all ages.

The vast majority of law enforcement officers are good citizens. They are not superhumans. Some – a few – are incarcerated in Texas prisons for murder, sex crimes, and other felonies. Some, thinking they are doing us all a favor, willfully disregard the prohibition against racial profiling.

I appreciate the fear. Over six decades of operating motor vehicles, a few police officers have unjustly stopped me on the pretext of alleged traffic violations. After checking my identity against lists of wanted persons, I’ve gone on my way without a ticket. An obvious conclusion is the officers profiled me because my vehicle or appearance closely matched another person.

Twice in my life, loaded handguns have been pointed my way.

The first time, it was when an angry Native American man in Minneapolis threatened to blow my brains out. He expressed his anger toward all white people. Obviously, he didn’t pull the trigger and this is a story for another day.

The second time, a police officer right here in Rockwall pulled his handgun on me in an attempt to cower me into giving him permission to search my place of business in downtown Rockwall. The rest of this story will also be for another time.

Born and raised in South Texas, I also knew Hispanics that were grossly mistreated by cops.

The fear of profiling is rational, if not necessarily realistic. Supporters of SB4 should respect the fear. Gun owners also have stories, well-documented stories, on incidences of unlawful profiling by police officers. I’ve been profiled by ICE solely because my name is one of 12,669 John Whites in this country.

Deleterious Dichotomy

On August 30, 2017, Orlando L. Garcia of United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio, an activist federal judge, issued a temporary injunction to pause enforcement of the law. NY Times: Federal Judge Blocks Texas’ Ban on ‘Sanctuary Cities’. (Grammarians will see right away the irony of the article’s title.)

Of note is the parallel between so-called sanctuary cities in Texas whose leaders claim to uphold civil rights and the hostile, un-civil behavior of local law enforcement in those cities toward lawful gun owners. For the record, the arrest and conviction rate of licensed Texas gun owners is less than the rate for law enforcement officers. It’s not a huge difference, but one that should teach uncivil chiefs of police like Art Acevedo (Houston), Brian Manley (Austin), and Dr. Joel Fitzgerald (Fort Worth) that their irrational profiling of gun owners actually violates state law.

The Bottom Line

The stated, legislated object of SB4 is to get criminals off the streets and into the hands of ICE.  As all law enforcement officers in Rockwall County have publicly stated, undocumented immigrants can freely report crimes without fear of deportation.

Action

  • LEARN – Know the law.
  • RESPECT – Be respectful of the opinions of SB4 opponents.
  • LISTEN – Dignify opponents of SB4 by listening with an intent to understand them.
  • SPEAK – Contact your State Senator and your Representative in the Texas Legislature to express your view of SB4.
  • PEACE – Be a peacemaker. Don’t set up lines of confrontation. Reason flies out the window when confrontation displaces peaceful debate.

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9

  • PRAY – The Bible says we are to pray FOR, not AGAINST, all who are in authority.

Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
1 Timothy 2:2

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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President Trump pardons former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the liberals go nuts

President Trump pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. For what crime was he pardoned?

arpaio and trump - pardoned
Photo credit: CNN

United States District Judge Susan R. Bolton sentenced sheriff Joe Arpaio to prison for contempt of court. She ordered him to cease reporting illegal aliens to ICE. Yes, she ordered him to violate federal law – a federal judge orders a state sheriff to violate federal law. That was his so-called crime.

This morning I read via Twitter John McCain condemned President Trump’s pardon of Arpaio. Sen. McCain accused President Trump of not following the Rule of Law.

For the point of law, let’s understand what the president did. He followed Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution which states, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States…shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”

The Constitution empowers the president to pardon anyone, anytime, for any reason except impeachment. Period. Precedent? How about President Bill Clinton’s pardon of a criminal fugitive Marc Rich.

It is John McCain and a rogue federal judge who do not follow the rule of law.

Now you know the rest of the story.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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A ‘Hearing’ on the Border Wall – Are you listening?

I write to inform, not to foment debate. How can there be a good debate without the knowledge of facts?

Intelligent people are always ready to learn.
    Their ears are open for knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15

A great American pastime is the game of armchair quarterback. It’s a game in which we are all players at one time or another. Isn’t it easy to sit in the comfort of your home, calling better plays than the quarterback on the gridiron?

Armchair quarterbacks in Foggy Bottom and across the country are calling plays in the Rio Grande Valley, but quarterbacks actually on the field (the Rio Grande Valley) hold perspectives different from the armchair quarterbacks.

The people most affected by illegal border crossings and tandem crimes committed by illegalssteven r covey quote on listening want very much for the rest of us to listen to them.

The current border wall project isn’t a new idea. It’s already there. About 700 miles of ‘already there’.

It was our 43rd President George W. Bush who, on October 26, 2006, signed into law the Secure Fence Act. I defer to a PBS video produced July 3, 2009, that provides a broad view of the construction of a segmented fence across our southern border, its effects on U.S. property owners along the border, and the opinions of Americans whose lives have been dramatically affected by the fence.

Do you notice the title? PBS doesn’t attribute the fence to either President Bush or to President Trump. PBS rightfully tags the project “Obama’s Border Fence“.

Video source: PBS NOW, July 3, 2009

A current (August 12, 2017) report from the Austin Statesman titled Advocates stage first big Texas protest against border wall reflects sentiments of hundreds of brown-skinned and white-skinned border residents.

My wife and I were born and raised in South Texas, she, right on the border. Our viewpoint is not that of armchair quarterback. I suppose you could label us bench warmers who have seen and experienced Rio Grande Valley life since the 1950’s.

Where is the border? How many borders between the U.S. and Mexico are there? What’s the history of the Mexico-U.S.  border culture and economics?

There are three borders. The one you know about is the geographical (continental) border you see on road maps. There are two other borders not shown on typical road maps: the two immigration borders. Immigration borders? Isn’t that big river an immigration border? In a word, no.

U.S. citizens regularly drive across the border to shop or dine or just visit friends. Your present automobile liability insurance has you covered. Likewise, when Mexican citizens shop in Texas, for example, their Mexican automobile insurance covers them, as well.

The above holds true so long as motorists don’t cross the respective immigration borders (my term) without proper insurance and official permission (a visa). The immigration borders are officially called the border region.

us-mexico-border-region-CDC-map
The border region extends 37 miles south of the continental border, 37 miles north, 37 miles east into the Gulf of Mexico, and 37 miles west into the Pacific Ocean, as per the La Paz Agreement of July 8, 1966.

Historically, a chain of cross-border economic areas defines the official border region. There are Mexican citizens who live in Mexico and work in Texas, likewise U.S. citizens who live in Texas and work in Mexico.

There is a suggestion that Mexico should pay for the border wall. Is this reasonable? Do you know that over half of all illegal immigrants that cross our southern border are OTMs, Other Than Mexicans?

Reference:

Pew Research: What we know about illegal immigration from Mexico, March 2, 2017

Illegal aliens were deported at a much higher rate under the Obama administration than under the present Trump administration. Both liberal and conservative news services confirm this fact among these are the Washington Post, Politico, Newsweek magazine,  Vox, and AOL News.

Chinese illegal immigrants are second only to border crossings by illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America, combined, according to the NY Times, March 6, 2017. Unlike our neighbors to the south that cooperate with deportations, we have no such cooperation from communist China.

Combative rhetoric, devoid of facts, posits unproductive confrontation.

Do I oppose President Trump’s commitment to defending our nation? No. I applaud his boldness and courageous leadership. Do I suggest there is a dearth of knowledge on the matter of border protection? Obviously, yes.

Can we talk? Are we ready to learn?

John White
Rockwall, Texas

Prison Camp America: Can we talk?

The numbers cry out for answers. Why are more people, per capita, locked up in the USA than any other nation on the face of the earth? Click on the link below the to enlarge the view.

prison policy institute pie chart 2017
Source: The Prison Policy Institute | 2017

Any ordinary American would expect the people whom we incarcerate to come out of prison better than what they were when locked away from society. Some do come out better people, but on the dark side, petty criminals tend to become well-trained, crafty, dangerous criminals and this lends well to explain high recidivism rates.

Consider these facts about prison gangs.

Aryan Brotherhood

The Aryan Brotherhood is a product of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). This well-organized gang has a written constitution and five generals who direct criminal enterprises inside and outside prison walls.

Like cancer, the Aryan Brotherhood metastasized. This gang is now active beyond Texas borders

aryan brotherhood tattoos.PNG
Aryan Kingpin Byrd

. Favored symbols include the Nazi swastika. Unlike cancer, their tattoos make them easy to detect. Known for being ‘white supremacists’, they are pragmatic criminals who work well with Latino and African-American gangs.

The important fact you should know is this: the Aryan brotherhood wasn’t spawned by criminals in the community; it was spawned inside Texas prison walls.

Learn more from PBS station KERA: The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, May 2, 2017

MS-13 | Mara Salvatrucha

This gang was birthed in Los Angeles County jail where criminal illegal immigrants chiefly from El Salvador learned the ropes from fellow prisoners. Today, MS-13 has members from other Central American countries and the gang operates in every major city in every state in the Union. Their crimes are vicious beyond description.

MS-13 members that were deported built a criminal enterprise in their native country of El Salvador where even the government fears them. Deportations of these hardened criminals further exacerbate civil unrest in El Salvador, leading to more people fleeing that the Banana Republic in search of a better life in the United States.

Learn more from Breitbart: 5 Facts Every American Must Know About the Brutal MS-13 Gang, May 5, 2017

The important fact you should know is this: MS-13 was birthed in a county jail.

What is the definition of insanity?

Why do we continue doing things the same way and expect different results?

wrong way
What’s the Answer?

Take a moment to read how and why a policeman paid for items stolen by a shoplifter.

Toronto officer buys shirt, tie for shoplifter who needed outfit for job interview

As throwing debtors into prison did not help the lenders, throwing non-violent lawbreakers into jails and prisons does not contribute to the general welfare of the population as a whole.

Prisons notoriously transform petty non-violent criminals into hardened dangerous criminals who go on to perpetrate greater offenses after release from prison.

First: It’s time to unleash Christian ministries. As the Bible says, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Second: Let’s end the practice of using jails and prisons to punish nonviolent lawbreakers. The only persons who should be locked away are those who are sure to harm persons or property if allowed to go free.

Former prisoners face formidable barriers to returning to civil society. Who will hire them?

Back to the first answer, I point to CARE Center Ministries and the head of that highly successful ministry that focuses on the least, the last, and the lonely, the poorest of the poor. I’ve known the head of CARE Center Ministries about 30 years. Today, the ministry has branches in Birmingham AL, Managua Nicaragua, and Mountain Home Arkansas.

care center ministries

Pastor Eldred Sawyer’s disciples are living proof that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. His ministry proves there is a better more effective way to restore lives than any prison.

God has been in the business of turning sinners into saints from the beginning of mankind. He never went into retirement.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

Obama ‘Deep State’ Federal Judge Stages Constitutional Crisis

Here’s the headline:
federal judge in Hawaii halts Trump travel ban
Facts in Evidence

  • Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin filed the suit on March 8, 2017
  • Barack Obama arrived in Hawaii 48 hours before the lawsuit
  • Federal judge issues opinion on March 15, 2017
  • Ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson is 43 pages in length – Read full text here ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER 3-15-2017 CV17-50 219 doc
  • Barack Obama-Derrick Watson nexus: Both Barack Obama and US District Court Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii were classmates at Harvard Law School. Both graduated in 1991. Harvard Law graduates between 500-600 students each year.
obama makes trip to hawaii 48 hours before judge blocks travel ban
Obvious Official Corruption

The Big Question of the Hour: Is President Trump anti-Muslim?

Bloomberg headline, March 14, 2017: Saudi Prince Sees Trump as True Friend to Muslims

The ACLU for which the political director is a Muslim activist falsely claims President Trump violates Muslims First Amendment right to Freedom of Religion? The Obama-appointed judge agrees? But, the Saudi kingdom disagrees and you don’t get more Muslim than the country where Islam was founded.

What I want President Trump to know:

  1. The three branches of federal government are not co-equal. There is a hierarchy of authority that was set in place by the Founding Fathers and this hierarchy self-identifies in the first three articles of the Constitution: Most powerful is the Legislative branch (Article I), second most powerful is the Executive branch (Article II), and least and last of all the Judicial branch (Article III). Read Dispelling the Myth of Co-Equal Branches of Government
  2. A judge’s ruling is not law. It’s an opinion. Period. Paragraph second of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution makes this so clear even a child can understand what constitutes the Supreme Law of the Land.
  3. Laws crafted by the Legislative branch and Treaties ratified by the Senate are the Supreme Law of the Land.
  4. Judges are constitutionally bound by the law, not their personal agendas, not their personal opinions, not by political debts to the president who appointed them.
  5. President Trump is acting well within the law: 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, a.k.a. the McCarran-Walter Act (An act to revise the laws relating to immigration, naturalization, and nationality; and for other purposes)

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Read the law yourself: 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, a.k.a. the McCarran-Walter Act

I call on U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to demand a congressional investigation of probable criminal acts perpetrated by former president Barack Obama acting through his well-funded subversive organization called Organizing For Action.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

Potpourri for ‪Poverty‬ – So, you want to legalize ‪marijuana‬?

legalized pot makes people poorer.png

“The middle and upper classes have been the ones out there pushing for decriminalization and legalization measures, and they have also tried to demolish the cultural taboo against smoking pot. But they themselves have chosen not to partake very much. Which is not surprising. Middle-class men and women who have jobs and families know that this is not a habit they want to take up with any regularity because it will interfere with their ability to do their jobs and take care of their families.” NY Post – link to full story http://ow.ly/T5IR303sszo

In the years of my youth, it was called Mary Jane. Some folks, people like Willie Nelson, became rich despite the use of ‘weed’, but Willie is an exception.

Is marijuana a ‘gateway drug’ that leads to the use of more powerful drugs? Perhaps. I’ve been on planet earth a while and over my lifetime I’ve known folks who smoked pot, but never graduated to a higher high and others who became blithering idiots.

There are millions who regularly drink alcoholic beverages in moderation and never become drunken. Then there are those whose personalities change after one beer.

There is no magic number, no specific means to predict when a person will lose self-control and for this reason, I strenuously object to the blood-alcohol level standard that arbitrarily defines “driving under the influence” by Texas state law.

The issue to me isn’t at what level of blood-alcohol is or is not DUI. Neither is the issue of should we or should we not legalize marijuana. The issue is one of self-control.

As it is written in holy scripture, “…the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL. There is no law against these things!” – Galatians 5:22-23

Do you see? There is no law against self-control.

Human laws come into play when we engage in activities whereby we lose control of ourselves.

John White
Rockwall, Texas