This article explains the initial stages of a revolutionary experimentation which could lead to the diminution of traumatic memories: being a victim of sexual/physical assault or any crime which leaves residual emotional anxiety and trauma as well as PTSD. This fascinating article outlines the possibility of a much quicker and scientific alternative to psychological counseling, therapy and analysis.
Month: August 2014
In the New York Times article, “Acquitted of Murder, Rapper Is Convicted on Weapon Charge” Lorne Manly discussed the recent new assault on the First Amendment. Currently, prosecutors are trying to introduce rap lyrics as confession evidence in pending criminal trials. Their argument is that merely setting the confession to music or in the form of a rap does not detract from its incriminating nature. Furthermore, courts are admitting this evidence.
What ever happened to artistic license? When Johnny Cash created his alter ego, an inmate in Folsom prison who had “shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” No police officers began to comb their cold case files for an unsolved homicide in Reno. People understood the concept of artistic license.
This development could be the beginning of the end for rap. What do rap artists rap about? Not sunshine and rainbows but life observed: drugs, guns, gangs, shootings, police harassment etc. Consequently, if police and prosecutors can use the lyrics to criminally prosecute, the chilling effect on the desire to write and perform a song or rap is enormous. Why risk the harassment, possible incarceration and legal proceedings in order to express oneself? If that is not a violation of free speech, what is?
This is a reprint of an article in the News and Observer on 8/14/14
“It can happen at a wedding party. It can start as a graduation toast. It can escalate at the dinner table after a first glass of wine. Teens drink alcohol. Parents get arrested. It’s rare for adults to be cited for aiding underage drinking: only 20 people in Wake County last year, and 272 statewide. But charges filed this week against a Raleigh couple allege that an 18-year-old drank alcohol at their home before a fatal crash on June 28, at an event state alcohol agents described as a wedding-related party. The case has brought new attention to this often-misunderstood truth: The law punishes adults for allowing minors to drink, no matter when or where. “I think a lot of parents feel like, ‘If I know where they’re at, and I know they’re here, then they’re safe,’ ” said Kristen Booker, a criminal defense attorney in Raleigh and Wendell, whose practice includes underage drinking. “I hope it changes attitudes.” State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents get several complaints a year about underage drinking at weddings, said Jeff Lasater, special agent in charge for the Triangle area. But those are rare. More often, he said, they respond to high school parties that a school resource officer knows about. In many, parents are home, and they can be charged. “I think a lot of parents think it’s a safer alternative,” said Lasater, who added that some parents will confiscate keys that partygoers are able to find later. “It’s a common misconception.” In June, Jonathon Gregory Taylor died after the BMW he was driving crashed on Hunting Ridge Road after traveling at what investigators estimated at 89 mph. Arrest warrants said he had been drinking at the home of Charles Joseph Matthews, 59, and Kimberly Hunt Matthews, 52, at 904 Vance St. ALE agents said they did not know the number of people at the wedding-related function because they arrived several hours after it ended. Matthews is a Raleigh neurologist, and the Five Points home is large, valued in Wake County tax records at more than $2 million. Each of the Matthews adults was charged with four misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting underage drinking. Thomas Blake Matthews, 18, was also charged with illegally buying a 375-milliliter bottle of Jack Daniel’s Honey liquor – about 12.7 ounces – at the Wake County ABC store in Cameron Village and giving liquor to three underage people. A clerk at the ABC store, James Gordon Wilson, was also charged in the case. Lasater said underage drinking with adult consent likely happens more often than agents know. “The only time we know about it is if it’s a bad consequence,” he said. Last year, a couple in Long Island, N.Y., got charged after a girl at their home developed alcohol poisoning. She had been drinking with their daughter and other youths after a high school banquet, and the parents called 911 themselves. Conversations about young people and drinking frequently turn to attitudes in Europe, where children often grow up drinking wine with dinner, and where beer can be drunk by people as young as 14. The question often rises, is there a line when a first drink before 21 is a rite of passage rather than a crime? “My answer would be, ‘No,’ ” said Booker. “No matter what.”” [email protected] or 919-829-4818 Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/08/14/4072103/there-are-no-exceptions-that-allow.html#emlnl=Crime_and_Safety#storylink=cpy