Scotus Opens the White Collar Crime Gates, Toronto Police Open Season on Protesters & BP'$ Spree

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Produced by: 
KBOO
Program:: 
Air date: 
Fri, 06/25/2010 - 12:00am
Interviews with Toronto civil rights lawyer & Xerces Soc. on endangered bees + 'Shame on Scotus'

Get this:  Ontario  has secretly passed an unprecedented regulation that  empowers police to arrest anyone near the G20 security zone who  refuses to identify themselves or agree to a police search.   The regulation was made under Ontario's Public Works Protection Act

   and was not debated in the Legislature.   It was in fact passed in response to an   "extraordinary request" by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who  wanted additional policing powers shortly after learning the G20 was  coming to Toronto.   According to the new regulation, "guards" appointed under the act can arrest anyone who, in specific areas, comes within five metres of the security zone. 

That plus the new-found 'sound canon' and you get an economic summit that is a dirty disgrace and an insult to the whole concept of civil liberties - an arrogant slap of reality to any who don't believe that money is all that counts or is counted.

Then this morning in one fell stroke the Supreme Court – “We’re not activist” – justices have wiped out  one of the most  critical weapons  in federal prosecutors arsenal.   Yesterday the high court   defanged a legal doctrine used to convict a rogues gallery of corporate fraudsters based on a 23-year-old statute that says the public has an “intangible right to honest services” from public officials. In the past decade, prosecutors have used the law to press fraud cases against corporate executives, including Enron’s CEO Jeffrey Skilling.  It was Skilling's appeal that lead to the gutting of the 'honest services law'.     

link for bee story:  www.xerces.org                                                

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