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criminal justice

Heroes

11-yr-old wiped blue slime on her attempted kidnapper's arm, helping police identify him

Escambia County Sherriff's Office/Facebook

While kidnappings by complete strangers in broad daylight are extremely rare, they can and do happen. If a child ever finds themselves in that situation, it's important for them to know what to do.

A security camera captured a scary kidnapping attempt in Florida that has people praising the 11-year-old girl who fought off her attacker and even left a clue that helped police identify him.

Video footage shared by the Escambia County Sherriff's office shows the girl sitting alone at her bus stop at around 7:00 am when a white car turned at the median, then returned a minute later. A man exits the vehicle, runs up to the girl, and grabs her, attempting to carry her back to the car. Sherriff Chip Simmons told reporters that the man was carrying a knife. The girl put up a fight and the man stumbled, then ran back to his car and drove away as the girl ran in the opposite direction.

The girl was playing with blue slime when the man approached her, and she wiped some of it on his arm in the struggle. When police arrested the suspect, who has been identified as 30-year-old Jared Paul Stanga, they saw the slime still smeared on his arm.

Simmons told reporters at a news conference that Stanga has an "extensive" criminal history that includes sexual offenses against children. Stanga has now been charged with the attempted kidnapping of a child under 13 and aggravated assault and battery.

"I cannot help to think that this could have ended very differently," Simmons said. "Had this 11-year-old victim not thought to fight and to fight and to just never give up, then this could have ended terribly. Why else do you think that this man stopped, stopped his van and tried to pick her up and take her into that van? It doesn't take a genius to figure out what his intentions were, but they were not good."

Simmons also told reporters that Stanga had approached the girl about two weeks ago at the bus stop and "made her feel uncomfortable." She told school officials and her parents about the incident, and her mother started accompanying her to the bus stop. Tuesday was the first day her mother had not been with her at the bus stop since that incident.

Simmons called the girl his hero for fighting to get away. She ended up with some scratches—and obviously experienced some trauma—but otherwise walked away uninjured.

"My message is that she did not give up," he said. "She did the right thing, and she fought and she fought."

Parents don't want to imagine anything like this happening to their child and may not want to scare them by telling them it could happen, but it's also important to prepare kids for all possibilities. Some children might freeze in fear or confusion in a potential abduction situation, but experts recommend kids fight back if someone actually physically grabs a child and tries to take them someplace.

"Kicking and screaming, opening the door, shouting, 'Who are you? I don't know who you are. You're hurting me. Stop it.' To try to call attention to the situation they're in," Marylene Cloitre of the New York University Child Study Center told ABC News. There are even formal programs in some places that teach kids what to do in various situations and have them practice using their voice and putting up a struggle, such as this one in the Chicago suburbs.

Training teaches kids to yell, run and fight back to escape kidnapperswww.youtube.com

There is no audio on the security footage in Tuesday's attempt, but it's clear the 11-year-old was not going to go quietly. Her instinct to fight back paid off, and thankfully she is home safe now. Hopefully, the justice system will now do what is necessary to protect her and other kids from the would-be kidnapper.

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Democracy

Virginia poised to become the first southern state to ban the death penalty

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Virginia is poised to become the 23rd U.S. state—and first state in the South—to ban the death penalty after lawmakers on Monday approved legislation prohibiting the practice.

"We're dismantling the remnants of Jim Crow here in the New South. Abolishing the death penalty is another step on that journey," tweeted Democratic Del. Jay Jones, who's running for state attorney general.

Both chambers of the General Assembly passed earlier versions already this month. On Monday, the Senate passed the House bill in a 22-16 vote; the House then voted 57-43 on the measure to ban capital punishment. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has indicated his support for the measure.

As Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)—a former governor of Virginia and a co-sponsor of bicameral legislation to end the federal death penalty—wrote in a Friday op-ed at the Washington Post, "Virginia is the death penalty capital of the United States."

Beginning with the first execution under a colonial government in 1608, we have executed 1,390 people, more than any other state. Following the Supreme Court's decision restoring the death penalty in 1976, Virginia has executed more people than any state except Texas. And the painful history exposes the fundamental racism of capital punishment.

Kaine noted as an example that "even after the Civil War, when crimes such as rape were technically capital offenses for everyone, the ultimate punishment was used only against Black people. Fifty-six people were executed for rape or attempted rape in Virginia between 1908 and 1965—all were Black."

"Thankfully," Kaine wrote, "the repeal of the death penalty by its leading practitioner gives hope that work for justice is not in vain. Virginia's progress shows that it is possible for all."

Northam has previously indicated his backing of legislation to ban the death penalty, saying in a statement earlier this month that capital punishment is "fundamentally inequitable. It is inhumane. It is ineffective."

The governor further confirmed his support on Monday with a joint statement also signed by House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) and released after both chambers passed the legislation.

"Thanks to the vote of lawmakers in both chambers, Virginia will join 22 other states that have ended use of the death penalty," the three Democrats said. "This is an important step forward in ensuring that our criminal justice system is fair and equitable to all."

Once the bill becomes law, the two men with still lingering death sentences, Anthony Juniper and Thomas Porter, will face life in prison without parole.

This article first appeared on Common Dreams. You can read it here.

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Equality

President Biden signed four historic executive actions promoting racial equity into law

President Biden/Twitter, Yamiche Alcindor/Twitter

In a year when the U.S. saw the largest protest movement in history in support of Black lives, when people of color have experienced disproportionate outcomes from the coronavirus pandemic, and when Black voters showed up in droves to flip two Senate seats in Georgia, Joe Biden entered the White House with a mandate to address the issue of racial equity in a meaningful way.

Not that it took any of those things to make racial issues in America real. White supremacy has undergirded laws, policies, and practices throughout our nation's history, and the ongoing impacts of that history are seen and felt widely by various racial and ethnic groups in America in various ways.

Today, President Biden spoke to these issues in straightforward language before signing four executive actions that aim to:

- promote fair housing policies to redress historical racial discrimination in federal housing and lending

- address criminal justice, starting by ending federal contracts with for-profit prisons

- strengthen nation-to-nation relationships with Native American tribes and Alaskan natives

- combat xenophobia against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, which has skyrocketed during the pandemic

"In my campaign for president, I made it very clear that the moment had arrived as a nation, as we face deep racial inequities in America and systemic racism that has plagued our nation for far, far too long. I said that over the course of the past year that the blinders had been taken off the nation, the American people. What many Americans didn't see or had simply refused to see couldn't be ignored any longer."

Biden spoke of how George Floyd's killing opened the eyes of the nation and the world and marked "a turning point in this country's attitude toward racial justice." He spoke of the impact of the pandemic on Black and Latino communities and the economic inequalities that plague the nation. He spoke of the white supremacists who invaded our Capitol.

"We have never fully lived up to the founding principles of this nation, to state the obvious, that all people are created equal and have the right to be treated equally throughout their lives," he said. "And it's time to act now, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because if we do, we'll all be better off for it."

"For too long we've allowed a narrow, cramped view of the promise of this nation to fester," he went on. "You know, we've bought the view that America is a zero-sum game in many cases. If you succeed, I fail. If you get ahead, I fall behind. If you get the job I lose mine. Maybe worst of all, if I hold you down, I lift myself up. We've lost sight of what President Kennedy told us what he said, 'A rising tide lifts all boats.' When we lift each other up, we're all lifted up. And the corollary is true as well. When anyone is held down, we're all held back."

President Biden gave some details about what the four executive actions signed today will mean, including giving Native tribes and nations access to the federal stockpile and FEMA, as well as taking a step toward stopping corporations from profiting off of incarceration that is "less humane and less safe, as the studies show."

He also elucidated on further actions he wants to take, or see taken in the case of legislation in Congress, during his administration, starting with undoing some of Trump's last actions as president:

"In the weeks ahead, I'll be reaffirming the federal government's commitment to diversity equity and inclusion and accessibility, building on the work we started and the Obama-Biden administration. That's why I'm rescinding the previous administration's harmful man on diversity and sensitivity training. And abolish the offensive counterfactual 1776 commission. Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth. Not ignorance and lies."

And including making it easier for all Americans to vote:

"Here's another thing we need to do—we need to restore and expand the Voting Rights Act, named after our dear friend, John Lewis. And continue to fight back against laws many states are engaged in to suppress the right to vote, while expanding access to the ballot box for all eligible voters.:

Biden concluded with by repeating the call for racial equity to be incorporated throughout every part of the government:

"Here's the deal, and I'll close with this," he said. "I ran for president because I believe we're in a battle for the soul of this nation. And the simple truth is our soul will be troubled as long as systemic racism is allowed to persist. It's not going to be overnight. We can't eliminate everything. But it's corrosive, it's destructive, and it's costly. It costs every American, not just who felt the sting of racial injustice. We are not just a nation morally deprived because of systemic racism. We're also less prosperous, we're less successful, less secure. So we must change, and I know it's gonna take time. But I know we can do it. And I firmly believe the nation is ready to change. But government has to change as well. We need to make equity and justice part of what we do every day. Today, tomorrow, and every day.

I'm gonna sign these executive actions to continue to work to make real the promise of America for every American. Again, I'm not promising we can end it tomorrow. But I promise you we're gonna continue to make progress to eliminate systemic racism in every branch of the White House, and the federal government is going to be part of that effort."

People in racial justice advocacy spaces seemed to receive President Biden's address and executive actions with cautious optimism. NAACP president Derrick Johnson told MSNBC, "This is a great initial start," and "The fact he's embedding this inside of Domestic Policy Council shows the urgency and the gravity of what's taking place."

Some pointed out that unless and until there are actual changes coming from the legislative branch, the actions taken by Biden today are tenuous, since they can be changed at the stroke of a pen with a new administration. However, these executive actions and the promises made by Biden do seem to indicate that he is serious about making racial justice a key policy driver during his tenure in the White House.

It's definitely a start, and considering we're only seven days in, a promising sign that more meaningful action is on the way.

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Popular

He raped an 11-year-old girl who got chlamydia and received no jail time.

Joseph Meili via Alik / Twitter

Joseph Meili

In 2018, Upworthy reported on a disturbing story out of Alaska where a man kidnapped, strangled, and masturbated on a woman and received no jail time.

In August of 2017, Justin Schneider picked up a native Alaskan woman who needed a ride. Later, he pulled over to the side of the road, and told her to get out of the car so he could load some things. Then, he tackled her to the ground, strangled her until she was unconscious, and then mastrubated on her.

A grand jury indicted Schneider on four felony counts including kidnapping, assault, harassment, and "offensive contact with fluids." However, in a grave miscarriage of justice, Schneider struck a plea deal, and Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Corey sentenced him to a two-year suspended sentence and gave him credit for the year he served under house arrest.

Essentially, as long as Schneider keeps up with the terms of his probation, he serves no time behind bars.

Although Schneider got away with a heinous act, the judge didn't fare so well. In November 2018, Corey was voted off the bench by the people of Alaska.

Now, another white man has struck a plea deal that keeps him out of jail after a heinous act against a female.

Joseph Meili, a 22-year-old Missouri man, plead guilty to molesting an 11-year-old girl, but will receive no jail time.

In 2017, Meili began chatting with the girl over a dating app she accessed on her mother's phone. A few weeks after they began chatting, Meili picked her up and took her to an apartment. According to a probable cause statement, he took off the girl's clothes and raped her.

While the girl was being raped, there was a search party looking for her. She returned home that night and later tested positive for chlamydia and traces of Meili's semen was found in her underwear.

Meili was charged with with child kidnapping, statutory rape, and statutory sodomy. His attorney claimed the girl looked of age and that his client was "catfished" by the girl. "But to actually see her in person... he knew and just decided to go along with it anyway," Elizabeth Fax, the Greene County Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, told HuffPost.

Prosecutors recommended that Meili be sent to prison for a 120-day sex offender program. But that didn't happen.
Instead, Meili struck a deal with Judge Calvin R. Holden in which he admitted to the crime, but will only serve five years of supervised probation. The charges of kidnapping and statutory rape were dismissed.

Holden has a history of leniency against child molesters.

According to The Washington Post, over the past three years, in three similar cases involving minors between the ages of 8 and 16, Holden gave out five-year probation sentences.

"I feel horrible for the victim in this case," Meili's attorney told The Washington Post. But he believes the sentence was fair because, "he's going to be a sex offender for the rest of his life. He's never going to escape this."

What about the girl who was raped at the age of 11?

What you permit, you teach. And the sentence handed down by Judge Holden is a permission slip to would-be rapists to prey upon women because they will be supported by the justice system. It is also a statement that, in the state of Missouri, it's open season on girls because their lives are less important than those who sexually assault them.

One can hope that Judge Holden receives the same fate as Judge Corey of Alaska for being lenient on sexual predators.

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