Serving the First Amendment and the Public's Right to Know
CHANGE BEHAVIOR
Minneapolis' insolent library behavior
a blueprint for finishing last
By Jarrette Fellows, Jr.
Editor-in-Chief
Public libraries are key centers for augmenting positive change in the lives of people. A person on the road to nowhere can change their course for the better by simply visiting a library and taking advantage of the tools available there—computers, research, job prospects, how to write a resume.
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Anyone can improve their plight using the library, often with a simple library card, which are usually free.
City planners made sure the residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul would have the opportunity to improve their lives. They made certain the matrix of the city included 41 libraries.
But the city has incurred a major problem with a least one of its major libraries—the Minneapolis Central Library located at 300 Nicollet Mall, one of the city's oldest, founded in 1885 in the city’s first public library building, resurrected on 10th Street and Hennepin Avenue in 1889.​
To shelter the homeless from the freezing cold during the winter and to provide them some dignity from the adverse conditions of the street, destitute individuals are permitted to shelter in the library from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. But the good will has largely backfired as hundreds of homeless, unemployed, and destitute individuals—mostly between the ages of 18 and 30, converge at Minneapolis Central library, committing fraudulent deed after deed, ignoring the one building block a library was purposed for—to improve their lives.​
I visited Minneapolis Central Library on many occasions, only to be disheartened regularly by the sheer frivolity, jocularity, and foolishness that goes on each day by individuals no more serious about their plight in life than kids on a rambunctious elementary school playground at recess.​ I have witnessed young people engage in loud conversations, sing to digital computer music wearing headphones, asleep snoring, smoking marijuana in restrooms (before it was legal in Minnesota), and clipping hair, transforming male restrooms into makeshift barber shops.
Minneapolis Central Library is light years removed from its auspicious beginning in 1885. A larger and more modern building was constructed on the current location, and a new building opened in 2006. Today it houses the largest collection of items in the Hennepin County Library system, however, meaningless that may be for the majority of its unfocused visitors in 2024.
The behavior of many of these individuals is so incorrigible, 388 guests were barred from its confines in Jan. 2024 for misconduct. Security and staff seemingly are helpless or unwilling to impact this insolent behavior, which is odd because library rules and regulations are contained in an official manual which guests must adhere to.​
The Hennepin County Library should enforce its own regulations, not allow guests at Minneapolis Central Library to breach them, while strictly enforcing the statutes at each of its other 40 libraries.​There should be a consequence for incorrigible behavior. Persons should lose the privilege of admission to Minneapolis Central Library when they violate the rules.
A little physical duress would probably change attitudes also, like barring persons demonstrating poor behavior from the library, subjecting them to the task of plowing snow from the city's highways and roadways without pay for one full week during snow season. During the spring, summer, and fall, the penalty could be collecting trash and debris. These tasks could be done under the watchful eye of library security.
If individuals behaving in this disrespectful manner do not amend their ways, one negative outgrowth will be apparent in later years—they will finish last.
Feel free to write us at minnesotameteor@gmail.com
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs denied bail again on federal sex trafficking charges
Sean Combs
THE ANGRY EROS GODS
MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York federal judge on Wednesday, Sept. 18, refused to grant mogul music producer Sean Combs’ second request for bail, keeping the self-proclaimed “Bad Boy For Life” jailed pending his trial on a sex trafficking conspiracy indictment because of his potential danger to victims and witnesses.
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“He could certainly obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses through those folks, through even coded messages, if necessary,” US District Judge Andrew said at the conclusion of a 100-minute hearing in Manhattan federal court, denying Combs’ request to be released to home detention while he awaits a criminal trial.
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Carter, a Barack Obama appointee, appeared particularly concerned by the 2016 surveillance video from InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles showing Combs in a bathrobe violently assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hallway and his subsequent efforts to bribe hotel security to coverup the attack.
“That video is quite disturbing,” the judge said. “The physical beating … why isn’t that a consideration?"
On Tuesday, New York federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal indictment charging Combs on three counts implicating in a criminal ring that coerced and intimidated women into drug-fueled sexual exploitation.​
Combs, who's represented by defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, pleaded not guilty at his first appearance on Tuesday. US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky denied his first request for release on a proposed $50 million bail package, siding with prosecutors in favor of remanding him to pretrial detention due to his potential for dangerousness, obstruction and risk of flight.​
Ahead of the bail appeal hearing Wednesday, Combs' lawyers asked Carter to allow him to await his sex trafficking trial in home detention at his mansion on an island near Miami Beach, rather than at the Special Housing Unit of the infamous MDC federal jail in south Brooklyn.​The conditions of the proposed bail package include GPS monitoring, weekly drug testing and restricting female visitors to Combs’ residence except for family or mothers of his children.​Agnifilo urged the judge to find Combs a trustworthy and cooperative defendant.
“If he was going to do something reckless and stupid, he would have done it in March," he said.
Bill Cosby can’t dodge lawsuit by 10 women after Nevada lifted statute of limitation
A federal judge rejected the former comedian's argument that the Nevada law violated his due process rights. She said, he has no vested property right in the statute of limitations.
By EDWARD PETTERSSON, Contributing Writer
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LAS VEGAS (CN) — A federal judge in Las Vegas allowed 10 women to proceed with their sexual assault lawsuit against Bill Cosby Jr. in the wake of a state law last year that lifted the statute of limitations for civil claims by survivors of sexual violence.​
Bill Cosby
US District Judge Gloria Navarro on Monday rejected Cosby's argument that the law, Senate Bill 129, violates Nevada's prohibition on laws that only apply to a select group of people — in this case, victims of sexual assault.
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Although the judge agreed that victims of “other heinous crimes” and “interpersonal violence" may suffer from similar trauma as sexual assault survivors, she disagreed that the perpetrators of such other crimes stand in precisely the same relation to the victims of sexual assault.
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"Indeed, the Nevada Legislature sought to address the 'uniquely intimate' crime of sexual assault, when they created SB 129," Navarro wrote. "Although victims of other crimes classified by defendant may suffer similar trauma and be reluctant to report, defendant has not shown how these other crimes are of the ‘uniquely intimate’ nature such that their victims stand on precisely the same ground as sexual assault victims.”
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As cited by the plaintiffs in their court filings, an expert witness told a Nevada Senate committee last year that, given the uniquely intimate nature of rape and sexual assault, it can take many years, if not most of one's life, for a victim to gain the strength and the courage to come forward and report the abuse.
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Likewise, the judge was unpersuaded that the state law violates the due process clauses of the Nevada and US Constitution because, she said, Cosby has no vested property right in the statute of limitations and, therefore, the notion of due process doesn't apply to his purported deprivation right.
Nor did the law run afoul of constitutional hurdles against legislation that makes certain conduct punishable retroactively, as Cosby had argued, according Navarro.
"SB 129 was not enacted to punish perpetrators of sexual assault, but instead to compensate survivors and foster healing," the judge said.
Following the report and recommendations of a magistrate judge, Navarro dismissed the sexual assault claim brought by each of the 10 women. Although all the women accuse Cosby of drugging and raping them, sexual assault isn't a civil tort claim under Nevada law. The women also brought claims for battery, assault, emotional distress and false imprisonment.
The judge deferred a decision on whether the claim by one of the women, who accuses Cosby of forcing her to masturbate him, was revived by SB 129, and said she will ask the Nevada Supreme Court to weigh in on that question.
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An attorney for Cosby did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
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The now 87-year-old former comedian has been accused by dozens of women of drugging and molesting them, and he spent almost three years in prison after he was found guilty of assaulting college sports administrator Andrea Constand.
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His 2018 conviction was foiled, however, over an old press release from the time he was first accused in 2005. The press release said Cosby would not be prosecuted because the evidence at the time made a conviction unattainable, but it also said the decision could be reconsidered “should the need arise.”
Cosby went on to settle a civil suit from Constand that year. He was deposed at time under the impression that his testimony would never be used against him. He did not invoke his Fifth Amendment right to counsel or to stay silent, and he admitted that he drugged Constand and had access to quaaludes to be used on young women he wanted to have sex with.
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Once the depositions were made public at the dawn of the #MeToo era, the investigation of him was reopened and charges were reconsidered.
Categories / Courts, Entertainment, Regional
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Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge in New York
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Prosecutors announced the new indictment last week, but the charges were sealed since Weinstein couldn't make it to court for health reasons.
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By ERIK UEBELACKER, Contributing Writer
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MANHATTAN (CN) — Harvey Weinstein was arraigned Sept. 17 on a new indictment charging the disgraced Hollywood film producer with an additional sex crime in New York.
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Manhattan prosecutors charged Weinstein with one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree. Weinstein, who attended Wednesday’s hearing wearing a dark suit, a light blue tie and bound to a wheelchair, pleaded not guilty.
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“The defendant, in the County of New York, during the period from on or about April 29, 2006 to on or about May 6, 2006, engaged in oral sexual conduct with a person who is known to the grand jury, to wit, contact between defendant’s mouth and the vulva and vagina of a person who is known to the grand jury, by forcible compulsion,” the one-page indictment says of Weinstein.
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Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters outside the courthouse that his client was “somewhat relieved” to hear of the charge, but he still does not know who the supposed victim is in the new indictment.
“He is somewhat relieved because, as you all know, there were reports that there were going to be three indictments handed down today,” Aidala said. “In fact, there was one indictment that was unsealed. We’re making the assumption that that’s the only indictment that’s going to be unsealed.”
Last week, Aidala told reporters that he expected prosecutors to charge Weinstein for three separate “incidents,” likely of sexual misconduct, taking place between 2005 and 2016.
For the time being, Weinstein's latest accuser will remain under wraps, according to her attorney Lindsay Goldbrum.
“Our firm represents Jane Doe, whose grand jury testimony formed the basis of the new indictment against Harvey Weinstein," Goldbrum said in a statement Wednesday. "Mr. Weinstein is charged with one count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree. Ms. Doe has not shared this story publicly before, nor does she want to be identified at this time. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers. We would like to thank the media in advance for respecting Ms. Doe’s privacy while she prepares for her testimony.”
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The new indictment comes ahead of Weinstein’s highly anticipated retrial for sex crimes he was convicted of previously. In 2020, a Manhattan jury’s split verdict found Weinstein guilty of committing a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape, but acquitted him on the more serious first degree rape offense and two counts of predatory sexual assault.
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The New York Court of Appeals overturned that conviction this year, finding the trial judge had allowed prejudicial testimony from three women whose accusations of sexual assault by Weinstein were not part of the state’s case-in chief.
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Prosecutors hope to roll the new charge into the retrial of the old case “because a trial on these offenses will involve such significant overlap” with evidence, according to Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey.
“Separate trials will be extraordinarily inefficient and burdensome,” Lucey said in court Wednesday.
Weinstein’s team wants separate trials so they can have more time to prepare for the new indictment.
“We’re vehemently opposed to consolidation,” Aidala said to reporters. “This is a new case that was handed down today from 2006. We have a lot of work to do, we have to find out who the person is … [but] we’re basically ready to go to trial on the old case.”
New York Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber previously set a tentative trial date for November. But prosecutors on Wednesday said they won’t be ready to bring the case to a jury until January 2025.
Prosecutors announced last week that a Manhattan grand jury returned the new indictment against Weinstein, but the charge was sealed since they were unable to arraign him at the time — Weinstein couldn’t make it to court after an emergency heart surgery left him bound to a bed in Bellevue Hospital.
His health remains a roadblock. Weinstein’s legal team wants him to be kept at Bellevue until trial so doctors can more closely monitor his health, rather than return him to his prison cell at Rikers Island.
Farber is yet to rule on the request.
Weinstein remains behind bars. Despite his tossed New York conviction, Weinstein is serving a 16-year sentenced imposed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for raping an Italian model in 2013.
More than 80 women in total have come forward with accusations of Weinstein’s sexual misconduct. Weinstein denies all accusations, holding that his encounters were consensual.
Categories / Criminal, Entertainment, National
Despite what you may think, peace officer,
one descript does not fit all
Contrary to what many law enforcers think, all Black men do not look alike.
By VICTORIA GRIMMETT RABB
I was both impressed and amused when the Gay community came out with a multiple list of categories that best defined a variety of homosexual proclivities.
That’s when it occurred to me; if anyone deserves to be characterized in a more diverse manner it ought to be Black Americans—especially Black males. There is no other racial grouping as varied as Black people are, due primarily to the "one drop rule," still in effect today.
This practice of hypo descension automatically assigns people of even the slightest racial mix to the presumed "lowest class" of the races involved. We come in every possible skin coloration, eye color, hair texture, build, height, et al. Yet, every time there is a robbery involving a Black male, cops hear an all-points-bulletin bearing scarcely more description than this:
"APB Alert: Black male wearing white shirt and black trousers is
sought, suspected of robbing a grocery story at Main Street and
Beverly Boulevard. Be on the lookout. Be cautious. May be armed!"
The round-up begins. Cops are permitted to roust every Black male wearing a white top and black slacks. I happened to catch a video of a young man who was out in front of his apartment building manicuring the front and side lawns and bushes when a cop pulled up.
The young man looked up and noticed the White cop heading toward him and instinctively pulled and activated his cell phone video. He asked the cop what was going on, and was told he matched the description of a Black male suspect who'd just robbed a grocer. The young man asked how he matched the perpetrator. The cop’s reply: “He is black and wearing black pants and a white top, just like you.”
The young man asked, “Am I under arrest?”
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The cop responded, “No, but I have to detain you until you’re ID’d by the store owner.”
The young man said, “OK, man, but I teach tennis at 4 p.m., and I have to finish this yardwork before I go.
It’s already 1:10 p.m. and I still have to finish, take a shower and drive to West LA. I get a break on my rent
for doing this, and I make the rest of my rent teaching tennis—so I gotta finish up and go.”
The nervous cop said, “Look man, I’m not prejudiced or anything, but you fit the description. You’re a Black man with a white shirt and black pants. Plus, those sharp tools you’re using are like weapons. I’m gonna have to handcuff you ‘til they get here. It’s nothing personal, man…”
The cop ordered the young man to turn around so that he could shackle him with the hand cuffs that originated during slavery.
All of this occurred months earlier and was now being aired on social media, but fury rose up in me as if it were a live event. I yelled at my phone, "Ask him what shade Black."
Our men are going to keep getting dragged from their cars, finding gun barrels and tasers pointed at them, getting shackled in handcuffs, and made to lie face down on the ground, ignoring the fact that the word used to assign our race (even those with 1 drop of Negroid blood) does not describe us well enough to take any reliable action. Why? Because Black is comprised of all colors.
We therefore cannot be loosely defined without serious mistakes and repercussions. Describing a person as "Black" does not eliminate Caucasian, Asian, Latino or any other non-African features that may be the most prevalent.
Perhaps we should revert to the term “Colored,” because Whites are clearly unable to understand that “Black” as a descriptive term eliminates the variety of hues that Black people come in. Black men should all carry an info sheet with the following descriptive categories. No cop should be allowed to detain a Black suspect without answering at least the first two categories of a "Black Suspect Questionnaire":
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I. What hue Black
Blue-Black
Ground Coffee Black
Coffee with Cream Black
Red Bone
High Yellow
Beige/Light Tan Black
Freckled
Albino
2. Hair
Clean shaven, Bald, Toupee
Straight, Curly, Wavy, Kinky, Afro
Pony Tail Braid, Corn Row Braids, Rasta Braids
Black, Brown, Red, Blond, Gray, Salt/Pepper, Color-dyed
Mustache: Natural, Handlebar, Dallas, Fu Man Chu
Beard: Van Dyke/Goat Tee, Circle Beard, Box Beard,
Stubble, Long, Short
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3. Attire
T- Shirt, Wife beater, Dressy, Pullover,
Short/Long sleeve
Fitted/Sagging Pants, Shorts, Sweats
4. Shoes
Tennis, Boots, Dress Shoes
5. Jewelry/Ornaments
Ring, Watch, Neck Chain, Earrings
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6. Teeth
White Teeth, Gold Teeth, Missing Teeth?
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7. Age
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Victoria Grimmett Rabb is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn Park, MN.