Using TRAPWIRE to investigate misconduct in the Police State?

Good Cop, Bad Citizen? As Cellphone Recording Increases, Officers Are Uneasy

Posted Mar 1, 2012 4:40 AM CDT
By David L. Hudson Jr. from ABA Law Journal

•  

A plainclothes Maryland state trooper approaches speeding suspect Anthony Graber, who captured the encounter with a camera atop his motorcycle helmet and later posted the video on YouTube.

Walking past Boston Common, the city’s august park, in 2007, attorney Simon Glik noticed several police officers arresting a young man. Glik heard another bystander say he thought the police were using excessive force. So he pulled out his cellphone and began shooting video of the incident.

After arresting the young man, one of the officers turned to Glik, saying, “I think you have taken enough pictures.” When the officer asked Glik whether his audio recorder was on, Glik acknowledged it was. Glik was then arrested for violating a state wiretap law and two other state offenses.

The charges were subsequently dropped, but for Glik that was just the beginning. He filed a constitutional tort suit alleging violation of his First and Fourth Amendment rights. The officers filed a motion to dismiss, contending they were entitled to qualified immunity, enabling government officials to avoid liability if they don’t violate clearly established constitutional or statutory law. But a federal district court denied the officers’ claim.

And last August, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Boston ruled in Glik v. Cunniffe that the officers violated Glik’s clearly established constitutional right to video-record the police performing their duties in public.

“Our recognition that the First Amendment protects the filming of government officials in public spaces accords with the decisions of numerous circuit and district courts,” the panel wrote. The case went back to the federal district court and the parties are in discovery.

With the ubiquity of cellphones, the ease of video-recording and the availability of such websites as YouTube, people can respond quickly to police incidents and broadly circulate the recordings.

POINT AND SHOOT

“The prevalence of cellphone cameras with high enough resolutions for people to record the police and then be able to disseminate it over the Internet” is a major reason for the video-recording, says Boston attorney Jeffrey P. Hermes, director of the Citizen Media Law Project.

But law officers are often uncomfortable. “Many officers are also uncomfortable that their activities might be displayed on the Internet and otherwise widely distributed,” says Portland, Ore., lawyer Bert P. Krages, who specializes in the area. “Some also have the impression that photography presents a security risk and are acting according to a post-9/11 mentality.”

Adds Krages: “Law enforcement personnel are still grappling with the idea that ordinary citizens have the right to take images, whereas previously such photographs and videos were taken by professionals employed by traditional media companies.”

“When you talk about citizen journalists, there is also a slightly different relationship between those individuals and the police and the relationship that many mainstream journalists have with the police,” Hermes says. “Those mainstream journalists who cover the police have developed an understanding with the police that many private individuals have not.”

The 1st Circuit found it irrelevant that Glik was a private citizen rather than a professional journalist. “The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cellphone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew,” the court said. “Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.”

CASES IN PLAY

Glik is far from the only case. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois also has a case pending in the Chicago-based 7th Circuit that challenges the constitutionality of the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, as it applies to making video and audio recordings of police performing their public duties.

ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez, filed in August 2010, claims the broad nature of the Illinois law may expose ACLU members to arrest. “The act makes audio-recording police officers in these circumstances a felony,” the complaint states. “Due to a reasonable fear of arrest and prosecution, the ACLU is restrained from engaging in this conduct.”

A federal district court dismissed the case as moot in October 2010 and the ACLU appealed. Oral argument took place in the 7th Circuit last September.

In May 2011, Emily Good was arrested in Rochester, N.Y., for taking video of police conducting a traffic stop on the street in front of her yard. According to published accounts, police told her they didn’t feel safe with her there. She was later taken into custody.

In April 2010, Anthony Graber faced an indictment in Abingdon, Md., after he recorded a state trooper giving him a ticket and then posted the video on YouTube. Graber, a 25-year-old staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard, was riding his motorcycle down Interstate 95. On top of his helmet was a camera he often used to record his journeys.

The camera was rolling when an unmarked gray sedan cut him off. A man wielding a gun emerged from the driver’s side, yelling at Graber and ordering him to get off his bike. Only then did the state trooper identify himself and holster his weapon. Graber was cited for doing 80 in a 65-mph zone.

Graber accepted his ticket, then posted his video. A few weeks later, he was awakened by six officers raiding his parents’ home, where he lived with his wife and two children. He learned later that a grand jury indictment alleged he had violated state wiretap laws by recording the trooper without his consent.

“Police justifications come in a few different flavors,” Hermes says. There are security concerns and charges of violating wiretap laws, which vary by state. But police also claim they are covered by qualified immunity. The doctrine shields government officials from liability for the violation of an individual’s federal constitutional rights—so long as the official’s actions, even if later found to be unlawful, did not violate “clearly established law.”

David Milton, a Boston-based attorney who represents Glik, points to the 2010 case Kelly v. Borough of Carlisle. There the 3rd Circuit at Philadelphia granted qualified immunity to a police officer who arrested a passenger in a vehicle he had pulled over for speeding. The officer discovered the passenger was video-recording him and claimed the passenger violated Pennsylvania’s Wiretap Act. The appeals court determined that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity because he reasonably believed he had the authority to arrest the passenger.
Part of the problem, Milton says, stems from a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Pearson v. Callahan, in which the justices said lower courts had the option of deciding cases based on whether the law was clearly established, without first determining whether there had been a violation of individual constitutional rights.

But Glik altered the balance, saying there is a clearly established right to monitor the police.

“On the First Amendment issue, the concept that there is a clearly established right seems consistent with prior case law in the 1st Circuit and the experience of media recording in public as long as there have been video cameras,” Hermes says. “For decades we have had television stations recording in public and not facing sanctions.”

 Adds Milton: “What is so good about the 1st Circuit decision in Glik is that the judges recognized that even though there may not be a prior case of a police officer in a park with a person on a cellphone, basic long-standing First Amendment principles clearly apply to the situation even though it involves new technology.”

Although there is no Supreme Court ruling that finds a right to record in public, Hermes says, many believe there is a clearly established constitutional right to monitor the police.

“Police serve a vital function and most law enforcement officers are very decent people who should be commended,” Krages says.

“However,” he adds, “the police are in a position to grossly abuse civil liberties, and the bad ones cause a lot of harm. In many situations, a determination of what actually happened comes down to deciding whether the officer is more credible than a suspect or citizen. Consumer-level imaging, particularly video, has captured images of officers acting very inappropriately in all sorts of situations.”

via abajournal.com

Learn more about Professor Hudson here... http://law.vanderbilt.edu/hudson or visit his website at http://www.davidlhudsonjrbooks.com/index.html

glad to know ya!

^ed

David L. Hudson Jr. is a scholar at the First Amendment Center where he writes for the Center’s website, speaks to the media and lectures on a variety of First Amendment issues. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of more than 35 books, including Let The Students Speak: A History of the Fight for Free Expression in American Schools (Beacon Press, 2011), The Encyclopedia of the First Amendment (CQ Press, 2008)(one of three co-editors), The Rehnquist Court: Understanding Its Impact and Legacy (Praeger, 2006), and The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book (Visible Ink Press, 2008). He has written several books devoted to student-speech issues and others areas of student rights. He also serves as a First Amendment contributing editor for the American Bar Association's Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases. Professor Hudson teaches First Amendment and Professional Responsibility classes at Vanderbilt.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ME HERE. Powers That Beat
..

Using TRAPWIRE to investigate misconduct in the Police State? 

by Elyssa Durant, Ed.M. Policy Analyst and Citizen Journalist with a Camera Phone

I was trying to de-escalate the situation with the local Police Department since I realize how much danger this city is in given recent laws to persecute Muslims and people who were not born in the United States 287(g)

However, after watching the violence erupting around me, knowing that I am the primary target [thanks to COINTELPRO agent provocateurs] and being questioned by the police about my twitter stream, I really don't give a fuck.

These people have no idea how they are being manipulated by disinformation agents, toxic living conditions and a system that is far more corrupt than even I imagined.

The "monitor" who controls the surveillance cameras clearly has some special deal with Metro because despite all the violence that broke out, he finds the time to threaten, harass and stalk me ignoring the fact that several residents threatened me after spooks came in and told people to stay away from me or they will "get in trouble"

WHAT THE FUCK? I have no history of violence and have never even been in a fight,I weigh 124 pounds and all these people are afraid of me? Do I "look dangerous" because I am quite certain it won't be long before someone makes another attempt on my life.

Much like Trayvon Martin, I was told police were on there way after a man threw a brick through my window and then chased me down the street.

I was on the phone with 911 the whole time screaming "HELP, HELP, HELP" yet the police claim they did not want to waste radio space to update status of my call to a Code 3. Are you fucking kidding me?

911 told me to return to the scene of the crime where I was assaulted a second time, and the cops didn't even bother to arrest him or take witness statements. In fact, the officer would not even step out of the car to speak with me because he did not like the way I was dressed.

Because no action was taken against the man that assaulted me and vowed to kill and my father (who just happens to be a former Fed) I constantly carry my iPhone because the cops claim they did not have enough evidence to arrest this man. They never bothered to check the surveillance camera and did not take statements from additional witnesses.

They did, however take issue with the fact that I placed a video on YouTube and were even more upset that I contacted a former colleague in the Mayor's Office who then requested an investigation. They sent two Lieutenants to my home; one was aggressive and disrespectful and was more interested in what book I was reading and my website than the facts of the case.

I was told that they would follow up with the other witnesses who would corroborate my story, and that a Special Operations Unit and Gang Unit would be contacted regarding the racial comments that became commonplace every time I left the apartment.

One man hung up Nazi flags, another started praying in Muslim and all hell broke loose in the neighborhood. I became a target because I was white in a Black neighborhood, and apparently that alone was enough to incite hatred among the other tenants and I feared for life each time I left my apartment, so the police told me NOT to leave my home. THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS.

The other tenants became more and more abusive and violent since they now had a new sense of entitlement because they knew the police would not take action.

It is worth noting that even after I left, the violence continued to escalate and one women was stabbed and several other injured in fights that broke out in the hallway. The cops still did not arrest the people who continue to live in the neighborhood, and some of them have shown up here at my new apartment to harass me and spread rumors.

The neighbors here have suddenly became abusive and overly concerned with my religion and it seems the writing is on the wall. They think my healthy paranoia is "suspicious" and I think their behavior is outrageous.

They constantly stand outside my window and scream at me and the "monitor" called the police on me after he threatened me and told me I was not allowed to go near a "white car." There were SIX white cars, two of which have no tags, so how am I to know which white car is the one who stopped me at the mailbox and told me that two men were knocking at my door and were here to beat me up?

I may very well be the next Treyvan Martin and if so, so be it. I am old enough and experienced enough to know that these people do not see the bigger picture~ that they are being used to as examples to bring down the police state and usher in the New World Order.

I leave these notes because I do not know if I will get shot at today, tomorrow or next week, and I think it is important to let people know that I have spent my entire life studying gang violence, and have fought hard against police corruption and discrimination so regardless of what happens to me, I do not want my work (or experience) to be in vain.

I am one of the good guys, and if you can't see that by now... then take some time to look through some of my publications which are systematically being removed from the internet by groups like Anonymous, Lulz, and AntiSec.

This breaks my heart, but I am fighting a losing battle. I am starting to question my commitment and given the communities response~ I am not sure if they are worth the sacrifice.

That's all for today. This is the Daily Dose for March 29, 2012.

Just me,

e

@ELyssaD 

ANOTHER POST THE POLICE TOOK ISSUE WITH:

Metro Nashville Police Department continue to cover up crimes by failing to follow established code of conduct in lower income neighborhoods.

Some power hungry police officer demands to search my iPhone after he notices I am video taping the MNPD who took three hours to respond to multiple neighbors call 911 after witnessing multiple violent assaults against two women and one man on Monday evening.

I called 911 after two people approached my window threatening my life for being a "cracker Jew bitch" and threw a brick through my window where I was working on two projects about Cointelpro as a driving force behind the Occupy movement that is being funded by The American Nazi Party and the Lucis Trust.

I was interviewing someone who had been involved with Nazi medical experiments and how it effected his four children who suffer with a variety of neurological and psychological problems that are typical of victims of Mengele's subjects.

I had just received notification from the copyright office (USTPO) in Virginia that my submission was approved and was thrilled to learn that my publications and identity would be protected under trademark and copyright laws since I received several take down notices from the police and google that my site was in danger of being seized due to the number of complaints received about the content: THE TRUTH.

Ironic when I noticed which posts were being removed due to the sensitive nature (and my vast knowledge) about the true purpose of organized, controlled opposition as a driving force to escalate domestic unrest designed to incite violence justifying a Police State ushering in the New World Order.

This is not the first, second, or even third time I have been stopped by undercover police or random uniforms knocking on my door to search my cell.

One cop came running after me, demanded to see my cell phone and after running my license to check for warrants (which seemed extreme) and finding none, he wrote up an incident report for "suspicious behavior" for video taping a crime scene. 

He not only searched my cell phone without a warrant, but proceeded to DELETE crime scene photos.  

THAT IS A VIOLATION OF BOTH THE FOURTH AND THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT, AND THAT'S ABOUT AS SERIOUS AS IT GETS. 

RELEVANT HISTORY THAT HAS NEVER BEEN MADE PUBLIC:

Despite being a "confidential" informant in an undercover sting operation that went bad [way bad] in 2009 at the request of the Mayor's Office and several police officers not to be named at this time, I became an informant when I saw people selling prescription drugs to teenagers in DCS custody.  

I wanted it to stop, and at the police sergeant's request, I agreed to work with the Crime Suppression Unit to keep these kids from inevitable path to lifelong addiction and criminal behavior.

 I was instructed to report on the illegal activities, which included taking down license plates and traffic patterns indicative of illegal drug sales.  

After lengthy discussions with my contact in the department,  the majority of all follow up communications were via e-mail on my cell phone so my neighbors would not hear me discussing the situation.

That fateful day my cell was jammed and hacked, I was unable to receive or send critical communications to alert me that shit went bad, and my cover was blown.

None of this ever made it though the network, and the e-mails reside on a microchip that is an UNDISCLOSED LOCATION with about 40 back ups at the ACLU, FBI, and Nightly News just in case something happens to me before I transfer out of here into a safer jurisdiction.

That was the first, but not the last time my cell was jammed and hacked.

I could not receive communications or directions from the crime suppression unit, and I wound up being assaulted and hospitalized after one of  the bullets hit my window. 

I was promised a police escort and advanced warning, but they never showed up, until they did with automatic assault rifles at my front door. 

It was too late.

I have never disclosed those emails, however they have since been accessed by hackers from Lulz, AntiSec and whoever accessed my computer when I was out of town this time last year. 

How do I know? Because the PC hadn't been turned on in several years and the last ten documents opened were my detailed call records and an e-mail to a certain politician who also had his cell phone records searched and used against him in an ugly court battle and political campaign.

SO, they're you have it folks The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me [aliens]

Now, an obvious target by the police department, I am constantly harassed, stopped, searched, interrogated or subjected to "unofficial complaints" of harassment that always seem to follow a pattern I know all too well.

SO, when the investigator tries to tell me that I would not make a good witness since I called 911 from my closet AFTER the brick came through my window, what they mean is, we will make sure your credibility is destroyed through false reports, and constant harassment should you ever decide to sue us for police misconduct.  

Well, fuck you!

After yet another incident where the police failed to respond to a life threatening situation in a timely manner, insult and intimidate me, three times in 24 hours, then ultimately release the suspect claiming there is not enough evidence??

I CALL TRAPWIRE!!

When you refuse to take witness statements; reveal your name or badge numbers, and another violent criminal continues to terrorize me for months on end, and the police refuse to review the live feed trapwire video that would show beyond any shadow of a doubt that this man assaulted me AND three other individuals within minutes of being released?

No evidence? Check the fucking surveillance cams just above the the scene of the crime.

Hell, check MY surveillance cam! I don't leave home without it!

Just me,

e
@ELyssaD

hatecrimes6.pdf Download this file

http://ise.gov/sites/default/files/ISE_Annual_Report_to_Congress_2012.pdf

ISE_Annual_Report_to_Congress_2012.pdf Download this file

Posted from DailyDDoSe

If you see something suspicious, report it!

Uploaded by elyssadurant on Feb 20, 2012



Most have no tags or temporary tags... But the latest weapon of mass deception are vehicles that have TWO tags from different states!



Specifically Tennessee and Kentucky.







Black Army? Heroes? Hell NO!



Only cowards have to hide behind bullet proof glass and opaque black tinted windows.



Go USA! God bless America!



This is some of the creepiest shit I have ever seen but was unable to upload live footage since my internet suddenly got disconnected.



Garbage Trucks with liquid tanks using hoses and flashlights in back alleys; hiding behind dumpsters; turning off headlights to avoid detection?

THAT'S FUCKING SUSPICIOUS!

School buses and taxis parked for hours with strobe lights using GPS 4D technology for surveillance -- that is fed to four separate locations and stored on USB!



All utility companies now have sub-contractors rewiring shit without any ID, temporary tags and plates from multiple states... No way to verify identity caught on film jumping out of running vehicles and cutting wires at utility poles?

THAT'S FUCKING SUSPICIOUS!

Category:



News & Politics

Tags:



Military USA TN Black

VIPR

TSA

You're all fucking suspicious! Especially the Cops! ;)

Firing Squad

speechless. it is difficult to even formulate a complete sentence.

this is not new. the violence the corruption, "the terror of knowing what this world is about..."

yet we fail to act. as a society we look away or we blame the victim because it easier than taking action and demanding reform and accountability.

enough is enough.

am i only person who is outraged?

disgusted and resigned.

despite overwhelming evidence of corruption and excessive use of force, violence and terror against the people of this country, we allow it to continue.

i will never feel safe in this country. i will never feel safe in this community. this little town.

i have no where to run to. no place to go should i need to escape the deadly violence that i know a times can be all too real.

i can not think of a single place anywhere that i might have access to. or even find transportation or an an evacuation if ever ordered to evacuate or should i feel the desire or need to leave all by myself.

wow.

i have no rights. i have no community. i have no reasonable expectation for anything to change today, tomorrow, next week or next year. i am trapped.

i also do not believe there is anything i might do today that will make things a little bit better for someone else tomorrow.

i will never feel safe. not here, not anywhere.

i can not say for sure that i would call the police next time i was either a victim or a witness to a crime in my own backyard.

not because i am afraid to get involved or fear gangs or thugs~ because i trust my instincts, and know when something is wrong.

something is wrong.

something has been wrong for a very long time.

this is not new. the violence the corruption, "the terror of knowing what this world is about..."

27 years ago this week, a coordinated effort between the united states government, the Philadelphia police department and counterintelligence [interesting concept] conspired to carry out what could become one of the greatest massacre in us history.

the crime that won't go down.

west philadelphia. osage avenue. 11 people. 5 children. one survivor.

people can not understand my deep connection to the people who died that day or the families that stayed behind hoping that the people if this nation would rebuild their homes after using extraordinary to means to silence the vice of a man who believed in the right to be free.

Vincent Leaphart was a voice to be reckoned with.

A voice that sounded just a little like my own. a little bit radical and a whole lot misunderstood. He was a voice that needed to be heard because he was ordered to be silenced.

The Powers That Beat.

When the United States failed to convict him in 1978, "the people" did not rest their case.

they just changed the rules of the game, and i know them all too well.

i was 12 years old at the time.

something was brewing.

i was living in an upper middle class suburban neighborhood outside of Philadelphia. bucks county, pa.

my father, a well spoken, well educated, and well respected member of the community took me into the the closet to show me where to get the guns. extra bullets, of course were in a bucket in the basement. under the stairs in where there was limited light and space to move about freely.

he stood behind me with his arms on tops of my own and held my hands together. the whole time correcting my posture and my stance using the force of his arms and his grip around my arms and my body as i held the gun with both hands.

it was probably one of the few times i remember him being so close to me physically. his rested on top of mine adding additional pressure demanding a calm, steady and calculated response.

i was trained. to stay calm, and stay in control as the helicopters began to take position over the city of brotherly love.

i learned how to stay calm in and around a fucking god damned massacre.

he had his arms around me to exert his position and to steady the gun should i falter, should i flinch.

marksman first class.

you don't just aim, fire, and hope for the best. you shoot to kill.

watch so he could stand behind me and watch me take aim. suburban and i already knew how to shoot a gun,

how many twelve year olds can say that?

so next time, boys, i won't be calling you. besides, from what i can tell you keep pretty close under the radar.

so when see the car parked outside my window for four hours at a time, yeah, i may stutter and i may fall, but i like father like daughter, i will come around.

and you can be sure that if i managed to stay alive after what happened last summer, you be sure of one thing... this is far from over.

no. i do not trust the boys in blue. i do not trust the my neighbors or community to do the right thing in the midst of a crisis. i barely have it in me to give a crap what happens to people in "my" community. those who turned away made jokes, or came up with their own version of actually went down that day, and in the months that followed.

it really is too late for apologies. i know you heard me. i also have the phone records and every letter and email that was sent through the "proper channels"

it won't save me. but if I'm lucky, i just might get a ticket out of here so i can actually breathe freely and walk out beneath the shadows, the shadows of death.

i simply can not watch this video without wondering how we allow this behavior to continue despite the overwhelming evidence that we are all at risk of being victimized by those we trust will be there to protect us.

remember this... you have no rights!

iRANT anti-corruption change of venue LocationLx

Blaming the Victim Creates a Culture of Fear & Silence

Dear Mr. Editor:





Next time you plan to alter my work without consent, the least you could do is copy the title Verbatim!





Here's an even better idea: Don't bother printing my words if you intend to do is write them off.







Sexual assault and rape is vastly under-reported on this country. Want to know why? Read the subtitle!






The subtitle alone implies blame, stigma, and creates a level of detachment.  That type of desensitization is what allows people to look the other way and blame the victim.  This creates a culture of silence, fear, and indifference.


Community apathy is what leaves me wondering why I am completely invisible to everyone within a 60 mile radius of my home.  Not a single person seems to hear a word I am saying. 


I know they hear me.  I way too loud for anyone to pretend for second that they don't know who I am or why I am so sad and angry to be trapped in this big little city. 


No one should be invisible, and it concerns to live in a community that has demonstrated a total lack of empathy and compassion.  So yes, once again, my neighbors may hate me, blame me, or just plain pretend I don't exist.  Unless, of course they need something... the simple that I don't have anything to give.


Perhaps you made a profit of the publication of this article, just as the news story I sold for $1.00 a year ago made the publishes 47 times that amount. 


But I need a job.  I am invisible to everyone around me until they are confronted with their own crisis.   


By implying the assault I wrote about in "Good Fences" had anything to do with a mental health diagnosis, you have helped to contribute to stigma so that you could sell papers. 


Thanks, but no thanks. That just convinces me that you are no different from all the other mediawhores who use labels to exploit those who have already been marginalized by society.


more way people are victimized promote that piece in  your publication . It seems to me, that the perpetrator and the witness should have to answer for there actions rather than placing the blame on me, 


Is there anything I could have done to invite such a violent and personal atack in my own home?  Is there anything any woman, man, or child can do that justifies years of trauma, isolation an fear? 


Perhaps you should have commented on what kind of illness allows a man to watch a man use such force to put a woman of 122 lbs against the wall, his hands on a women without even lifting a finger to call 911.



Ever heard of Kitty Genovese? She was murdered as 38 people watched, yet not a single person called the police or did anything to help as she was brutally murdered in the city of New York. This is due to "Bystander Apathy" We often look to others for cues as to how to respond in a crisis.

Having been a both a witness and a victim, I decided that I would never look the other way. It would serve our communities well to adopt the same philosophy. Not only to create a more cohesive community, but a safer one as well.

When was the last time you called the police or filed a police report? We have criminalized and marginalized too many members of society. So where does it end?

I made a decision a long time that it would end with me. But if you were to ask me today, I might have a different answer.

Blaming the victim not only further stigmatized vulnerable populations, prevents witnesses and victims from coming forward to prevent and report criminal activity. It contributes to bystander apathy and prevents people from reporting crimes.

We already have enough problems putting rape victims on trial. As the editor of a publication dedicated to improving the lives of persons diagnosed with mental illness, I can see why you just went out of business. Good Riddance.

Maybe I'll start my own.

Sincerely yours,

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

Contributing Author

New York City Voices

[edited 11/17/2009]

Social Services Fails to Prevent Homelessness

Start here. See if you can follow. I am now homeless, because the crazy roommate locked me out and MDHA fucked up big time.

After reporting a shooting and working WITH the cops to help curb the violence and drug activity in my community, they discovered that the maintenance man was a house arrest due to a drug conviction. The same maintenance man who had a key to my apt and would frequently enter without prior notification and on multiple occasions when I was not at home.

After calling the non-emergency police hot line 32 times to report excessive traffic and drug activity in my building without response, the next call I made was to 911 to report gun fire in the apartment directly downstairs. I'm a New Yorker. My dad was a fed.  I Lived through 9/11. I worked as a crisis intervention specialist under contract for Level II and Level III adolescents in state custody (Tennessee Dept of Children's Services)

I am no stranger to violence.

Notified the other day by DHS that I have no tenncare 8/14/09 but state records have me enrolled as active. SSA says I don't, now DHS says I don't but they won't take an appeal because the state says I do! WTF???

Then, they cut my food stamps off because the homeless do not have to pay rent or utilities.

MDHA still hasn't recerted, but they continued to pay rent 4 months after I moved out and sent the renewal papers to my old apt because they were unaware that I was evicted and sued for $4.50.  

Fair housing keeps asking for proof that I made due diligent effort, so tied me with bullshit looking for any and every excuse to blame it on me.

Couldn't find a new apt because it shows up as an eviction.  There's more, and everything is documented.

Oh yeah, my TennCare was terminated on 8/14/2009.  I never an RFI (Request for Information) or reason for this redetermination.  No one calls me back,

State of Tennesee: What's New With TennCare

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Criminalizing the Poor

It deeply disturbs me that some states finger print Medicaid, Food Stamp and Social Welfare applicants.

I was shocked to witness this first hand in New York State while I was a graduate student at Columbia. My health insurance would not cover due to pre-existing conditions and I went bankrupt (financially, morally, and in every way that counts) spending over $152,000 in student loans trying to maintain my health so I could finish my PhD in public policy. A pipe dream now... I ran out of money (and faith in the system) the last semester of my degree.

As if they don't treat those living in poverty bad enough in America, must they send an underlying message that we are criminals as well? They sure treat us that way.

Please tell me what crime I committed. I would be happy to serve my time. At least I could count on being fed, housed, and govt. healthcare!

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Nashville, Tennessee
United States of America

Good Fences or Good Neighbors

What must my neighbors think? I am up all night and I sleep all day. I can only write with one pen, and I often leave my keys in the door. I am noisy and loud, and to make matters worse, I'm from New York.

I listen to one song on the radio over and over again. I take everything I own with me when I leave, and carry it back in when I get home. I am constantly tripping my own feet, and probably offend them with my politics, and I am not shy to say that President Bush looks like the Outbreak Monkey.

So my neighbors may not like me. But they don't know me. And they don't care. After being assaulted in my own home several years ago, I noticed my neighbor witnessing the event through his bedroom window. When questioned by the police regarding his failure to act, he simply told them, "Well, as far as I'm concerned, good fences make good neighbors. " Well, fuck him!

Do you know how scary it is to be alone in a strange city? Afraid to leave, and, afraid to go home? To live in your car because it was the better option? To come home one day and find everything and I mean everything you own was gone? Your birth certificate, your social security card, your grandmother's jewelry. Where would you start? Would you know what to do? Would you ever go back? Would you ever feel safe again in your own home? Anywhere?

Whom would you trust? Whom could you trust?

You could trust me. Because this is who I am.

My neighbors don't know that I spend my free time volunteering at the homeless shelter or by myself. They don't know that I spent most of my twenties in constant fear and physical pain. They don't know how it feels to live with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I became a prisoner of my own making. I live in fear. Fear of fire, fear of chemicals, fear of the dark. Fear of spending the rest of my life with this damn disease.

I need a map to find my keys, and once I do, I have lost my phone. I like my car. I can see everything coming towards me, and I can always get away. I like to write in my car. With one pen, and one song playing over and over again on the radio.

So as I accept the reality that I may never own property or have a place to call home, I can say with certainty that of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!

You may not care how much I know, but you do not know how much I care.

Refresh Deleted Content x2

Please confirm receipt of this email and note that I have made several requests for EOBs from AmeriChoice and have had more than one unauthorized disclosure of my medical records due to problems with TennCare when they transferred patients into AmeriChoice and AmeriGroup .

Please log all requests for medical information and do not release any information without my prior consent and HIPPA compliant medical release.


________________________________________________

RE: Confidential report: 6044

________________________________________________

On March 7, I sought treatment at the emergency room and was asked to sign a blank release form for treatment.

I refused to sign a consent for treatment because they would not pull my primary care records which list allergy information.

At that point I was escorted upstairs by upstairs two security officers who did not have any employee identification badge or ID number on their uniform.

Once inside the unit, I tried to call my sister, [ommitted] (my medical proxy and emergency contact) to alert her that I was being at the emergency room, and they listed the wrong name and MR number on my ID bracelet. I actually had two ID bracelets on with conflicting information, yet neither contained allergy information, or medical history alerts.

Security would not allow me to make a phone call and used excessive force to grab me by the arm and take the cell phone out of my hand.

I explained that I had a medical allergy, and was intolerant to Haley, and have a lesion on my thoracic spine T1-T6 with cord damage and left foraminal nerve root compression at T2, T3.

They refused to pull my med records, contact my primary care provider or my sister.

They forcibly pulled the phone out of my hands and grabbed my left arm, pushed me into the ground face against the floor and held my with my arms behind my back.

I was then placed into an room with no emergency buttons, intercom, bathroom, fire alarms and forcibly pushed into a plastic mattress in the corner,

I was then forced down face first into a mattress on the floor,

held down by two men who used excessive force twisting my arms behind my back.

With my head still pushed into the plastic mat, and my seems behind my back, one of them removed my black leggings and injected me with an unknown substance.


One of the men returned a few minutes later to taunt me through the observation window.


The man who injected me refused to give me his name, an employee ID number, or the name of the medication I was injected with. He told me he was "self employed" and taunted me about through the observation window. He threatened me, and laughed when I told him that I hope he remembers my face the next time he looks his own daughter in the face.

He thought this was absolutely hysterical and made physical gestures towards me and kept moving toweds me despite my repeated requests that to stand two feet away from my body. He kept making rapid threatening movements towards me and removed his identification badge, from his uniform, and told me that unless I sit down he would be forced to physically restrain using whatever means he deemed necessary.


I am trained and certified in TAPS (therapeutic assault prevention) and I can assure you that there was nothing therapeutic in the way I was restrained.

I was then held on 6044 [2-PC: Two Physician Committment] involuntary from March 7 - March 13.

I have cuts bruises and injuries that were not treated or evaluated medically during my stay, Given multiple injections, and discharged without meds. They refused to acknowledge that I have an allergy / intolerance to Haldol.


I had a 4 day supply of Geodon, Klonopin, out of pocket.

Trazodone was covered.

Geodon costs 243.19 for an 18 day supply, so I could only afford a 5 day supply.

In addition I have at least puncture wounds from multiple injections, multiple cuts and bruises and abrasions, that were not medically treated or evaluated during my stay.

They are unable to locate the record for the second injection that I was given while unconscious face down on the plastic mat.

I now have 1 dollar in my pocket and my checking account is now overdrawn $123.00 due to the pharmacy charges that posted at midnight.

I am waiting for my Celexa to be approved at the pharmacy, since Effexor was not covered.

I have a primary care appointment scheduled for Wednesday, and must file more appeals. I have no fax machine and I am running low on gasoline. I am writing this email from my cell phone which is rather inefficient at best.

Kindly take note of this complaint and I will follow up when I have better access to a computer.

In short, I need Geodon preauthorization, med transport to pharmacy and medical transport to appt on Wednesday, 10am' Effexor prior authorization, a copy of my medical records from the psych unit asap, and do not feel I should have to pay $2.00/page for a copy.

I had to pay $54 in cash for parking, and this is all I can type for right now.

Thank you for your efforts to improve patient care and safety.

Sincerely yours,


Elyssa Durant
Cell 6154248810
Ed70@columbia.edu
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile


http://thepowersthatbeat.blogspot.com/2009/03/hippa-confidential-report-6044.html

Two Tennessee cities, Nashville and Memphis were identified to be among the most dangerous in the US.

When you think of Nashville, remember that it is not all as pleasant as Green Hills, Belle Meade, Bellevue, or the gentrified East Nashville we know and love.

Check the crime reports in Madison, especially all the shootings that have occured in and around Gallatin Pike. MNPD North Precinct.

Would you feel safe living there? How about your children?