The U.S. Marshals Service, like the U.S. Secret Service, is facing allegations of racial discrimination and degrading supervisors.

By Hope Yen
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Black employees of the U.S. Marshals Service filed a racial discrimination lawsuit Wednesday, saying they have been denied promotions by managers who belittled them as lazy.
The suit in U.S. District Court seeks broad changes in job practices at a law enforcement agency that has grappled with race bias accusations dating back to the 1990s. It cast the agency as a “good old boys network” that exploited loopholes to groom whites for leadership positions while reprimanding blacks for “trivial mistakes.”
Seeking to sue on behalf of 200 current or former black employees, the challenge alleges violations of federal civil rights laws. The suit is asking for damages of at least $300 million for lost back pay and harm suffered in a “hostile work environment.”
The allegations also come as black agents at the Secret Service, which protects presidents, their family members and other dignitaries, are making similar charges of denied promotions because of their race.
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By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Two special police officers for D.C. Public Schools pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting bribes to let someone operate a for-profit parking lot on school property in Northeast Washington, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.
Shawn B. Armstead, 37, and Shawn M. Johnson, both 37 of Laurel, Md., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman. Both solicited hundreds of dollars on different occasions for special events on and off the property of Eastern High School, authorities charged. Each faces a sentences of up to 15 years in prison.

The last thing people want to hear these days is that the government is not doing enough about airport security. Well, the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security says there’s still reason to be concerned.

The Transportation Security Administration lacked centralized controls over the secure passes issued to some of its employees, according to Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner. The passes grant people access to the most sensitive areas of an airport, such as where baggage is screened or planes are parked.
Investigators found numerous cases in which former employees retained their passes long after they had left the agency.
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Read TSA’s Official Response

For whatever reason, killing people is becoming more justifiable, according to an FBI report. Is it a sign of a societal decline?

By Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY
The number of justifiable homicides committed by police and private citizens has been rising in the past two years to their highest levels in more than a decade, reflecting a shoot-first philosophy in dealing with crime, say law enforcement analysts.
The 391 killings by police that were ruled justifiable in 2007 were the most since 1994, FBI statistics show. The 254 killings by private individuals found to be self-defense were the most since 1997.
The FBI says a homicide committed by a private citizen is justified when a person is slain during the commission of a felony, such as a burglary or robbery. Police are justified, the FBI says, when felons are killed while the officer is acting in the line of duty. Rulings on these deaths are usually made by the local police agencies involved.
Some law enforcement analysts say the numbers represent changing attitudes on the streets, where police have felt more threatened by well-armed offenders, and citizens have taken greater responsibility for their own safety.
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The FBI has found one mobster’s body so far, but they’re taking a break from the dig to regroup. Is it time for the dogs?

William Cutolo: Only Body Found So Far/cbs

By Robert Kessler
Newsday
EAST FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — FBI agents are considering bringing in cadaver dogs, trained to find human remains, to help search for two of the three bodies that were supposed to be buried by mob hit men in a sprawling industrial park in East Farmingdale, according to sources familiar with the excavation.
After 12 days at the site, FBI agents using shovels and backhoes have so far found only the body of William Cutolo, a former underboss of the Colombo family.
An informant has told the FBI that the site was used as a mob burial ground since 1994 for the bodies of Cutolo; Carmine Gargano, a Pace University undergraduate whose relative had clashed with a Colombo associate; and Richard Greaves, a Colombo associate who was thought to have become an informant.

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Ex-Prosecutor Richard Convertino,  who is suing the government for leaking information about him, wants a reporter to give up his sources in the case. The fight is on.

By Amber Hunt
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — The Free Press sought Monday to prevent a former federal prosecutor from attempting to obtain the identity of a reporter’s unnamed sources in a 2004 story.
David Ashenfelter (photo), who covers federal courts for the paper, has been ordered to answer questions posed by lawyers representing ex-prosecutor Richard Convertino.
Convertino, indicted in 2006, was acquitted last year on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making a false declaration to a court.
Free Press attorney Herschel Fink filed motions Monday with two federal judges — one in Detroit and one in Washington — seeking to postpone a scheduled deposition of Ashenfelter this week.
For Full Story

Read Free Press Motion-Oct. 13

Read Greg Stejskal’s Column On Convertino

Listen To NPR’s “This American Life” Report On Convertino

A judge has lifted the veil of secrecy when it comes to jurors’ names. The media pushed for it, saying the secrecy violated the spirit of a transparent judicial system.

Judge Donetta Ambrose

By Paula Reed Ward
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — The chief judge in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania today revoked a local rule that kept the names of jurors secret.
Judge Donetta W. Ambrose rescinded the July 2006 order based on an opinion by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August in the criminal case involving former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht.
In Dr. Wecht’s trial that began in January, U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab required that the names of the jurors be kept from not only the public but also from the attorneys in the case. He did this, he said, based on overwhelming media attention in the case.
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A Muslim scientist who was fired from a nuclear warship components plant wants an administrative hearing on his dismissal. He insists he was fired for criticizing America and the FBI.  The government  simply wants it all to go away.

Joe Mandak
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH – A Muslim scientist who lost his security clearance and his job at a nuclear warship components plant deserves an administrative hearing to learn more about why he was fired and to ensure Department of Energy regulations were followed, his attorney told a federal judge Tuesday.
Abdel Moniem El-Ganayni, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the department this year, saying he was wrongly fired for speaking out against U.S. foreign policy and the alleged mistreatment of Muslims by the FBI.
Tuesday’s hearing was not about getting El-Ganayni rehired, but to prevent Energy Department officials from hiding behind a claim of national security if he was actually discriminated against, said Witold “Vic” Walczak, legal director of the ACLU in Pennsylvania.
For Full Story

Read El-Ganayni’s Latest Court Motion-Oct. 14