<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1476021923238_3611"><span></span></div><div class="qtdSeparateBR" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1476021923238_3626"><br><br></div> <div class="yahoo_quoted" style="display: block;"> <div style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div dir="ltr"><font face="Arial" size="2"> On Sunday, October 9, 2016 9:31 AM, mark enslin via Discuss-CommunityCourtwatch <discuss-communitycourtwatch@lists.chambana.net> wrote:<br></font></div> <blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <br><br> <div class="y_msg_container"><div id="yiv8156540075"><div dir="ltr"><br><div class="yiv8156540075gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="yiv8156540075gmail_sendername">Belden Fields</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:belden.fields@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:belden.fields@gmail.com">belden.fields@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Sun, Oct 9, 2016 at 9:16 AM<br>Subject: states attorney<br>To: <a href="mailto:peace@antiwar.net" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:peace@antiwar.net">peace@antiwar.net</a><br>Cc: mark enslin <<a href="mailto:enslin.mark@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:enslin.mark@gmail.com">enslin.mark@gmail.com</a>><br><br><br><div dir="ltr">
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">Mark, please forward to the discuss list. Thanks.<br></div><div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">Dear Friends and Comrades,</div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">Why I Support Vargas for States Attorney</div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">In 2004, I was delighted when Julia Rietz defeated John
Piland in the States Attorney race.<span>
</span>However, my then-delight has turned to chagrin given some of her
prosecutorial decisions, over which she had wide discretion.<span> </span>They included her decisions to prosecute and
ask for prison time for retiree Willie Craft, whose vehicle had hit and killed
a student after Craft fell into a diabetic coma, and for Bidemi Ajobiewe, whose
truck had skidded on the ice resulting in the death of an oncoming driver.
These prosecutions served no social purpose and no sense of justice.<span> </span>The deaths were tragic, but accidental. While
these two people wound up serving prison time, Rietz had no trouble deciding
that the 2009 shooting of young unarmed Kiwane Carrington by Champaign police
officer Daniel Norbits was just an accident. This despite the fact that Norbits
was violating departmental policy by struggling with the boy while holding his
service weapon that has no safety lock. No involuntary manslaughter charge, no
negligent homicide, nothing.</div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">Being tough on civilians but easy on the police has been
typical of Rietz's behavior. In 2005, Rietz did not call in a special prosecutor
from the Appellate Court or from the Attorney General's<span> </span>office to prosecute Urbana officer Kurt Hjort
who was accused of<span> </span>rape and<span> </span>only lost his job, and she let sheriff deputy
Sgt. William Myers off with<span> </span>probation
and community service after he tortured a jail<span>
</span>inmate with a Taser. <span> </span>This year, she
refused to ask for an additional penalty for a rape Champaign police officer
Jerad Gale committed in Champaign County, over and above the 6 months (and 48
months probation) sentence imposed by a Piatt County court for another rape he
had committed there. <span> </span>Six months and a free
pass on one rape?<span> </span>Quite a deal! Civilians
have gotten several decades of imprisonment for sexual assault in Champaign
County. One would think that officers of the law would be held to an even higher
standard. </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">To me, these prosecutorial decisions are a perversion of
justice. There needs to be a change in the office of states attorney. After conversations
with George Vargas, Rietz's opponent in the November elections, I have
concluded that he would bring positive changes to that office. I will vote for
him and urge others to do so as well.</div><span class="yiv8156540075HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"><span> </span></div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal">Belden </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv8156540075MsoNormal"> </div>
<br><br></font></span></div>
</div><br></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>Discuss-CommunityCourtwatch mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Discuss-CommunityCourtwatch@lists.chambana.net" ymailto="mailto:Discuss-CommunityCourtwatch@lists.chambana.net">Discuss-CommunityCourtwatch@lists.chambana.net</a><br><a href="https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss-communitycourtwatch" target="_blank">https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss-communitycourtwatch</a><br><br><br></div> </blockquote> </div> </div> </div></div></body></html>