Cop Accused Of Tipping Drug Dealers In Grand Jury Probe

Monongahela Police Veteran George Langan Arrested On Drug, Corruption Charges

WASHINGTON, Pa. — An 18-year veteran of the Monongahela Police Department was arrested while on duty Friday morning, following a grand jury investigation of drug and corruption allegations.

 Patrolman George Langan, 45, of Monongahela, declined comment to Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons as he arrived at the Washington County Courthouse, still wearing his uniform.

“The charges allege Langan protected drug dealers — first by alerting them to pending searches and arrests — and that he also revealed critical, highly confidential police information of counter-narcotics efforts in that area,” District Attorney Steven Toprani said

Langan is accused of accepting cash and cocaine for personal use and helping alleged dealers in exchange, said Toprani, who revealed that Langan came under investigation in June “after drug task force detectives from my county office suspected that several heroin and cocaine investigations were compromised by tip-offs that he allegedly made to targets of those investigations.”

Police Chief Brian Tempest — who worked alongside Langan as a patrolman until last year — wasn’t surprised by the arrest.

 “We had rumors for at least 10 years that George Langan was involved in illegal activity,” said Tempest.

 Langan was arraigned at District Judge Curtis Thompson’s office and taken to Washington County Correctional Facility on $500,000 bond. A hearing was scheduled for Sept. 16.

 WTAE Channel 4’s news exchange partners at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the charges include obstruction of justice, hindering apprehension, official oppression, possession and delivery of suspected cocaine, conspiracy and witness intimidation.

 Law enforcement sources told Team 4 that Langan tried to hide his payoffs by using them to buy real estate in the Bentleyville area.

 The FBI, state police and the state attorney general’s office assisted with the investigation.

ACLU sues over man’s arrest for videotaping police

By Jill King Greenwood
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 13, 2009

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Hill District man who was arrested for recording an incident between his friend and police.

The suit, filed today, stems from an April 29 incident between a friend of Elijah Matheny, 29, and University of Pittsburgh police officers. Matheny and his friend, who isn’t named in the suit, went to Oakalnd to search for furniture and other items discarded by Pitt students leaving for the semester and were picking through a Dumpster outside Bouquet Gardens on Oakland Avenue when the University police approached, according to the suit.

The officers asked Matheny and his female friend for identification. His friend gave police her name but did not have ID and was placed in handcuffs after police could find no record of her in their system, the suit states.

Matheny took out his cell phone and began recording the incident. Police were able to verify his friend’s identity and she was released but Matheny was arrested for violating the state’s Wiretap Act, said Witold Walczak, ACLU-PA legal director and one of the attorneys representing Matheny.

Matheny was also charged with “possession of an instrument of crime” in regards to his cell phone, Walczak said.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is also named in the lawsuit because Assistant District Attorney Chris Avetta talked to Pitt officers and agreed that Matheny had violated the state statute and authorized the arrest, Walczak said.

In July, a judge dismissed all charges against Matheny.

A message left with University of Pittsburgh police Chief Tim Delaney and with Mike Manko, spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. were not immediately returned.

Walczak said the state law is “absolute” in its terms regarding obtaining permission to record people in public but said case law states that public officials — including police officers — are exempt.

“This is a widespread misunderstanding among law enforcement and the staff at the District Attorney’s office,” Walczak said. “If the police are doing something wrong, a citizen has a right to record it. For the same reason the police want cameras on the front of their police cars, citizens should be able to record the behavior and actions of police officers. It’s for everyone’s benefit.”

Walczak said he worries that “dozens of lawsuits” will result in September if police arrest protesters and others recording interactions between them and officers at the Group of 20 summit.

“If there are problems at the G-20 you can bet people will be whipping out their cell phones and recording what is happening,” Walczak said. “The police will have enough going on with people vandalizing and breaking things, and they don’t need to be arresting people who are simply recording them. We need to educate local police before the G-20 or this is going to be a nightmare.”

U.S. Giving Away $ Billions in Law Enforcement Aid to Central & South America

 While U.S. cities, towns, & counties are struggling to maintain law enforcement services, delaying hiring additional needed officers, and putting off purchasing much needed equipment and vehicles, the federal government is giving away billions of dollars in aid to law enforcement agencies in Central & South America.

 Through “The Merida Initiative” signed into law by former President George W. Bush on June 30, 2008 the U.S. Dept. of State is signing “letters of agreement”, that will eventually disburse $1.4 billion U.S. taxpayer funds, with several foreign countries. Countries that have received the aid include Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

 On December 3, 2008 the U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a press release from Ambassador Antonio O. Garza that announced he signed a letter of agreement with the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Relations that in addition to providing millions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers to be used by Mexican law enforcement agencies, will provide at least 8 BlackHawk helicopters to the Mexican military.

 In relation to the BlackHawk helicopters that were promised to Mexico, Congress members Nita Lowery, Democrat, and Republicans Kay Granger & Jerry Lewis complained that the Pentagon has delayed the delivery of the helicopters.

 In testimony before the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations & Related Programs of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations on March 10, 2009, Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, said that because of the aid Mexican police agencies are receiving from the U.S. through the Merida Initiative criminal organizations in Mexico are now brazenly targeting police, military, and other security service personnel with graphic displays of violence such as public executions & beheadings.

 Additional Congressional testimony was given by David Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics & Law Enforcement, who said that Mexican authorities have estimated that more than 6,200 people were killed in drug related violence including 522 civilian law enforcement officers & military personnel in 2008.

 Johnson also testified that U.S. federal law enforcement authorities estimate that Mexican based criminal organizations are present in at least 230 U.S. cities.

 On February 5, 2009 the State Dept. announced that the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, Stephen McFarland, signed a letter of agreement with the Guatemalan Ministry of Governmental Affairs to provide $3,650,000 in fiscal year 2008, the first year of the Merida Initiative, and obligates the U.S. to provide an additional $550,000 to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala.

 As for 2008, Guatemalan law enforcement officers  will participate in 5 projects that will be fully funded by U.S. taxpayers: the Central American Fingerprint Initiative ($400,000), the Central American Vetted & Sensitive Investigative Units ($500,000), the Transnational Anti-gang Initiative ($1,225,000), Improved Policing & Police Equipment programs ($975,000), Improved Prison Management programs ($550,000).

 On February 10, 2009 the State Dept. announced that a letter of agreement was signed with the Belizean Ministry of National Security to provide $150,000 to be used for the Central American Fingerprint Exchange; $608,000 for improved policing & police equipment; and $250,000 for improved prison management.

 On March 13, 2009 the State Dept. signed a letter of agreement with the Panamanian Ministry of the Presidency that will provide an initial payment of $2,011,000 from U.S. taxpayers in 2008 that will be used by Panamanian law enforcement agencies in the following areas: participation in the Central American Fingerprint Exchange program ($300,000), the Central American Vetted & Sensitive Investigation Units ($1,000,000), Improved Policing & Police Equipment ($613,000), Improved Prison Management ($100,000).

 In addition, a second letter of agreement will be signed with Panama that will provide U.S. funds for the targeting of “at risk youth” & anti-gang programs, community policing & “demand reduction”.

 For more information on the Merida Initiative visit the State Department’s web-site and search for “Merida Initiative”.

Ex-FBI agent convicted of S. Calif. robbery plot

By AMY TAXIN, Associated Press Writer via Yahoo! News

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A jury convicted a former FBI agent and another man of plotting to rob a drug stash house in Southern California using a machine gun.

The verdict was read Wednesday after jurors reached their decision late Tuesday in the trial of 44-year-old Vo Duong Tran, a former agent from New Orleans.

Tran and Yu Sung Park, 36, were arrested in July and accused of planning to rob what they thought was a drug stash house in the Orange County city of Fountain Valley. The site was actually part of an FBI sting operation.

“I think it’s disappointing that (Tran) is a former agent and he turned to this kind of conduct,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Keenan said. “He and Mr. Park were dangerous people.”

Tran’s wife, Nia Bui, held the couple’s 1-year-old son on her lap and sobbed loudly while the verdict was read. Outside the courtroom, Bui said she believes her husband was set up by the FBI.

“He’s a good father, he’s a good person. He’d never kill people or rob,” she said. “I can’t believe they do this to him. They break families like this.”

During the trial, prosecutors played recorded conversations in which men they identified as Park and Tran were discussing whether to shoot residents of the drug house.

Jurors deliberated for a day before convicting the defendants of conspiracy to obstruct commerce by robbery, interstate travel to commit a crime with a firearm, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and possession of a machine gun. Each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison at sentencing, set for June 15.

Tran was an FBI agent in Chicago for more than a decade before being fired in 2003. Defense attorney Alex Kessel previously said Tran was fired for identifying himself as an agent while on suspension, though he was never convicted of the allegation.

Telephone messages left Wednesday for Kessel and attorney Brian Steel, who also represents Tran, were not immediately returned.

The arrests of Tran and Park followed a federal probe in which conversations between Tran and an FBI informant were secretly taped for nearly six months.

Authorities said Tran flew from New Orleans to raid the home, where the informant had told him there was $300,000.

Authorities said they found a machine gun, rifle equipped with a silencer, handguns, bulletproof vests, fatigues, zip ties, black ski mask and more than 600 rounds of ammunition in a rental car and hotel room the men used.

Defense attorneys said Tran was passionate about his law enforcement career and was playing along with the robbery scheme to gather evidence on informant Alex Dao so he could turn him over to authorities.

Yolanda Barrera, Park’s attorney, said it was hard to understand how the jury could seriously consider the massive amount of evidence and testimony in just a day. “This was a four-week trial and the jury basically deliberated for five hours,” she said.

(This version corrects that although decision was announced Wednesday the jury reached it late Tuesday.)

 

Feds reverse policy cutting ammo supply

Posted: March 17, 2009
9:00 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Respond to senators representing outraged gun owners nationwide

 

Responding to two Democratic senators representing outraged private gun owners, the Department of Defense announced last night it has scrapped a new policy that would deplete the supply of ammunition by requiring destruction of fired military cartridge brass.

The policy already had taken a bite out of the nation’s stressed ammunition supply, leaving arms dealers scrambling to find ammo for private gun owners.

Mark Cunningham, a legislative affairs representative with the Defense Logistics Agency, explained in an e-mail last night to the office of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that the Department of Defense had placed small arms cartridge cases on its list of sensitive munitions items as part of an overall effort to ensure national security is not jeopardized in the sale of any Defense property.

The small arms cases were identified as a senstive item and were held pending review of policy, he said.

“Upon review, the Defense Logistics Agency has determined the cartridge cases could be appropriately placed in a category of government property allowing for their release for sale,” Cunningham wrote.

One of the companies that brought attention to the issue is Georgia Arms, which for the last 15 years has been purchasing fired brass shell casings from the Department of Defense and private government surplus liquidators. The military collects the discarded casings from fired rounds, then sells them through liquidators to companies like Georgia Arms that remanufacture the casings into ammunition for the law enforcement and civilian gun owner communities.

But earlier this month, Georgia Arms received a canceled order, informed by its supplier that the government now requires fired brass casings be mutilated, in other words, destroyed to a scrap metal state.

The policy change, handed down from the Department of Defense through the Defense Logistics Agency, cut a supply leg out from underneath ammunition manufacturers.

Learn here why it’s your right — and duty — to be armed.

The policy compelled Georgia Arms to cancel all sales of .223 and .308 ammunition, rounds used, respectively, in semi-automatic and deer hunting rifles, until further notice. Sharch Manufacturing, Inc. had announced the same cancellation of its .223 and .308 brass reloading components.

“They just reclassified brass to allow destruction of it, based on what?” Georgia Arms owner Larry Haynie asked WND. “We’ve been ‘going green’ for the last dozen years, and brass is one of the most recyclable materials out there. A cartridge case can be used over and over again. And now we’re going to destroy it based on what? We don’t want the civilian public to have it? It’s a government injustice.”

As WND reported, firearm sales have spiked since the election of a perceived anti-gun president, and Americans stockpiling bullets have produced a stressed ammunition market.

The Orlando Sentinel reports months of steady, heavy buying have left gun dealers in Florida facing shortages of ammunition.

“The survivalist in all of us comes out,” John Ritz, manager of a Florida shooting range, told the Sentinel. “It’s more about protecting what you have.”

“People are just stockpiling,” said a spokeswoman for Georgia Arms, which has seen bullet sales jump 100 percent since the election. “A gun is just like a car. If you can’t get gas, you can’t use it.”

WND contacted the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Defense’s largest combat support agency, several times seeking comment or explanation for the policy change but received none.

The National Rifle Association confirmed to WND that the DLA had been instructed to require the scrapping of the brass casings but declined further comment at this time.

Other gun advocates, however, sounded off on the issue, eyeing the change in government policy with suspicion and filling the blogosphere with speculation that the effects of the policy change may be deliberate.

“It is an end-run around Congress. They don’t need to try to ban guns – they don’t need to fight a massive battle to attempt gun registration, or limit ‘assault’ weapon sales,” writes firearm instructor and author Gordon Hutchinson on his The Shootist blog. “Nope. All they have to do is limit the amount of ammunition available to the civilian market, and when bullets dry up, guns will be useless.”

A writer named Owen at the Boots & Sabers blog suspects the policy change is an effort by an anti-gun administration to raise the cost of ammunition.

“This policy didn’t come out of the blue,” writes Owen. “The Commander in Chief is clearly sending a message to gun owners that they should be paying more for ammunition. If he can’t do it through regulatory action, he’ll do it by forcing ammunition manufacturers to spend more on production.”

Hutchinson reports Georgia Arms was manufacturing over 1 million rounds of .223 ammunition every month, but without the ability to purchase expended military ammunition, the company may be forced to lay off up to half its workforce.

Border agents celebrate homecoming

INVASION USA

Posted: February 17, 2009
8:31 pm Eastern

 

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

 Former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean left their cells in solitary confinement to reunite with their families in El Paso, Texas, today.

“He said, ‘I love you.’ And he just embraced me,” Monica Ramos said on Fox News’ Glenn Beck television show today in the first interview following their release.

After serving two years in federal prison in solitary confinement for shooting a fleeing Mexican drug smuggler who had brought 750 pounds of marijuana into the U.S., Ramos and Compean are being released into home confinement until March 20. The news came only two weeks after the Federal Bureau of Prisons told WND they could be eligible to finish sentences at home.

The Bureau of Prisons has instructed them to wear ankle bracelets and refrain from speaking to the press until their official release date.

“It was wonderful,” Ramos said of her exciting day. “It’s gone by pretty fast, so we can only hope the next 33 days go as fast.”

Ramos said their children are “extremely excited” about seeing their father.

“They had a couple of minutes with their father, here,” she said. “It’s really overwhelming for them. They finally hugged their dad, and they know it’s real. In time, I think we’ll begin the healing process.”

She said her husband looked relieved when she first saw him in the airport.

“He just looked around, just very appreciative, looking around and just absorbing the environment that he was in.”

Patty Compean told the Glenn Beck television show that her family needed time to spend with Jose before participating in interviews.

“They’ve been in solitary confinement without any human contact except for the guards and visitors for two years,” Patty Compean told WND when she first learned of the commutation. “Things have changed. Jose’s been gone for two years. That’s a lot to take in.”

Several media personalities asked to witness the homecoming, including Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, but Patty said her family is not ready for the crowd.

“Everybody has contributed in one way or another to this,” she told WND. “Honestly, at this point, I’d love to have people there, but at the same time, I want to have that moment for us. It’s been two years.”

Ramos’s attorney, David Botsford, said the families are still waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court on the cases.

“We’ve asked the Supreme Court to review the convictions on the remaining counts that the Fifth Circuit had not set aside because it’s our goal to vindicate these gentlemen entirely and get them back on the job with law enforcement , which is what their dreams and their goals and their careers have been.” 

Beck asked why Ramos would ever consider returning to law enforcement positions when the government “sold him down the river.”

“Well, he may not trust his government, but he loves his country,” Botsford replied. “He wants to serve, as he has done with honor and distinction in the past. And that’s what his career aspirations are and hopefully we’ll get them both back to that spot if that’s what they so desire.”

In the interview with Beck, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, summarized a number of falsehoods Congress had been told about the border agents’ case.

“We were told that these two border agents went out that day to shoot an illegal, which is an absolute lie,” he said. “We were also told that they knew that the drug dealer was unarmed. That is a lie. They both believed him to be armed. But, most importantly, the U.S. attorney’s office told us … that the drug dealer didn’t bring in drugs a second time. … I figured out that was a lie, too.”

He continued, “Both these individuals were political prisoners. We want to get to the bottom of what the involvement of the Mexican government was in prosecuting these two guys. ”

Poe said he believes that there’s a real problem on both sides of the border and that this was the only case where the U.S. attorney’s office went on a “nationwide Madison Avenue PR stunt” to justify prosecution.

“It just seems like there’s a rat in the room,” Poe said. “And we want to get rid of it.”

Boston cop accused of escorting porn stars to club

From The Associated Press via Yahoo!News

BOSTON – A Boston police officer is being investigated for allegedly helping two gay porn stars cut through traffic to get to a nightclub. Police said the officer, whose name has not been released, has been placed on desk duty for allegedly using his cruiser to escort a car from Logan International Airport to the Roxy nightclub last October.

A law enforcement official close to the investigation confirmed Friday the escort was for Aden and Jordan Jaric, a couple from Sacramento, Calif., who perform in live strip shows and pornography as “Brangelina.” The official was not authorized to speak about the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A phone listing for the Jarics could not immediately be found.

Boston police learned of the alleged escort after a photo of a police cruiser in one of Boston’s highway tunnels, along with comments about the trip, were posted on a blog.

The night after the Jarics were at the Roxy, they performed a show at a Providence, R.I., male nude club called Trixx All Male Revue.

Providence police uncovered the photograph while investigating a report of explicit sexual activity at the Trixx show. When they realized the photo was of a Boston police cruiser, they contacted the city, the law enforcement official said.

The official said it appears the officer escorted the men from Logan airport to the Roxy, but not to Providence.

 

PA State police to offer law enforcement class

By the Herald-Standard

01/30/2009

Updated 01/29/2009 06:01:34 PM EST

The state police announced they will conduct a Citizens Police Academy for residents of Fayette and Greene counties beginning in March at the George Plava Elementary School in German Township.

Trooper Brian D. Burden said the program is designed to expose residents of Fayette and Greene counties to law enforcement, the types of training officers receive and general law enforcement concepts and responsibilities.

“This training will be a forum for understanding and communicating between citizens and the criminal judicial system,” Burden stated in a press release. “Individuals selected to participate gain a greater understanding of law enforcement practices and a deeper sense of criminal agencies duties.”

According to Burden, class participants will have the opportunity to discuss possible areas for improvement in partnership between police and the public.

The class will be held Mondays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. beginning March 2 and concluding with graduation ceremonies on May 11.

State and local police officers, including Uniontown police Chief Jason A. Cox, FBI investigators and Herald-Standard crime reporter Josh Krysak will be among those leading classes during the 11-week course.

Burden said class size is limited to 25 community participants accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Participants must be at least 18 years old and have no criminal history.

Applications can be obtained at the state police barracks at 1070 Eberly Way, Lemont Furnace, or the state police barracks in Waynesburg. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 16.

For more information, call Burden 724-415-1000 or Trooper Bart Lemansky at 724-627-6151. 

Updated 01/29/2009 06:01:34 PM EST

©The Herald Standard 2009

Fed’s Are Not Police Officers

 There has been some confusion pertaining to the arrest authority of Federal law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

 Federal officers, or agents as they are sometimes referred to, are not general police officers and do not possess the authority to to affect warrantless arrests for traffic offenses or for misdemeanor crimes.

 In the case of Commonwealth v. Price, 543 Pa. 403, 672, A. 2d 280 (1996) the court held, citing Section 3052 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code (18 U.S.C. 3052), that Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are not authorized under either State or Federal law nor under common law to make warrantless arrests for traffic offenses or for misdemeanor crimes. Federal Agents are “authorized to make warrantless arrests only where they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person  has committed or is committing any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States (federal law).

The Purpose of Police in a Free Society

By Jack Hays

 It is very easy for law enforcement officers to lose sight of their purpose; With 6 years of experience as a police officer I know this to be true. We often get caught in the vicious trap of trying to do all we can to get the bad guys off of the streets while at the same time trying to protect the good guys in a politically correct manner.

 it is nearly impossible, but somehow we must get the job done, and we do.

 It is not easy enforcing laws in a free society. It would be much easier enforcing laws in a society where the citizens have, what some would call a healthy, fearful respect, of men with badges on their chests. A society where the citizens know that you don’t dare step out of line or the police will show up and make an example of you for all to see. And, if you want to work in that type of society you only need to move to China, Cuba, or any one of several Eastern European countries where law enforcement officers are feared and the citizens step aside when they approach.

 In those societies police officers are looked upon as keepers making sure no one steps outside of the boxes their government masters have drawn for them and making sure that citizens who express displeasure with those same government masters are taken away for re-education before they corrupt their neighbors with crazy notions of freedom of speech and assembly.

 However, thank God we do not live in such a country; at least not yet, and a key determining factor in whether or not we ever will, falls on the shoulders of us, the law enforcers.

 We are the individuals that are on the street, among the people, our neighbors & families, applying the rules of civil society as laid down by our fellow employees of the people, legislators. And it is us that decides whether or not to write the ticket or make the arrest for whatever violation of law we observe or discover; It is our discretion (The reasonable exercise of a power or right to act in an official capacity; involves the idea of choice, of an exercise of the will, 94 N.W. 2d 810, 811).

 Our #1 job while serving our fellow citizens is to live up to our Oath of Office to “Support, Obey and Defend the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same… and I do further solemnly swear that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of law enforcement officer with fidelity”. We have all taken this oath, or something very similar to it, before we ever pinned that precious badge on our chests. But, how many of us ever really thought about and realized the significance of that oath we so willingly took? I fear not enough of us have.

 When we take the oath of office we swear before God that we will, above all else, support, obey, & defend our Constitutions. We do not swear to get the bad guy at all costs. We do not swear to be creative, without technically telling a lie, in our report writing to get the warrant. We do not swear to tell the Chief that the guy swung at us to justify cracking the guy with our flashlights, although those things do understandably sometimes happen. We swear an oath to uphold our Constitutions and the protections therein.

 The Constitutions we have all sworn to uphold are the very foundation of our uniquely American lives. Our Constitutions are the only thing standing between our way of life and the subservient lives of Cubans or the Chinese. Every time our Constitutions are violated our American way of life suffers. It especially suffers when it is violated by those of us that have sworn to uphold it.

 Our purpose as law enforcement officers, every time we put that badge on is to go out and preserve our uniquely American way of life by enforcing, or not enforcing, our laws in accord with our oaths to the Constitutions.

  We, I say we because those of us who are charged with enforcing the laws are subject to those same laws, as Americans, have a right to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” and when those rights are violated by someone who murders, steals, assaults, or kidnaps one of our fellow citizens we show up taking action to live up to our oaths by arresting the individual, depriving them of their liberty, pursuit of happiness, and possibly their life, for violating the rights of the victim(s), not technically killing the victim, but for violating the victim’s right to life.

 We also, as a result of our oaths to support, obey, & defend the Constitutions have a responsibility to not enforce, by exercising our prosecutorial discretion (defined as “The wide range of alternatives available to a prosecutor in criminal cases, including the decision to prosecute, the particular charges to be brought, etc… or not to prosecute (see Lafave, Arrest 72 (1965)), laws passed by the legislatures that violate our Constitutions. Consider this: “The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, whether federal or state, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose, since unconstitutionally dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it. No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it” (16th American Jurisprudence, 256, 2nd edition).

 For example, say the town council adopts an ordinance, which our courts have defined as “A local law that applies to persons and things subject to the local jurisdiction” (see 90 F. 2d 175, 177) that says no one in the town is allowed to possess a gun for any reason and that law is put on the books in the town. We as law enforcement officers can rightly refuse to enforce the law because it is in violation of the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, “…The right of the people to keep & bear arms shall not be infringed” and Article 1 Section 21 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of PA “The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned” that we took an oath to obey. 

 Our purpose in our free society is to insure that we, as citizens and law enforcers, remain free not just from molestation of our lives by the “bad guys”, but from those who would destroy our American way of life under the guise of lawmaking in our legislatures.