Maybe Megan Will Get Justice After All...

This article klept'd from AJ's blog.

Hate-Crime Count in W.Va. Torture Case AP

(megan's mom, megan )
(megan after b'ng rescued, and mom)
(megan's mom, megan l-r)
(perverts, b'low)
(don't count megan out just yet!)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — One of several white people charged in the suspected kidnapping, torture and sexual assault of a black woman has been indicted on a hate crime count, and two others have entered guilty pleas in the case.

Six people arrested after Megan Williams was rescued in September had been charged with counts that carry maximum life sentences, but until Tuesday's indictments no one had been charged with a hate crime. The issue has been a sore point among many of Williams' supporters.

Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, was indicted Tuesday on charges of committing a hate crime, kidnapping and malicious wounding. Three others were indicted on counts including kidnapping, sexual assault and conspiracy.

Prosecutors say Williams, 20, was held captive for days at a trailer in Big Creek, where she was forced to eat animal feces, sexually assaulted and stabbed. She was rescued Sept. 8 after an anonymous caller alerted Logan County sheriff's deputies.

Logan County prosecutor Brian Abraham said Burton stabbed Williams in the ankle while saying, "This is what we do to n------ down here."

Karen Burton was "a little surprised" by the hate crime charge but was relieved that an earlier sexual assault count was not included in the indictment, said her attorney, Betty Gregory.

"She didn't want her children to think anything like that about her," Gregory said.

While noting that Burton has two biracial grandchildren in North Carolina whom "she dearly loves," Gregory said part of Burton's defense will be that she "has a significant history of child abuse from her own childhood."

Two other defendants — Burton's daughter, 23-year-old Alisha Burton, and 27-year-old George A. Messer — each pleaded guilty Friday and have agreed to testify against the others.

Messer and Alisha Burton, both of Chapmanville, were each sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 10 years for kidnapping and two to 10 years for assault during the commission of a felony, Abraham said. Williams and her family were consulted before plea deals were offered, he said.

The state hate crime count against Karen Burton is the first one legal scholars can remember being prosecuted in West Virginia.

"This one particular charge in this one particular case is winnable, and you can send the message that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated," said West Virginia University sociology professor Jim Nolan, who teaches a course on hate crimes.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and groups including Washington, D.C.-based Black Lawyers for Justice had pushed for hate-crime charges. Sharpton, who led a hate crimes rally in Charleston in December, said Wednesday that it was good one such charge was filed but added that there should have been more.

"They all engaged in hate crimes because they aided and abetted a hate crime," Sharpton said.

Abraham said other defendants used the same slur Karen Burton did, but the fact that Burton used it while stabbing Williams made her act more clearly a hate crime.

"The distinction was that we think that there was an affirmative statement as to Karen Burton's motivation when she allegedly said that to Megan Williams," Abraham said.

Abraham previously had refrained from filing hate-crime charges, saying they would be difficult because there was a pre-existing relationship. Williams filed domestic assault charges against one of the defendants, Bobby Brewster, in July.

Abraham also had noted that the 10-year maximum prison sentence for a hate crime conviction was low compared with the life term a kidnapping conviction could bring.

Indicted on felony counts with Karen Burton and Brewster were Danny Combs and Brewster's mother, Frankie Brewster. Another man not previously arrested was indicted Tuesday on a misdemeanor battery charge.

The defendants have denied the charges. Aside from Gregory, their lawyers did not immediately return phone calls on Wednesday.

The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother, Carmen, agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams has said she wanted people to know what her daughter endured.

Megan Williams has taped a segment of Montel Williams' talk show that is to be broadcast Thursday.

***

I'm not goin to comment too much on this story, bcuz focusing on it will make me want to take it out on all of the wonderful non-black people I know. And I would never want to hurt or offend my co-workers, blog family, family members etc in that way. Also, I just don't have the anger, time nor the energy to be prejudiced (anymore). I must remember these people are perverts who happen to be white. Not perverts becuz they're white.

I pray that Megan (and her mom) is able to bounce back 100%, God is able-and I hope the suspects are tried in court and reap what they have sown-and one day they'll understand the detriment of their acts and become remorseful and repentant. No person deserves to be treated as Megan (or any other crime, torture victim) have.

God bless.

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Jim Crow is Dead!!

Why Are Bigots Threatened By Minorities??
read here

A black woman named Lisa Woods, has been an ongoing victim of racial discrimination at Georgia-Pacific Co, near Brunswick, Ga. In addition to be forced to work ONE DAY AFTER A MISCARRIAGE-LIKE OUR ANCESTORS, she was also denied the use of the bathroom. A chronic sign that said "Out of Order" was posted on the bathroom door, until a white trucker came through. At that time, the bathroom is in working order. Like many minority employees, the incident was reported but not taken seriously.

When the oppressive work conditions were brought to the attention of First Coast News, reporter Jeanie Blaylock and a photographer went to the scaling house (where Lisa worked to weigh trucks) and the toilet was in working order. When the news crew left, Lisa Woods was fired. (coincidence? I think not!)

She was also taunted with a cartoon clipping of a pregnant monkey--Lisa was pregnant at the time.

What an idiot. Sounds like the makings of a juicy lawsuit.

I can' t imagine working under such conditions...God bless her.

I hope EEOC has take note of this discrimination case and runs with it.

-Ivent

Sharpie & Doggy to Unite...Whenever Sharpie's Schedule Allows--I Know That's Right!

SHARPTON RESPONDS TO 'BOUNTY HUNTER':
Activist says he'll grant Dog's request to meet – but only when he finds time in his schedule.
source

*Al Sharpton released a letter to Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman via his National Action Network organization responding to the reality star's apology for repeatedly using the N-word in a phone conversation and request for a meeting with the activist to address the situation.
As previously reported, Chapman's phone conversation with his son Tucker, in which he used the racist term in reference to his son's African American girlfriend, was secretly recorded and leaked anonymously to the National Enquirer.
In the conversation, Chapman used the offensive word six times, ironically in a discussion about how using the N-word would destroy his television career if ever exposed. Chapman urges his son to break up with his girlfriend and also expresses concern about the girlfriend going public about his use of the N-word. (Hear excerpt of tape here.)
Once the tape leaked and flooded the Internet over the past two days, the star of A&E's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" issued a statement apologizing for his comments.
Duane 'Dog' Chapman
In his remarks, Chapman said he is meeting with his spiritual adviser, Rev. Tim Storey, who is black, and hopes to meet with other black leaders, "so they can see who I really am and teach me the right thing to do to make things right, again."
Sharpton responded in a letter Thursday that appeared on the Web site of his National Action Network. Here it is in its entirety:
November 1, 2007
Dear Mr. Chapman:
I received your call while on the road promoting a March I am leading on the United States Justice Department on November 16th in Washington, DC, along with Martin Luther King, III, and other leaders in the community against hate crimes and racial attacks around the country. The revelation of your conversation came at a time that is most frightening to a lot of people because we are in a state of crisis with the proliferation of racial attacks, hate crimes, and bias incidents in the United States and abroad. In fact, Abraham H. Foxman, the Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League and I released an unprecedented joint statement today because of this climate. Even more concerning to me though is that the Justice Department and the federal government have failed to intervene in cases all over the country of racial bigotry and hate which is the reason we are having our march on Nov. 16th in front of the Justice Department.
As a Minister I would be inclined to meet with you despite the racist and grotesque things I heard you say, but I am not willing to rearrange my schedule around the country building up for this march to do so. If you wish to meet with me somewhere on the road that is fine, but be assured that I will not sanitize the kind of hate language that leads to the hate action that has left so many people vulnerable in America today. The company that airs the show has the right to take steps by any means when there is a public display of a character of bigotry. We did not call on your company’s action but we will not call against your company’s action, because what was said in private is now public, and they have a right to deal with their public perception.
If you are sincere that this does not reflect you, you should not only meet with us, but you should march with us on November 16th and call on the government of the United States to protect people, that unlike you don’t have publicist, don’t have lawyers, and don’t have any protection. They used to have the protection of the United States government.
In Progress,
Reverend Al Sharpton
President of National Action Network
UPDATE ...

Well, Tell Us How You Really Feel, Dog!!

Dog Chapman's Hate-Filled Tirade
click here
(editing/emphasis by Ivent)

The National Enquirer (yes THE Nat'l Enquirer!) has obtained an explosive and shocking racist rant spewed by Duane Dog Chapman.

WARNING: THIS AUDIO CONTAINS STRONG AND OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE
click here

The Enquirer says they have two tapes of the Dog hurling insults at his son, Tucker, during an undated telephone conversation. It appears as if the Dog is concerned that Tucker's girlfriend, Monique Shinnery, who is black, will set him up because of the language the Dog uses.

In the nearly eight minute long tape posted on the Enquirer's website, Dog says the N word numerous times and demands that Tucker break up with Monique or he'll be fired from the family bail bond business.

Reps for the Dog and A&E were not immediately available for comment.

***

Well, the provided proof (phone conversation) only served as confirmation.

It was alleged this year, that he (Doug) ALWAYS uses that ephithet, except when on camera.

I like how he said (paraphrasing) if his daughter brought home a ni**er, they would all be upset... But not in a n***er scum of the earth kind of way.

What the fo-sheezy??

You know what...I can respect a racist that's flat out, bold with their prejudice.

But these kind...love you in your face, dog you behind your back...that's a whole other kind of crazy.

It is what it is.

I'm not wasting energy getting mad--I mean these racist idiots are coming out of the woodwork, like roaches!

I just won't watch his show any longer.