A homeless woman is facing a 20 year prison sentence because she tried to register her five year old son in a Norwalk school district where she did not have a valid mailing address.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/homeless-woman-prosecuted-for-enrolling-son-in-conn-school
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/homeless-woman-prosecuted-for-enrolling-son-in-conn-school)
Homeless woman prosecuted for enrolling son in Conn. school
By Liz Goodwin
Connecticut authorities have filed theft charges against Tanya McDowell, a homeless woman, alleging that she used a false address to enroll her son in a higher-income school district, The Stamford Advocate reports. If she's convicted, McDowell may end up in jail for as many as 20 years and pay a $15,000 fine for the crime.
McDowell is a homeless single mother from Bridgeport who used to work in food services, is now at the center of one of the very few false address cases in the Norwalk, CT, school district that is being handled in criminal court--rather than between the parent and school. Authorities are accusing McDowell of enrolling her 5-year-old son in nearby Norwalk schools by using the address of a friend. (Her friend has also been evicted from public housing for letting McDowell use her address.)
McDowell says she stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter sometimes--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school.
"I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," the 33-year-old told the paper.
An education advocacy group, Connecticut Parents Union, is holding a fundraiser to help McDowell pay the possible fine.
The case is attracting some national attention in the education world, as it's similar to the headline-making story of Ohio mom Kelley Williams-Bolar, who spent days in jail after using her father's address to send her kids to a better-performing school. Her story ignited a debate about inequalities in the public school system.
"One woman has been evicted, another could go to jail and all because a little boy went to school in a district where he sometimes lives," education writer Joanne Jacobs said of the case. The blog DropOut Nation notes that the Norwalk schools are better than those in Bridgeport, where McDowell's last address was; the case thereby raises larger questions about why poorer families often must send their kids to poorly performing schools, in part because local tax revenues make up so much of school funding.
In Williams-Bolar's case, private investigators hired by Copley-Fairlawn schools in Ohio found her out and turned her over to the courts. In McDowell's case, the false address was uncovered by a public housing attorney dealing with the friend who let her use the address.
"I am surprised that this is the case [Norwalk officials] chose to make an example of," Norwalk attorney Michael Corsello told the Stamford-Advocate.
Just seeing the outlook of the case; I'm wagering that Tanya is an African American, and am not at all shocked by it.
Quote from: Philoctetes on April 23, 2011, 10:19:26 AM
Just seeing the outlook of the case; I'm wagering that Tanya is an African American, and am not at all shocked by it.
But CT is a solid blue state ...
Quote from: Coopmv on April 23, 2011, 10:45:49 AM
But CT is a solid blue state ...
And this means what?
There are scads of stupid and/or horrible laws at the local, state, and federal level, and sometimes it takes foolish prosecution of individuals under said laws to get the laws changed. Perhaps this one will be enforced with no change to the law, but then again perhaps not. This type of publicity probably does not and will not sit well with local and state leaders, forcing a possible reconsideration of the current case and law.
I find the law both silly and damaging, based on information presented, but I must assume that it passed democratically, either by a vote of the people or their elected representatives, so the people of Connecticut got what they voted for. That happens sometimes.
Of course, this is a minor issue at best and really doesn't indicate much about the state of America or American politics.
Quote from: Todd on April 23, 2011, 10:55:22 AM
There are scads of stupid and/or horrible laws at the local, state, and federal level, and sometimes it takes foolish prosecution of individuals under said laws to get the laws changed. Perhaps this one will be enforced with no change to the law, but then again perhaps not. This type of publicity probably does not and will not sit well with local and state leaders, forcing a possible reconsideration of the current case and law.
I find the law both silly and damaging, based on information presented, but I must assume that it passed democratically, either by a vote of the people or their elected representatives, so the people of Connecticut got what they voted for. That happens sometimes.
Of course, this is a minor issue at best and really doesn't indicate much about the state of America or American politics.
I would agree with you, except that the story says that the woman is being prosecuted for "theft," and obviously at a felony level, judging by the 20 year prison term which she is at risk of. Presumably this is based on the value of the services "stolen." The laws would be at fault if there was really a 20 year penalty for filing false papers to the school board. As it is, it strikes me as a case of 'vigilante" prosecution. I assume the most common remedy for this sort of thing is to simply send the kid home.
In any case, I find the case disturbing for a number of reasons. I think it is a terrible idea for schools to be funded locally, so that wealthy districts have great schools and poor districts have terrible schools. It has nothing to do with fairness, I don't think our country can continue to prosper when the students who most desperately need access to a good education are least likely to have access to it. I also find it disturbing that prosecutors apparently have the discretion to apply laws with such malice.
Quote from: Philoctetes on April 23, 2011, 10:19:26 AM
I'm wagering that Tanya is an African American.
True. Either wise we would have never heard of this story. Well, perhaps the "single mother" angle might have been enough to garner some interest from the media.
Quote from: Philoctetes on April 23, 2011, 10:51:11 AM
And this means what?
What has happened to this woman should not have happened at all based on the traditional values of the Democratic Party.
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on April 23, 2011, 11:24:56 AM
True. Either wise we would have never heard of this story. Well, perhaps the "single mother" angle might have been enough to garner some interest from the media.
I don't think the single mother aspect would have been compelling enough to propel it forward. Although, I do think disproportionate approach of the state is really the news maker.
Quote from: Coopmv on April 23, 2011, 11:33:11 AM
What has happened to this woman should not have happened at all based on the traditional values of the Democratic Party.
Really? How far are we going back with this tradition?
Quote from: Coopmv on April 23, 2011, 11:33:11 AM
What has happened to this woman should not have happened at all based on the traditional values of the Democratic Party.
There is no indication from the story that this is a new law. It may have been in effect for a century, back when them ole Republican meanies were in power. :o
8)
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The officials of Norwalk must have been born stupid. Did not one of them think "hey if we try to prosecute this icon of the American dream, we might get bad publicity"? I'm sure this kind of crime goes on more often than not, and we don't hear about it because the school simply quietly transfers them to another school.
Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 23, 2011, 11:12:38 AM...judging by the 20 year prison term which she is at risk of.
There's no chance that she'll get twenty years. People want to get reelected, and even the most ambitious prosecutors out there 1.) usually want to move up the ladder, and 2.) have to answer to publicity sensitive bosses. This is an embarrassment for Norwalk and damage control will be part of the approach now.
Quote from: Todd on April 23, 2011, 01:27:13 PM
There's no chance that she'll get twenty years.
Firing squad.
The country does seem to be getting meaner, in all senses of the word: cruel, small-minded, and self-centered.
Quote from: Todd on April 23, 2011, 01:27:13 PMThere's no chance that she'll get twenty years. People want to get reelected, and even the most ambitious prosecutors out there 1.) usually want to move up the ladder, and 2.) have to answer to publicity sensitive bosses. This is an embarrassment for Norwalk and damage control will be part of the approach now.
...unless the prosecutor is pandering to his or her mean/spirited constituency that doesn't want "bums" benefiting from their tax dollars, and is doing
to get reelected.
Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 23, 2011, 05:39:32 PM...unless the prosecutor is pandering to his or her mean/spirited constituency that doesn't want "bums" benefiting from their tax dollars, and is doing to get reelected.
Nope, she ain't going to get twenty years, and throwing the book at her won't get anyone reelected. Wouldn't work even in Texas.
Another reason I'm glad I don't live in America. How can a country that is wonderful in many ways also be in other ways like a third world dictatorship?
Here's another example of American assholery for ya:
http://michiganmessenger.com/48487/foster-children-would-be-allowed-to-get-clothing-only-from-second-hand-stores
Kicking the poor and vulnerable is a popular sport for some of our politicians.
Quote from: Philoctetes on April 23, 2011, 11:36:24 AM
I don't think the single mother aspect would have been compelling enough to propel it forward. Although, I do think disproportionate approach of the state is really the news maker.
Really? How far are we going back with this tradition?
50 years ...
Quote from: Coopmv on April 25, 2011, 02:08:26 PM
50 years ...
So you're picking a convenient and rather arbitrary timetable?
Quote from: Philoctetes on April 25, 2011, 02:39:35 PM
So you're picking a convenient and rather arbitrary timetable?
I'll go with 46 years (Voting Rights Act of 1965).
Something terrible lies at the heart of New Orleans - a rampant, widespread and apparently uncontrollable brutality on the part of its police force and its prison service. The horrors of its criminal justice system from decades before Hurricane Katrina and up to now lie somewhere between, with little exaggeration, Candide and Stalin's Gulags.
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2011/04/orleans-city-jail-police (http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2011/04/orleans-city-jail-police)
That the police force in New Orleans is "a significant threat to the safety of the public", as the DoJ says, is obvious. But the same problems can be seen all over the South, from Miami to Mississippi to Alabama; and the same nationwide, according to Paul Craig Roberts, a former editor of the Wall Street Journal and former assistant secretary to the treasury under Ronald Reagan, who wrote recently: "Police in the US now rival criminals, and exceed terrorists as the greatest threat to the American public."
Quote from: Daverz on April 25, 2011, 11:59:11 PM
I'll go with 46 years (Voting Rights Act of 1965).
Strangely the date I would go with predates that one by more than a century.
Yes, this is the America I want and do live in. 8)
Germany/1930s = USA/Today
Quote from: snyprrr on April 26, 2011, 10:30:56 AM
Germany/1930s = USA/Today
Meaning that they both have a head of state born outside the country??? ;)
Quote from: The new erato on April 26, 2011, 10:35:04 AM
Meaning that they both have a head of state born outside the country??? ;)
(http://www.vcsc.k12.in.us/th/interim/Zing3.jpg)
Quote from: snyprrr on April 26, 2011, 10:30:56 AM
Germany/1930s = USA/Today
Someone needs to retake their history courses :o
Quote from: Bulldog on April 26, 2011, 09:37:16 AM
Yes, this is the America I want and do live in. 8)
Me, too. 8) 8)
Quote from: Szykneij on April 27, 2011, 12:48:12 PM
Me, too. 8) 8)
I'm glad to hear that somebody else also likes living in the U.S. It gets tiresome reading the irrational bitching about our country.
There are a lot of silly outdated laws out there. But the hope is that eventually with changes in things like social values, the legislatures reflect these changes and update or repeal the laws.
I mean there was a time in Australia when women (of course, not men) had to wear bathing costumes covering them from head to toe on our beautiful beaches. There were actually "bathing costume police" out there enforcing these laws which were made by local councils. Of course with the arrival of the two piece bikini around the middle of the century, these laws were changed. But these things also come full circle. Now we have some of the swimming pools in Western Sydney having special sessions booked were Muslim women of the local community can bathe without the (what they think of as) the destructive gazes of men. Surely this is a kind of apartheid, of these people bringing their values & customs here and forcing the local culture - which has moved on - to regress and adapt to their needs. So there are still silly ways of doing things - but they might not be necessarily enshrined in law...
Quote from: Sid on April 27, 2011, 11:58:56 PM
I mean there was a time in Australia when women (of course, not men)
Its comments like this that makes liberalism sound like a mental disorder.
Quote from: Sid on April 27, 2011, 11:58:56 PM
had to wear bathing costumes covering them from head to toe on our beautiful beaches.
A sensible institution on all accounts. After all, wouldn't want society to turn into a pornographic sex obsessed cesspool where women are "free" to indulge into their inner slut. Opps, too late.
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on April 28, 2011, 02:11:27 AM
After all, wouldn't want society to turn into a pornographic sex obsessed cesspool where women are "free" to indulge into their inner slut. Opps, too late.
Sounds like a slut would do you a world of good.
Quote from: The new erato on April 28, 2011, 02:14:49 AM
Sounds like a slut would do you a world of good.
Are you speaking from personal experience?
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on April 28, 2011, 03:20:54 AM
Are you speaking from personal experience?
Well some people probably only can get sluts.........
Frankly this whole forum strikes me as a bit slutty.
Quote from: Daverz on April 28, 2011, 05:00:32 AM
Frankly this whole forum strikes me as a bit slutty.
Yeah gmg flashes their ads to just anyone that waltzes in. tsk tsk $:)
Quote from: haydnfan on April 28, 2011, 05:11:47 AM
Yeah gmg flashes their ads to just anyone that waltzes in. tsk tsk $:)
Not if you pay for it.
Quote from: The new erato on April 28, 2011, 05:18:45 AM
Not if you pay for it.
What could be sluttier than paying for it? $:)
8)
Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on April 28, 2011, 05:58:32 AM
What could be sluttier than paying for it? $:)
8)
My point exactly.
Of course gmg is so ugly, we're paying for the old gal to put 'em out of sight. >:D
I actually find gmg to be quite attractive. The soft white/blue combination is quite easy on the eye and doesn't require contrast adjustment despite being quite bright.
JdP, ironically you seem to be the most direct evidence of the collapse of western civilization you are constantly prophesizing.
Well, if you like consensus and mediocrity, settle down in "Old Europe". I'm pretty sure 99% of all US Americans would run away. We're not even able to build a railway station ("Stuttgart 21", the 2nd favourite playground after nuclear power for the left wing and other conspiracy theorists).
Quote from: Tapio Dmitriyevich Shostakovich on April 28, 2011, 07:12:36 AM
Well, if you like consensus and mediocrity, settle down in "Old Europe". I'm pretty sure 99% of all US Americans would run away. We're not even able to build a railway station ("Stuttgart 21", the 2nd favourite playground after nuclear power for the left wing and other conspiracy theorists).
My impression however is that Germany is the only major economy that is doing well at present.
Quote from: Velimir on April 28, 2011, 07:28:46 AM
My impression however is that Germany is the only major economy that is doing well at present.
Up here we're booming (along with Sweden) but we're hardly major.
Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 28, 2011, 07:04:32 AM
JdP, ironically you seem to be the most direct evidence of the collapse of western civilization you are constantly prophesizing.
Yeah, reminds me of Tarkovsky's
Nostalghia. Well, except i'm not dousing myself on fire anytime soon.
Quote from: Velimir on April 28, 2011, 07:28:46 AMMy impression however is that Germany is the only major economy that is doing well at present.
I believe China is still growing at a nice pace and working on all manner of huge infrastructure projects, and it's the second largest economy in the world. Is that not major enough?
Now, let's get back to the slut talk. I like sluts.
Quote from: Todd on April 28, 2011, 08:31:13 AM
I believe China is still growing at a nice pace and working on all manner of huge infrastructure projects, and it's the second largest economy in the world. Is that not major enough?
Well, if you believe the people who say they are deliberately undervaluing their currency they are already, more or less, the largest economy in the world. The reall question is whether the people who claim that the infastructure projects in China constitute the biggest economic bubble the world has ever seen are right. We'll have to wait to find out.
Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 28, 2011, 08:41:31 AMWell, if you believe the people who say they are deliberately undervaluing their currency they are already, more or less, the largest economy in the world.
That's incorrect. Even if the yuan were "properly" valued (ie, freely floating, without any government intervention, like the US
never, ever, ever does), nominal Chinese GDP would be smaller than nominal US GDP. Evaluated on a PPP basis, it is closer, but it is still smaller. Depending on which projections one uses, the Chinese economy will overtake the US in overall size between 2016 and 2040. And that's at an aggregate level. Per capita GDP is quite low in China, and will remain so for decades to come. Of course, from a military and geopolitical standpoint, total GDP is more important than per capita GDP.
I think it is fair to say that there are bubbles forming in the Chinese economy. Are Shanghai residential property values really supported by economic fundamentals, for instance? I think it may be hard to say yes. Commercial real estate values are also reportedly a wee bit high all over the country. Throw in an opaque financial system where bad loans and cronyism are known to be involved, growing economic inequality in a country already rather unequal, and economic imbalances from having such staggering reserves caused by trade surpluses, and there are elements in place for a rollicking good time, that's for sure. (None of this is to say that Western countries set a good example, of course; it's a bit hard to do that in light of what has happened over the last few years.)
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on April 28, 2011, 08:05:45 AM
Yeah, reminds me of Tarkovsky's Nostalghia. Well, except i'm not dousing myself on fire anytime soon.
I picture you more as the guy carrying the candle across the dried-up pool at the end.
Quote from: Todd on April 28, 2011, 08:31:13 AM
I believe China is still growing at a nice pace and working on all manner of huge infrastructure projects,
About those huge infrastructure projects: check out this eerie video on China's "ghost cities":
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/601007/n/China-s-Ghost-Cities
Quote from: Velimir on April 28, 2011, 09:16:35 AMAbout those huge infrastructure projects: check out this eerie video on China's "ghost cities":
No one has ever said that Red Capitalism is without problems . . .
I suppose there is some comfort that your neighbours up north have equally crazy shit going on :)
http://shitharperdid.ca.nyud.net/
Speaking of Canada:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/torontos-slut-walk-protest-or-why-feminism-is-doomed/
Seems like a lot of gmg members ought to relocate there.
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on May 01, 2011, 12:59:55 AM
Speaking of Canada:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/torontos-slut-walk-protest-or-why-feminism-is-doomed/ (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/torontos-slut-walk-protest-or-why-feminism-is-doomed/)
Seems like a lot of gmg members ought to relocate there.
We already know you don't consider brown people or women to be human beings.
Quote from: Velimir on April 28, 2011, 09:16:35 AM
About those huge infrastructure projects: check out this eerie video on China's "ghost cities":
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/601007/n/China-s-Ghost-Cities
Looks like a futuristic Detroit.
Quote from: Daverz on May 01, 2011, 02:15:34 AM
We already know you don't consider brown people or women to be human beings.
Kinda like Muhammad Ali didn't consider white people to be human beings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqiWFLsgVi4&feature=player_embedded
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on May 01, 2011, 03:09:09 AM
Kinda like Muhammad Ali didn't consider white people to be human beings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqiWFLsgVi4&feature=player_embedded
Yes, but at least he had some reasons to feel superior.
Quote from: The new erato on May 01, 2011, 03:46:43 AM
Yes, but at least he had some reasons to feel superior.
He's not talking about superiority. That's the fallacy in your entire line of thinking. To prefer ones own is not the same as saying that ones own is superior, and does not mean one automatically must "hate" others, or think of them as less then human.
I see no reason to continue this thread.