Carlos Martinelly Sentenced to 20 Years in Car Crash That Killed Nun: MyFoxDC.com

Carlos Martinelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his drunk driving accident (August 1, 2010)  that injured 2 nuns and killed a third.  Martinelly was also charged with felony murder. 

Wikipedia defines ‘felony murder’ as follows:

The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder in two ways. First, when an offender kills accidentally or without specific intent to kill in the course of an applicable felony, what might have been manslaughter is escalated to murder. Second, it makes any participant in such a felony criminally liable for any deaths that occur during or in furtherance of that felony. While there is some debate about the original scope of the rule, modern interpretations typically require that the felony be an inherently dangerous one, or one committed in an obviously dangerous manner. For this reason, the felony murder rule is often justified by its supporters as a means of deterring dangerous felonies.

I keep thinking about this case being Corey Stewart’s launch pad into state politics.  For over a year we have heard about this case, day after day.  This case has been all over Fox News time after time, as some sort of landmark illegal immigrant case rather than a drunk driving case.  Martinelly was brought here illegally  as a child.  He had a green card.  He just didn’t have legal status.  He became the ‘nun killer.’ 

Meanwhile, another drunk driving case  was barely mentioned.  William John Mallory was sentenced to 20 years for the deaths of a grandmother and her toddler grandson.  17 years of that sentence  were suspended.  Mallory serves 3 years.

There is some inequity here.  I excuse no one nor am I attempting to excuse drunk driving. However, why is Martinelly serving all 20 years and why was he charged with murder?  I feel certain he didn’t get in his car that morning and decide to go mow down a car load of nuns in cold blood.  I feel certain William Mallory didn’t plan on killing a grandmother and her little grandson. 

Why is there so much disparity between these two cases?  Could it be that the Commonwealth Attorney’s office caved in because Martinelly was an illegal immigrant?  Could it be that killing nuns is worse than killing grandmothers? Judge Farris sentenced Martinelly to 20 years. 

 On the other hand,  Judge Johnston also ordered that  Mallory, who hit the family in 2009,   also has to serve 5 years probation and put a wreath on the graves of the deceased to remind him of what he did.  The family feels short-changed.  On the other hand, the Benedictine nuns said from the beginning that they wanted no retribution and they didn’t want the case to become political. 

Mallory did not receive national attention.  Martinelly did.  Stewart won’t catapult into a state election on the back of Mallory like he is trying to do over Martinelly.  I would just like to see similar cases treated equally. 

Is this guy a redneck or what?

Social conservatives emboldened by Republican gains in the General Assembly in November suffered a major setback Thursday when a Senate committee deadlocked on a bill to prohibit women from having an abortion beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy.

But today, the House of Delegates appears ready to pass a bill to defund state-paid abortions for low-income women expecting a child with “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency” after the chamber advanced the measure Thursday.

The vote was 7-7 on Senate Bill 637 sponsored by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. Republicans hold an 8-7 majority on the committee, but Sen. Harry B. Blevins, R-Chesapeake, abstained, deadlocking the measure.

After the vote, Blevins said he was moved by the wrenching testimony of Tara Schleifer, a mother from Haymarket in Prince William County. She tearfully described ending a pregnancy in its second trimester after learning the fetus had congenital heart and bowel defects that would translate to debilitating pain and suffering as a child.

“I would rather have died than do this to my baby,” said Schleifer, who brought her 3-year-old son to the proceedings.

She said the bill prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks would give families virtually no time to decide whether they need more testing to determine the viability of the fetus.

“It was just traumatic for me to sit there and think about what that woman was going through and not give her any consideration,” Blevins said.

The vote came after conflicting testimony over at what point during gestation a fetus can feel pain. The proposed 20-week limit was predicated on the assumption that fetuses can feel pain beyond 20 weeks, but other citations suggest that does not occur until at least 24 weeks, or roughly the beginning of the third trimester.

In Virginia, abortions are permitted up to a physician’s determination of viability, typically 24 to 25 weeks at the end of the second trimester.

The tie vote, stalling the bill, is a blow for abortion opponents and Republicans who on Wednesday advanced legislation through the full Senate that would require women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound.

“It is unfortunate that by one vote, pain-capable unborn children will continue to suffer the horrific death caused them by abortion,” said Olivia Gans, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life.

Is this woman being deliberately obtuse?  Does she not understand that the abortions being discussed were for fetuses with profound abnormalities, very often conditions that would be horribly painful  post birth?  We treat our animals better than humans if this is the mentality that is being used.  Most of us would never give birth knowingly to  a child who would suffer horrible pain during the course of its life. 

The backlash from this war waged by some of the social conservatives is going to be terrific. It needs to be.  Warnings from the reproductive rights activists were going unheeded.  This daily attack is the end result.  It needed to happen to shake the pro-choice community off its apathy. 

SB637 was stalled but will probably reappear since a similar bill is coming through the delegate assembly and will probably end up in the same committee.  Senator Blevins is to be commended for his careful consideration of an issue that is incredibly painful for women and couples who must consider the termination of a very wanted pregnancy because of severe abnormalities.  Tara Schleifer of Haymarket is a hero for her brave, painful testimony before this group.  It had to be difficult as she spoke through her tears.   Often people who step up and do the right thing subject themselves to harassment by zealots. I sincerely hope that does not happen to this brave woman.

HB 67 should come out of the gate at a fast pace.  That bill is a state funding bill.  Currently poor women who have been victims of rape or incest can have state funded abortions.  

The House of Delegates advanced House Bill 62, introduced by Del. Mark L. Cole, R-Spotsylvania. The measure would repeal a section of state code authorizing the Board of Health to fund abortions in cases of gross incapacity and deformity for women on medical assistance.

The Virginia Department of Health approved funding of 23 abortions in fiscal 2010 with a total cost of $14,681, according to a fiscal impact statement attached to the bill. In fiscal 2011, the department approved funding for 10 abortions for a total cost of $2,784.

Cole said the bill conforms Virginia Medicaid law to federal law by incorporating the Hyde Amendment, a federal provision — named for former Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois — that bars the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions in circumstances other than rape, incest or threat to the mother’s life.

Democrats argued against the measure for the impact it could have on women with no financial means.

“Think about the human beings behind this,” said Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-Fairfax, pointing to the “tremendous burden borne by someone on Medicaid” if her child is born in such a condition.

As of Friday afternoon, HB67 passed the House of Delegates.  NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia released the following:

“No woman plans to have an abortion, but if she needs one, every woman deserves the opportunity to make the best decision for her circumstances. Women and their families should have access to safe and affordable health services, especially in a medical crisis despite her financial circumstances,” said Keene. “Virginia is a Commonwealth which by definition should seek to care for the most vulnerable among us during their most difficult times. The Commonwealth has failed women today.”

Hopefully there will be private funds available.  The anti-choice crowd always over-reaches.  Keep going.  The sleeping giant is awakening.  The women of Virginia won’t go back because of fools who simply refuse to look at the complexities of life outside of a binary operation.  All in life is not good or bad.  Sometimes as humans we have to weigh our choices, like  Tara Schleifer did.  Surely that was not a decision she wanted to have to make.

I will freely divulge that I am a friend of Kim’s and she is one of the most honest, selfless, decent human beings I have the privilege of knowing. She  has a policy of fairness for all, developer and citizen alike. As a planning commissioner she simply expects that everyone will follow the rules that are intended to be applied to development practices, and for that, she is clearly feared by the development community.

Corey Stewart appointed Austin Hayes who is a partner in Christopher Realty. Apparently for one of his very first cases before the Planning Commission he recused himself. So a Developer is perfectly fine as a Planning Commissioner but someone who has no direct monetary gain is NOT!

Citizens should be furious, I know I am. Kim has nothing to gain but ensuring that PWC citizens have access to clean water and air, she works hard to prevent PWC taxpayers from footing the bill for bad development proposals.

She is only one voice and yet, her voice must be very powerful to have scared so many.

I will be writing more on this in the near future, but I felt it was critical to get the information out ASAP.

PWC Dem. Delegate Luke Torrian has introduced HB 405, which seeks to limit participation on Planning Commissions and appears to target nonprofits. It is online here, although the amended language is not yet posted. The bill was referred to the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns, which met this morning and voted in favor of HB 405 with the following amended language:

“In Planning District 8, no private citizen may be appointed as a member of the commission who is a compensated employee or a compensated member of the board of a nonprofit association or organization where such organization advocates for or against the environment and land use policies or regulatory determinations of local government.”

PWC Chamber of Commerce and PWC builders testified for the bill.

Mark Flynn of VML spoke against the bill, citing the unusual nature of targeting one specific Planning District, of the need for qualified people from differing perspectives, of the exemption of homebuilders/developers from this, and because in one quick amendment the bill could be applied statewide.

A Fairfax County rep also spoke against the bill, noting that the PC is advisory to the Board of Supervisors which makes the ultimate decision, that it is hard enough to get citizens to serve and this further limits the pool, that PC’s can have a diversity of viewpoints, and that the conflict of interests statute already covers relevant situations.

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+sum+HB405

I wrote this last week but tabled it as I was told by Delegate Torian’s aid that they were working very hard on getting the bill pulled from committee. They were indeed successful and pulled the bill. It is officially dead and will not rise again from Delegate Torian’s office.

The News and Journal Messenger has written a comprehensive accounting of the “we don’t want Kim Hosen serving as Planning Commissioner” HB405 bill. I will share with you that citizens were concerned that Kim would be targeted as Planning Commissioner, but no one EVER thought it would be through Richmond. Was Corey involved behind the scene? Is Corey afraid that Kim makes him look bad while he runs for Lt Governor?

Mayor Porta had a fabulous quote about this legislation.

It appears to use state law to specifically target an individual who
cannot be removed through Prince William County’s normal processes
because that individual continues to have the support of the county
supervisor who is responsible for her appointment,” stated Porta in a
recent email sent to Torian.

Shame on the PWC Chamber of Commerce for using their influence to try to get rid of a planning commissioner they don’t like, how incredibly juvenile. If you don’t like the development rules in PWC then work to change them, don’t sneak around behind closed doors like cowards.

Obviously the Virginia legislature is not always correct. HBO will air The Loving Story on February 14, Valentine Day. The Lovings were an interracial couple  from Caroline County, Virginia. They grew up, fell in love, and married in Washington, DC. They failed to realize that just living together as man and wife was also illegal.

It’s hard to believe that this nonsense went on back in the 19th century…..wait! It wasn’t the 19th century! This nonsense has been in my lifetime! From Visitcaroline.com:

The Beginning
Richard Loving was born October 29, 1933.

Mildred Delores Jeter was born June 22, 1939.

They grew up and lived as neighbors in Caroline County, Virginia, near Central Point where they fell in love. Because of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, interracial marriage was illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia so Mildred and Richard married on June 2, 1958 in Washington, D.C.

They returned to Caroline County, and they were later arrested on July 14th in their home by Caroline Sheriff Garnett Brooks and two deputies. On January 6, 1959, the Lovings were prosecuted and convicted of violating the state’s anti-miscegenation law.

Judge Leon M. Bazile sentenced each to a one-year jail term at a state penitentiary. However, Judge Bazile promised to suspend their sentences if they agreed to leave the state and not return for 25 years.

The story continued and eventually the case came before the Supreme Court and was THE test case that overturned miscegenation laws in the United States. Loving v. Virginia was handed down in 1967. Inter-racial marriage has only been legal in all states, including our own, for 45 years.

Just to put a few things on the time line:

Brown v. Board of Education                      1954  (desegregation)

Griswold v. Connecticut                                1965 (privacy, contraception)

Loving v. Virginia                                             1967 (privacy, interracial marriage)

Roe v. Wade                                                          1973 (privacy, abortion rights)

Speak all we want about ‘judicial activism (citizens united?), would any of these cases ever been solved at the state level considering all things?  Probably not but they were critical, landmark decisions.  It is critical to keep in mind that Mrs. Loving would be only 73 years old if she were alive today.  If you are 45 or older, this case was decided in your lifetime. 

The Loving Story looks like a must-see!   The Racial Intergrity Act of 1924, a Virginia Law, forbid a white person to marry anyone who wasn’t white. 

From Yahoo News:

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – One Million Moms — a project of the American Family Association — is very angry at JC Penney.

No, not because it sells sweater vests (heck, Rick Santorum is a fan of those), but because the Texas-based department store has hired Ellen DeGeneres as a spokeswoman.

And DeGeneres is — cue the scary music — gay, and open about it.

“Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families,” the million (or so) moms write on their website. “DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.”

One Million Moms is asking people to call JC Penney to complain.

With this campaign, One Million Moms, which claims to be “the most powerful tool you have to stand against the immorality, violence, vulgarity and profanity the entertainment media is throwing at your children,” is going after one of the country’s most-beloved television hosts.

The moms want JC Penney “to replace Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokesperson immediately and remain neutral in the culture war.”

Fat chance, says the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination

What is wrong with people?  I simply do not understand what is happening in my country.  Ellen DeGeneres is a human being and frankly, I don’t stop and think whether she is straight or gay.  I don’t care!  She is a likable entertainer.  She is a fine spokesperson for JC Penney.  She is a well-liked TV host.  I don’t know anyone who dislikes her. 

Why would an organization target someone like Ellen DeGeneres?   These are probably the same people who think some  philanderer like Newt is ok and Ellen is a Godless sinner, bound for the firey pits of Hell.  We don’t treat Americans like this, especially over who she is.  She has done nothing wrong and has hurt no one.  That kind of attack is simply immoral.  I hope the children of the moms are kinder, gentler spirits and more accepting  of their fellow human beings. 

If millions of moms are offended by my post, perhaps they would like to email me so I can tell them how much I am offended by an attack on Ellen DeGeneres.

This is perhaps the most offensive law passed since Roe vs Wade was decided.
The government needs to stay out of women’s wombs.
This is intimidation of the worst sort.

SB 484 passed 21-19.

Here is how the senators voted. Notice the one Democrat over in the list. Ours. Shame on Senator Colgan.

YEAS–Black, Blevins, Carrico, Colgan, Garrett, Hanger, Martin, McDougle, McWaters, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Puckett, Reeves, Ruff, Smith, Stanley, Stosch, Stuart, Vogel, Wagner–21.

NAYS–Barker, Deeds, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola, Herring, Howell, Locke, Marsden, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen, Puller, Saslaw, Watkins–18.

RULE 36–0.

NOT VOTING–Lucas–1.

Senator Howell was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show tonight.

Virginia is for Probing

I take this story very personally. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, both my grandmothers died from breast cancer. I am at high risk for carrying a specific breast cancer gene. I use to be a huge supporter of the Susan G. Kohmen Foundation. That support  has ended as of today. Apparently their leadership has made a choice to cut off the most at risk women who require low cost health care from their funding.

Furor Erupts Over Susan G. Komen Halt Of Grants To Planned Parenthood

The reaction has been intense this evening to the news from The Associated Press that “the nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates.”

Much of it is highly critical of the charity, such as this message from Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.:

“Komen’s decision hurts women — it puts politics before women’s health. @komenforthecure should be ashamed.”

Or this tweet from political satirist and Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead:

“I am crying in a cab at this Komen decision. Tomorrow we will rally. Who is in this fight with me! You can no longer sit idly by.”

The AP story posted on NPR.org  has nearly 400 comments as of this moment. The most recommended at this time:

“I will be halting my support for Komen and I will be telling them why.
This is just silly.” [From "Fly Butterfly."]

According to the AP, the Komen foundation says it has stopped sending money to Planned Parenthood affiliates — who used the funding to provide breast cancer screening and education programs to women — because of an inquiry initiated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., into whether Planned Parenthood has used public money to provide abortions. The Komen foundation’s position is that it does not give grants to organizations that are under investigation. It gave about $680,000 to Planned Parenthood affiliates last year and $580,000 the year before, according to the AP. Planned Parenthood says Komen grants have paid for about 170,000 breast exams in the past five years.

This is part of the letter that Planned Parenthood  has sent to all its members today.

This is for all the anti-choice, anti-women people out there.

Listen up.

You can spend every minute of every day trying to force the rest of us to live by your ideology. You can go after federal funds for health care and pressure private organizations like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to stop funding breast cancer screenings for poor women. You can try to make it impossible to get birth control.

But you know what you can’t do? You can’t win. You can’t break us. Planned Parenthood isn’t just a family of organizations. It’s a movement. It’s women and men of all ages who believe that health care — including reproductive health care — is a basic human right. We are millions strong. We are everywhere. We act, we give, and we do whatever it takes to make sure that Planned Parenthood is there for the women, men, and teens who rely on them.

Know this: When you go after Planned Parenthood and the people they serve, you go after ME. I stand with Planned Parenthood. I stand with them against anyone who wants to stop women from receiving the health care they need. I stand with them today, tomorrow, and for as long as I need to.

Thursday will be the day for this big guy.  Will he see his shadow?  We haven’t had that much winter yet so if he sees his shadow, do we have 6 more weeks of this spring weather? 

I can’t remember a winter this mild.  What is causing it?  Does anyone have daffodils blooming?  Mine have lots of buds.  If we get a hard freeze, will there just not be daffodils this spring?  How does that work?

Bob Beckel was adamant. I don’t see why he had to take a poll about whether to apologize or not.  I am not sure that someone in the military retains the right to demand that others call them by their title.  I am not sure we are under obligation to call any elected official by their elected title.  Let’s take this bit further.  Would Corey Stewart get in your face if you didn’t call him Supervisor Stewart?  How about Jackson Miller?  Would he demand you call him Delegate Miller?  Perhaps Allen West feels he is more important. 

West is a provocateur.  He speaks nastily of others and then very much plays the victim when reprimanded by his peers. 

Perhaps he needs to think before he speaks:

This is a battlefield that we must stand upon. And we need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and my dear friend the Chairman of the Democrat National Committee, we need to let them know that Florida ain’t on the table. Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else! You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America!

I am not ever sure what he was blathering about.  For starters, I don’t think one’s military service excuses rude behavior.  He is apparently too consumed with his own self importance.  Military service might mean one is thanked for their service, most sincerely even.  However, that doesn’t excuse rude behavior or give him the right to say whatever pops into his head.  There are consequences. 

 People are pretty much divided over this dust up.  I haven’t gotten over what West said about Debbie Wasserman-Schults.  After those words, there is no where to go but up.  There is no down.  However, his recent remarks made him a bottom feeder.   Beckel actually ended up showing a littlel more humility than I thought he possessed as he polled others on what he should do.  I think it was a draw.