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An inmate at the federal prison in Florence, Colorado filed a grievance against a correctional officer for extending a mirror underneath a bathroom stall to peep at him while on the toilet and said there are numerous inmates who have been victims of the sexual misconduct. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) defines this type of sexual abuse as "voyeurism."

The prosecution of former Undersheriff Tanaka and eight other Los Angeles County Sheriff Department (LASD) officials came after Sheriff Lee Baca allegedly took full responsibility and admitted he personally ordered and directed an investigation into FBI agents orchestrating the smuggling of cell phones and narcotics into a violent inmate housed at an LASD jail as part of an FBI sting. Although both federal law and California law makes it clear that orchestrating the smuggling of cell phones into a county jail is a felony, Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Fox put the FBI above the law, alleging 1) that there was no probable cause for LASD to investigate the FBI, 2) that the LASD's investigation was a "sham" and 3) prosecuting and wrongly-convicting nine LASD officials who followed Baca's orders and conducted a lawful investigation, of obstruction of justice for interfering with the FBI's investigation.

The 10th Circuit Judicial Council has failed to respond to an August 18, 2016 judicial complaint appeal related to alleged misconduct of district court judge Christine M. Arguello, and 10th Circuit appellate judges Harris L. Hartz, Bobby Baldock and Jerome Holmes (Dist. Colo. case no. 09-cr-00266-CMA, 10th Cir. case no. 11-1487). A Just Cause is now asking select members of Congress to inquire into why the 10th Circuit refuses to answer on the complaint that has been pending for nearly 10 months.

Advocacy group, A Just Cause, announces this Thursday's, May 25, 2017 segment of AJC Radio's, "Spotlight on Capitol Hill" will shine the spotlight on Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (www.AJCRadio.com, 8-10 PM ET).

There is no doubt that the LASD9 (Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, Captain Tom Carey, Lt. Steve Leavins, Lt. Greg Thompson, Sgt. Scott Craig, Sgt. Maricela Long, Deputy James Sexton, Deputy Mickey Manzo and Deputy Gerard Smith) were wrongly-convicted," says Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause. "Sheriff Lee Baca had the law on his side and should have stood his ground and defended LASD professionals under his leadership who followed his orders to investigate the FBI, for not only enlisting the services of a violent career criminal to investigate alleged LASD deputy abuses, but smuggled cell phones and narcotics into LASD jails," says Banks. "Using a violent career felon, who had just been sentenced to over 400 years in prison by the California justice system, to investigate California law enforcement officials is outrageous government conduct," adds Banks.

According to USA Today (April 9, 2017) the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) paid $2 million dollars in bonuses to top administrators despite failures to deal with overcrowding, chronic staffing shortages, sexual harassment problems and providing inadequate healthcare to thousands of inmates. One former BOP official told government auditors that medical staffing vacancies had reached a "crisis level" and in 2016, the Inspector General found that prison authorities were struggling to provide adequate healthcare to thousands of inmates due to persistent staffing shortages. The staffing shortages, according to a USA Today examination last year, were cascading across the system, often forcing unqualified nurses, physical therapists and other senior medical staffers to fill gaps on guard duty and other security-related shifts -- a poor decision that has endangered both prison staff and the public. "Fraud waste and abuse at federal prison camps is the real crisis for the BOP," contends Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause.

The wrongful conviction and imprisonment of nine Los Angeles County Sheriff law enforcement officers known as the LASD9 (Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, Captain Tom Carey, Lt. Steve Leavins, Lt. Greg Thompson, Sgt. Scott Craig, Sgt. Maricela Long, Deputy James Sexton, Deputy Mickey Manzo, Deputy Gerard Smith) and six Colorado information technology executives known as the IRP6 (David A. Banks, Kendrick Barnes, Gary L. Walker, Demetrius K. Harper, David A. Zirpolo and Clinton A. Stewart) is not only about an epidemic of prosecutorial abuses of power that destroys careers and hurts families, but also exposes the cruelty of the U.S. justice system and explains why American citizens continue to account for 25% of the world's prison population.

On September 27, 2011, the LA Times reported that the "FBI orchestrated an undercover sting" to smuggle a cell phone into an inmate at a Los Angeles County Sheriff Department (LASD) jail and about Sheriff Lee Baca's public comments that the FBI's actions were criminal (lat.ms/2nPxAJ1). "Our review of the case shows the FBI may have engaged in misconduct and possibly committed a crime that endangered the lives of LASD deputies," says Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause. "When Baca ordered a lawful and legitimate internal investigation into alleged FBI misconduct, the FBI cried obstruction of justice, claiming the Baca and subordinates who were conducting the investigation against FBI agents were interfering with their federal probe," adds Banks. "As a result, Undersheriff Paul Tanaka and eight other LASD subordinates were wrongly convicted and sent to prison for following orders of Baca to investigate," says Banks. "A Just Cause is hurting for these, their spouses and their children and will fight to vindicate them and tell their side of the story where the mainstream media failed to do so," adds Banks.

According to the February 8, 2017 Bloomberg Criminal Law Reporter (Vol. 100, no. 18, pg. 393), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) are ready to release criminal justice reform legislation but are waiting on a green light from the White House. A Just Cause is urging Congress and President Trump to close 76 federal prison camps and eliminate this wasteful extension of the welfare system that, according the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, houses, clothes, feeds and provides healthcare for nearly 22,000 non-violent offenders.

If somebody asked you if a bank or car dealer approved you for a loan or extension of credit based solely on you falsely representing that you have one of the highest paying jobs in the country, you would think they were either joking or just asking a ridiculous question, because that would simply not be enough to influence a business to extend you credit. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, based on law established by the U.S. Supreme Court, said to prove that a person obtained a loan or credit by fraudulent means under federal mail and wire fraud statutes, the government must show that a false statement or representation "has the natural tendency to influence, or is capable of influencing, the decision of the decision-making body to which it is addressed." A false statement about a high paying job to a bank or car dealer wouldn't be capable of influencing them into approving a loan or extending credit to someone any more than a real estate agent could influence a home buyer to purchase ocean-front property in Colorado. Basically, for fraud to be fraud, it must be reasonably expected to deceive a person of ordinary intelligence. However, in a federal criminal case (Dist. Colo. case no. 09-cr-00266-CMA), which is known as the "IRP6" case, former Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh and his subordinate, Assistant United States Attorney Matthew T. Kirsch, prosecuted six information technology executives by absurdly alleging that staffing companies would not have extended credit to the executive's company if not for being "induced" or influenced by false statements about having a large "current or impending" government contract. Not surprisingly, when Kirsch tried to prove these absurd claims at trial, his own staffing company witnesses confirmed, like any other business, they extended credit based on creditworthiness, not verbal statements about contracts. Virtually all witnesses said they were not even responsible for making the decision to extend credit which makes one wonder why Kirsch had them testify when they couldn't have been influenced to extend credit because they were not even involved in the process. The witnesses repeatedly admitted they assumed there was a contract or denied statements about contracts were ever made by the defendants. Listen to what the government witnesses had to say directly from trial transcripts.