A Different Drummer
An on-line journal of articles and musings forbidden by the mainstream media.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Evolution of Affirmative Action's “Sticky Question”
By Nicholas Stix
Fresno Bee Reporter Pablo Lopez Calls Whether Qualifications Should Play Any Role in Hiring Decisions a “Sticky Question”
The job in question was a supervisory position tracking paroled pedophiles via a GPS system. State parole agent Philip Andrew Mounts, who is white, and was highly qualified for the job, sued when he was passed over, in favor of an unqualified black man, Ronnie Sims.
According to Pedro Lopez’ account (see below), of three candidates who were interviewed for the job, the only one who was unqualified was Ronnie Sims, the black man who got the job. The top candidate was John Hagler, according to someone Lopez spoke to, whose identity Lopez leaves unclear. Hagler is also white.
Sims shouldn’t even have gotten an interview. We know that he got the interview solely because he was black, because he was woefully unqualified, and because the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s black second-in-command, Judy Harris, got caught lying, after having previously denied knowing Sims’ race in advance. Lopes writes,
He was assigned to the Fresno parole unit that supervised high-risk sex offenders in 2001. Four years later he was one of two parole officers in the state selected to learn how to use the GPS system on high-risk sex offenders, English said. He then trained other officers to use the system, she said.
Meantime, Sims was in units that supervised parolees such as gang members, drug offenders and other criminals. He didn't receive the training to track high-risk sex offenders until he was promoted to supervisor of the unit in 2008, English said.
The assertion by the lawyer representing the state agency, assistant attorney general Connie Broussard (Proctor), that plaintiff Philip Andrew Mounts was just sore because “a black man was promoted above him,” is an ad hominem attack, screamingly stupid, and racist to the bone, whatever her race may be. (But if she isn’t a racist-to-the-bone black woman, she’s doing a heck of an imitation of one.)
Note that before she was appointed an assistant attorney general, Connie Broussard Proctor’s legal erudition consisted of traffic court: She represented drivers who’d received speeding tickets, or who had been arrested for drunk driving.
How does one jump from hustling cases in traffic court, to an assistant attorney general’s gig? One would expect an attorney named to such a powerful position to have experience arguing before the State Supreme Court.
In any event, the rationale that Connie Broussard Proctor gave for the hiring of Ronnie Sims to a high-level position was based on his being “friendly” and his “community work.” Those sound like qualifications for being a Wal-Mart greeter, but hardly count toward a supervisory position tracking pedophiles. Sims’ qualifications involve gangs and drug offenders, but this job had nothing to do with them.
The best qualified candidate was Hagler. The only other qualified candidate was Mounts. Sims was only tendered an interview because Judy Harris is a racist black woman who was rigging the entire process.
Broussard gave away that Sims was hired based solely on the color of his skin, when she said, “Being race conscious is not racism.”
In the early years of affirmative action, from the mid-1960s-to-mid-1970s, its proponents claimed that it functioned by taking cases in which black and white candidates for jobs or college admissions had equal qualifications, and giving the black candidate a tie-breaker.
The reality, as San Francisco State political scientist and former CSU San Jose president John Bunzel and others later reported, was that woefully unqualified black candidates were being advantaged, at the cost of highly qualified whites.
Unfortunately, Philip Andrew Mounts lost his court case.
The notion that “diversity” (race, ethnicity, sex, etc.) should “trump” qualifications is why the Third World is the way it is, and why America is fast becoming a Third World nation. “Diversity” is why South Africa and Zimbabwe have gone from wealthy countries and the bread baskets of Southern Africa to basket cases.
Forty-odd years ago, there was a debate on affirmative action pitting meritocrats who demanded that jobs and college admissions be decided based purely on qualifications, against those who raised the “sticky question” as to whether race or sex should play any role in such decisions.
In her majority opinion in the case Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote,
The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.
Most of the meritocrats have deserted the fight, leaving us with, on one side, soothing racial sycophants who deceive like O’Connor, or those who assure us that nobody believes in affirmative action anymore; and on the other side with those who denounce defenders of the merit principle as sore losers, at best, and as “white supremacists,” at worst, and who readily turn to violence to impose their will.
[A tip ‘o the do-rag to The Man at, Nation of Cowards, and NPI.]
White parole agent claims discrimination
By Pablo Lopez
The Fresno Bee
Saturday, August 27, 2011 | 9:01 PM
The white candidate for state parole supervisor of a high-risk sex-offender unit in Fresno was a specialist in tracking pedophiles.
The black candidate had no training in tracking sex offenders, but scored points with the interview panel for being friendly and for his community work.
When state parole agent Philip Andrew Mounts didn't get the job, he wondered if the color of his skin played a role. He is white and the parole agent who was promoted -- Ronnie Sims -- is black.
Mounts sued the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for race discrimination. A jury has been selected in Fresno County Superior Court to determine whether his claim is valid. The trial resumes Monday.
The trial in Judge Alan Simpson's courtroom is tackling the sticky question of whether a person's race should trump a person's credentials to satisfy an employer's desire to create a diverse workplace.
For Mounts, a verdict in his favor would mean vindication of his right to question his superiors about the hiring process, especially when public safety is involved, said Fresno attorney Monrae English, who is representing Mounts
"Stand up and speak out -- that's the right thing to do," English said in opening statements of the trial.
But criticizing the state's hiring process has spelled trouble for her client, English said. He was alienated from his superiors and subjected to unfair criticism by them, she told the panel.
The attorney for the state corrections agency, however, said Mounts wasn't the top candidate for the supervisorial job.
"He may have felt entitled to the promotion," said Connie Broussard, a deputy attorney general. "But you can't always get what you want."
Broussard said the interview panel was impressed with Sims, a former Fresno police officer. He is friendly and has good interview skills and a bachelor's degree in criminology.
Broussard described Mounts as unfriendly, especially toward the female supervisors on the interview panel. She also said Mounts is angry because "a black man was promoted above him."
Filling the supervisor's position became a priority after California voters in November 2006 passed Proposition 83, known as Jessica's Law, which required convicted high-risk sex offenders to wear GPS monitors to track their whereabouts.
The law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida girl who was raped and murdered in February 2005 by a convicted sex offender.
More than 1,200 California parole agents statewide were interested in the supervisor job in Fresno, Broussard said. That list was whittled to the top three candidates: John Hagler, a parole agent in Fresno who is white, Sims and Mounts.
Mounts is a former Reedley police officer and sex-crimes detective. He has been a state parole officer for 15 years and has a bachelor's degree in business.
He was assigned to the Fresno parole unit that supervised high-risk sex offenders in 2001. Four years later he was one of two parole officers in the state selected to learn how to use the GPS system on high-risk sex offenders, English said. He then trained other officers to use the system, she said.
Meantime, Sims was in units that supervised parolees such as gang members, drug offenders and other criminals. He didn't receive the training to track high-risk sex offenders until he was promoted to supervisor of the unit in 2008, English said.
According to English, Rick Burrows, the head administrator of adult parole for the region that stretches from Bakersfield to Fresno, promoted Sims on the advice of Judy Harris, who was second-in-command at the time. The hiring system was flawed because the top candidate was Hagler, but Harris told Burrows that the interview panel wanted Sims, English said.
Harris, who is African-American, initially said that she didn't know Sims was black when she talked to Burrows, English told jurors. But in a deposition before trial, Harris admitted that she knew Sims was black, English told jurors.
But Broussard said Burrows, who is white, had the final authority to hire Sims.
Mount just wasn't the right fit, she said.
"Being race conscious is not racism," Broussard told the panel.
Broussard said Mounts isn't a victim of discrimination. "He was just not picked at the time," Broussard said, noting that Mounts was promoted to a position higher than Sims after he sued the state agency.
Jury rejects reverse discrimination claim
By Anonymous
The Fresno Bee
Monday, September 12, 2011 | 10:17 PM
A jury on Monday rejected a white state parole agent’s reverse discrimination lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Philip Andrew Mounts sued in Fresno County Superior Court after a black parole agent was promoted to supervisor of a high-risk sex-offender unit in 2008. Mounts contended that he had more experience and training than Ronnie Sims in tracking pedophiles.
The attorney for the state corrections agency, however, said Mounts wasn’t the top candidate for the supervisorial [sic] job at the time.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Hate Crime in Tulsa: Two Black Men Confess to Murdering Young White Couple, Execution-Style; Darren Price, 19, and Jerard Dwaine Davis, 21, Say They Were Robbing Carissa Horton, 18, and Ethan Nichols, 21, When They Decided, What the Heck, They Might as Well Murder Them, Too; Prior to Getting Caught, One Killer Gave a TV News Interview Bemoaning the Park’s Dangers
 Murder victims Carissa Horton,18, and Ethan Nichols, 21.
 Racist confessed murderer, Darren Price.
 Racist confessed murderer, Jerard Davis.
You can bet the farm these guys will recant their confessions, say they were coerced, and plead not guilty. Then we can look forward to friends and supporters crafting a story, in which these guys were the angelic victims of racist white cops and prosecutors. We'll be paying millions for their upkeep and trials.
Thanks to reader-researcher-legman, David in TN.
Tulsa police say park shooting victims robbed, executed
By JERRY WOFFORD, BILL SHERMAN & JARREL WADE World Staff Writers
Published: 9/21/2011 2:29 AM
Last Modified: 9/21/2011 8:39 AM
Tulsa World
Two victims of an execution-style killing apparently were out on a romantic stroll Sunday night when they were "senselessly" gunned down, police said.
Carissa Horton, 18, and Ethan Nichols, 21, were found dead Monday morning at Hicks Park in the 3400 block of South Mingo Road. Horton was a week away from turning 19.
"These kids appear to be innocent folks, and these suspects appear to have ambushed them," Sgt. Dave Walker said.
Darren Price, 19, and Jerard Dwaine Davis, 21, have been arrested on two complaints each of first-degree murder and robbery. They are being held without bail.
Police said the victims were forced to their knees and were shot in the head after the robbery.
Nichols and Horton had arrived at the park to take a walk about 9:25 p.m. Sunday, Walker said.
Both Davis and Price told police that they ambushed the couple in the park with a motive to rob them but then decided to kill them, according to police reports.
Price and Davis then left in Nichols' car, a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am, about 11:20 p.m. Sunday, police allege.
Horton's and Nichols' bodies were found about 10:45 a.m. Monday along a walking trail by a couple walking their dog, police said.
Horton was a freshman at Oral Roberts University, majoring in music.
Clarence Boyd, dean of spiritual formation at ORU, said students who knew Horton were shocked by the news of the deaths.
"It was very traumatic," he said. "The young people were shook up about it." He said they have since come together in prayer and unity.
Boyd met Tuesday with several members of Horton's family, who came down from Keokuk, Iowa.
"When parents lose a child, that's devastating," he said. "It's horrific. It didn't have to happen."
Boyd said Horton loved ORU in her six weeks there.
Nichols also was from Keokuk, Iowa, and had attended Southeastern Community College, according to his Facebook profile. He had since moved to the Tulsa area and worked at Blue Bell Creamery's Broken Arrow plant.
His funeral services are pending with Hayhurst Funeral Home in Broken Arrow.
Horton's services are pending with DeJong-Greaves Funeral Home in Keokuk.
On Tuesday, a steady flow of students took the elevator up into the prayer tower on the ORU campus. A prayer vigil was held that evening.
Jessica Fitzgerald, an ORU sophomore who was the resident adviser on Horton's dormitory wing, said Horton was "very talented."
"I used to love to listen to her sing with her roommate," she said.
Fitzgerald described Horton as quiet, but "we had some good conversations," she said.
Students were sobbing and praying together at a Monday night dorm-wing meeting at which the deaths were announced, she said.
Oral Roberts University President Mark Rutland sent an email to faculty, staff and students Monday evening, notifying them of Horton's death.
He said the entire ORU family has come together in prayer.
"We know how to rejoice together, and we know how to weep together," Rutland said.
"We'll just continue to process it. It's like culture shock."
He said he was not aware of any other ORU student ever being a homicide victim.
Nichols' family called in a missing-person report Monday morning and described his vehicle, which police learned had been taken from the park, Walker said.
Police searched all apartment complexes within 10 square miles of Hicks Park and found the car at the Salida Creek apartments in the 10100 block of East 32nd Street. They watched it until two men, one of whom was identified by police as Price, were seen getting into the vehicle. Officers then attempted to stop the vehicle, but it sped off, Walker said.
The car crashed at the entrance of an apartment complex after a short chase, and the occupants fled on foot. Officers caught them and took them to the Detective Division for questioning.
Officers found the victims' cell phones in Price's possession, according to his arrest report.
The report states that the information provided by Price was "consistent with the position the victims were found (in) at the crime scene."
The other person taken into custody after the chase was released, but officers learned about Davis' possible involvement, Walker said.
Davis was located by homicide detectives, agents with the Northern Oklahoma Violent Crimes Task Force and Tulsa police warrants officers about 11 p.m. at an apartment complex near 31st Street and Mingo Road, Walker said.
He was taken into custody after a short foot chase, his arrest report states.
Officers obtained a search warrant and found a 9 mm pistol in Davis' bathroom, according to his arrest report. The pistol was "consistent with the two 9 mm shell casings recovered from the crime scene," the report states.
Tulsa County court records show that Davis was charged in January 2009 with possession of a stolen vehicle. He pleaded guilty in April 2009, and the next month, District Judge Milley Otey deferred a finding of guilt and sentencing for two years, with community service, restitution and drug-testing requirements during that period of probation.
District Judge William Kellough issued an order to accelerate the deferred sentencing in February 2010. Davis' sentencing initially was scheduled for July 6, 2010, but when he did not appear for court on that date, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, court records show.
After his arrest, a series of other delays occurred. He was later released from jail again to allow him time to complete his restitution requirements, court records show. His sentencing was last scheduled for Nov. 7 of this year.
Before the other suspect, Price, was apprehended, he gave an interview to a KTUL, Channel 8, reporter at the park several hours after the bodies were found. In a video of the interview, posted on KTUL's website, Price told the reporter that he takes his children to the park to play, and he questioned the safety of the area.
"I think it's real crazy," Price says in the video. "I bring my kids out here to play. It's got to raise a question. Is it safe even to walk around this town with people just dying and stuff like this? It's not cool. ... It don't make me feel too easy, and I stay close by here."
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World Assistant Editor Mary Bishop contributed to this story.
Original Print Headline: Police say victims robbed, executed
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