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NC COURT WATCH Spotlights on false charges and arrests by Mecklenburg County Courthouse Sergeant Kenneth B. Cooper who falsely charged and arrested Danita Mitchell on September 28, 2009. On September 29, 2009, Sergeant Kenneth B. Cooper instructed Deputy M. A. Monroe to falsely charge and arrest Danita Mitchell. Click on Download File below to play the September 28 & 29, 2009, false arrest incidents. This is another example of abuse of power under color of law crimes being committed against innocent citizens:
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Three Branches of Government
In 1787 the leaders of the states wanted a strong and fair national government. They also wanted toprotect individual freedoms and prevent the government from abusing its power.They believed they could do this by having three separate branches of government: the executive, the legislative and the judicial. This separation is described in the first three articles, or sections, of the Constitution.
Executive Branch
The President, the head of the executive branch, which makes laws official. The President is elected by the entire country and serves a four-year term. The President approves and carries out laws passed by the legislative branch. He appoints or removes cabinet members and officials. He negotiates treaties, and acts as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces.The executive branch also includes the Vice President and other officials, such as members of the cabinet. The cabinet is made up of the heads of the 15 major departments of the government. The cabinet gives advice to the President about important matters.
The Cabinet
The Secretary of State
The Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of Defense
The Attorney General (Justice Department)
The Secretary of the Interior
The Secretary of Agriculture
The Secretary of Commerce
The Secretary of Labor
The Secretary of Health and Human Services
The Secretary of Homeland Security
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The Secretary of Transportation
The Secretary of Education
The Secretary of Energy
The Secretary of Veterans' Affairs
Legislative Branch
The legislative branch is made up of the two houses of Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives. The most important duty of the legislative branch is to make laws. Laws are written, discussed and voted on in Congress.
There are 100 senators in the Senate, two from each state. Senators are elected by their states and serve six-year terms. The Vice President of the U.S. is considered the head of the Senate, but does not vote in the Senate unless there is a tie. The Senate approves nominations made by the President to the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, federal courts and other posts. The Senate must ratify all treaties by a two-thirds vote.
There are 435 representatives in the House of Representatives. The number of representatives each state gets is based on its population. When Census figures determine that the population of a state has changed significantly, the number of representatives in that state may shift proportionately. Representatives are elected by their states and serve two-year terms. The Speaker of the House, elected by the representatives, is considered the head of the House.
Both parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives elect leaders. The leader of the party that controls the house is called the majority leader. The other party leader is called the minority leader.
Judicial Branch
The judicial branch oversees the court system of the U.S. Through court cases, the judicial branch explains the meaning of the Constitution and laws passed by Congress. The Supreme Court is the head of the judicial branch. Unlike a criminal court, the Supreme Court rules whether something is constitutional or unconstitutional—whether or not it is permitted under the Constitution.
On the Supreme Court there are nine justices, or judges: eight associate justices and one chief justice. The judges are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. They have no term limits. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. Its decisions are final, and no other court can overrule those decisions. Decisions of the Supreme Court set precedents—new ways of interpreting the law.
Electoral College Documentary
What is a delegate?
Delegates are individuals chosen to represent their states at their party conventions prior to a presidential election. The rules for selecting delegates, which are dictated by the parties, vary not only by party, but by state, and sometimes by congressional district. A party might grant additional delegates as a reward if a state has a recent history of supporting that party. In other cases, delegates might simply be allocated to a state based on the percentage of votes that state is granted in the Electoral College.
At both conventions, delegates must cast their vote in favor of one candidate. If no clear majority is reached, they must continue voting until they do. During the primary process, the party is choosing their candidates. The goal is to narrow it down to the candidates who most represent the party, and who have the greatest chance of winning.
Who are the delegates?
Delegates are often party activists, local political leaders, or early supporters of a given candidate. Delegates can also include members of a campaign's steering committee. In some cases, delegates are long-time active members of their local party organization.
The final list of delegates and their campaign affiliations is public, as is a record of their votes at the conventions.
What is a superdelegate?
The Democratic Party has superdelegates, which include elected officials, like members of Congress, and party officials. At the Democratic convention, superdelegates account for twenty percent of overall delegates. They can throw their support to whomever they want at the convention.
The Democratic nomination process was altered to include superdelegates in 1984. Some experts say Democratic candidate George McGovern's landslide 1972 loss to Richard Nixon influenced the party's introduction of superdelegates.
How does the Republican Party pick delegates?
To win the nomination, a candidate must win the votes of at least 1,191 delegates at the convention. The Republican Party rules for selecting those delegates vary from state to state. In some states, a portion of delegates is allotted to each congressional district, while in others the entire state is allowed a certain number of delegates. Each state chooses ten "at-large" delegates and three additional "district delegates" for each Representative that state has in the House. Each state can also earn bonus delegates if a Republican candidate won that state in the last presidential election, or if the state elected Republicans to Congress, the governorship, or state legislative majorities.
The Republican Party used to have a largely winner-take-all system, meaning that whichever candidate won a given state would then receive all of that state's delegates. States using a proportional system allocate delegates to candidates proportionally to the percentage of votes that candidate won in the primary election.
How does the Democratic Party pick delegates?
Eighty percent of the delegates will arrive at the Democratic National Convention having already been pledged to a specific candidate during the primaries and caucuses. The Democratic Party system was designed to be proportional Any Democratic candidate receiving at least 15 percent of the vote in a given primary or caucus is entitled to a proportional number of delegates from that state.
In states like Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, the Democratic delegate selection process is integrated with the primary voting process. The local political organization generally decides which potential delegates appear on the slate, though whether that decision is made by the county, congressional district, or state level varies from state to state, and by the stage in the electoral process.
Some states, such as New Hampshire, have pre-primary caucuses before the election attended by people who support a particular candidate. Caucus attendees select a slate of delegates who are then pledged to their respective candidates.
Other states have a similar caucus system, but instead of holding the caucus to select the delegates before the primary, they hold it afterward. In these cases, caucus-goers already know how many delegates each candidate will be awarded and can select delegates to attend the convention.
In states with caucus systems, like Iowa, caucus-goers elect delegates from separate precinct caucuses to their county conventions. Then, delegates to the county conventions elect delegates to the state convention caucuses. Eventually, these caucuses elect delegates to the Democratic National Convention, those remaining delegates will then elect national convention delegates.
What is the role of independents?
Because independent voters are unaffiliated with any party, they do not as a group receive delegates or hold their own national nominating convention or meeting. Some states allow voters to switch their party affiliation the day before an election, so that independents can choose to register as a Republican or Democrat if they support a specific candidate. Elsewhere, voters can pick whichever candidate they prefer, regardless of party affiliation. Still, a total of 18 states nationwide do not allow independents to vote in primaries at all.
Third parties, like the Green Party, can pick delegates for their own conventions. But because third-party candidates rarely earn a large percentage of the primary vote, the candidates their delegates select tend to garner little national attention compared to the Democratic and Republican candidates.
What is a brokered convention?
For many years, party primaries and caucuses have produced the successful nominees and conventions served to formally anoint the presidential candidates on the first ballot. But in the event of a competitive primary process, delegates at a convention could have more difficulty in reaching a clear majority of support for any one candidate. A brokering process then takes place, with multiple ballots a possibility. Though a brokered convention has not occurred in either party since 1952 when Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic nomination.