Report: deputies should have never been charged in McCullaugh case. http://ping.fm/RdRAG

New Week, Same Complaint?

Last week, the Akron Beacon Journal had some strong words for the Sheriff and progress -- or lack of -- in the jailhouse death of inmate Mark McCullaugh. Something tells me they won't be very happy with this week's news, either.

In the editorial and on Friday night's NewsNight Akron television program, the newspaper opined the public deserved to know far more about the death of jail inmate Mark McCullaugh three years ago. For those not following from home, McCullaugh died under the cloud of rough handling when he died under struggle with deputies.

The newspaper charges the delay in finding out what really happened behind bars in the jail's mental health unit -- where, one must point out, McCullaugh was almost a regular -- is still missing an independent and complete assessment. The ABJ then goes on to muse a strong county executive would have wrapped all this up by now.

Despite seeing one deputy cleared of murder; despite five deputies cleared of criminal charges, and another deputy cleared of perjury; despite civil suit settlements that took all those years, still there's no clear picture on what happened.

I don't think the latest release is going to help shed anymore light on exactly what led to the tortured life of a man who should have been in any institution other than a jail, except for the fact that we as a society have decided it isn't right to provide middle ground for the Mark McCullaughs who are a danger to themselves, others close to them, and the men and women we trust to treat their health and watch over their safety.

On pulling the County Executive into the fray, it bears pointing out an independent Sheriff isn't exactly why McCullaugh died behind bars. Raising the issue of charter government is the kind of political distraction one usually sees in Washington, not Akron.

In fact, County Executive Russ Pry provided an attorney from the County's law department to investigate. According to an executive summary by Linda Murphy, released Friday by Sheriff Drew Alexander, there are several points from her independent examination that don't quite mesh with the conventional account we've read the past three years.

She says:

• no criminal charges should have been bought against the five Summit County deputies, no state or federal laws were violated and no policies of the Sheriff's office were violated;

• the deputies involved should have never been indicted in the first place, and blames pursuit of an indictment on Grand Jury "misled by an incomplete and poor investigation";

• among the issues: the special investigator of the Ohio BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigation) provided testimony that was "incorrect and inflammatory" and that laws on use of force "...were not properly reviewed and may not have been understood..." by investigator William O'Connor;

• O'Connor's testimony that McCullaugh was not a threat to himself or anyone else ignored the record of seven prior suicide attempts, four threats to kill his ex-wife, more than a dozen incidents of "homicidal and violent behavior" and even two cases where his mother was afraid he would kill or harm her;

Murphy's report also disputes central tenants of the scenario used to indict, noting medical testimony "defied logic" and came from the medical examiner, George Sterbenz, who never even looked at McCullaugh's medical records until after signing the death certificate, and charges that McCullaugh was "..hogtied, anally raped, pepper sprayed and tasered..." excessively could not be confirmed by the evidence.

Murphy goes on to note Doctor Sterbenz apparently was even confused over how pepper spray works, contradicting the testimony of five others -- including emergency room doctor, paramedic, deputy and nurses at the jail. She even points to a lack of evidence backing up a claim by Deputy Joshua Griffin that other deputies used excessive force -- even after Griffin admitted he changed his testimony and recanted. Griffin is the deputy who escaped perjury charges last week when another Grand Jury issued a "no bill", or failure to indict.

Expect to see and hear more from Murphy's report -- the kind of independent review from the Executive's office the newspaper called for -- later this week.

The Beacon Journal may be right about one thing: it is highly unlikely we'll know what happened inside the confines of the mental health unit that left McCullaugh dead, 11 others injured or involved directly, and the lives of six corrections officers in legal purgatory for years.

What we do know is the system didn't work for Mark McCullaugh or those Summit County deputies, hospital and social workers who came into contact with a man out of control and in such rage use of force meant nothing. Society didn't like the idea of men and woman wandering in rubber-walled hellholes. Thanks to stereotypes such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and a public thirst for bars instead of in-control treatment, we aren't likely to get a safe place to protect those who would harm us and themselves soon.

Sheriff Drew Alexander has taken a harsh rap for this case, and unfairly. He's been consistent about sharing information as much as he could with lawsuits and investigations swirling, while calling attention to the greater problem beyond the tragedy of Mark McCullaugh. Alexander noted, early on, that this wasn't just an isolated exposure of a system that doesn't work well.

When do we face the next Mark McCullaugh?

Like seeing the FCC is concentrating on public and community service, not bailouts. http://ping.fm/8X06V

Snowed Under but TGFJ

That's Thank God For Jake. Love the job Jake Tapper did on This Week this morning; on a day when Washington, D.C. was more worried about digging out than digging deeper into the issues, Jake keeps the focus on the issues. And bless Peggy Noonan!

Frank Magid dead at 78, cancer.http://ping.fm/Gh45L

First Amendment Chat: Barbara Cochran

During a recent visit to Washington, I had the opportunity to sit down with RTDNA President Emeritus Barbara Cochran and talk about the First Amendment.

Barbara's an Akron native -- proud grad of Buchtel High School and Swenson's fan to this day -- but what she has to say about the First Amendment as a tool for citizens, not just the media. It hits home at a time when there's serious debate on what the government should do to bail out journalism, and a drive in some circles to make free speech not-so-free.

The Radio Television Digital News Foundation (RTDNF) is honoring Cochran; NAB's Marcellus Alexander; CBS Radio's Harvey Nagler; ABC News' David Westin and NBC's Brian Williams March 4th in Washington at our 20th Annual First Amendment Awards celebration.

Way Too Funny: How To Do A Package

Funny and unfortunately very true. Future video journalists (let's just scrap the TV name at some point), please pay attention to the man with the British accent.

Check out the archive of our live blogging from the RTDNF News and Terrorism Workshop in STL. http://ping.fm/G6I1O

Fans of putting content behind web pay walls: might want to read this one before pulling the trigger... http://ping.fm/RMG33

Feeling Light Headed?

I guess I should be honored. After all, it isn't every day a national political figure reaches out with a "personal" letter. Let there be Light!

You may have seen the Cleveland Plain Dealer's coverage of "Ellie Light", the prolific letter writer published in dozens of newspapers, all listing local addresses.

Wow, now I'm on the list. Lucky me, I guess.

Ellie's took folks at Gannett in the Dairyland to task for apologizing for publishing her letter. Not even getting into discussion over the content, is it fraud to use false pretenses when using a local address?

- - -

My name is Ellie Light, and Gannett Wisconsin Media has officially apologized to Fox News for publishing my letter. Michele Malkin's website, based in Washington DC, had objected to my letter's publication in Wisconsin media, because it wasn't written by a Wisconsin resident.

Here is the letter I wrote that Gannett felt so ashamed for running:

"A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again,
that health care legislation was proceeding without a bump, that
Afghanistan suddenly became a nice place to take your kids, we would've
known we were being lied to. Back then, we recognized that the problems
Obama inherited as President wouldn't go away overnight.

During his campaign, Obama clearly said that an economy that took eight
years to break couldn't be fixed in a year, that Afghanistan was a
graveyard of empires, and would not be an easy venture for us. Candidate
Obama didn't feed us happy-talk, which is why we elected him. He never
said America could solve our health care, economic and security problems
without raising the deficit. Instead, he talked of hard choices, of
government taking painful and contentious first steps towards fixing
problems that can't be left for another day.

Right after Obama's election, we seemed to grasp this. We understood that
companies would be happy to squeeze more work out of frightened employees,
and would be slow to hire more. We understood that the banks that had
extorted us out of billions of dollars, were lying when they said they
would share their recovery. We understood that a national consensus on
health care would not come easily. Candidate Obama never claimed that his
proposed solutions would work flawlessly right out of the box, and we
respected him for that.

But today, the President is being attacked as if he were a salesman who
promised us that our problems would wash off in the morning. He never made
such a promise. It's time for Americans to realize that governing is hard
work, and that a President can't just wave a magic wand and fix
everything."

As you can guess, it wasn't the letter's origin that got under the big Fox's skin. I'd say it was the content. What do you think? Anyway, feel free to publish or post it as you see fit. If further verification is required, feel free to call me at XXX XXX XXX. If you Google "Ellie Light," you'll be told all kinds of things about me. Or, you could just call.

- - -

Now back to me.

Whatever "Ellie" wants to write is fine by me; there's a great (recent) history of bloggers and commenting from anonymous folks or those choosing a different handle. Does anyone really believe locations listed on Topix? Newspaper letters to the editor, however, supposedly require a bit more since the print edition stakes credibility on publishing public opinion from real people, not automated or "astroturf" campaigns.

Whatever Ellie thinks, fine -- but does lying about who and where you are mean you lie?

Thoughts?

Wind shear diverted us from LGA to BWI (think first 15 minutes of LOST...yeah, that bad) now heading to ATL for CAK. Alphabet soup!

New York up and back Monday; looking forward to talking with some of the best of the best on W. 57th.

James Quello, FCC Commissioner 1974 to 1998 and acting chairman in 1993, dead today at home outside Washington.

Some damn fine reporting from Sabrina Eaton at the Cleveland PD on letter to the editor snafu...http://ping.fm/GH43R

Browns takes MASen, both AP and CNN say. Globe reports Coakley makes concession call.

Thanks CNN for pointing out most vote totals so far from western MA; place does make a difference. What's Boston voting?

Interesting; MA elections run not by counties but municipalities? Not much info other than early results but not where vote comes from.

Tonight TV media still calls it Ted Kennedy's seat instead of the seat held by the late Sen. Kennedy. Lazy.

Thanks @RTDNA for the wonderful reminder the media isn't supposed to lay down and suck up the scraps. http://ping.fm/2wxdB

Haiti: "tragic disconnect" in relief efforts, also reports French can't get relief in to airport.http://ping.fm/vjgkN

Testing CoverItLive

Here's a test using CoverItLive with a MacBook Pro:

Good lord! Fox8 reports Hopkins has a bigger generator backup, just never connected. How do people not get fired? MAJORFAIL

Nice reminder that just because it's breaking news doesn't mean it's a surprise. McGwire comes clean: http://ping.fm/BCWak

WTH? Now we're entering 20-30 years of global COOLING? My head is snapping off...http://ping.fm/phAUM

Interesting: airport x-rays will see more of us than we'll see of the health care conference committees.

Sorry, but I always love the irony when global warming protests are snowed or iced out... http://ping.fm/cgaNq

More from Politico on Limbaugh taken to hospital with chest pains.http://ping.fm/Xij3T

Holy Cow! ABC's Brian Ross catches FAA, $5 mil party at OMNI CNN Center -- but no CNN logos in shots. http://ping.fm/FKyAB

Holy cow! ABC's Brian http://ping.fm/JUgyU

It's Holmgren... http://ping.fm/RXN93

House fans show their passion; MOST DVR's network TV show, hands down. From MediaWeek:http://ping.fm/cj1FH

Kudos to my pals at 94.9 WQMX, broadcasting the annual Tree of Lights campaign to benefit the Haven of Rest! Light 'em up!

Sad news from the Akron Zoo...not even a city full of Zippy fans is enough to find a foster parent! http://ping.fm/tMCG9

Whew...this picture is worth about three thousand words. Think twice on those billboard ads and Tweets... http://ping.fm/cBhcv

Congrats to WBNS-TV GM Tom Griesdorn for national recognition. One of the good guys... http://ping.fm/zRB8U

VIDEO Just A Little Dancin'

Thanks to my sister Barbara in Alabama for the link; heading into the holidays, it's nice to just watch people having fun doing something simple.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

NFL Update: Browns at Lions won't be seen in Michigan, not enough tickets sold. My guess: not much of a difference here in NEO, either.

Here's the Jamal Lewis story -- he's a Raven at heart -- spurring so much talk in what used to be Browns Town. http://ping.fm/RTWMq

Kudos to the folks at WCPN's "Sound of Ideas" for a remarkable show this morning; the Scopes Monkey Trial was a sham! Evolution of a news story? http://ping.fm/KHDo5

Well deserved! cbs 60Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft honored with RTDNA highest honor. http://ping.fm/bbFnU