Limbaugh In Town For Colts-Pats Game

WRTV's Dave Furst caught an interview with Rush Limbaugh during last night's Colts-Patriots game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Limbaugh was a guest of NBC's Al Michaels. Limbaugh and Michaels dined together at The Capital Grille Saturday night. Furst asked Limbaugh about the rift between him and Colts' owner Jim Irsay, who spoke out against Limbaugh's failed attempt to acquire an ownership interest in the St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh told Furst Irsay had nothing but nice things to say to him when he gave a shout out at him in a hotel hallway last year during a Colts-Packers game in Green Bay. Limbaugh quoting Irsay: "Hey Rush, my dad loved your show. I love your show." Irsay must have been overcome by political correctness disease when he decided to publicly oppose Limbaugh's ownership bid earlier this fall. Limbaugh told Furst he has no hard feelings about losing out on the Rams bid.

Another Odd Twist In DeLaney Versus Mendenhall

The Indiana Lawyer's Jennifer Nelson reveals a new fact in the decades old dispute between the DeLaney family and the Mendenhall family, which culminated in an attack by 38-year-old Augustus "Gus" Mendenhall on State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) on Halloween Day that left DeLaney with serious bodily injuries. When the younger Gus Mendenhall finished law school in 2008, you'll never guess who was assigned to conduct Gus' character and fitness examination for admission to the Indiana bar. That would be Kathleen DeLaney, daughter of Ed. "He requested a different attorney because he claimed he had a conflict of interest," Nelson writes. Can you blame him?

When I faced my character and fitness examination back in 1993, a prominent, semi-retired attorney who lived on the City's far northside conducted my interview. I met him at his home, and we sat on his sun porch on the back side of his house while he interviewed me. It was easy to respect this individual and understand why he had been selected by the Indiana Supreme Court to interview candidates for admission to the bar. Gus Mendenhall had to be enraged by the thought that that the young Kathleen DeLaney would be given this task. As he perceived it, Kathleen's parents had used their political clout to convince the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office to illegally seize his father's property and deprive him of it for years. When he finally got his property back many years later, he was told by our court system there was no remedy to compensate him for the damages he sustained from the illegal seizure because the prosecutor was immune from prosecution. And as he prepared to enter the legal profession, the person who would stand in judgment of him was the daughter of the two prominent political insiders who he believed had put his family through a living hell.

Nelson's story notes that Ed DeLaney was not a party to the lawsuit then-Marion Co. Prosecutor Steve Goldsmith brought against Gus' father, relying on Indiana's civil RICO statute. Ed's client, the DeBartolo Group, owned Lafayette Square mall and had sought to enforce a restrictive covenant against Mendenhall's father, who owned the building and had leased some of the space to another business that operated an adult bookstore. Nelson omits the fact that DeLaney's wife, Ann, worked as the head of the sex crimes unit within the prosecutor's office during the legal battle against his father. After Mendenhall's arrest, Ann DeLaney repeated the false claim to area reporters that Mendenhall's father was a pornographer in reference to the old case, an unfair characterization that Gus had complained about when he met with reporters following his arrest. There is a bit of irony in Mendenhall's father's property being seized using a law intended to aid prosecutors in combating organized crime. Edward DeBartolo, Sr., whose company was represented by Ed DeLaney, had long been suspected of having ties to organized crime. The DeBartolo family had to give up control of the San Francisco Forty-Niners after Edward DeBartolo, Jr. pleaded guilty in charges arising out of the federal bribery and corruption case against former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Nelson's story quotes from a probable cause affidavit stating that Gus Mendenhall had used the name "Victor White" when he first contacted Ed DeLaney about representing a Russian business interest in the purchase of property in Carmel. "He claimed he was looking at the property on behalf of wealthy Russian businessmen," Nelson writes. "Because DeLaney occasionally has Russian clients and is fluent in Russian, he didn't think it seemed suspicious." Nelson omits Mendenhall's claim to reporters that his "Russian clients" were interested in laundering money for the Russian mob or the fact that DeLaney had attended spy school while serving in the Navy during the 1960s. "When they met, Augustus Mendenhall was wearing a wig, gloves and a strange coat," she writes. He was also carrying a bag. It's unclear why DeLaney didn't simply drive off from the parking lot where they met after he had an opportunity to observe his strange appearance.

Mendenhall will have to face the serious criminal felony charges filed against him in Hamilton County, including attempted murder, with the assistance of a court-appointed public defender according to Nelson. His trial is set for March 2, 2010. The fact that Mendenhall won't be receiving any sympathetic coverage from the local news media was self-evident during last week's broadcast of "Indiana Week In Review", which is moderated by WISH-TV's Jim Shella and where one of the show's panelists is Ann DeLaney. Jim Shella falsely stated during the show that Mendenhall confessed to the attempted murder charge. "The attacker has confessed." The fact is that Mendenhall never confessed to the crime of attempted murder, an impression Shella clearly tried to leave with his listeners. It was an awkward discussion for the panelists because of Ann's presence on the panel that was obviously not going to lead to a fair and open discussion of the events that occurred on Halloween Day and the 25-year-old case among the panelists. Moments before taking up this discussion, Shella and the panel discussed the passage of the Wishard referendum. There was no disclosure to listeners that panelist Mike McDaniels works for a law firm that is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to do work for the Health & Hospital Corporation. Yeah, the deck is stacked against folks like the Mendenhalls.

Obama Still Covering Up Fort Hood Muslim Terrorist Attack

President Barack Hussein Obama continues to demonstrate that he is more interested in not hurting the feelings of Muslims than protecting our soldiers. This means pretending that Maj. Nidal Hasan's execution of 12 Army soldiers and one civilian employee last week at Ft. Hood was something other than a Muslim terrorist attack. In his weekly radio address today, Obama referred to Hasan's deadly assault as a "terrible tragedy" and referred to him as "an alleged gunman." "I won't compromise that investigation by discussing the details of this case," he said. "Alleged gunman!" Is this guy joking? This is the same man who concluded that the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" in their arrest of his friend, Prof. Gates before he knew any of the facts about his arrest. You would think this was another random shooting on Chicago's South Side to hear President Obama speak.

Obama assured us there would be a complete investigation and he "will insist that the full story be told." But he quickly added, "[A]l of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington." "The stakes are far too high," he added. Did you hear that? That's code for saying there will be no talk of a Muslim terrorist attack. Anyone who claims that in this case will just be playing politics, or so says President Obama. We know what the full story will be. The guy was just a lonely man who snapped under the pressure of secondary post-traumatic stress syndrome from providing counseling to soldiers shipping out to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. They can no longer claim he suffered the stress of listening to soldiers returning from battle because we now know he never counseled those soldiers. So put out of your mind the silly notion that he was devout Muslim carrying out jihad on the United States. Never mind those contacts with an al Qaeda supporter, his former iman for the mosque he attended, which coincidentally was the same mosque of some of the 9/11 hijackers. Don't read anything into his statement that "we (Muslims) love death more than you love life." Ignore the personal calling card he handed out advertising the fact that he was a "Soldier of Allah". Forget the fact that one of the only personal items he left behind in his modest apartment was a paper shredder. He just snapped. Get it?

Ballard Taking Another Junket

He's been in office less than two years, and that's been long enough for us to discover who the real Greg Ballard is. He's not a man of the people. He's a typical politician using his office for personal gain. When he's not selling private dinners with him and his wife at St. Elmo's to well-heeled political contributors interested in city contracts, he's sitting in front row, free seats at a Pacers game and concerts at Conseco Fieldhouse or chowing down the buffet food in his Lucas Oil Stadium suite at a Colts game. Unsatisfied with the free country club memberships worth tens of thousands of dollars bestowed upon him since becoming mayor, he takes in as many junkets as possible to travel outside our city and around the world at other people's expense. He's taken junkets to two Super Bowl games, Asia and South America. And now it's time for a European vacation before the holiday season arrives. A press release from the Mayor's office tells us about his latest junket:

Mayor Greg Ballard will lead a delegation of business and community leaders to Europe next week in search of jobs and manufacturing technology to benefit the city and help grow its motorsports industry. The delegation will meet with business leaders, government officials, and researchers in Cologne, Germany and the UK from November 14 through November 23.

“It is imperative that we make every effort to boost our economic development opportunities and grow our industries right here in Indianapolis,” said Mayor Ballard. “We undoubtedly compete globally, and I’m optimistic that this mission will not only create opportunities for economic growth here but will lead the way to enhanced partnerships in the motorsports industry worldwide.”

The Mayor will first meet with local leaders in Cologne, Germany, one of Indianapolis’ Sister Cities in an effort to enhance the already growing partnerships with local and international businesses based in the city. The Sister City program aims to foster working relationships between Indianapolis and the international community in an effort to grow industry and enhance cultural and education opportunities globally.

In the UK, the goal of the trip is to create permanent economic, social, and cultural linkages between Indianapolis and the motorsports valley area of England. The delegation will work to create partnerships with UK based motorsport companies - including manufacturing, retail, research, race shops, promotions, etc. - in order to build on Indianapolis’ and the UK’s respective reputations as leaders in the motorsports industry.

“As one of the top motorsports cities in the United States, it is important to continue to build relationships, create partnerships, and exchange information and ideas with companies around the world that are part of this exciting industry. We believe these types of efforts will breed jobs through attraction of new companies to Indianapolis and new opportunities for our existing companies,” said Michael Young, Motorsports Industry Director, at Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc.

The delegation will meet with various companies including Manard Competition Technologies, Aston Martin and Warwick Manufacturing. In addition, the city will look to establish a Sister City relationship focusing on motorsports exchange.

So who is travelling on the junket to Europe with Mayor Ballard put together by the Indianapolis Economic Development Corp.? His wife, Winnie, will naturally accompany him as will one of his security guards. His director of International and Cultural Affairs, Carolin Requiz Smith, will make the trip. Note to Mayor Ballard: they don't speak Spanish in either the U.K. or Germany. A big city contractor and political contributor, Ersal Ozdemir of Keystone Construction, will make the trip. An attorney for Stewart & Irwin, Scott Treadway, is making the trip. He's the guy who used to handle all of that costly Central Library construction litigation over at Tabbert Hahn before moving to Stewart & Irwin. I'm at a loss to understand his inclusion on the trip. And yet another city contractor and political contributor, Mak Knowles of American Structurepoint, is taking the trip. That's the same company that's done such a swell job managing costs on the City of Carmel's Keystone Avenue roundabouts project. I hope Mayor Ballard and his wife Winnie enjoy their free European vacation with their new found fat cat friends. It's quite comforting knowing what his real priorities are, eh?

Mayor Tom Henry's $45,000 Letter

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry (D) has apparently concluded that nobody reads the newspaper or watches local news broadcasts any more. Instead of holding a press conference or relying on guest editorials in the newspaper to explain the City's ongoing dispute with Indiana Michigan Power over the value of the city's electrical utility power grid, which has been leased by the utility company since 1974, Mayor Henry decided to mail 100,300 letters to city utility customers at a cost of $45,000 according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's Benjamin Lanka. "But the $45,000 expenditure is a concern, said City Council President Tom Smith, R-1st, especially since the same information was recently published as a guest editorial in The Journal Gazette," Lanka writes. “If it was published in the newspaper, that should have been enough,” Lanka quotes Smith as saying. Lanka notes the city has already spent over $300,000 in legal fees in its ongoing disagreement with the utility company.

Bad Cases Make Bad Law

COURT TAKES IT UPON ITSELF TO DEFINE A "NATURAL BORN CITIZEN"
The Indiana Court of Appeals today confirmed a common saying in the legal community that bad cases make bad law. A couple of pro se plaintiffs brought a lawsuit in Marion Superior Court in December, 2008 challenging the "natural born citizenship" status of President Barack Hussein Obama. The plaintiffs named the wrong defendant, Gov. Mitch Daniels, when they sought an "extraordinary writ of prohibition" against the governor "from issuing a Certificate of Ascertainment" or any other document to Congress containing the popular vote outcome of last year's presidential race in Indiana for the appointment of Barack Obama and Joe Biden as "Chief Electors." This complaint brought by Steve Ankeny and Bill Kruse also named the DNC, Barack Obama, the RNC and John McCain as defendants. Secretary of State Todd Rokita, who administers elections in Indiana, was not named as a defendant. Judge David Dreyer dismissed the suit for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, although I give him a lot of credit for the thoughtful consideration he gave to the plaintiffs' embarrassing and poorly drafted complaint. The plaintiffs contended that Gov. Daniels had a duty to ascertain whether Obama was a natural born citizen, and that neither Obama nor John McCain were eligible to hold the office of president because neither were natural born citizens.

In an Indiana Court of Appeals opinion authored by Judge Elaine Brown, the electoral college process for electing our president is spelled out for the benefit of the confused plaintiffs. It explains that the Democratic Party nominated the state's nine electors who actually voted on behalf of Indiana to elect Obama president based on the fact that he won the popular vote in Indiana. The plaintiffs contended that Gov. Daniels had allowed Obama to become Indiana's "Elector in Chief" by permitting his name to appear on the ballot. "Plaintiffs' characterization of the electoral process in the State of Indiana simply is not consistent with the applicable laws," Judge Brown wrote. Something I uncovered a few months ago that has been overlooked by all of the parties is that the certification filed with Indiana's Election Division by the DNC and Indiana's Democratic Party omitted language certifying that Barack Obama was a natural born citizen. That's not a problem though for Judge Brown, who then went on to offer her constitutional interpretation of what "natural born citizen" means, something our U.S. Supreme Court has never done and something she had no obligation to do since there were already sufficient grounds to affirm Judge Dreyer's dismissal of the badly flawed lawsuit.

The only thing I believe the plaintiffs got right in their lawsuit was their contention that a "natural born citizen" is a person born within the U.S. to two U.S. citizen parents. Obama's father was at all times during his life a citizen of Kenya, which at the time of Obama's birth was a British commonwealth. By virtue of his father's citizenship, Obama was indisputably a dual citizen at birth. A person owing allegiance to two countries cannot be described as a natural born citizen in my opinion. The fact that Obama says he never affirmed his British citizenship before the age he was legally required to do so is irrelevant. A fact conveniently overlooked in Judge Brown's decision is that Obama immigrated to Indonesia at age 6 with his mother and became a citizen in that country as well after his step-father adopted him. Sen. John McCain also arguably was not a natural born citizen because he was born in a Panamanian hospital while his father was stationed at a Navy base in the Panama Canal Zone. Both Obama and McCain are U.S. citizens for different reasons, but the term "natural born citizen" is a unique term used in the U.S. Constitution only to define a person's eligibility to serve as president.

In determining that Obama is a natural born citizen, Judge Brown relied on the 1898 Supreme Court decision, U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, which I've discussed at length on this blog in the past. I give Judge Brown credit for acknowledging that the Supreme Court in that decision did not conclude that Wong, a man born in the U.S. to two Chinese national parents, was a natural born citizen. "We note the fact the Court in Wong Kim Ark did not actually pronounce the plaintiff a 'natural born citizen' using the Constitution's Article II language is immaterial," Judge Brown nonetheless concluded. "Based upon the language of Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 and the guidance provided by Wong Kim Ark, we conclude that persons born within the borders of the United States are 'natural born citizens' for Article II, Section 1 purposes, regardless of the citizenship of their parents," Judge Brown concludes. Assuming Judge Brown's interpretation is correct, fellow attorney and blogger, Leo Donofrio, describes best what it means:

If Obama is eligible to be President then so are the sons of Osama Bin Laden, Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if they impregnate an American woman who gives birth on US soil. The very notion is obscene. Such a person might be a US citizen under current policy, but their citizenship is not natural born and they cannot be President and Commander In Chief of the US armed forces.

Judge Brown then goes on to assert as fact in a footnote the wild claim that Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, was born the son of an Irish citizen. "We note that President Obama is not the first U.S. President born of parents of differing citizenship," Brown writes. "Chester A. Arthur, the twenty-first U.S. President, was born of a mother who was a United States citizen and a father who was an Irish citizen," Brown asserts, citing a 1975 biography on Arthur by Thomas Reeves, entitled the "Gentleman Boss." Brown then goes on to discuss rumors that erupted during his presidency that Arthur was born in Canada and not the U.S. Brown's claim that Arthur's father was an Irish citizen at the time of his birth has never been proven. Indeed, Arthur's father, an immigrant from Ireland, became a naturalized citizen who ran for and was elected to public office during Arthur's lifetime, although it has been debated whether Arthur's father had become a naturalized citizen by the time of Chester's birth. It has been established that Chester lied about the date of his birth and burned most of his family's records to avoid discovery of the deceit over his date of birth.

Brown's opinion notes the authority relied on by the plaintiffs to support their claim that "natural born citizen" requires two U.S. citizen parents but dismisses it completely. "The Plaintiffs do not mention the above United States Supreme Court authority (referring to Wong Kim Ark) in their complaint or brief; they primarily rely instead on an eighteenth century treatise and quotations of Members of Congress made during the nineteenth century," she writes. "To the extent that these authorities conflict with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of what it means to be a natural born citizen, we believe that the Plaintiff' argument fall under the category of 'conclusory, non-factual assertions or legal conclusions' that we need not accept as true when reviewing the grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim," she concludes.

It is worth noting that of the dozens of cases that have been brought forth over the past year challenging whether Obama is a natural born citizen, this is the only opinion that has been decided on the merits of the claim that he is not a natural born citizen. Every other decision refrained from making any determination on the actual merit; instead, the courts dismissed the complaints for lack of standing on the part of the plaintiffs to bring the constitutional eligibility challenge. There's a reason other courts failed to reach a conclusion Judge Brown reached in this opinion. It is based upon the long-held rule of constitutional interpretation that a court should refrain from deciding a case on constitutional grounds when the case can be disposed of on other non-constitutional grounds. Procedurally, this case had to be dismissed because the plaintiffs sued the wrong defendant and lacked standing to sue. There was no reason for the court to decide a constitutional question as it did in this case, and that's what makes it so disturbing. Judge Terry Crone and Melissa May signed on to Judge Brown's decision. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Judge Brown to the Court of Appeals last year. I bet we won't hear Gov. Daniels complaining about the judicial activism of his own appointees like he did the judges who ruled Indiana's voter I.D. law unconstitutional.

UPDATE: Leo Donfrio, who had his own case before the U.S. Supreme Court from New Jersey denied a hearing, offers this perspective on how the the Indiana Court of Appeal tripped over the natural born citizen issue with this decision:

The Indiana Court of Appeals in the Arkeny and Kruse case has just issued a lame judicial attempt at defining the “natural born citizen” clause. The errors of fact and law incorporated into the decision serve as a beacon outlining the desperation certain government factions now face. Obviously, the British birth issue is getting on their nerves and this was clearly an attempt to derail further national discussion on this issue.

The Indiana Court of Appeals held that the plaintiffs did not state a claim upon which relief might be granted, but then they went ahead and visited some of the underlying merits of the case in a rather cavalier manner. Since any appeal of this decision will be dismissed on other procedural grounds, no appellate court will ever review them on this issue. The upper courts will simply deny the appeal without reaching this aspect. So they took a crack at stopping this in its tracks.

And they failed miserably. And it’s very encouraging. The arguments presented by the Indiana Court of Appeals are weak. The facts used by them are also a fantastic attempt at propaganda. For example:

With regard to President Barack Obama, the Plaintiffs posit that because his father was a citizen of the United Kingdom, President Obama is constitutionally ineligible to assume the Office of the President. The bases of the Plaintiffs‟ arguments come from such sources as FactCheck.org, The Rocky Mountain News…

That’s interesting. Later in the decision they reject this fact. Amazing. It appears that the Indiana Appellate Court was not willing to accept that Barack Obama Sr. was the President’s father. That alone tells you something was rotten in Denmark. But the legal arguments they proceed upon, particularly their selective quotations from the Minor and Wong Kim Ark cases illustrate a wonderful example of a court acting as one of the advocates.

Their main argument is to state that citizens are only born or naturalized. That fails to take into account the framers (and other original citizens) who themselves were neither born citizens nor were they naturalized. So the Court proves itself a bit wonky on that point. Still, I certainly do not dispute that today all US citizens are either born or naturalized. But that’s not the point. The necessary evaluation requires consideration of the various types of born citizenship. And on this important issue, the Indiana Court of Appeals has failed.

Born citizens can be broken up into three groups:

1. natural born

2. citizens by statute

3. 14th amendment citizens

- All three classes were born as US citizens, but not all three are the same. Persons born abroad are citizens by federal statute.

- A person born on US soil to alien parents who were domiciled here, according to Wong Kim Ark, is a 14th Amendment citizens.

- Natural born citizens are born on US soil to parents who are citizens.

All of the above are citizens, but each reaches their citizenship through different circumstances.

To be “natural born” is a circumstance of citizenship. It is not a separate level of citizenship. All citizens have equal rights. If that was not true, then naturalized citizens would be eligible for the office of President. But they aren’t. This is because the natural born citizen clause is a national security measure, not a right of citizenship. The Indiana Court conveniently ignores this point.

Born citizens are not necessarily bestowed with citizenship in the same way. Some require a statute. Some require the 14th Amendment. Some were natural born and their citizenship was self-evident.

The Indiana court also pointed to dicta in a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals case which labelled two children of an illegal alien as natural born. That case stated:

The petitioner has a wife and two children under the age of three in Chicago; the children are natural-born citizens of the United States.

But nothing about the issue was discussed. The children were mentioned in passing dicta. Whether the children were natural born was not an issue in that case. And it was a mistake for the court to say they were natural born.

The Indiana Court of Appeals acknowledges that the Supreme Court in Wong Kim Ark did not hold that the man was a natural born citizen. Essentially, the Indiana court acknowledges that the US Supreme Court exercised judicial restraint, but the Indiana Court of Appeals here doesn’t feel that they are restrained in that regard. How brave of them.

Furthermore, the Indiana Court chose to ignore the most relevant aspect of Wong Kim Ark where the SCOTUS clearly indicated that Wong Kim Ark was not natural born:

Every citizen or subject of another country, while domiciled here, is within the allegiance and the protection, and consequently subject to the jurisdiction, of the United States. His allegiance to the United States is direct and immediate…and his child, as said by Mr. Binney in his essay before quoted, ‘If born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen…’

That tells you right there that the child of the citizen and the child of the alien are not both natural born.

“…and his child… ‘If born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen…”

Justice Gray does a very revealing compare and contrast here:

- he compares two children

- on the one hand, he mentions the US born child of a resident alien

- on the other hand, he mentions the “natural-born” child of a citizen

He clearly states that only one is natural-born: the child of the citizen.

He says that both are citizens. But only the child of the citizen is natural born – for this is what he is comparing the other one to. So the holding indicates Wong Kim Ark was as much a citizen as any other citizen despite not being natural-born.

The Court does not say that the child of the alien is a natural-born citizen.
The Indiana Court conveniently ignored this analysis. And that comes as no surprise to me. They had to ignore it because there was no possible way for them distinguish it.

Mayor's Crime Prevention Grants Yielding Great Results, NOT

Mayor Greg Ballard has been passing out about $5 million a year since taking office in crime prevention grants. The money comes from the 65%, $90 million a year local income tax increase you began paying in 2007. "These crime prevention grants, which recognize the diversity and community spirit of our great city, are essential to our grassroots, neighborhood-focused effort to make Indianapolis a safer place for everyone," said Mayor Ballard at the time. One of the groups that received money to "make Indianapolis a safer place" is the Save the Youth , which received $90,000. The minister who runs the organization, Byron Alston, has been busted by IMPD for sexual misconduct with a woman who applied for a job with the foundation, and there are other female victims as well according to Fox 59 News. The TV news station has the lurid details on this one attack:

Fox59 has learned that a youth minister in Indianapolis has been arrested and accused of making sexual advances against at least one woman.

Byron Alston started 'Save the Youth Foundation' and on his website he refers to himself as a certified gang consultant and an at-risk youth specialist.

According to police reports a woman says she went in for a job interview and he reportedly told her she could have the job if she had sex with him. When she told him no, the woman says Alston tried to unbuckle her pants and then proceeded to masturbate in front of her.

Fox59 received the police reports that have been filed by the woman and at least one other person accusing him of similar crimes. Calls are being made to find out exactly what charges he faces and Fox59 will have the latest information as it comes in.

According to the Fox 59 News report, local law enforcement officials have known about issues of Alston exposing himself to women since September but because he is so closely tied to Mayor Ballard, members of his administration and the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office, a special prosecutor has been sought to handle the case.

Happy Veteran's Day

Pence Drops U.S. Attorney Bid

The Indianapolis Times blog reports on Linda Pence's withdrawal from consideration as the next U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Pence, who boasts of being a Super Lawyer, lost last year's race for Indiana Attorney General to Republican Greg Zoeller. The post has been vacant for more than two years after Susan Brooks left to become general counsel for Ivy Tech. It's a shame that the Obama administration has wasted so much time in appointing a new U.S. Attorney. If the past is prologue, we can expect another political hack as opposed to a professional prosecutor to eventually be named to the post. Federal law enforcement officials have been thwarted for many years from policing public corruption in the Southern District by political prosecutors of both parties. In Chicago, the Bush administration made the deliberate decision to appoint an outsider professional prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, to weed out systemmic public corruption in Illinois. So far Obama's Justice Department has allowed Fitzgerald to continue his work, which includes the prosecution of former Govs. Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan and high-ranking members of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's administration.