Laws in U.S. and the CNMI To Be Challenged

June 29, 2010

The Supreme Court has agreed to take on the debate between state and federal governments' battle over immigration authority by looking at a 2007 Arizona law that penalizes employers who hire  undocumented workers. The ruling may have an impact on the new controversial Arizona law, as well as the CNMI's overstepping law, PL17-1.

The USDoJ alleges that the Arizona law imposes stricter penalties on aliens than federal law does, and there are no provisions to prevent discrimination as there are in federal laws, which that could lead to employers refusing to hire minorities.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The case that the justices will hear in the term that starts in October offers a preview of the legal clash over Arizona's newly enacted criminal penalties for migrants illegally present in the state. The Obama administration asked the court to review the Arizona employment law and has indicated it will sue to block enforcement of the state's broader immigration law, scheduled to take effect July 29.

The issues in the two disputes vary somewhat, but both center on the extent of a state's authority to enforce immigration-related laws without intruding on exclusive federal power to regulate the nation's borders.

At least five other states have laws similar to Arizona's 2007 statute. It requires employers to determine their workers' immigration status through a federal database, and targets the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants - a license suspension for a first offense, revocation for a second offense.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the law last year as an exercise of a state's traditional power to regulate businesses. The court noted that federal law allows states to use business-licensing laws against employers of illegal immigrants.

But in arguments filed with the Supreme Court, the Obama administration said the Arizona law is a hiring ban, not a licensing law, and uses business licenses solely for punishment.

Arizona's newest evil law, which mirrors Pl 17-1, has been said to be broader than federal law and "violates the federal government's sole authority to regulate immigration." That law is being challenged by the U.S.  Chamber of Commerce and the American Civil Liberties Union.  There is an effort to get the U.S.  Department of Justice to include the CNMI's PL 17-1 in any forthcoming lawsuits and a petition will be going online soon.

What is happening with PL 17-1, the CNMI's own version of the Arizona law?

There are reports from sources in the CNMI stating that the CNMI Department of Labor has a campaign to go after aliens and business owners who are not complying with their controversial provision requiring every alien in the CNMI to register with DOL to get a CNMI national identification card.  We already know that the federal authorities have said that they would not recognize those cards and only valid umbrella permits and/or federally issued permits will be recognized.

DOL reportedly will be conducting business by business "inspections" to "interview" all aliens as to status. Reportedly, DOL has also stated that it would be conducting house by house "interviews" of all aliens.  This sounds much like the warrantless raids on private barracks and houses carried out by then Secretary of the CNMI DOLI, Mark Zachares under Governor Tenorio and acting AG Maya Kara.  How truly Gestapo-like.  If the Fitial Administration is attempting to be known as the most anti-federal and lawless administration in the history of the CNMI, they probably already earned that honor without conducting these outrageous proposed acts.

It was also reported that Alcohol and Beverage Control and the CNMI Department of Commerce is denying renewal of alcohol licenses for any establishment that cannot prove that each of its alien employees has registered at DOL. Additionally, it has also been reported that the CNMI Department of Finance is refusing business license renewals for any business unless all foreign owners, operators and/or shareholders have foreign national identification cards.

Is it true that the federally funded CNMI Public School System will not register a foreign child who does not have a CNMI foreign national ID that is not recognized as valid by the federal government? Is it true that Nutritional Assistance and Medicaid are refusing services to any alien with US citizen children who does not have a DOL-issued foreign national identification card that is not recognized as valid by the federal government?

Is the CNMI national identification card just another attempt to fill empty coffers on the back of foreigners?  Isn't this how the CNMI has prospered for years?  First by using and abusing the garment workers and now with this desperate attempt to maintain control of immigration and the foreign workforce?

I am seeking testimony and documentation on all of the above reports. Please contact me by commenting on this site or through email: doromal@earthlink.net. (Your email will go to spam blocker unless I have corresponded with you previously.  If you receive a message that you were blocked, just ask to be taken out of spam blocker.)


URGENT NOTICE TO FOREIGNERS: Parole in Place
Apparently, concern over DOL's threats and actions has resulted in a flood of parole in place applications.

The Ombudsman is receiving information from USCIS that it is overwhelmed by the sheer number of parole in place applications, which is delaying its processing of worthy requests for such status for aliens without umbrella permits and applications for advance parole. Aliens with umbrella permits will be denied parole in place by USCIS since the Federal government will not recognize any revocation of a permit by the CNMI after November 27, 2009. Aliens need to stop sending applications to Guam and if they have a question, they need to report to the Ombudsman office.

Death of a Statesman

June 28, 2010

Senator Robert Carlyle Byrd 1917-2010

West Virginia Senator Robert Carlyle Byrd died this morning at the age of 92 after being hospitalized  for what was thought to be heat exhaustion. He was the longest serving member of the U.S. Congress in history, serving over 50 years in the Senate. Senator Byrd was the Senate majority leader for six years, and also served twice as the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senator Byrd was third in line for succession  to the presidency as president pro tem of the Senate. Now Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) assumes the post of the president pro tem.

He was elected to both the West Virginia House and Senate, and the U.S. House and US Senate. When he was a member of the U.S. House, he took college courses at night and received a law degree from American University. He carried a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his pocket.

Senator Byrd cast over 18,500 votes while serving in the Senate. He was famed for his lengthy speeches and was called the conscience of the Senate.

From the Washington Post:

Starting in 1958, Mr. Byrd was elected to the Senate an unprecedented nine times. He wrote a four-volume history of the body, was majority leader twice and chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, controlling the nation's purse strings, and yet the positions of influence he held did not convey the astonishing arc of his life.

A child of the West Virginia coal fields, Mr. Byrd rose from the grinding poverty that has plagued his state since before the Great Depression, overcame an early and ugly association with the Ku Klux Klan, worked his way through night school and by force of will, determination and iron discipline made himself a person of authority and influence in Washington.

...On March 19, 2003, Mr. Byrd delivered the first of what became regular attacks on the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq. "Today I weep for my country," he said in a speech on the Senate floor. "I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed."

Senator Byrd voted against the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 that attempted to prohibit discrimination. Later in his life he admitted that action was wrong and said that his membership in the Ku Klux Klan was the a terrible mistake: "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."

The Democratic governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin III, will appoint someone to complete Senator Byrd's term in the Senate which ends in 2013.

Fellow West Virginian, Congressman Nick Rahall III, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, issued this Statement on the Passing of Senator Robert C. Byrd:

"Over the next several days, the pundits will try to sum up in limited words the life of Senator Byrd. They will fall far short. We will hear about structures that bear his name, about records he set, about votes he cast. And none of those measures will come close to capturing the enormity that was Robert C. Byrd. I do not know how to begin trying to calculate his immense influence on the People of this Nation and the People of West Virginia; perhaps because so much of what he gave to us is beyond measure -- wisdom, reason, hope. We will not see the likes of a Robert C. Byrd pass our way again.”

"He was a defender of the Constitution, a champion of the Senate. He was West Virginia's greatest ally, her faithful son, a source of tremendous pride, and our Big Daddy. He was a mentor, a teacher, a leader, a constant source of inspiration. And he was my friend. I will miss him always. My wife Melinda and I extend our heartfelt condolences to his daughters and sons-in-law, his grandchildren, and his wonderful great-grandchildren. We offer our prayers to them along with our never-ending thanks for sharing his extraordinary life with a grateful State and Nation. I hope that they will be comforted by knowing that he has joined his beloved Erma in Heaven."

Senator Byrd's wife of 69 years, Erma passed away in 2006.

Video of Senator Byrd speaking on his service in the U.S. Senate on November 19, 2009:

CNMI Legal Notes

June 28, 2010

Each week it seems there is another sexual assault reported on Saipan, and still there is no published sexual offender registry. The fault appears to lie with the Office of the Attorney General. The DPS website announced in July 2008 and that a sex offender registry would be forthcoming.

According to the Marianas Variety, the website requires the approval of the OAG, which has not responded:

“The department is still actively registering sex offenders and is still actively monitoring and registering prior sex offenders that must come in to DPS to register every three months,” DPS spokesman PO2 Eric David said in an e-mail to the Variety.

“However, our website is not ready to go without the approval of the Attorney General’s Office,” David added.
The sex offenders registry officer-in-charge, PO2 Jason Tarkong, submitted a final draft of standard operating procedure to the AG’s office for review sometime last year, said David.

But the department “has not received any feedback from their office,” he added referring to the AGO.

Tarkong made “several attempts this year to follow up with his request but to no avail,” David said.

Tarkong was told that his submission was still being reviewed by the AGO, David added.

Asked for comment, Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham said in an e-mail on Friday: “You are asking a number of questions going back to 2009. I will review your questions and respond as soon as practicable.”

Can an office get any more incompetent?

More Parole Questions
Who revokes parole if a criminal violates it? Does the Office of the Attorney General inform the court or file new charges?  It seems that parole is a conditional release dependent upon a criminal's good behavior.  I thought if a criminal violated parole he/she was returned to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence.  It is unclear how this system works in the CNMI.

Kidnap-rapist Jose Olopai Rabauliman was released from prison early and then violated his parole.  According to the Marianas Variety the violent criminal's sentencing went like this:

In March 2006, Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja granted in part Rabauliman’s motion for a reduction of sentence.

In his order, Naraja modified Rabauliman’s sentence to

• 10 years imprisonment with five years suspended for rape;

• 10 years imprisonment with five years suspended for oral copulation;

• 10 years imprisonment with two and a half years suspended on each conviction of kidnapping, or a total of 20 years, with five years suspended;

• One year imprisonment for assault and battery, all suspended.

Rabauliman’s total sentence was 41 years imprisonment, all suspended, except for 25 years, Naraja stated in his March 2, 2006 order.

Then-Superior Court Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan sentenced Rabauliman and another individual to 30 years imprisonment for kidnapping and raping two Chinese guest workers in 1998.

Manibusan originally sentenced Rabauliman for the kidnapping offense to 10 years imprisonment for each two counts of kidnapping to run consecutively. But this was modified by Naraja who suspended two and a half years for each count.

A hearing was to be held last week to determine whether or not to revoke his parole according to the Marianas Variety. However, Rabauliman was "uncomfortable" having AG Buckingham, the parole board's counsel present since Buckingham was one of the prosecutors in the case against Rabauliman. Apparently a criminal can dictate the conditions of a parole hearing.

The Variety reported that the rapist violated parole by being involved in a domestic violence incident, but I could find no press release concerning the arrest. The Variety article did not reveal the details of the domestic violence incident, but if Rabauliman violated parole by committing a crime of domestic violence then he is a dangerous criminal, and should stay in prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

Juvenile Justice
Several weeks ago Tyron Farley Reyes Fitial, a guard at the Kagman Juvenile Detention Center was arrested for sexually assaulting a female child who was imprisoned at the center.  More recently it has been revealed that the center has violated the law by not providing educational sessions for juvenile offenders from September 2009 to February 2010 after the teacher left the position.

The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs wants to take over the responsibility of educating the juveniles from the Public School System that is currently tasked with the duty.  DCCA Secretary Melvin Faisao stated that since a new instructor was hired, the juveniles only receive four hours of instruction per day instead of the required six hours. From the Saipan Tribune:

The detention facility has three classrooms that could accommodate nine students each. In an average day, seven to nine juveniles could attend educational sessions.

Saipan Tribune learned that in previous years, DCCA allowed detained youths to receive their educational service in a regular classroom setting by joining students in public schools like Chacha Oceanview Junior High School and Kagman High School.

However, because of the serious risk and danger to the safety of all students-both regular and detained juveniles-the practice was stopped.

This same practice was also the main reason agency receives serious citations from both the local and federal governments.

“Since then, we're very serious in providing this important service to the detained youths not in the classrooms of public schools but in the facility where special classrooms were built for the purpose. This is why we want to make sure that they will continue to receive these services,” Faisao said.

The CNMI received a FY 2009 Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant for $1,640,925 so money should not be a factor in hiring a qualified instructor to meet the requirements of the law.  From the DOJ website:

The main goal of the Northern Mariana Islands' (CNMI) FY 2009 Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant Program is to provide full support to law enforcement and criminal justice state agencies through the creation of forty-five (45) new Full-Time Employee (FTE) positions... CNMI will employ available JAG funds to continue to support and implement law enforcement and criminal justice agencies with the highest priority placed on the following purpose areas: 1) Preserve and create jobs and to promote economic recovery and 2) To stabilize the local government budgets in order to minimize and avoid a decline in the delivery of essential services or an increase in local taxes. CNMI is committed to report measurable results in all criminal justice system components, including: multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces, crime prevention programs, law enforcement programs, domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment and justice information sharing initiatives.

Provisions in PL 17-1 are Unconstitutional

Labor Ombudsman Pam Brown speaking at a meeting earlier this year.

June 27, 2010

Federal Ombudsman Pamela Brown told a gathering of foreign workers and business owners that PL 17-1 is unconstitutional.  The Marianas Variety reported:

“It’s preempted under what we call the supremacy clause,” she said, adding that the law is “unconstitutional.”

When the federalization law was implemented on Nov. 28, 2009, the former CNMI attorney general said U.S. immigration law was extended to the commonwealth.

She said the CNMI government will be held liable for anything that it implements contrary to the federalization law.

In the consultation meeting at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center, she encouraged nonresident workers to coordinate with her office if they are being harmed, harassed and abused, causing them to lose employment.

Brown said her office knows some attorneys who can assist in preparing and filing complaints against the CNMI government.

She reiterated that the parole-in-place status can be granted to foreign nationals in the CNMI without umbrella permit or whose work permits have expired before the new visa categories are available to them under federal immigration law.

Some provisions of PL 17-1 including the alien registration, were relabeled from immigration law to a new classification under labor law. Relabeling an immigration law as a labor law does not mean it is no longer an immigration law.

Brown spoke at the American Memorial Park Auditorium in an attempt to clarify some misinformation and distortions concerning new federal laws, parole in place and the limited role of the CNMI Department of Labor.

Day 66: Make it Stop!

Pensacola Beach, Florida, June 23, 2010 Photos from CNN

June 25, 2010

The country's worst environmental disaster keeps getting worse. It's close to home for me, and I find it difficult to watch the news or even read about it.  The oil spill has turned much of the once sparkling turquoise water of the Gulf of Mexico to a dirty brown. My son flew from Orlando to Texas and said the extent of the spill from the air was shocking.

The spill has resulted in the death of so many marine animals and birds that some species may never recover. The blue fin tuna is one species that is particularly threatened as Bloomberg reports:

Petroleum gushing from a seabed well in the Gulf of Mexico has caused slicks that overlap one of two spawning grounds for Atlantic bluefin. The adult fish lay eggs in the Gulf in April and May before heading to the North Atlantic to feed.

Tuna, which need clean surface water to spawn, may have been covered in oil while chemicals used to break up the oil may damage their eggs, limiting reproduction, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports in its June 28 issue. Atlantic bluefin are on the World Conservation Union’s endangered list after years of overfishing.

“This is a real blow,” said Bill Fox, managing director for fisheries at WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, which investigates overfishing and illegal catches in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, the bluefin’s other spawning ground. “The oil plus the dispersants are likely to have a huge effect.”

Over 140 miles of beaches from Louisiana to Florida have been polluted.  These are beaches that are usually filled with summer tourists, but are now filled with sticky goo. One family that did go to the beach in Pensacola, Florida (left) found a beached baby dolphin covered with oil and tried to wipe it off until wildlife rescuers arrived. The dolphin died on way to the animal rescue center. 

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

To many Americans, this might be one of the more enduring images of the Gulf oil spill – dolphins washed ashore, sea turtles dead, pelicans coated in oil. Yet for scientists attempting to count the cost of the Gulf oil spill to local wildlife, the task is not nearly so obvious.

Many dead animals could be sinking before being discovered in the vast Gulf. Autopsies of those found are usually inconclusive, because toxins are quickly metabolized by animal tissue. And the Gulf has long had its own set of environmental problems.

Along the Gulf, observers have reported fish acting peculiarly as the oil spill moves closer to shore, with sharks and rays bunching against beaches. Usually plentiful, porpoises have been missing from the Intracoastal Waterway in the past few days as the oil spill has moved ashore along miles of beaches in Florida's Escambia County near Perdido Key.

Sea turtles are in extreme peril, with many being burned alive:

Of the 535 turtles verified from April 30 to June 22, a total of 403 stranded turtles were found dead, 42 stranded alive. Four of those subsequently died. Four live stranded turtles were released, and 34 live stranded turtles are being cared for at rehabilitation centers.

According to a report in The Raw Story, a rare and endangered species of sea turtle is being burned alive in BP’s controlled burns of the oil swirling around the Gulf of Mexico, and a boat captain tasked with saving them says the company has blocked rescue efforts.
Mike Ellis, a boat captain involved in a three-week effort to rescue as many sea turtles from unfolding disaster as possible, says BP effectively shut down the operation by preventing boats from coming out to rescue the turtles. 

“They ran us out of there and then they shut us down, they would not let us get back in there,” Ellis said in an interview with conservation biologist Catherine Craig. 

Dr. Brian Stacey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told NPR last week that although there are five different species of sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico, the majority of the ones found affected by the oil spill are Kemp’s Ridleys, “the rarest of them all.” 

Ellis confirmed that he’s mostly been seeing Kemp’s Ridleys. Kemp’s Ridleys are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Harming or killing one “carries stiff fines and civil penalties ($500 to $25,000) assessed for each violation. Criminal penalties include possible prison time and fines from $25,000 to $50,000.” 

Ellis suggests in a video that, given the size of the fines BP could face as a result of the turtle deaths, the company may be happy to let turtles burn, as it would make it impossible to calculate exactly how many turtles died. He notes that the bodies of dead animals are being kept as evidence to determine for how much in fines BP will be liable.

Part of BP’s efforts to contain the oil spill are controlled burns. Fire-resistant booms are used to corral an area of oil, then the area within the boom is lit on fire, burning off the oil and whatever marine life may have been inside. 

Sharks are moving closer to shore where there is oxygen in the water.

NOAA Ship Pisces reported finding a 25 foot dead sperm whale. From the New York Times:

There are an estimated 1,700 sperm whales that live in gulf waters and they are known to congregate particularly at the mouth of the Mississippi River, a rich feeding ground. Unlike other whales, which travel long distances, these live full-time in the gulf and do not usually mingle with sperm whale pods in the neighboring Caribbean and Sargasso Sea. Ms. Mase said that the dead whale was almost certainly a gulf whale.

The fate of the whales, which have frequently been spotted swimming in the oil by planes overhead, has been of intense concern to wildlife biologists. Because whales are large and very mobile, they are relatively less vulnerable to oil spills than other sea life. However, the whales are classified as endangered and the crude oil is toxic to them. Moreover, they prefer to dive and fish right off the continental shelf, where the Deepwater Horizon wellhead is located, and their sensitivity to the large plumes of oil droplets and the enormous amount of dispersants being used to combat this disaster is unknown.

Hal Whitehead, a biologist who studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said sperm whales are highly social animals that live in matriarchal groups like elephants. They communicate through noises that sound like clicks, which researchers refer to as a dialect. They have also shown behaviors that resemble mourning. In one case, Dr. Whitehead said, when a young sperm whale died, its mother carried its carcass around in her mouth.

Sperm whales live anywhere from 60 to 100 years, scientists estimate. But they reproduce on average only every five years, which is why even a few whale deaths can be significant, Dr. Whitehead said.

 NOAA closed 86,985 square miles of the gulf to fishing. That represents 36 percent of the Gulf of Mexico. Red Lobster announced that it was removing oysters from the menu.  The company said that they will run out of oysters within the next few weeks as their supplier from Louisiana has shut down.  Prices of seafood are rising as more and more fishermen are out of work and oil pollutes more and more square miles of the gulf each day. Some people also are worried about eating contaminated seafood.

 The oil spill has also resulted in the cancellation of the annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, one of the largest fishing tournaments in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Thousands of sea birds have been found covered in oil and the green reeds of the nesting grounds have been stained a brown-red.

To make things worse we are now in hurricane season and a record number of storms has been predicted for this year:

The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called for an "active" to "extremely active" hurricane season this year. They predict anywhere from 14 to 23 named storms will form in the Atlantic Basin. Of those named storms, eight to 14 should become hurricanes, including three to seven "major" hurricanes with wind speeds above 111 mph.

This prediction is the highest of any that federal forecasters have made since they began issuing seasonal hurricane forecasts in 1998.

Tropical storm Alex has formed in the Western Caribbean, but luckily the latest reports do not have it passing over the spill.

It just seems that a country that has the technology to send men to the moon should be able to come up with a solution to stop the leak. Even the idea of bombing the oil well so it collapses upon itself may make more sense than allowing the leak to continue to destroy our planet. Make it stop!

Want to help? Please donate to the National Wildlife Federation. Click the icon below:

Supreme Court's Decision on Honest Services Fraud

June 24, 2010

“Today’s decision deprives prosecutors of an important tool in their efforts to fight public corruption. Previous convictions may be vacated and corrupt officials will have an easier time escaping accountability for their misdeeds.”Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

The Supreme Court ruled today on honest services fraud cases of Skilling v. United States, Black v. United States, and Weyhrauch v. United States that narrowed the law to include only cases involving bribery and kickback schemes. The law has been used to convict lobbyists, politicians, and corporate executives in corruption cases.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The "honest services" law has been criticized by defense lawyers as the last resort of prosecutors in corruption cases that lack the evidence to prove that money is changing hands. It also has been called vague, subjecting people to prosecution for mistakes and minor transgressions in the business and political worlds. But watchdogs consider it key to fighting white-collar and public fraud.

MSNBC reported:

Honest services charges also have been used regularly in public corruption cases stemming from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, including in the pending retrial of former Abramoff associate Kevin Ring.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said, "The Court has once again disregarded the will of Congress and undermined efforts to protect Americans from abuses by powerful corporate and political interests."

The essential parts of the law were upheld. Read the Anti Corruption Republican for an excellent analysis.

Money and Confidence Gone?

June 24, 2010

Where is the financial plan to sustain the CNMI government? Today it was reported that Lt. Governor Eloy Inos said that only salaried "critical employees" are "secured" for the next payday, which is July 2nd. How stressful this must be for other "non-critical" employees knowing that they are working and may not get paid on time again. Inos stated:

“If we have enough funds in our payroll account by next week Friday, then we should be able to issue the payroll checks. If not, we probably have to go through the same exercise.

The former Finance secretary said doctors, nurses, police officers and firefighters will always be the priority when it comes to getting paid on time.

Some $1.5 million is needed to pay close to 1,000 of these critical positions, and another $1.5 million to pay for the rest.

“Whoever is saying it's irresponsible, they better get used to it because that's how it's going to be. When there's no balanced budget that's passed, the constitutional amendment provides for those folks [employees in critical positions] to be paid and operations to continue. My message out there to the naysayer, better start getting used to it because that is how it's going to flow,” Inos said in an interview at the second day of the 13th Micronesian Chief Executives Summit yesterday.

What a pompous thing to say to government workers: "Whoever is saying it is irresponsible, they better get used to it because that's how it's going to be." No one anywhere should ever get used to irresponsibility or bad governance. In fact, constituents should demand good governance. Elected officials can be voted out and if they show exceptional poor leadership can be removed from office.

Austerity measures should apply to all government offices, and not just to government employees who are asked to take a cut in hours and accept that their pay will be late. How many "special advisors" and lobbyists does one governor of a territory with about 50,0000 or less people really need? How much has been paid to Jenner and Block and are they still receiving funds? Were there people who were hired before elections in the typical CNMI "a job for a vote" scheme that should be let go? It is irresponsible not to answer these questions.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul never solves financial or budget problems and could complicate them.  If there are inadequate funds to sustain services and pay employees then the only way to solve the problem is to decrease spending, increase revenues or do both.

CNMI Senate Hearings on Status

June 24, 2010

The CNMI Senate hearings on status are apparently intended to solicit opinions from residents on what status the United States should grant to long term workers in the CNMI. The Saipan Tribune reported:

Foreign workers in the CNMI should only be given an immigration status similar to that negotiated for citizens of Freely Associated States, said those who attended Wednesday night's public hearing on the status of nonresident workers in the CNMI.

But they are also split on whether such FAS-like status should allow these alien workers to live and work only in the CNMI, or they could also live and work in Guam and other U.S. states and territories.

Senate Vice President Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian), chair of the Senate Committee on Federal Relations and Independent Agencies, which held the public hearing, said that while granting an FAS-like status seemed to be the sentiment of many of those who testified on Wednesday night, this does not mean that it is shared by many others in the community.

“This is only the first of seven public hearings. We hope to hear more from the public,” he said.

Hofschneider said the Senate would also like to hear directly from nonresident workers and their families during the next six public hearings on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

The foreign workers made it clear what their position is in over 7,000 signatures that called for green cards and a pathway to citizenship; in the recent rally attended by over 5,000, which called for a direct pathway to citizenship; and in hundreds of letters sent to members of the U.S. Congress requesting green cards and citizenship.  Still, it is was generous of the Senator to extend the invitation to the foreign workers, and I encourage them to also attend every hearing to make their position known and so it can be recorded for the record. After all, the nonresidents probably make up at least half, if not more, of the adult population of the CNMI and over 70% of the private workforce.

Since PL 100-299 stated that a main objective of the bill was to bring CNMI immigration law into conformity with U.S. law, any status should be the same as the status given to a foreign worker in the mainland for the same amount of years working and residing in the United States.  That is obviously why the DOI Report stated:

Consistent with the goals of comprehensive immigration reform, we recommend that the Congress consider permitting alien workers who have lawfully resided in the CNMI for a minimum period of five years to apply for long-term status under the immigration and nationality laws of the United States.

Of course, this is the recommendation that Congress must follow.

Any FAS-type status proposal is un-American and un-Democratic.  I seriously doubt that the United States Congress would support status that denies basic social and political rights of legal foreigners who have lived and worked in the CNMI for 5 years or more, and some for decades.  Such a status goes against the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.  Any status that denies the right to serve on a jury or to vote should not even be considered. Such status perpetuates an un-democratic and two-tiered system and will only allow abuses to continue.

It is disappointing that after all of these years, CNMI leaders and some of the residents still do not want to see the foreign workers as equals and insist that they remain a disenfranchised underclass there just do work and do their bidding.

It may be arrogant of the CNMI leaders to not consider that the long term foreign workers may just reject FAS-type status or any status proposals that allow for continued disenfranchisement and leave the islands for places where they can work and be offered a direct pathway to citizenship.  Systems that allow for an underclass, a two-tiered society, disenfranchisement, unequal rights, restricted travel, denial of political and social rights must be rejected.

What message do people that support such a backward status send? The message is that they want to retain the broken system and allow the CNMI government to keep the workers under their thumb as voiceless commodities there to serve them through their labor. That way of thinking is un-American.

President Obama Fires General McChrystal

June 23, 2010

As expected, President Obama accepted the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal who has been commander over all of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He is being replaced by General David H, Petraeus.

McChrystal and some of his team members attacked the president and members of the administration in a Rolling Stone article, The Runaway General, that was released online yesterday.  Some of his fouled-mouth advisors were quoted as dissing Vice-President Biden and making other insubordinate remarks.

From Fox News:

The article says that although McChrystal voted for Obama, the two failed to connect from the start. Obama called McChrystal on the carpet last fall for speaking too bluntly about his desire for more troops.

"I found that time painful," McChrystal said in the article, on newsstands Friday. "I was selling an unsellable position."

It quoted an adviser to McChrystal dismissing the early meeting with Obama as a "10-minute photo-op."

"Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. The boss was pretty disappointed," the adviser told the magazine.

Some of the strongest criticism was reserved for Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The boss says he's like a wounded animal," one of the general's aides was quoted as saying. "Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous."

McChrystal said he felt "betrayed" by Eikenberry for expressing doubts about his proposed troop buildup last year and accused the ambassador of giving himself cover.

...The article claims McChrystal has seized control of the war "by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House."

McChrystal apologized to the president saying: "I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened."

Elected leaders from across party lines agreed that the president had to let McChrystal go. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported::

Graham, R-S.C., appeared with Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., all three members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at a crowded news conference at the Capitol. 

"I've been a military officer most of my adult life, and there's lines you can't cross," Graham said. "Those lines were crossed. It was poor judgment, but it was beyond poor judgment. It made it virtually impossible for the general to stay in his job." 

The three senators, who've taken numerous trips together to Afghanistan, lauded Obama's decision to replace McChrystal with Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Rolling Stone compared McCrystal and Petraeus:

Where Gen. Petraeus is kind of a dweeb, a teacher's pet with a Ranger's tab, McChrystal is a snake-eating rebel, a "Jedi" commander, as Newsweek called him.

The following are President Obama's remarks concerning McChrystal's resignation:

June 23, 2010
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Rose Garden
1:43 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Today I accepted General Stanley McChrystal’s resignation as commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. I did so with considerable regret, but also with certainty that it is the right thing for our mission in Afghanistan, for our military, and for our country.

I’m also pleased to nominate General David Petraeus to take command in Afghanistan, which will allow us to maintain the momentum and leadership that we need to succeed.

Over the last nine years, with America fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has earned a reputation as one of our nation’s finest soldiers. That reputation is founded upon his extraordinary dedication, his deep intelligence, and his love of country. I relied on his service, particularly in helping to design and lead our new strategy in Afghanistan. So all Americans should be grateful for General McChrystal’s remarkable career in uniform.

But war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general, or a president. And as difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe that it is the right decision for our national security.

The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system. And it erodes the trust that’s necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan.

My multiple responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief led me to this decision. First, I have a responsibility to the extraordinary men and women who are fighting this war, and to the democratic institutions that I’ve been elected to lead. I’ve got no greater honor than serving as Commander-in-Chief of our men and women in uniform, and it is my duty to ensure that no diversion complicates the vital mission that they are carrying out.

That includes adherence to a strict code of conduct. The strength and greatness of our military is rooted in the fact that this code applies equally to newly enlisted privates and to the general officer who commands them. That allows us to come together as one. That is part of the reason why America has the finest fighting force in the history of the world.

It is also true that our democracy depends upon institutions that are stronger than individuals. That includes strict adherence to the military chain of command, and respect for civilian control over that chain of command. And that’s why, as Commander-in-Chief, I believe this decision is necessary to hold ourselves accountable to standards that are at the core of our democracy.

al Qaeda. I believe that this mission demands unity of effort across our alliance and across my national security team. And I don’t think that we can sustain that unity of effort and achieve our objectives in Afghanistan without making this change. That, too, has guided my decision.

I’ve just told my national security team that now is the time for all of us to come together. Doing so is not an option, but an obligation. I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division. All of us have personal interests; all of us have opinions. Our politics often fuels conflict, but we have to renew our sense of common purpose and meet our responsibilities to one another, and to our troops who are in harm’s way, and to our country.

We need to remember what this is all about. Our nation is at war. We face a very tough fight in Afghanistan. But Americans don’t flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks. We persist and we persevere. We will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorists who want to destroy Afghan security from within, and launch attacks against innocent men, women, and children in our country and around the world.

So make no mistake: We have a clear goal. We are going to break the Taliban’s momentum. We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly apply pressure on al Qaeda and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same.

That’s the strategy that we agreed to last fall; that is the policy that we are carrying out, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In that effort, we are honored to be joined by allies and partners who have stood by us and paid the ultimate price through the loss of their young people at war. They are with us because the interests and values that we share, and because this mission is fundamental to the ability of free people to live in peace and security in the 21st century.

General Petraeus and I were able to spend some time this morning discussing the way forward. I’m extraordinarily grateful that he has agreed to serve in this new capacity. It should be clear to everybody, he does so at great personal sacrifice to himself and to his family. And he is setting an extraordinary example of service and patriotism by assuming this difficult post.

Let me say to the American people, this is a change in personnel but it is not a change in policy. General Petraeus fully participated in our review last fall, and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. In his current post at Central Command, he has worked closely with our forces in Afghanistan. He has worked closely with Congress. He has worked closely with the Afghan and Pakistan governments and with all our partners in the region. He has my full confidence, and I am urging the Senate to confirm him for this new assignment as swiftly as possible.

Let me conclude by saying that it was a difficult decision to come to the conclusion that I’ve made today. Indeed, it saddens me to lose the service of a soldier who I’ve come to respect and admire. But the reasons that led me to this decision are the same principles that have supported the strength of our military and our nation since the founding.

So, once again, I thank General McChrystal for his enormous contributions to the security of this nation and to the success of our mission in Afghanistan. I look forward to working with General Petraeus and my entire national security team to succeed in our mission. And I reaffirm that America stands as one in our support for the men and women who defend it.

Thank you very much.

Also read:

• What Rolling Stone author, Michael Hastings said about the interview and story.

• The Washington Post detailed the activity at the White House

Former Lobbyists Get New Jobs

June 22, 2010

Earlier this month Jack Abramoff, former CNMI lobbyist, was released from jail to spend the remaining six months of his sentence in a halfway house near Baltimore, Maryland. He served 43 months in federal prison.

Now it seems he has landed a job in the restaurant business. Mr. Abramoff is reportedly working at a Baltimore pizzaria called Tov's Pizza where he will be helping the Jewish owner, Ron Rosenbluth, with marketing. From Jewish Times executive editor Phil Jacobs:

Mr. Rosenbluth said that taking a fellow Jew and giving him a fresh start is part of what Judaism stands for. He said that he was happy that Tov Pizza could be that place where Abramoff could begin his healing journey back.

“We’re all Jews, we’re all on the same team,” said Mr. Rosenbluth. “I’m more than happy to help a fellow Jew in any way I can.”

While he cannot be interviewed at this time, Abramoff has made it no secret that he considers Mr. Rosenbluth a “tzaddik,” or righteous individual, for all he does for the community and especially for him.

Abramoff previously owned the upscale Washington, DC restaurant called Signatures where he entertained  politicians and others.  It was "Let's Make a Deal" central for lobbyists and members of Congress seeking political campaign contributions in exchange for supporting legislation that was favorable to Abramoff clients back in the day.  Many of Abramoff's fellow lobbyists, congressional staffers, and former members of Congress who were arrested in the Abramoff scandal were treated to free meals at the restaurant according to their indictments.

Abramoff also owned a kosher restauarnt called Stacks, which was located in Washington, DC.

While Abramoff took responsibility for his crimes, apologized and expressed regret, his co-conspirator and former lobbyist Kevin Ring has not.

Ring, Former Rep. John Doolittle's former chief of staff, produced an article akin to a public pity fest while assuming his new role as author. The Ring article, A Different Kind of Father's Day, was published in Father Magazine.  The unapologetic Ring wrote about how his two daughters "saved his life" after the FBI raided his home and his world collapsed around him. Writes Ring:

This essay is different. It’s a tribute from, not to a dad. It is about the gift of fatherhood, and about how two little girls saved my life.

The relevant part of the story began two years ago when my mother died. Shortly thereafter, the FBI raided my house (as part of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal) and my wife asked for a divorce. Then my father died. Months later, I was indicted, arrested, and hauled away from my house in handcuffs. I fell down walking my dog and separated my shoulder. I recovered in time to stand trial in federal court on eight felony counts. After a six-week trial, the jury hung on all counts. And then my wife moved out.

No, I am not kidding. That all happened.

Yes, breaking the law has consequences. Ring's retrial is scheduled for next month.

Ring's article was a pathetic rant in which he attempts to convince himself what a good guy he is even though he has refused to accept responsibility for his criminal acts and is unapologetic.

If he is looking for sympathy for the FBI raid or for his misery, much of which seems to be the consequences for breaking the law, he gets none from me. I hope he spends years in prison so he can think about all of the people that he has harmed.

Mr. Ring may care about his two little girls, which is praiseworthy, but his work with Abramoff and the CNMI resulted in the destruction of the lives of many hundreds of children and their families. Mr. Ring may want to consider how his lies in covering up labor and human rights abuses and his work to block reform legislation with co-conspirator slime like former Reps. Doolittle, Delay, Pombo, and Schaffer, Rep. Young, and other despicable U.S. Congressmen resulted in the perpetuation of abuses and the suffering of thousands of foreign contract workers and their children.

Maybe Ring would like to answer to the young girls who were victims of human trafficking. One was 14 when she was trafficked to the CNMI and forced to perform sex acts on stage and sold into prostitution. The CNMI, their evil lobbyists and Congressman Ralph Hall attacked her to cover up their lie that there were no abuses, it was all just "old news" and the fantasy of some advocates.  Some of the co-liars are also fathers, making their acts even more twisted and sick.

Perhaps Ring has a solution to the thousands of U.S. citizen children who lay awake at night knowing that at any moment their nonresident parents could be sent back to the homelands where they have no more connections, no jobs, and no future. Maybe he could explain how his actions helped endorse an evil labor system that has allowed children to stay in the CNMI while their parents were sent back to homelands. I would like to hear him explain why there are $6.1 million in unpaid wages owed to foreign contract workers, most of them fathers trying to support their children.

Until Kevin Ring admits his guilt, takes responsibility for his actions, apologizes and sets a real example for his own children and others, he gets no sympathy from me.

CNMI Legal News

June 22, 2010

CNMI Department of Corrections Commissioner, Ramon Mafnas known for his "in-you-face" style, has a message for federal officials:

If Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley or any federal agency for that matter has no confidence in the CNMI Department of Corrections’ ability to detain federal detainees, they can work with the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Marshals Service to remove all federal detainees from the CNMI Department of Corrections and detain them in Los Angeles or Honolulu,” Mafnas said.

He was apparently upset because a federal judge clearly ordered accused child-rapist Tyron Farley Reyes Fitial to be held without any form of release. Previously, the CNMI DOC has allowed violent criminals such as the former commissioner Dolores Aldan's husband, Vicente Aldan, to have weekend furloughs.  The DOC also allowed a federal prisoner who was ordered to be held with no bail to be released to give the governor a massage.  Why wouldn't a judge or a federal law enforcement official make it clear in an order what conditions a prisoner is to be held?

From the Marianas Variety:

Federal detainees are under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service but are being detained at local prison facility. 

Corrections welcomes objective and constructive criticism, Mafnas said, “rather than…provocative speech and innuendos uttered by certain federal official and conveniently penned by you in your news articles,” Mafnas said. 

When sought for comment, O’Malley said: “I’m pleased to hear Commissioner Mafnas understands the court’s order clearly. There had been confusion on prior occasions.”

For his part, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Don D. Hall said: “I believe the comments made in court were merely to help avoid any misunderstanding and to avoid any contention between the local government and the federal government.”

“The U.S. Marshals Service currently has a very amenable relationship with the CNMI Department of Corrections,” Hall said.

“We feel that housing our detainees locally is a benefit to the detainee, the local government as well as the federal government. We are all trying to work together as a team to make this a beneficial relationship for everyone involved,” Hall added.

There are some 15 federal detainees at the local prison.

I think Mafnas was wrong to suggest that the federal government officials made "provocative speech and innuendos" concerning the lax treatment at the DOC.   In act, the federal officials have made their stand on releasing federal prisoners very clear.

In April 2010 the CNMI and Federal Government were set to re-negotiate the terms for the Federal Government to use the CNMI detention facility to house federal prisoners. An agreement could not be reached. According to a 2010 GAO report:

ICE has been unable to conclude negotiations with the CNMI government to arrange access to detention space in the CNMI correctional facility. In March 2010, ICE estimated that it required 50 detention beds for its CNMI operations. Under a 2007 intergovernmental service agreement between the U.S. Marshals Service and the CNMI Department of Corrections, the CNMI adult correctional facility in Saipan provides the U.S. government 25 detention beds at a rate of $77 per bed per day. As of September 2008, less than 30 percent of the facility’s beds (134 of 513) were filled. 

To obtain needed detention space, ICE proposed to either amend the 2007 U.S. Marshals Service agreement before it expired on April 1, 2010, or establish a new agreement with the CNMI government.  As of March 2010, after a year of negotiation, ICE had not finalized an agreement with the CNMI government owing to unresolved cost documentation issues, according to a senior ICE official. 

• In March 2009, ICE officials initiated discussion with the CNMI government regarding needed detention space and requested that CNMI representatives complete a jail service cost statement. 

• In October 2009, representatives from the CNMI provided an incomplete jail service cost statement. The statement did not include capital construction costs, and CNMI representatives informed ICE officials that all estimates were preliminary and that the statement would require additional review. 

• In November 2009, a CNMI official provided ICE with an e-mail containing top-level cost estimates, including capital and operating costs totaling approximately $107 per day. 

• In December 2009, ICE requested additional documentation for the construction costs, and the CNMI Attorney General provided a second jail service cost statement with a further breakdown of the CNMI rate of $107 per day.79 An ICE assessment of the CNMI statement deemed that the CNMI had miscalculated certain costs and, after recalculating these costs, proposed a bed rate of approximately $89 per day. 

• In January 2010, according to ICE officials, the CNMI acknowledged calculation errors but did not agree to a bed rate lower than $105. 

Since January 2010, negotiations between ICE and the CNMI regarding detention space have been on hold. According to the ICE contracting official, the CNMI has not provided any additional information supporting its $105 rate. Before contracting for beds, ICE requires documentation that establishes a fair and reasonable cost. According to the CNMI Attorney General, further documentation for the $105 rate is not necessary because the commonwealth is negotiating as an equal partner rather than as an applicant submitting cost proposals to DHS. ICE officials noted that although they had briefed the DHS Office of Policy on this operational challenge, ICE had remained responsible for the negotiations because of its expertise.  ICE officials also observed that the CNMICNMI while removal proceedings are under way: 

1. Issue orders of supervision. Since November 28, 2009, ICE has released 43 detainees into the CNMI community, including 27 with prior criminal records, under orders of supervision. According to ICE officials, orders of supervision are appropriate for detainees who do not present a danger to the community or a possible flight risk. 

2. Pay to transport detainees to other U.S. locations. ICE can transport detainees to another detention facility, such as in Guam or Honolulu. Guam’s correctional facility charges $77 per day.84 As of March 1, 2010, ICE had paid approximately $5,000 to transport two detainees to Guam and one to Honolulu.

3. Pay CNMI’s daily rate at Saipan correctional facility. ICE may pay the CNMI’s $105 daily rate for each detainee, if the CNMI provides appropriate documentation justifying its proposed rate. 

In addition, because ICE has been unable to conclude its negotiations with the CNMI Department of Corrections, ICE cannot conduct immigration removal hearings for persons currently serving time in the CNMI corrections facility. As of March 1, 2010, ICE identified 26 CNMI prisoners serving criminal sentences in the local CNMI correctional facility for removal proceedings. In general, ICE attempts to conclude removal proceedings before inmates are released, in order to expedite removals and avoid additional detention costs, according to ICE officials. However, the CNMI Department of Corrections will not permit ICE to conduct immigration hearings at the facility unless ICE agrees to pay utility and access fees to establish video conferencing services in the CNMI prison. Officials with the CNMI correctional facility proposed a fee of $84 per day for utilities and to allow video conferencing hookups. According to an ICE official, ICE has agreements with other federal and state prisons in other U.S. locations to hold immigration hearings while inmates are incarcerated and has installed video-conferencing equipment, free of charge, to allow inmates to participate in their immigration proceedings while in custody.

The footnotes in the report reveal how uncooperative CNMI officials have been in the negotiations.

Violent Rapist Rabauliman Already Had Parole
DOC Commissioner Mafnas clarified a previous story that stated that kidnapper and rapist Jose Olopai Rabauliman was to have a parole hearing to determine whether he would be released early. The hearing scheduled for June 25th is not a parole hearing since, according to Mafnas, the criminal already had been released on parole in 2008!

Rabauliman was returned to prison after violating parole and the upcoming hearing is to determine whether the violent sexual offender is released again or not.  This man served less than 1/3 of his 30 year sentence, got out early, and violated parole. He should not be allowed out again.

In November 2008 Jose Rabauliman graduated from the Northern Marianas Trade Institute.  I am unsure if that was a condition of his early release or parole, but for some other prisoners who were released earlier this year attending the institute was a condition of their parole.

No Educational Sessions At Juvenile Detention Center for Five Months
The Saipan Tribune reports that there have been no teachers or educational program at the Juvenile Detention Center for five months. Have more federal laws been violated?

In February 2008 Department of Community and Cultural Affairs (DCCA)  deputy secretary Melvin Fiasao asked PSS for help in providing a teacher for the center. DCCA oversees the Kagman Juvenile Detention Center and Corrections Facility.  From the Saipan Tribune:

DCCA deputy secretary Melvin Faisao told Education Commissioner David Borja that DCCA has done extensive research and found that the Federal Mandates for Special Education in Juvenile Corrections summarizes three seminal federal laws, focusing primarily on the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT or IDEA.

Faisao explained that IDEA is “landmark civil rights legislation because it guarantees free appropriate public education for all eligible children and youth with disabilities through age 21.”

IDEA applies to public schools and state-operated programs, including juvenile detention and confinement facilities since its passage in 1975.

In addition to IDEA, Faisao said, “Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Education Act prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities by any program or activity that receives federal funds including correctional facilities.”

He added that the ADA and Section 504 apply to juvenile correctional facilities to the extent that students with disabilities are excluded from appropriate education service or are excluded from school for misbehavior that may be related to the students' disability, or to the failure of the school program to meet the students' needs.

Faisao noted that since PSS is a grantor recipient of IDEA, DCCA is seeking its help in this matter.

Has the CNMI government violated law or funding requirements by not providing for education at the center for five months?  How did this lapse occur?

Consultation Meeting Saturday for Foreigners

June 21, 2010

The United Workers Movement with Dekada and the Human Dignity Movement are sponsoring a meeting for foreigners to learn more about parole in place.  A federal official will be the guest speaker.

The consultation meeting will take place at American Memorial Theater on Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 5:00 pm. Seating is limited so please RSVP for a reservation to Rabby 285-3306 or Ronnie at 285-9255.

The following matters will be discussed:

• General information on Parole in Place and authorization to work.
• The future status of foreign business owners, students, and FAS immediate relatives who are not covered under the DOI recommendations.
• Other relevant matters

There will also be an opportunity for questions and answers.

I encourage anyone who does not understand the limited role of the CNMI DOL's authority over foreigners, has questions about PL 17-1, or needs clarification on any aspect of the federalization process to attend.

Legal News

June 21, 2010

More Moves at the OAG
Assistant Attorney General William Downer is leaving the Office of the Attorney General to return to California. There will be only four prosecutors left in the office.

Rosemond Santos, who resigned as chief prosecutor last Friday, said that she will be working at Captial Hill, but still within the OAG.

New U.S. Attorney for Guam and the NMI
Alicia Limtiaco was sworn in at the District Court of Guam as the new U.S. Attorney for Guam and the NMI replacing Leonardo Rapadas.  She is the first Chamorro female U.S. Attorney for Guam and the NMI.

From the Pacific News Center:




Rapist Caught 

It seems like every few days there is news of another child abduction or rape in Saipan, and this horrible crime seems to be reaching epidemic levels. What's going on and why hasn't the chief of police, the AG, or the governor made a statement about the increase in violent crimes?

 A 16 year old girl was raped by three men while on her way to school. Angel Jess Santos confessed and was arrested for for rape, kidnapping, sexual abuse of a minor, aggravated assault and battery, and disturbing the peace charges. He is being held on $100,000 cash bail.

The Marianas Variety reported:

The victim told police she left home at about 6 a.m. and walked to her aunt’s house across from the Kagman Community Center to get her baseball cap.

She then walked to CYC Store and bought a drink before proceeding toward the highway that connects to the main road leading to KagHS.

Detective Reyes said it was along the secondary paved highway when the three suspects on the pick-up truck approached the victim and asked for her bag. The victim continued walking.

The suspects then jumped off the vehicle, held the victim, covered her mouth and nose, preventing her from screaming and breathing, according to Reyes.

“[The victim] struggled but was unable to breathe and felt weakened. A sudden hit on her head knocked her unconscious,” Detective Reyes said.

When the victim later regained consciousness, she had a bloody nose, and found herself inside an abandoned concrete house several houses behind CYC Store, police said.

Meanwhile the DPS still has not published a sexual offender registry that it is required to publish by law. From the DPS Website:

It is the policy of the Department of Public Safety to ensure that any person convicted of a criminal offense against victim(s) who are minor(s) or are convicted of sexually violent offense(s) as defined under Title 6 Crimes and Criminal Procedure/Division 1. Crimes Against Persons and Property ss1101/Part 1 Crimes Against the Person/Chapter 3. Sexual Offenses. § 1201/Article 4. Sex Offender Registration and Notifications. §1361/ss1362. Registration: Shall be registered as a Sex Offender in the CNMI.

...The Sex Offenders Registration & Notification Act (SORNA) requirements for disclosure and sharing of information about registrants appear primarily in section 118, which is concerned with sex offender websites, and section 121, which is concerned with community notification in a broader sense and with some more targeted type of disclosures.

Section 118(a) of SORNA state a general rule that jurisdictions are to "make available on the Internet, in a manner that is readily accessible to all jurisdictions and to the public, all information about each sex offender in the registry."

The list of informational items that jurisdictions must include on their public sex offender websites is as follows:

a. The name of the sex offender, including any aliases.
b. The address of each residence at which the sex offender resides or will
reside.
c. The address of any place where the sex offender is an employee or will
be an employee and, if the sex offender is employed but does not have a
definite employment address, other information about where the sex
offender works.
d. The address of any place where the sex offender is a student or will be a
student.
e. The license plate number and a description of any vehicle owned or
operated by the sex offender.
f. A physical description of the sex offender.
g. The sex offense for which the sex offender is registered an any other sex
offense for which the sex offender has been convicted.
h. A current photograph of the sex offender.

The DPS Sex Offender Registry Office will be posting CNMI registered sex offender information on this website soon.

Contact the DPS Sex Offender Registry Office at 664-9026 or 664-9001 for information on registered sex offenders in the CNMI or call CRIME STOPPERS at 234-7272 to report a crime. Your name is not needed, just your information. 

Last Updated on Monday, 14 July 2008 00:40

Will be updated soon? The site was updated on July 14, 2008, almost two years ago.

I researched this law, SORNA, and it is a federal law.  A description and overview of the law confirms that every state and territory is tasked with maintaining a sexual offender registry.  From the Office of Justice Programs of the US DoJ:

What jurisdictions are included under SORNA?
The 50 states, the District of Columbia, the five principal U.S. territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes that elect to function as registration jurisdictions are all considered jurisdictions under SORNA. Each of these jurisdictions must comply with the provisions of SORNA as explained in the Guidelines in order to substantially implement SORNA.

When is the deadline for substantial implementation?
The deadline for substantial implementation is July 27, 2009. Submissions establishing compliance with the SORNA requirements or requesting extensions should be made to the SMART Office by April 27, 2009. If a jurisdiction is requesting an extension of time, the submission to the SMART Office should include a description of the jurisdiction’s implementation efforts, and an explanation as to why an extension is needed. Up to two 1-year extensions may be allowed. 

What are the consequences for jurisdictions that fail to substantially implement SORNA by July 27, 2009?
Jurisdictions that fail to substantially implement SORNA by July 27, 2009 are subject to a mandatory 10% reduction in funding under 42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq. (“Byrne Justice Assistance Grant” funding).

Shouldn't the U.S. Department of Justice ensure that this law is followed? Did the CNMI request an extension? If so, for what reason, and if not is the CNMI jeopardize funding?

Breaking the bank

June 21, 2010

For decades foreign contract workers have been routinely cheated of their wages.  Employers, some who never had the capital to hire workers from the get go, could not afford to pay their employees so they didn't.  Some would make promises of "next week" and other would lie and say, "Don't worry I opened a bank account for you and I am depositing your wages" (when they didn't) to ensure that their domestic helpers, farmers, or business employees kept working.  In the end, most unscrupulous employers never did pay the cheated workers the back wages that they owed them. The employees filed labor complaints, received administrative orders stating that the employers must pay, and with no enforcement from the CNMI DOL or OAG most never did get the wages that they were owed.

Basically, the cheated workers had worked for free, much like slaves. The CNMI government made some lame excuses and refused to fix the injustice.  In fact, their broken system perpetuated the abuses and compounded it until there were over $6.1 million in uncollected judgments recorded.

Now it seems it is the government employees who are being asked to work and suffer having their pay checks delayed. Their delayed paychecks were released yesterday, days after they should have been distributed. The Marianas Variety reported that the CNMI government spends $3 million in salary every two weeks.  If that is the case where will the funds for future pay come from?  There is only so much money that can be shifted around and borrowed from other agencies until there just is no more.  Can the CNMI government that allowed thousands of foreign contract workers to be cheated be trusted to come up with real solutions to ensure that government employees receive their pay on time? I am not sure that they can. I would be very worried if I worked for the CNMI government.

House Minority leader Diego Benavente expressed his opinion about the situation:

It is clear and obvious that because of our economic situation, people are living from paycheck to paycheck. Not everybody, but a lot of them, including government employees, especially those making $12,000, $14,000 or $15,000 a year. We know that’s not enough to get food on the table, pay your utilities, mortgage and so we know that they suffer if they don’t get paid on time,” Benavente said.

“In my opinion, it’s a mistake on the administration’s part to pay first the essential public services employees. I think the fact is every single government employee has put that eight hours or two weeks work (and deserve to be paid on time),” he added.

The lawmaker said the administration knew that it had been overspending since Oct. 1, 2009, the start of fiscal year 2010, and should had initiated reduced allotments as early as the first two quarters.

News From the CNMI

June 20, 2010


Rosemond Santos Resigns as Chief Prosecutor
The Saipan Tribune reported that Rosemond Blanco Santos, chief prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General had a falling out with AG Buckingham and resigned. Since she was appointed as chief prosecutor in January 2010 there has been an exodus of attorneys from the OAG. According to the Tribune:

“She actually quit because AG Buckingham stood his ground and didn't give in to her,” one source said.

The source said Buckingham may tap assistant attorney general Mike Ernest to serve as acting chief prosecutor.

Since Santos' appointment, five prosecutors at the Criminal Division have left: George Hasselback, Katie Busenkell, Mike Evangelista, and Joseph Przyuski.

Convicted Rapist-Kidnapper Applies for Parole
The Marianas Variety reports that Jose O. Rabauliman who was sentenced in 2000 for the rape, assault and battery and kidnapping of two Chinese foreign contract worker-victims will have a parole hearing June 25. The crime was committed on March 28, 1998.

The defense attorneys claimed that the women were prostitutes and were not raped, but prosecutor James Benedetto pointed out that one woman's shoe was found at the Horiguchi Building where they were kidnapped, one woman's pants were torn on both sides, and the women had fingerprint bruises on their bodies.

In 2000 the Saipan Tribune reported on the sentencing of Rabauliman and Renguul:

Judge Manibusan said there was no doubt at all that the two committed one of the most serious crimes in the Commonwealth when they kidnapped, raped, tortured, and terrorized Wang-Quin Li and Hong- Jin Wang.

"One can only see that only animals can do these things -- those without human intelligence. The act of kidnapping someone from the streets of this small community is akin to an act by terrorist," he said.

The two men will serve the following sentence consecutively for the crimes they have been earlier convicted of: rape, five years; oral copulation, five years; and kidnapping, 10 years each for the two women.

"What happened to the two young men in the early morning hours of March 28, 1998? What made them act that way they did? Peer pressure, boredom or sense of adventure? Whatever it was, there was distinctly no excuse for such act," Judge Manibusan said.
Although both men were educated, they lost their jobs because of absenteeism and did not do anything but to hang out with friends.

Ms. Li and Ms. Wang were on their way back to their staff house after eating at J’s Restaurant when the they were grabbed by four men on board a van in front of Horiguchi Building. The two women used to work as masseuse in Caesar’s Sauna.

The victims were brought to Suicide Cliff Look-Out Post in Marpi where the men took turns in raping them. The two women said they screamed for help and fought back, they begged and pleaded to let them go but the men did not listen.

Luckily, Korean national Agustine Chong saw the incident while walking toward Suicide Cliff and called 911. The police immediately responded and rescued the women from more serious harm.

Before he issued the sentence, Judge Manibusan said he is giving both Mr. Rabauliman and Mr. Renguul enough time to reflect and decide what to do with their lives. "You can go to school and get a degree so that when you come out of prison, you will be wholesome members of this community. But it will be sometime in the future. It will be up to you to make that choice," he said.

The judge sentenced them to thirty years for a reason. That sentence should not be reduced. Thirty years for kidnapping, assault and battery, and rape is not even a long sentence.  This violent criminal should not walk out of prison even one second before the thirty years is up.

The Marianas Variety reported: "Board of Parole Chairman Ramon B. Camacho is asking members of the public to call the parole board office at 664-3300 or 3302 if they have any question or information about Rabauliman’s application."

I hope that some leaders of women's and victim's rights groups, some leaders from the Chinese community, and some decent citizens will show up to testify against giving this criminal parole.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Photo by Orlando Sentinel


June 20, 2010

Living in Orlando has some perks. The "City Beautiful" is located between two coasts and is just a short drive to beaches.  I like the peaceful parks, grandfather oak trees, farmer's markets, diversity of the population, and the fact that the climate is perfect for gardening year round.  But ask any kid why they like Orlando, and they'll tell you it's the theme parks that make it a great place to live. Because Boboy works at Animal Kingdom, we go to the Disney parks frequently using our free passes.  Our children and grandchildren like the rides, and we like the gardens, shows, and people watching.

This week at the Universal Orlando Resort, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened to record crowds.  We have tickets to Universal, but were waiting until the crowds thin and the temperatures cool before spending a day there.

Photo by Orlando Sentinel

The park took 5 years to build and features Hogwarts Castle, and Hogsmeade village filled with shops and restaurants where visitors can drink butter beer or  taste some popping candy or ear waxed flavored jelly beans.  The park features dementors, flying broomsticks, the sorting hat, magic wands, dragons and lots of special effects.  You can buy a wand from Ollivander's Wand Shop, mail a letter from the Owl Post, or shop at Zonko's Joke Store.  There are two roller coasters: Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge.  As if that is not enough, moaning Myrtle haunts the bathroom.

British actor, Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter in the films, greeted the guests on opening night saying that the park was the next "part of the Potter legacy." From the BBC:

"What Universal Orlando has done with Harry Potter is really, really fantastic," said Radcliffe, who plays the schoolboy wizard, at the opening ceremony.

"We're all kind of very grateful that the next part of the Harry Potter legacy has been so well done and so well made."

Radcliffe was joined at the opening by fellow Potter actors Rupert Grint (who plays Ron Weasley), Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), Warwick Davis (Filius Flitwick), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley).

Photo by Orlando Sentinel

The Friday opening of the 20 acre park was attended by thousands of die-hard Harry Potter fans, reportedly mostly muggles, who braved the temperatures that reached 98 degrees with a "feels like" temperature of 105.  Hot weather didn't stop thousands from arriving  hours before the park opened to be first in line or from wearing Hogswart robes.  The opening was covered by news media from around the world, and all reports made the park sound spectacular.

Maybe we shouldn't wait for the cooler weather!