NYPD to Judicial Watch on Cardillo FOIL Case: Drop Dead
Courtroom action opened Tuesday in Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Law lawsuit against the NYPD in New York State Supreme Court. Under state FOIL laws, Judicial Watch sought records, a final report and a key audio tape of a 10-13 “officer in distress” call made in the 46-year-old Phillip Cardillo murder case. The NYPD told Judicial Watch to go to hell.
Instead, Judicial Watch went to court.
Cardillo, an NYPD patrolman, was gunned down in a Nation of Islam mosque in Harlem in 1972. The NYPD claims the Cardillo case, after more than four decades, is still “active and ongoing.”
Judicial Watch argued that, on both the facts and the law, the case is closed, and that the public has a right to the information.
Judge Verna Saunders is presiding in the case. Despite a late shift of the lawsuit to her courtroom, she was well-prepared, asking sharp questions of both sides on the facts and the law.
The NYPD took an absolutist position on the Judicial Watch request—absolutely not. Judge Saunders inquired, might the NYPD be open to providing redacted documents? The NYPD lawyer side-stepped the question.
Might the NYPD, which claims it cannot find the 10-13 tape, turn it over if discovered on a further search? No, replied the NYPD, because the tape was part of an active and ongoing investigation.
Retired NYPD detective Randy Jurgensen was in the courtroom as an observer. Jurgensen has played a central role in the Cardillo case for decades. He arrested Cardillo’s alleged shooter, and later wrote “Circle of Six,” a powerful memoir of the case that prompted then-Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in 2006 to direct the NYPD Major Case Squad to take another look at the Cardillo killing.
Jurgensen worked with Major Case on the re-investigation and says the inquiry was closed around 2012. Since then, there has been no substantive and material activity on the case—although the NYPD now claims otherwise.
“I was told repeatedly in 2012 and after, by members of the Major Case Squad, that the case was closed and a final report was being prepared,” Jurgensen told Judicial Watch. “Copies of that report were to be ‘sent upstairs’”—to the police commissioner—”and provided to the Cardillo family, and to me. That never happened. It’s forty-six years since Phil Cardillo was killed. I just want to see as much as possible made public in the case.”
Forty-six years is a long time. And it’s fair to ask, why is Judicial Watch seeking information now? What is it all about? And why is the NYPD resisting disclosure?
Judicial Watch answers those questions at length here, and here, but the short version is that the NYPD has a well-documented bias against transparency and disclosure. It’s embarrassed by its past bad behavior in the Cardillo case and does not want it dragged back into the public eye.
And while there is a general investigative consensus that the suspect Jurgensen arrested in 1976 was the shooter—he went to trial and was acquitted—many questions remain about the case.
Was there a broader conspiracy that inadvertently led to Cardillo’s death?
Who made the 10-13 call that drew police officers to the mosque that day?
Why were the mosque doors—usually closed and locked—left open that day?
What was behind a special prosecutor’s conclusion that there was a deliberate effort by NYPD brass to “impede” the early Cardillo investigation?
And what was the role of the FBI in all this? Contemporary witnesses and documents suggest the FBI played a deeper role in the events surrounding the mosque case than they have admitted. Did FBI dirty tricks somehow inadvertently lead to Cardillo’s death?
Getting answers to those questions is why Judicial Watch is in court. Judge Saunders will issue a ruling in the New York case soon. Meanwhile, in Washington, our parallel case against the FBI moves forward in federal court.
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DOJ Announces Fast and Furious Documents Withheld by Eric Holder Will Be Released
Source: Townhall
The Department of Justice announced that additional documents related to the Operation Fast and Furious scandal during the Obama administration will be released to the House Oversight Committee. The documents were previously withheld by Attorney General Eric Holder, who was voted in civil and criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to turn them over. President Obama invoked executive privilege in June 2012 to prevent their release just hours before the contempt vote was held.
How Some Executives Give
Their Brain Waves A Workout
Successful CEOs and entrepreneurs, as well as ambitious middle managers, often seek ways to keep their mental faculties sharp to stay ahead of their competition.
But training your brain to perform at peak levels isn’t easy.
And that’s why some executives are turning to neurofeedback sessions – a kind of biofeedback for the brain – to improve their mind’s executive function and performance.
“Improved health and mental focus can help you balance the stressors of daily living while keeping you headed toward your goals,” says Dr. Ed Carlton, founder of the Carlton Neurofeedback Center (www.carltonneurofeedbackcenter.com) and author of the book The Answer.
“For example, for people who are seeking a promotion or a career shift, or planning to start their own business, neurofeedback training can help improve their executive function and their performance.”
Inspirational speaker Tony Robbins is a fan of neurofeedback training. So is Olympic beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh-Jennings.
Carlton refers to neurofeedback as “fitness training for the brain,” which is perhaps why it’s appealing even to Olympic athletes.
Here’s how it works: The process begins with a brain map, which locates the specific areas that need help to function more efficiently. Once these areas are identified, neurofeedback training can improve their function. The technology uses computers to monitor brain-wave patterns while the patient relaxes and watches a movie or video. The visual and audio inputs are varied, providing feedback based on the training goals from the brain map. The results are lasting and there are no side effects, Carlton says.
While neurofeedback can be used to improve executive function, it’s also used to treat ADD and ADHD, depression, autism, seizures, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic-stress disorder.
Carlton says there are a few important facts business executives should know if they’re interested in the benefits of neurofeedback training:
The weekly neurofeedback sessions take about half an hour and are painless and non-invasive, Carlton says. The results also last a long time.
“Once your brain learns new ways to respond,” he says, “it continues learning much the way we remember how to swim year after year.”
About Dr. Ed Carlton
Dr. Ed Carlton is founder of the Carlton Neurofeedback Center (www.carltonneurofeedbackcenter.com) and author of the book The Answer. He is a chiropractor, but prior to that worked for nine years as an engineer. Carlton’s interest in his current profession came about because of his own experience with bipolar disorder. "My first degree is engineering. Neurofeedback is a cross between medicine and engineering, using the best of both to provide relief for my patients. The Answer explains how neurofeedback stopped my bipolar symptoms, and how it can help others do the same.”
