Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (2569)	6/22/2003 7:20:42 AM
From: Elsewhere	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793990

Watched a 4-hour documentary on the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's Berlin visit on TV last night. berlin.rbb-online.de Amazing scenes. Kennedy's famous speech at the Rudolf-Wilde-Platz ("Ich bin ein Berliner") was shown in full length. cs.umb.edu archives.gov About 400,000 citizens listened to him, the number was only limited by the available space. historyplace.com About 1.5 million people were cheering along the streets, basically every West Berlin citizen who was able to move watched Kennedy live. I don't know of any other occasion where the leader of a foreign country was celebrated that much. On June 26 an exhibition on Kennedy will open: dhm.de It has been prepared by the German Historical Museum in cooperation with the JFK Institute of the Free University of Berlin. dhm.de fu-berlin.de

To: unclewest who wrote (2569)	6/22/2003 7:49:46 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793990

Sex Offender in Predator Case Held in Rape After His Release By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - NEW YORK TIMES Looks like we are going to get some changes in rape laws because of this case. It is a tough area to legislate. Are we going to lock someone up for life on one charge? It may happen. KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 21 (AP) - A convicted sex offender whose case led to the Supreme Court ruling on the practice of keeping sexual predators locked up after their sentences end has been charged with a rape committed after his release. The sex offender, Michael T. Crane, 41, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attacking a woman in her car on March 22. He is being held without bond in the Jackson County jail and is seeking a public defender. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 27. He was convicted in 1994 in Johnson County, Kan., for an attack on a video store clerk in Leawood the previous year. In 1987, he received probation for attempted forcible rape and two counts of sexual abuse in Missouri. In the 1994 case, Mr. Crane was sentenced to 35 years to life on his convictions for kidnapping, attempted rape and attempted sodomy. The convictions were overturned on technicalities by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1996, and the next year he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated sexual battery. He was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison. As he was nearing release, the state sought to have him kept in confinement, and a jury determined him to be a violent sexual predator. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned that finding, but Mr. Crane remained in confinement while the state appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 that states must prove convicted sex offenders cannot control themselves if they are to be confined after prison. The Kansas court had said the state would have to show that inmates totally lacked control of their behavior, but the Supreme Court said it was enough to prove "serious difficulty in controlling behavior." The case was remanded to Kansas, and Mr. Crane remained in custody for more than three years after finishing his sentence. He was released in January 2002 after doctors concluded that his mental condition had changed and that he was no longer a threat. "This was incredibly frustrating to us," Paul Morrison, the district attorney of Johnson County, said on Thursday. This month, DNA from semen in the latest attack was matched to Mr. Crane's, the authorities said. His DNA was in a national database of convicted felons. The new charges carry a penalty of up to life in prison if he is convicted. nytimes.com