Category Archives: justice

Honor Flight to War Memorials Scheduled

by contoveros

I will be off to Washington DC next month on an excursion strictly for veterans to participate in what has been designated as an “Honor Flight” for those who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

The program was created some years ago and even provided airfare for those living on the West Coast and living too far to make a trip to the nation’s capital by vehicle. That is where it got its name “Honor Flight” and in my bailiwick, that would be “Honor Flight Philadelphia.”

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VA – Uber is now free for disabled veterans

by contoveros

I was escorted from my home by a Uber driver for the first time in my life when I learned the Veterans Administration provides the service free for disabled veterans.

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Hank Williams singer & song-writer honor

by contoveros

The month of January will always bring a sad feeling when I recall what happened on the first day of the year in 1953 to one of the greatest Country and Western singers of all time.

Hank Williams died of a heart attack while traveling in the back seat of a vehicle enroute to a performance he never was given by Fate to accomplish. He was only 29 years old, but had provided more than many lifetimes to the wonderful world of music.

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Investigate the 2024 election for fraud?

by contoveros

Was the 2024 presidential election rigged somehow by some unsavory characters with a history of such actions from the last presidential election?

I don’t know. But I wouldn’t put it pass some Republicans who tried to steal the election away from Biden and Harris in 2020. They may have perfected some of their dastardly ways and avoided media coverage but possible further investigation by my former journalism buddies who – like me – may sense that something just doesn’t seem right about this election.

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Voting for the future of the USA today

by contoveros

I cast my ballot today for the 2024 election in the United States in the hopes and joyful expectations that Kamala Harris will win and be declared president.

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Democracy Wins in this Historic Jury Trial

by contoveros

Relieved.

Grateful.

Joyful.

Those are the words that sprung from my heart and soul as I took in what the jury provided the entire world with their unanimous decision to convict a former USA president.

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Defender Assn. of Phila. honored today

by contoveros

The Defender Association of Philadelphia, of which I worked for 20 years as a public defender, is celebrating its 90th year of representing poor defendants today!

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What to do when hearing you’re deceased

by contoveros

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

That is what Mark Twain wrote in a cablegram he sent from Europe to a newspaper publisher in the United States that had published an obituary with false details of his death in a widely circulated newspaper one day more than a hundred years ago.

I am saying the same thing right now in the year 2024!

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‘My Social Security’ & all of your earnings

by contoveros

While getting together all taxable income documents for 2023 to file with the IRS, I came across something that is quite amazing. The Social Security System keeps a list of all earnings you ever made starting with the first time you ever worked.

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Getting Credit for my Time Served in Philly

by contoveros

Courtroom Opponents Meeting Up Years Later

You never know when an action from your past may catch up to you and remind you of what you once did in your previous life.

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Supreme Court Guts a More Perfect Union

by contoveros

Today’s Supreme Court is the worst judicial tribunal since the United States’ highest judiciary ruled in 1856 that blacks were not and could not be citizens.

Yes, Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney has gone down in history for his ruling in Dred Scott v. John Sanford. It stated that a black man had no rights under the Constitution and that the Founders’ words “All Men Are Created Equal’ in the Declaration of Independence, was never intended to applyto blacks.

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Confederate names changed at Army bases

by contoveros

The name change has finally occurred, and I am happy to report that every US Army base where I was stationed has had its Confederate Army soldier’s name removed and replaced with more admirable names.

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‘Stand Back’ Proud Boys Guilty of Treason

by contoveros

Traitors.

That’s the word that everyone in the United States can call four of the Proud Boys who were found guilty by a jury of their peers for taking part in the insurrection conducted in the Capital on Jan. 6, 2021. They reached the verdict on 31 of 46 counts following seven days of deliberation in Washington DC and nearly 15 weeks of courtroom proceedings.

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Ban Fox News lies from our military bases

by contoveros

Fox News should be curtailed on all military bases and facilities to prevent men and women in uniform to be lied to about stories and events shaping our nation, particularly the political world around us.

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Vietnam War Peace Accord 50 years old!

by contoveros

This month marks the 50th anniversary of when the Vietnam War finally ended. A Peace Accord was reached on January 27, 1973, making way for the complete removal of all troops by March 29th of the same year.

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Here’s my Pledge to Vote in Pennsylvania!

by contoveros

Voting has been made easier for many of us in Pennsylvania and the state provides links for checking on your voting status as well as any request seeking a mail-in ballot. I took part in a Zoom connection entitled “MontCoVotes” and learned how to maneuver through the government channels and wanted to share them here.

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First Public Defender on Supreme Court!

by contoveros

For the first time in our nation’s history, an attorney who once practiced law as a public defender will serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate and will take her seat this summer when Justice Stephen Breyer steps down. She will be the first former criminal defense lawyer since Justice Thurgood Marshall, who served on the bench more than 30 years ago.

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Highlights of a Philly public defender intern

by contoveros

One of my favorite jobs was serving as an intern for the Defender Association of Philadelphia. I went to the jails, the Courtrooms, and the training rooms to learn how to properly defend persons charged with various crimes.

     The prison was tough. You never knew if the defendant was telling the truth or not. You simply interviewed him for the basic information and wrote up his story for a trial lawyer to review before speaking to the suspect and going to trial. You never saw the person again, and you had no idea how he may have fared.

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Vietnam War Book Review a 4-Stars Rate!

by contoveros

Please Read and Enjoy This Review of My Book

Review of Vietnam War Recall

authored by Michael J Contos

at Contoveros.wordpress.com

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‘Forget the Alamo’ devastates childhood

by contoveros

      My reality took a major hit when I learned of a book that reveals the famous battle at the Alamo in Texas was not what Walt Disney had broadcast on TV but was a nefarious cover-up of an expansion of slavery in the Lone Star State.

     Santa Anna’s Mexican troops were trying to stamp out slavery in its territory, and the 180 persons fighting at the old Spanish mission in San Antonio were trying not only to retain slavery, but to make it grow for the production of cotton.

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USAA: Stop Tucker Carlson Ads to Vets

by contoveros
I complained to USAA, the American Veterans Car Insurance Company, when I learned that it was advertising on the Tucker Carlson show. As a subscriber of USAA for more than 50 years, I threatened to seek insurance elsewhere after the Fox News host called the Joint Chiefs of Staff general “stupid” and followed that up by describing him as a “pig.”

————

General Mark Miley, who incidentally was a Trump appointee, recently expressed his support for “critical race theory” at a congressional hearing.

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Public Defender Advocate Still Lives On!

by contoveros

      Walter Mondale, the Minnesota resident and former candidate for president of the United States, was a staunch advocate for providing legal services to poor people charged with crimes, and I firmly believe that his legacy will live on.

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Condemn Veterans who Attacked Capitol

by contoveros

     Any veteran who took part in the January 6th Insurrection at the US Capitol should be stripped of his or her VA benefits and labeled a “traitor” 

     There is a disturbing number of current and former military personnel identified among those who broke into the Capitol to overturn the election. About 20 percent of the nearly 300 arrested, according to NPR. They should no longer receive treatment at VA hospitals, get the GI Bill for attending school, or obtain a mortgage loan.

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Justice demands a guilty verdict for Trump

by contoveros

     I look forward to eventually reading the news of an indictment against the former president and/or an update on all of the civil lawsuits against him.

     You know they’re coming. All the highly experienced lawyers need to do is simply confirm their concrete and rock-solid facts before going to Court and contacting the News Media for reporters to share the information on the law with the entire world.

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Universe says: ‘All roads lead to Georgia’

by contoveros

Today, I am a Georgia Boy once again. And if we try hard enough, all of us could be Georgians!

Over the next several weeks, I hope Americans join with me in offering positive intentions to convince the Universe to focus and raise up the wonderful State of Georgia.

 

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Soldiers I knew were no ‘Losers’ Mr. Trump

by contoveros

First Lieutenant Victor Lee Ellinger was no ‘loser’, Mister Trump.

He was shot and killed by an enemy sniper during the Vietnam War, and I forced marched my platoon to come to his aid, only to find out we got to him too late to help.

He was no “sucker,” having enlisted the same year that you miraculously developed bone spurs on one of your feet, getting your fifth deferment to keep you out of the military and any chance of being in harm’s way. It was the same year I was drafted and later commissioned to lead a bunch of other young men into battle.

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The Masking on America’s Streets Today

by contoveros

I want to unmask my true feelings about the Masking of America and how to get people to care enough for one another to be a little more considerate while walking outdoors.

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Change Confederate generals’ names now

by contoveros
  •      As a veteran of several military bases, I would vote to change the names of all the facilities named for generals who fought for the Confederate army during our nation’s Civil War.
    I offer such action with a heavy heart because of the link I still have with the facilities that helped to create the soldier I had become, and the lessons learned in the US Army.  Continue reading →

Making History with my own Mail-in Vote

by contoveros

     I voted at home today, and I can’t wait to put the written ballot in the slot opening at my local Post Office.  Continue reading →

No ‘Pardon’ for any War Crime Criminals

by contoveros

I was so proud of the Secretary of the Navy for his resignation in protest of a hideous act to cover up the atrocities of those in the military charged with war crimes.  Continue reading →

Court antics from young Abe Lincoln & me

by contoveros

I never realized I had anything in common with Abraham Lincoln until I re-watched a movie about the president’s early life as a trial attorney. Yes, Honest Abe served as a lawyer who once worked for the railroads as well as those charged with criminal offenses.

Henry Fondaplayed a young Abe Lincoln in a classic movie on Turner Classic Movies in which the Springfield, Illinois,former rail-splitter pulled a stunt in a courtroom convince a jury that his client not guilty of murder. A young man for whom Lincoln represented pro bono was charged with killing a man at night in a wooded area.

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‘False in One, False in All’ never failed me!

by contoveros

“False in One, False in All.”

That’s the jury instruction I’d request a judge to provide when a witness at a trial said one thing one time and another thing at another time. Also, when one or more witnesses said something different than what the first witness had sworn to tell the truth about while sitting on the witness stand. Continue reading →

Standing up for (and with) the News Media

by contoveros

While editorials from dozens of newspapers throughout the country are expected to be offered about the attacks on the First Amendment on August 16, I figured I’d get my two cents worth in as a former news reporter.  Continue reading →

The ‘printer’s life’ for Ben Franklin and me!

by contoveros

“Here Lies Ben Franklin — a Printer.”

That is the message gracefully displayed at the gravesite of my favorite Founding Father in the City of Philadelphia.  He was an ambassador to both England and France, as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and contributor to the US Constitution. He was also an inventor, a philosopher, and the creator of the first library, the first zoo, and the first fire company in the New World.

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My Atticus Finch Moment in Philadelphia

by contoveros

She stared at me as I walked from the courtroom, and I felt her hate bore into me. Her whole posture seemed to drip with contempt, and what I could only feel at that moment was a curse from her whole being.  Continue reading →

Speak up if you enjoy the art of listening

by contoveros

     I talk too much.

     Didn’t always. I was one of those “quiet” ones when I was young. Seen, and not heard. I believed that “empty barrels made the most noise,” as the nuns taught us in grade school.

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