September 26, 2006

• Election Endorsements: Hennepin County Sheriff

  Hennepin County Sheriff
  Rich Stanek versus Juan Lopez

  This one is so very very easy for me. Juan Lopez is the better candidate hands down.

  Everything
  I’ve heard about Lopez has been good. He’s got 10 years of experience
  in the Hennepin county sheriff’s department and has no black marks on
  his record that I’m aware of. He is bilingual and has a good track
  record working with minorities. Every candidate for Sheriff that was
  beat in the primary has subsequently endorsed Lopez.

  I’ve heard a whole lot of bad about Stanek.

  In
  1992 Stanek was involved in a car accident with black motorist Anthony
  Freeman. Stanek broke Freeman’s car window, dragged him out of his car
  and beat him in the middle of the street while yelling racial slurs.
  Bizarrely, Stanek claimed he was pulling Freeman from the car because
  he thought the car was burning and then veering directly into
  Republican Bizarro World claimed he wasn’t even conscious that Freeman
  was a black man until after the incident. The city settled out of court.

  In
  1995 Ronald Kennerly filed a lawsuit against Stanek, three other
  offices and the city for police brutality. Kennerly was beaten,
  threatened and placed under arrest without probable cause. A female
  neighbor who attempted to intervene was beaten with a flashlight and
  placed under arrest. The city settled out of court.

  In 1996
  Jerold Wahlin was beaten by Stanek with a flashlight and Stanek pounded
  Wahlin’s head repeatedly against the floor once he’d subdued Wahlin.
  Stanek was moonlighting as a security guard. The city also settled this
  case out of court.

  And, to add to that:
  

  Here’s
  my personal experience with Stanek. I was part of Log Cabin Republicans
  (secretary), and we were lobbying for the RASSL bill – which would
  repeal 10 stinkers of stupid laws – among those stinkers were the
  sodomy law (at that time, still constitutional, now still on the
  books). Renee Jenson from RASSL had gotten a republican sponsor, David
  Bishop (now retired). Stanek was head of the committee where the bill
  was heard, Stanek refused to hear the bill unless, we agreed to pull
  the sodomy repeal piece from the bill.

  Here’s the wording of the law:

  Minnesota
  outlaws consensual sexual behavior between adults with 609.293 Sodomy.
  Sodomy is defined as “carnally know any person by the anus or by or
  with the mouth”. The penalty for voluntarily engaging in or submitting
  to an act of sodomy is imprisonment for not more than one year or a
  fine of not more than $3,000 or both.

  Consenting married couples are subject to prosecution for sodomy. [State v. Schmit, 1965, 273 Minn. 78, 139 N.W.2d 800]

  So, again, for Hennepin County Sheriff, the decision is easy : Juan Lopez for Sheriff.

  • 6:48 pm
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