Cop arrested for prostitute strip search

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS




MANCHESTER, N.J. (AP) - A police officer who claimed he was conducting his own prostitution sting and strip search ended up being the one arrested. Authorities arrested James Michael Jackson, a police officer with the state Department of Human Services, and charged him with sexual assault and sexual misconduct for the so-called sting.

According to authorities, Jackson, 34, of Toms River, arranged through a service for a woman to meet him Wednesday at a local hotel in Manchester.

When she arrived, Jackson, carrying a badge and gun, told her she was under arrest. He made her take off her clothes and consent to a body cavity search before letting her go, said Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Martin Anton.

The prosecutor said Jackson overstepped his bounds as a law enforcement official when he placed the female prostitute under arrest and performed a strip search.

As a police officer, Jackson had authority to make arrests, but not through an undercover operation of his own, Anton said.

"And a male to strip-search a female is just not done," he added.

The woman reported the incident to authorities the next day, after she talked to law enforcement officers she knew who said Jackson's behavior was illegal.

Jackson had been a police officer with Human Services for about six years. The department has about 75 officers working in various institutions and psychiatric hospitals or, in Jackson's case, with children's services case officers.

Jackson was assigned to the Division of Youth and Family Services' Monmouth South office in Asbury Park.

Ed Rogan, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, expected that Jackson would be suspended by Monday, with proceedings leading to his termination starting soon after.

Jackson, who is free on $50,000 bail, faces five to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Ending drug war
November 19, 2006

Re "Toll mounts in Mexico's drug war," Nov. 14

For the drug war, there is a simple and relatively easy solution to end the violence caused by it: legalization. The legalization of now-illegal drugs would allow us to regulate, control and tax the in-demand products.

When is the last time you had a story about a liquor dealer shooting his liquor distributor? Probably about 1933, the year that ended the disaster known as Prohibition. Our war on drugs is not winnable. Wars on poverty or drugs cannot be won. Who is going to surrender and sign the peace treaty?

KIRK MUSE

Mesa, Ariz.

Jack Abramoff Reports to Md. Prison

By DAVID DISHNEAU and MATT APUZZO
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 15, 2006; 4:36 PM

CUMBERLAND, Md. -- Hours before entering federal prison Wednesday, lobbyist Jack Abramoff sent friends an e-mail lamenting "this nightmare" political scandal and predicting things were about to get worse _ but still looking optimistically to the future.

Abramoff, who parlayed campaign donations and expensive gifts into political influence from Congress to the White House, reported to a Maryland prison where he will earn no more than 40 cents an hour for assigned jobs.


Jack Abramoff leaves Federal Court in Washington in this Jan. 3, 2006 file photo. Abramoff, convicted of federal charges after using expensive gifts, campaign donations and exotic trips to win access to the powerful in Washington, went to prison Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jack Abramoff leaves Federal Court in Washington in this Jan. 3, 2006 file photo. Abramoff, convicted of federal charges after using expensive gifts, campaign donations and exotic trips to win access to the powerful in Washington, went to prison Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert - AP)



Shortly before dawn, he sent an e-mail to friends thanking them for standing by him. He then set out for prison, leaving behind a city shaken by his scandal. A congressman has admitted corruption, a Bush administration official was convicted of lying, Republicans were driven from office and several aides have pleaded guilty.