Read the second to last paragraph. The victim was later murdered, and of course the case has not been solved... gee I wonder why.

Sigh,
TS Jamie :(

Law Enforcement Officer Who Beat A Transgender Detainee Gets Two Years

by: Autumn Sandeen

Sat Aug 28, 2010 at 19:30:00 PM EDT

Two years in prison for a Memphis, Tennessee Police Department (MPD)
Officer beating an African-American transgender woman. Not exactly a
strong message against treating black (or any other ethnic minority),
transgender, prostitution.

Bridges McRae, a former officer with the Memphis Police Department
(MPD), pleaded guilty today in federal court to a felony civil rights
charge related to the use of excessive force, the Justice Department
announced today. During the plea hearing, McRae admitted that Duanna
Johnson had been in his custody when he used an unreasonable amount of
force against her when he struck her while booking her into the Shelby
County Jail. McRae acknowledged that his conduct violated federal law
and that he violated Johnson's civil rights. He further admitted that
his attack caused bodily injury to Johnson in the form of cuts,
bruises, and pain.

McRae faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the civil rights
offense. The parties agree that McRae will be incarcerated for 24
months per the plea agreement. McRae also agreed to plead guilty to
one count of tax evasion, pending approval by the Department of
Justice's Tax Division. "Law enforcement officers are entrusted with a
great amount of power so that they can effectively carry out their
duty to protect public safety.

This officer abused that power when he violated the civil rights
of an individual in his custody," said Thomas E Perez, Assistant
Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "Officers who violate
the public trust in this way will be brought to justice." "Ensuring
that public officials do not victimize the public by abusing their
power is a top priority of this office," said Edward L Stanton III,
United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. "No one
is above the law, especially those who have sworn an oath to uphold
the law," said Amy Hess, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Memphis
Field Office. "It is a sad day when our citizens are preyed upon by
its protectors, however, the FBI is proud to have worked alongside our
law enforcement partners to ensure justice was served." "We will
continue to hold all officers of the Memphis Police Department
accountable for their actions," said Director Larry Godwin of the MPD.

Former MPD officer McRae was tried for the beating previously.
However, as the Memphis Flyer's Bridges McRae Pleads Guilty
<http://www.memphisflyer.com/MemphisGaydar/archives/2010/08/26/bridges...>
reminds us:

McRae was tried in April, but a mistrial was declared when the
jury of five men and seven women were unable to reach a verdict.

WMC-TV's video <http://bit.ly/cov4wp> stated that the jury deadlock
was 11-to-1 in favor of conviction.

[VIDEO]

One can only imagine what kind of sentence Duanna Johnson would have
received if she had been convicted of assaulting an officer of the
law. Of course, Duanna couldn't accomplish that now, even if she were
so motivated to ever assault an officer of the law -- she was
murdered, execution style, a few months after she was beaten by police
<http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Homicide-Victim-Iden...>
. That murder still remains unsolved.

The message here to me seems to be don't be black (or any other ethnic
minority), transgender, and arrested for prostitution because you are
subject to police brutality. Even on some chance that you're an ethnic
minority, transgender, and arrested for prostitution...Well, if an
officer of the law is criminally punished for violating your civil
rights for a jailhouse beating, then it won't seem like the punishment
is enough. That is, assuming you're still alive when the officer is
criminally punished.

http://groups.google.com/group/transgender-news/browse_thread/thread/ac9d4c0e1cac9513#

Cal