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Just another lady in search of some liberty. God Bless American women. We need it. | Andre Malok, NJ.com
"Why is a man ripping my clothes off?"
"Stop resisting!"
Ever had an armed gang barge into your room, beat you up and tear your clothes off, while punishing you for trying to protect yourself? You can watch that happen in the new batch of videos released by the state Attorney General's office in the ongoing investigation of the New Jersey's only prison for female inmates.
The gang of officers -- the ones who want you to know they're tired of always being painted as the bad guy -- geared up for a nighttime raid on the inmates' cells, looking to inflict some terror on women who weren't showing them proper respect.
Watch the documentary report by our S.P. Sullivan, Joe Atmonavage and Blake Nelson to see how the officers lied and covered up for each other after the January attack. So far, 10 officers are charged (eight are male) and the prison is targeted for closing.
Why didn't we have these videos sooner? Because one of guards involved thought that releasing the images they recorded would violate his constitutional rights.
When men seek personal justice, women pay the price.
In Newark, Shanetta Williams was feeling pretty good about herself for buying a house -- looking forward to settling into a predominantly Black neighborhood, once contractors had finished some work on the place.
Then some random men decided the place was theirs, claiming it on behalf of a ginned-up scam disguising itself as a "sovereign citizen movement." They declared the house part of an ancestral estate tied to an Afro-centric extremist group -- a simple grift dressed up in a bunch of nonsense about man's personal freedom.
It all sounded like a joke until the day in June when Williams found the locks changed and watched a man walk right past her into her own home, which four men menaced her away from. It took a SWAT team to remove the man from Williams' house.
Why did the men pick her house? Because they're crooks, and because Williams is a woman and when women have something men want, they help themselves to it. There is no equal justice for women.
Don't believe me?
Consider two gob-smacking examples from Pennsylvania, of the way the law punishes women for seeking justice for sexual assault.
First, a former Gettysburg College student now in her mid-20s received word that a man who raped her in 2013 -- no really, he sent her a text message last year saying "So I raped you" -- finally faces an arrest warrant.
It only took several years, a lost rape kit and the victim, Shannon Keeler, going to a journalist with her story for police and prosecutors to bother trying to make a case.
And oh yeah -- Bill Cosby walked out of jail a free man after the state Supreme Court threw out his sexual assault conviction, thanks to a legal technicality caused either by straight-up bad lawyering or a system which figured a blind, old man had been in jail long enough. Or more likely, both.
So, we head into the long Independence Day weekend after a week that wasn't so good for American women. We have the triumph of South Jersey's Carli Lloyd, seeking her third Olympic gold medal with the U.S. Women's National soccer team.
And there's Olympian Sha'Carri Richardson, who's being forced to sit out the 100-meter race she was expected to dominate, because she smoked pot -- in Oregon, where cannabis is fully legal -- while dealing with the heartbreak of learning from a reporter that her birth mother had died.
If that's not enough, catch up with Britney Spears, who remains under her father's eye and thumb in a sketchy legal conservatorship that no less than Miss Dionne Warwick described as "thirteen years of bondage."
We can't find enough ways to punish women for achievement. But at least we know we're free?
Also this week, which beach is best, our new licenses feel weird, the state AG is a millennial, a $1 million gamble, and whether the Delta variant will mean a return to masks: BEACH, BABY: Monday is supposed to be the best weather day of the long weekend, so check our list of the state's best beaches again before you head out. My two faves that aren't on the list: Any of the Delaware Bay beaches near Cape May, and Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch. How about you?DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT: Renewed your driver's license lately? Apparently the new ones coming out of the MVC are printed on heavy card stock -- something about enhanced security measures -- instead of the stiff, glossy cards we're used to. It's causing some problems because they feel fake. THE NEW DUDE: If you were busy this week you might have missed the part where the state Attorney General, Gurbir Grewal quit to run the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gov. Murphy appointed 38-year-old Andrew Bruck, an openly gay Princeton grad, as the acting AG. CREST OF THE WAVE: How close are we to the top of New Jersey's koo koo bananas residential real estate market? Spend some time in Glen Ridge with our Adam Clark and the story of one house plunged into the frenzy. So, did it sell? No spoilers here, you'll have to read it. DELTA DANGER: So far, the Delta COVID variant isn't showing a large-scale risk to vaccinated adults here. But if it does start affecting unvaccinated folks -- including children -- here, Gov. Murphy says he'll call for a return to masks. Finally, have you seen the first trailer for the upcoming Sopranos prequel movie, "The Many Saints of Newark"? Our Amy Kuperinsky invites you to "pull on a bathrobe, grab a copy of The Star-Ledger and get out your best tracksuit" to check it out.
It looks . . . OK? Let's say mezza-mezz. I'm looking forward to Vera Farmiga playing Livia Soprano but I could do without two *more* hours of how everything bad that happens to Tony is really his mother's fault.
P.S.: Looking for July Fourth fireworks? I got you.
Amy Z. Quinn Audience Editor
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