Port St. Lucie woman who adopted special needs children pleads guilty to mail, wire fraud

(New York)—Judith Leekin has pleaded guilty to defrauding New York State and New York City out of approximately $1.68 million in adoption subsidies that were intended to provide for the care of eleven adopted children. Leekin, 63, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud charges in US District Court in Manhattan. According to a Dept. of Justice release, Leekin falsified some records such as school report cards for some of the 11 children she adopted. She maintained custody for a 12th child. Many of the children were disabled physically or mentally.

The DOJ release says between 2004 and July 2007, in Florida, Adopted Children 1-10 slept on the floor of a storage room abutting the garage and typically only entered the house to use the bathroom or the kitchen. In addition, Adopted Children 1-10 did not attend school, and several of the Adopted Children were restrained using plastic ties. Leekin moved from New York to Florida in 1998.

Leekin will be sentenced on July 23. Read the entire DOJ/FBI release for additional details on Leekin’s case. There’s a video and story with information at CNN as well.

I hope the judge throws the book at this woman.

What do you think?

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With media in his corner, will Obama win over Florida Democrats?

Sen. Barack Obama is spending time in Florida, venturing here now that dust has settled over national party leaders’ decision to make outcasts of Democratic voters in the state. I’ve said it before and I’ve had it said to me many times: media loves Barack Obama. Another media triumph in the Obama arena is a contributing editor from 'National Journal'—Linda Douglass officially moves into a new role as Obama strategist and spokesperson, according to Politico blogger Ben Smith. Douglass interviewed the senator’s campaign manager in April. My, how she must have struggled with her "objectivity."

I’ve pointed out figures before, from a study done by the Committee for Concerned Journalists. In early campaign coverage, here’s a breakdown on stories about the current candidates, with each statistic reflecting a percentage of positive or negative stories about the candidate. Of Hillary Clinton stories, 26.9 percent were positive; 37.8 percent were negative. Of Barack Obama stories, 46.7 percent were positive; 15.8 percent were negative. And coming as no surprise when it comes to media and conservatives, of John McCain stories, 12.4 percent were positive and 47.9 were negative.

The Examiner (N.J.) blog points to an interview with ‘People’ magazine, wherein Bill Clinton sums up media bias about his wife as follows: "I think most of the press people are in Obama's demographic. ... There have been times when I thought I was literally lost in a fun house."

Meanwhile, as Obama tries to woo Floridians (mainly in the South and Central regions), Clinton will be here too. McCain just visited Miami. We'll see how media coverage stacks up.

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As Obama and Clinton head for Florida, this voter has questions about party sanity

Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are heading to Florida after staying away because national party rules forbade campaigning here since the state did the dirty deed. We moved our primary ahead through the mechanism of our state legislature, just as so many other states have done, and screams could be heard throughout the upper strata of Dem circles. The senators haven’t scheduled visits in the Northeastern area of our state, opting instead for Central and South Florida. But if I could ask either candidate a couple of questions, I know exactly what I’d say. I’d lay good money on a bet neither candidate could come up with a logical response.

For starters, why does the DNC favor some states? Here’s a lift from the DNC website explaining the timing of the delegate selection process:

11. TIMING OF THE DELEGATE SELECTION PROCESS
A. No meetings, caucuses, conventions or primaries which constitute the first determining stage in the presidential nomination process (the date of the primary in primary states, and the date of the first tier caucus in caucus states) may be held prior to the first Tuesday in February or after the second Tuesday in June in the calendar year of the national convention. Provided, however, that the Iowa precinct caucuses may be held no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the Nevada first-tier caucuses may be held no earlier than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the New Hampshire primary may be held no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February; and that the South Carolina primary may be held no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February.In no instance may a state which scheduled delegate selection procedures on or between the first Tuesday in February and the second Tuesday in June 1984 move out of compliance with the provisions of this rule.

My other question relates to mathematics. To get the full impact of my question, and just for basic kicks, please visit this DNC web page.

Would either senator kindly explain this process, starting with the formula “which calculates as X = ½ x (.177 + .100); = ½ x (.277); = .139. The resulting Allocation Factor for CD #1 is then multiplied by the total number of district level delegates to determine how many delegates will be allocated to CD #1 (.139 x 50 = 6.95). This result is rounded up to 7. Thus, CD #1 is allocated 7district level delegates.”

Note this is one of several formulas within the bylaws.

As the senators head to Florida, I might have a final question—what kept you so long and why do Howard Dean and company make this process so complicated?

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