WOW!
This shit keeps getting better every day!
(Full credit for this entry goes to whoever this person is)
(Oh, and Patriot News? When you run this story, I sincerely hope you give credit to the original poster. See what I did up there? I gave credit to the person who discovered and came forward with this information. It’s called “ethical”)
ANYWAY-
The sleuth behind the new Harrisburg Forward blog has just broke something of a major story about Democratic candidate for Mayor of Harrisburg Linda D Thompson.
It seems that there was a Linda D Thompson who was arrested in Washington DC in 1982 (right around the time that she was attending Howard University) for…get this…possession of heroin.
Now, now…I understand that people make some mistakes in their youth and people can change, et cetera, et cetera.
BUT- this is the icing on the big, fat, sugary, surprise-filled cake that has been The Thompson Campaign for the past two weeks.
LoveSHIP is being questioned and LDT seems to be falling apart from the lack of credible answers she is giving. Then, the Patriot reported finding an open lawsuit Thomspon filed against a gas station claiming that she’s now afraid to pump her own gas and wants $50,000 for her suffering. And then the whole “pathetic blogger” thing (AND throwing a patriot reporter out of a press conference).
And now, someone did a little bit of digging on the internet and found that a Linda D Thompson was busted for HEROIN possession.
Do we want a possible former heroin junkie, non-profit scheming, professional plaintiff running our city for the next four years?
To be fair, journalism tradition states that there is no need to report who first broke a story as long as all the facts in the story can be independently verified. Remember, there is no ownership of facts, anybody can publish them.
Also to be fair, there is nothing in that post that verifies the Linda Thompson busted for heroin in the same Linda Thompson that is running for mayor. Bloggers need to hold themselves up to some ethical standards if they expect to be treated with respect as journalists.
Google “Linda D. Thompson” and “Washington D.C.” and it turns up over 4,500 hits. Aside from ones on this post, and the Harrisburg Forward post, none on the first few pages at least, seem to be the mayoral candidate.
Without checking the records and at least matching the birthdate or social security number, posting this allegation about heroin is at the very least irresponsible and might even border on (or cross the border) libel.
I only got 30 hits, Hoops, not 4,500. Maybe you didn’t use quotation marks to define the string “Linda D. Thompson”.
Jersey, this is sloppy journalism. It is impossible to determine from the D.C. Court web pages the identity of person listed as the Defendant in those cases. However, there is a way to do so for anyone with the time, drive and resources.
First, in criminal records that far back, it is important to be aware that Defendants often used false names, misspellings, fake first or middle names or initials, fake Dates-of-birth, bogus SSNs, bad addresses, etc. This appears true in larger urban centers so that repeat offenders could avoid being hit for any or all priors when cutting a deal on the latest charges. That is, they would concede the details the arresting cops had on hand (so some info is accurate), but then fudge and mix up the rest of the data. Thus, one needs to go through through BOTH the actual court records AND the arrest/police records. Records this old would be in storage for the Court system in DC.
The type of offender who would likely “play” the system this way would be the type who gets arrested from high risk public behaviors, i.e. hookers, addicts, low-level dealers, petty thieves, etc.
To determine the real identity of the person(s) in the cases, one would look to compare the details, including things like addresses, names of who posted bail and relationship, jobs listed, phone numbers and perhaps most importantly the mug shots. One would need the old court records first to check out the required file info so as to accurately ID the police officers involved in the arrest, hearing, etc. and other identifiers. Then one would take the identifiers on various court files and go ask the DC Metro police to pull their records (which are not usually fully open for public inspection) that match those identifiers to see mug shots. (Finger prints would be great but not likely to be run through any data system, as the purpose for such a search is not a law enforcement purpose.) That record search is a road map to answering the question here as to whether our LT was the same LDT in any of the DC-area reports of convictions. Why does that matter? Because under the PA Constitution, a felony conviction or other notorious crime bars any person from holding any paid public office.
I doubt it is her but as far as I know, no one has done the full leg work to determine the answer one way or the other.
Results 1 – 10 of about 4,570 for “Linda D. Thompson” Washington DC. (0.25 seconds)
Man Mike you’re really pushing it kid! You need to have ALL THE FACTS before you make a headline like that: Thompson & Heroin ? are u fukn insane!! Man you’re pushing ALL the code words against people of color: Drug User, Trouble with the Law, No Job ect ect wow but thanks for the info I’ll be adding this to my blog to show how You & the local Media have not been fair at all. Where were you last year or 2 years ago talking about Linda ? huh but NOW “Oh she’s the devil!, lets make up any shit we can & see what sticks” this link will be sent to her office & the local news since you claim to be a reporter LAWSUIT !
Hey Dre-
Not sure where your sudden hostility is coming from, but please don’t make this a race issue.
Couple things for you to realize:
1. I voted for Obama.
2. I voted for Les Ford in the primary.
3. I hosted Susan and Gloria’s victory party two years ago after the election.
And finally-
4. I USED to be a BIG fan of Linda…until she started displaying signs of insanity-
Oh, you want proof? Here’s your proof.
http://jerseymike.org/2008/01/linda-thompsons-city-council/
http://jerseymike.org/2007/06/giorgione-spills-the-beans/
http://jerseymike.org/2007/06/thompson-leads-council-in-authority-smackdown-tonight/
http://jerseymike.org/2008/10/reverend-al-sharpton-to-visit-harrisburg/