By Ashley Fantz CNN
JACKSON, Mississippi (CNN) -- Girls as young as 13 say they were shackled for weeks at a time in Mississippi.
Erica was 16 when she was forced to wear leg shackles at a Mississippi detention center, she said.
A Texas teen was allegedly offered birthday cake in exchange for sex.
A guard drove his knee into the neck of a frail suicidal Ohio boy after the youth was wrestled to the ground and held down by other guards who stripped him and covered his face with a smock, a state report said.
More than two dozen girls at an Indiana lock-up describe "networking" -- their term for sneaking into each other's cells to have sex, with no interference from guards.
This is a glimpse into what America's juvenile jails look like, according to lawsuits, criminal cases and experts who have spent years delving into what they call a broken system.
"It's a nationwide crisis that has been going on for years, one the public has never been told the extent of," said psychiatric social worker Jerome Miller, the co-founder of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, who has evaluated and helped reform juvenile jails for more than three decades.
This summer, Mississippi plans to close Columbia Training School, a juvenile facility that houses mostly minor offenders. They are often runaways from abusive homes.
Erica was 16 when she was sentenced to Columbia after running away, a probation violation of an earlier marijuana conviction.
She admits she was a girl quick to sass her parents, full of anger about the death of a relative that happened around the same time Katrina wrecked her family's Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, home.
Nervously touching a sparkly barrette in her red hair, she cries as she describes how guards forced her legs into tight metal shackles. She said she was cuffed and chained when she ate and used the bathroom -- and was even forced to play soccer that way against other girls.
Guards called her "Chain Gang," she said.
"I will always remember them things around my ankles, the way they cut into me," she said, pulling up her pant leg to show slash-mark scars on her ankles and heels. "They made you feel like you were nothing."
Represented by attorneys with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Erica and nine other girls housed at Columbia are suing the state, claiming they endured a range of sexual and physical abuse, including shackling. Don Desper, a licensed therapist and former employee at Columbia who opposed the practice, told CNN it was used to prevent the teens from escaping.
In a handwritten affidavit, a 15-year-old girl described a male guard molesting her. She wrote: "He came inside my cell half way half of his body and he started touching me and he tryed (sic) to kiss me and then he left he came back with my snack in his hand and he opened my cell again and he started grabbing me around my waist and he tryed (sic) to stick his hands in my pants and I started crying."
When the lawsuit was filed in 2007, a U.S. Justice Department monitor was making periodic inspections at Columbia as part of a 2005 settlement with Mississippi in a previous case. The Justice investigation that led to that settlement found Columbia youths were hog-tied, forced to strip and eat their own vomit and were held in isolation in what was called the "Dark Room," a windowless room with a hole in the floor used as a toilet.
Hundreds of youths have allegedly suffered similar abuse at juvenile detention centers across the United States, according to experts interviewed by CNN and court records checked for this story.
Feds sue 11 jurisdictionsArkansasGeorgia Hawaii IndianaMaryland Mississippi New Jersey Oklahoma Texas Puerto Rico Northern Mariana Islands
The U.S. Justice Department has sued nine states and two territories alleging abuse, inadequate mental and medical care and potentially dangerous methods like the use of restraints. The department doesn't have the power to shut down facilities -- states do -- but through litigation it can force a state to improve its detention centers and protect the civil rights of jailed youths.
Another facility under Justice scrutiny is Oakley Training School near Jackson, Mississippi, which was sued by the department at the same time as Columbia. Gov. Haley Barbour recently announced Columbia's inmates would be transferred this summer to Oakley when Columbia is closed.
But the Justice Department said Oakley has satisfied barely a fraction of requirements the department set for it years ago. According to a March 2008 Justice report, there is an "enormous amount of work" needed to make Oakley a safe and productive place to rehabilitate troubled teens.
Barbour would not respond to questions for this report. The Mississippi Department of Human Services, which runs Columbia and Oakley, refused to answer most of a CNN public records request citing pending litigation and also declined to be interviewed.
The U.S. Justice Department could not talk specifically about ongoing cases, but civil rights division assistant attorney general Lisa Krigsten noted the department is going after double the number of juvenile jails for civil rights violations during the Bush administration than in any previous administration.
"We take this seriously and are committed to protecting the vulnerable children who are in these places," she said.
A CNN check of other juvenile facilities shows that, despite years of court wrangling, serious problems persist.
In Ohio, a dozen employees at the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility have been indicted since 2003 on charges relating to physical and sexual abuse of youth, according to a May 2007 Justice report. Five were convicted of various charges, including sexual battery and assault; six cases were dismissed and a jury found one employee not guilty.
In January, a state-hired consultant blamed a "culture of violence" in Ohio's juvenile jails for numerous abuses. The expert's report details examples of "egregious use of force" by guards and included a video he viewed of a 2007 incident in which a "frail" boy who was threatening to harm himself was restrained by guards.
The boy was wrestled to the ground, cuffed and stripped, with one guard seen putting his full body weight on the boy's back while driving his knee into the boy's neck.
A so-called "Suicide Smock" was placed "over his airways," the report said. "The youth actually screams that he can't breathe."
In response to the report, the Ohio Department of Youth Services, which oversees detention facilities, has installed more surveillance cameras and beefed up its mental health care staff, spokeswoman Andrea Kruse said.
"We're doing everything we can to improve," she said.
On Thursday, Ohio announced settlement of a suit brought by Children's Law Center of Kentucky. It will add up to $30 million annually to its juvenile justice budget and hire more guards, psychologists and teachers for its system.
Accusations similar to those made in Ohio were made at a Florida boot camp in 2006. Martin Lee Anderson, 14, was seen on surveillance tape being beaten and restrained by guards. Anderson later died. Seven guards and a nurse were acquitted of manslaughter in October.
Since then, the NAACP's Florida chapter has called for an investigation of the state's teen jails, noting at least seven youths have died at lock-ups since 2000, including 17-year-old Omar Paisley, who died at a Miami detention center of a ruptured appendix after begging for help during three days that he was in pain.
A grand jury found that two nurses repeatedly failed to help Paisley. They are charged with third degree murder and manslaughter, have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial in July.
Florida issued a report in January asking for more than 50 changes to its system and a partnership with the Department of Education to attack problems before kids drop out of school. Overall, the report calls for treating troubled kids with therapy as an alternative to jail.
Texas is grappling with the fallout from reports of long-term sexual abuse at its facilities, where, since 2000, more than 90 Texas Youth Commission employees -- roughly one a month -- have been sanctioned or fired for sexual misconduct with adolescents, commission spokesman Jim Hurley told CNN.
Texas granted early release in February to a 16-year-old girl who attempted suicide after she was allegedly molested repeatedly by a male guard. The guard was indicted in December on four counts of molesting the girl. He was previously charged with raping four other female inmates, but those charges were dropped, said Hurley, after witnesses retracted their accounts.
This spring, two administrators at a west Texas youth facility are scheduled to stand trial on charges they were having sex with juvenile inmates, one allegedly enticing a teen to perform sex acts for birthday cake. The men resigned in 2005, Hurley said.
Texas recently has added hundreds more surveillance cameras and personnel to its facilities to avoid more problems, he said.
"Girls are sexually abused in these institutions more often than the public would believe," said Paul DeMuro, a delinquency expert who in 2002 inspected Columbia for the Justice Department and is now a consultant for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nationwide, the Justice Department has said 2,821 allegations of sex abuse were made in 2004, the most recent data on the topic available.
An Indiana juvenile judge said there's another dimension of sexual misconduct happening at Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility -- inmate on inmate sex.
State Judge Peter Nemeth is refusing to send female offenders to the lock-up after a team of delinquency experts interviewed a total of 31 girls at the facility. The girls described "networking," or sneaking into each other's cells for sex. Members of the team told CNN that locks on cells were not working, allowing the young women to leave and enter their cells whenever they wish.
One girl interviewed said a guard had participated in the sex.
"It's a dangerous place," said Nemeth, who is sending youths to two other facilities at more than twice the cost to taxpayers. "It seems like chaos to me, very little discipline. The girls say they are running the place."
In March, the Indiana Department of Correction said it is transferring boys at the facility to another lock-up, which Nemeth hopes will allow more staffers to oversee the girls section. "It may be a step in the right direction," he said, but won't necessarily solve the problem of girls frequently having sex with other girls.
Before March, the judge detailed his concerns in two letters to Gov. Mitch Daniels, whose office referred all questions for this story to Indiana Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison.
"We disagree with the judge's characterization," Garrison said, adding that no investigation at the facility has substantiated the girls' claims.
When Erica was held at Columbia, she said she didn't think anyone would believe her accounts of abuse. It's taken months of therapy, including some counseling at a YMCA, which she found in her small Mississippi hometown.
Erica talks about wanting to be an attorney. It's the first time in her life she is considering her future. She tries not to think about Columbia, but smiles when she talks about the facility closing.
"I'm happy, real happy," said Erica. "That means nobody is going to get hurt there again."
I know we have to do something with our kids, but trust me, this ain't it... Think smarter with your vote next time. Your vote may have contributed to this kind of logic. Think of this next time, choose your elected officials wisely...
"THE BOSS"
Friday, April 4, 2008
THE SYSTEM GOT "BEEF" - Sex abuse, violence alleged at teen jails across U.S.
POLICE "BEEF" - Officer Pushes Woman Down Stairs
An Orlando police officer was suspended for one day after he pushed a woman down a set of stairs, an incident that was caught on video.
WATCH VIDEO: http://www.wftv.com/video/15760247/index.html
Lawsuit, Lawsuit, Lawsuit. Thats all I have to say. You never put your hands on the police, you never retaliate...unless it's with an ambulance chaser lawyer who knows how to buckle a city's budget.
Sue, Sue, Sue. Thats it. Get yourself a camera, and just sue. This crap has to stop, let somebody push the cops down the stairs and your ass is going to jail for a long time! So either send the cops to jail or cripple the city's budget.
Thats my advice.
"THE BOSS" (HOW THE HELL YOU DOURNE?)
YOU DON'T WANT "BEEF" WITH THESE FLORIDA FOLKS!!!
Anti-Tank Grenade Launcher Seized In Massive Crime Ring Bust
POSTED: 4:22 pm EDT April 3, 2008
UPDATED: 5:31 pm EDT April 3, 2008
POLK COUNTY, Fla. -- Thirty people were arrested and an anti-tank grenade launcher was seized along with numerous guns and stolen motorcycles in what may be one of the largest organized crime busts in Central Florida history, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
The crime ring was operating in at least three Central Florida counties. Detectives started investigating a rash of motorcycle thefts in Polk County and stumbled onto something bigger than they ever imagined that included both Osceola and Orange counties.
U.S. Marshal's arrested the ring leader at a house in Osceola County in January, but a federal grand jury just indicted Otis Carden on gun charges Wednesday and now the Polk County sheriff is talking about the investigation that turned up weapons that could've been used to make parts of Central Florida more like a war zone.
Even without a live round, deputies showed off the power of a WWII-era grenade launcher Thursday. It was one of more than 20 weapons seized in an eight-month investigation into an organized crime ring dealing in drugs, guns and stolen property in places like Polk, Osceola and Orange counties.
"By their own statement, the sheriff's office brought them to their knees," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Thursday.
Sheriff Judd said it started with a rash of motorcycle thefts, but after nearly 30 arrests deputies tracked down ring leaders Otis "Cowboy" Carden and Terry "Ox" Gilmore. They are men authorities said often used violence selling methamphetamine and collecting stolen weapons across Central Florida.
"He said he carried loaded guns and he made sure the folks that dealt with him carried loaded guns all the time for their own protection," Judd said. "Whenever we seized the firearms, they were, every one, fully loaded."
Judd said catching people like Carden and Gilmore became a top priority.
"It's an organized crime ring today. Is it a terrorist cell tomorrow? That's what concerns us," he said.
The sheriff's office is not identifying another man, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who supplied the ring with drugs. Deputies said they're also still searching for three others.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is getting a reputation for uncovering major Central Florida crime rings. They recently arrested two Seminole County ringleaders along with 16 other suspects in a $100 million shoplifting operation. Last month, Polk County detectives caught 21 men involved in a disturbing child pornography ring.
The sheriff's office told Eyewitness News they make the busts because they actually search for criminals, rather than just react to crimes.
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!
And what is that ONE brother doing among this crowd? What the hell is he doing?
Ironic though, kind of gives you a different perspective on WHOS REALLY DANGEROUS IN THIS COUNTRY doesn't it? Stop settling on locking up all these petty-ass young brothers and sisters who are carrying 22's, when you got folks like this in the universe that could seriously use some intervention. I got a few bucks that says they get the absolute minimum sentence, and probably avoid all the mandatory penaltys as well.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I'll monitor this one to see how it ends up.
Naomi Campbell "BEEF???"
Naomi lost her rag over just one bag...
Published: Today
MODEL Naomi Campbell is facing a ban from flying with British Airways.
Crazed Naomi yesterday flew into a rage over ONE lost bag — after 20,000 pieces of luggage went missing at Heathrow’s trouble-hit Terminal 5.
The model, 37, allegedly SPAT at a cop who was called to calm her down — then laid into him with her FISTS.
She was arrested on the spot for assaulting an officer, then restrained after a struggle and hauled kicking and screaming off the plane in handcuffs.
The airline today said the question of whether Naomi would be allowed to fly with the airline again was “under review”.
She was released on bail this morning. At 1am her press agent, Celena Aponte gave a statement outside the police station, saying: “She arrived in plenty of time at Heathrow Terminal 5 with two bags, checked them in, and told they were take the flight.
“Once on the flight, she was told one bag could not be found and was missing.
“British Airways decided to resolve this by insisting she leave the flight, calling the police, and forcibly ejected her from the flight.
“So far as we are aware, BA has still failed to offer any explanation as to why her bag went missing at Terminal 5.”
Ms Aponte said Miss Campbell was flying to LA to attend a memorial service of the mother of fashion photographer Herb Britts.
Asked how Naomi had behaved, she said: “I can not comment further.”
The supermodel — who paid £6,000 for the flight — had screamed insults at airline workers. She was still yelling abuse at the steward who took boarding cards as she took a seat on the plane yesterday evening.
A police escort van took her to Heathrow police station. Her fingerprints were taken along with a DNA swab and photograph.
Her other bag was offloaded from flight BA 269 — delaying other passengers on the plane by 90 minutes.
One police source said of the incident: “She was going nuts, spitting, punching and lashing out. BA staff were genuinely concerned about her well-being.
“They had no alternative but to call police when she refused to calm down.
“The police adopted a softly softly approach but she still went into a frenzy. They had no choice but to arrest her for the assault of a police officer.”
A witness who saw her tantrum in the first-class lounge said: “She was screaming, ‘Get off, get off, don’t touch me — leave me alone’.”
Terminal 5 has been in chaos ever since it opened on Thursday last week — with hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands of bags going missing.
But Naomi appears to be the ONLY one of 280,000 passengers so far who required cops to be summoned.
A British Airports Authority spokeswoman said yesterday: “We are unaware of any other incident, apart from this, where police have had to be called in.”
Yesterday a police spokesman said: “We can confirm that at 17.13pm police were called to a disturbance at Terminal 5, Heathrow. A 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.”
British Airways declined to comment.
Naomi could be jailed for up to six months if she is charged with assaulting a police officer under new guidelines published in February.
This morning Naomi, wearing a leather jacket, grey baseball cap and large black sunglasses, walked through a gaggle of press into a waiting Range Rover Sport after leaving the police station.
Four luxury vehicles had been on stand-by waiting for her to be released.
Ten minutes after she left, chauffeurs formed a human chain to remove Louis Vuitton bags from the station and into a waiting Mercedes.
The model — from Streatham, South London — served a five-day community sentence last year after throwing her mobile phone at a maid.
NEWS - States may free inmates to save millions
States may free inmates to save millions
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 3, 7:21 PM ET
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Lawmakers from California to Kentucky are trying to save money with a drastic and potentially dangerous budget-cutting proposal: releasing tens of thousands of convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals.
Officials acknowledge that the idea carries risks, but they say they have no choice because of huge budget gaps brought on by the slumping economy.
"If we don't find a way to better manage the population at the state prison, we will be forced to spend money to expand the state's prison system — money we don't have," said Jeff Neal, a spokesman for Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri.
At least eight states are considering freeing inmates or sending some convicts to rehabilitation programs instead of prison, according to an Associated Press analysis of legislative proposals. If adopted, the early release programs could save an estimated $450 million in California and Kentucky alone.
A Rhode Island proposal would allow inmates to deduct up to 12 days from their sentence for every month they follow rules and work in prison. Even some violent offenders would be eligible but not those serving life sentences.
A plan in Mississippi would offer early parole for people convicted of selling marijuana or prescription drugs. New Jersey, South Carolina and Vermont are considering funneling drug-addicted offenders into treatment, which is cheaper than prison.
The prospect of financial savings offers little comfort to Tori-Lynn Heaton, a police officer in a suburb of Providence whose ex-husband went to prison for beating her. He has already finished his prison term, but would have been eligible for early release under the current proposal.
"You're talking about victim safety. You're talking about community member safety," she said. "You can't balance the budget on the backs of victims of crimes."
But prisons "are one of the most expensive parts of the criminal-justice system," said Alison Lawrence, who studies corrections policy for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "That's where they look to first to cut down some of those costs."
Rhode Island Corrections Director A.T. Wall was not sure how many prisoners could be freed early. The payoff for doing so may be relatively small: less than $1 million for the first fiscal year, although that figure would increase over time.
In California, where lawmakers have taken steps to cut a $16 billion budget deficit in half by summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed saving $400 million by releasing more than 22,000 inmates who had less than 20 months remaining on their sentences. Violent and sex offenders would not be eligible.
Laying off prison guards and making it more difficult to send parole violators back to state prison would account for part of the savings.
Law enforcement officials and Republican lawmakers immediately criticized Schwarzenegger's proposal, which would apply to car thieves, forgers, drunken drivers and some drug dealers. Some would never serve prison time because the standard sentence for those crimes is 20 months or less.
"To open the prison door and release prisoners back into communities is merely placing a state burden onto local governments and will ultimately jeopardize safety in communities," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who could see 1,800 inmates released in his area.
In Kentucky, which faces a $1.3 billion deficit, lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday to grant early release to some prisoners. Initial estimates were that the plan could affect as many as 2,000 inmates and save nearly $50 million.
If the governor signs the bill, the exact number of prisoners would be determined by prison officials. Violent convicts and sexual offenders would be exempt.
Gov. Steve Beshear has said Kentucky must review its policies after the state's inmate population jumped 12 percent last year — the largest increase in the nation.
Kentucky spends more than $18,600 to house one inmate for a year, or roughly $51 a day. In California, each inmate costs an average of $46,104 to incarcerate.
The prison budget in Mississippi has nearly tripled since stricter sentencing laws took effect in 1994.
To curb spending, lawmakers have offered a bill to make about 7,000 drug offenders in prison eligible for parole. A second proposal would allow the parole board to release inmates convicted of selling marijuana and prescription drugs after serving just a quarter of their sentences. Currently, they must serve 85 percent of their terms before release.
Michigan is trying to speed up the parole process for about 3,500 inmates who were convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual offenses, or who are seriously ill.
Barbara Sampson, chairwoman of the Michigan Parole Board, said early release often makes sense, especially for low-risk offenders who get help rebuilding their lives.
"Getting that prisoner back to the community so that he can stay connected to his family, getting him back into the work force ... that's a positive thing," she said.
But not everyone is sold on the idea.
"Economics cannot be the engine that drives the train of public safety," said Terrence Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association. "Government has no greater responsibility than the protection of its citizens."
In my opinion, every convict serving a mandatory drug sentence is a "political prisoner." Case closed. There has never been any justification for these sentences. The only justification is self serving to aspiring elected officials or incumbant elected officials to prove they are "tough on crime, & sweet on prison industry as a booming business venture" This was never a movement based on "belief or cure."
Let these folks go home...if they have one left. (THE BOSS)
____
Thursday, April 3, 2008
GOOD "BEEF" - JAY-Z ANOTHER $150 million
In Rapper’s Deal, a New Model for Music Business
By JEFF LEEDS
Published: April 3, 2008
LOS ANGELES — In a move that reflects the anarchy sweeping the music business, the superstar rapper Jay-Z, who released his latest album to lukewarm sales five months ago, is on the verge of closing a deal with a concert promoter that rivals the biggest music contracts ever awarded.
Jay-Z plans to depart his longtime record label, Def Jam, for a roughly $150 million package with the concert giant Live Nation that includes financing for his own entertainment venture, in addition to recordings and tours for the next decade. The pact, expected to be finalized this week, is the most expansive deal yet from Live Nation, which has angled to compete directly with the industry’s established music labels in a scrum over the rights to distribute recordings, sell concert tickets, market merchandise and control other aspects of artists’ careers.
As CD sales plunge, an array of players — including record labels, promoters and advertisers — are racing to secure deals that cut them in on a larger share of an artist’s overall revenue. Live Nation has already struck less comprehensive pacts with Madonna and U2.
In Jay-Z, Live Nation has lined up with a longtime star who, after toiling as a self-described hustler on the streets of Brooklyn, earned acclaim as a rapper and cachet as a mogul.
Live Nation’s core business has revolved around major rock and country tours, and with Jay-Z it is making an unexpected foray into hip-hop. The company is also placing an enormous wager on a performer who, like many others, has experienced declining record sales. (Last year’s “American Gangster” sold one million copies in the United States; “The Black Album,” from 2003, sold well over three million.)
But the arrangement would also position Live Nation to participate in a range of new deals with Jay-Z, one of music’s most entrepreneurial stars, whose past ventures have included the Rocawear clothing line, which he sold last year for $204 million, and the chain of 40/40 nightclubs.
Jay-Z, 38, whose real name is Shawn Carter, owes one more studio album to Def Jam, where he was president for three years before stepping down in December after he and the label’s corporate parent, Universal Music Group, could not agree on a more lucrative contract.
His first undertaking with Live Nation is his current 28-date tour with Mary J. Blige, his biggest live outing in more than three years. After that, Live Nation envisions integrating the marketing of all Jay-Z’s entertainment endeavors, including recordings, tours and endorsements.
“I’ve turned into the Rolling Stones of hip-hop,” Jay-Z said in a recent telephone interview.
The deal answers a question that had been circling through the rap world for months: Where would Jay-Z take his next corporate role? As part of the arrangement, Live Nation would finance the start-up of a venture that would be an umbrella for his outside projects, which are expected to include his own label, music publishing, and talent consulting and managing. Live Nation is expected to contribute $5 million a year in overhead for five years, with another $25 million available to finance Jay-Z’s acquisitions or investments, according to people in the music industry briefed on the agreement. The venture, to be called Roc Nation, will split profits with Live Nation.
The overall package for Jay-Z also includes an upfront payment of $25 million, a general advance of $25 million that includes fees for his current tour, and advance payment of $10 million an album for a minimum of three albums during the deal’s 10-year term, these people said. A series of other payments adding up to about $20 million is included in exchange for certain publishing, licensing and other rights. Jay-Z said Live Nation’s consolidated approach was in sync with the emerging potential “to reach the consumer in so many different ways right now.” He added: “Everyone’s trying to figure it out. I want to be on the front lines in that fight.”
The popularity of music downloads has revolutionized how music is consumed, and widespread piracy has contributed to an industry meltdown in which traditional album sales — composed mostly of the two-decades-old CD format — have slumped by more than a third since 2000. (The best seller in 2007, Josh Groban’s “Noël,” sold 3.7 million copies, compared with 9.9 million for the top album in 2000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.)
That has further pressured record-label executives to rewrite the economics of their business and step beyond the sale of albums in an attempt to wring revenue out of everything from ring tones to artist fan clubs.
Jay-Z said that his future as an artist could involve elevating the role of live performances, long a mixed bag even for popular rap acts.
“In a way I want to operate like an indie band,” he said. “Play the music on tour instead of relying on radio. Hopefully we’ll get some hits out of there and radio will pick it up, but we won’t make it with that in mind.”
Though sales for Jay-Z’s tour with Ms. Blige have been strong since it began on March 22, with almost all the early dates resulting in sold-out arenas, it is unclear when Live Nation could carry out other aspects of the deal. (Jay-Z said that he hoped to deliver his final album for Def Jam later this year.)
Critics of Live Nation, which lost nearly $12 million last year, predict that it would be difficult to turn a profit on the arrangement, given the continuing decline in record sales and the mixed track record of artist-run ventures. Shares in the company have suffered since October when Live Nation negotiated a reported $120 million deal with Madonna.
Michael Cohl, Live Nation’s chairman, said he was not worried. Though he declined to discuss terms of the Jay-Z arrangement, he said it did not require an increase in record sales to be profitable. “He could be doing more tours and doing great,” Mr. Cohl said. “There could be endorsements and sponsorships.” He added, “The whole is what’s important.”
He cited Jay-Z’s forays into a host of other businesses as a model for Live Nation. “What he’s done has kind of mirrored what we want to do and where we think we’re going.”
Some executives at major record labels have privately portrayed Live Nation’s artist deals as overly expensive retirement packages for stars past their prime.
Others disagree. “I’d much rather be in the business of marketing a superstar who cost me a lot of money than taking the 1-in-10, demonstrably failing crapshoot” of signing unknown talents, said Jeffrey Light, a Los Angeles entertainment attorney, referring to the traditional record company model.
But the dimensions of the competition could change if Live Nation begins vying for the same emerging artists that the labels hope to sign. Live Nation is negotiating with a Georgia rock act, the Zac Brown Band, after apparently wooing it away from an offer by Atlantic Records, according to music executives briefed on the talks.
Jay-Z, for his part, suggested that the string of stars to exit the major-label system would also signal to younger acts how to plot their careers. He said that rising artists will be thinking: “ ‘Something must be happening. Madonna did it, she’s not slow. Jay-Z, he’s not slow either.’ ”
BASEBALL "BEEF" - AROD SLEPT WITH CANSECO'S WIFE?
ALEX TAGGED MY EX-WIFE: JOSE
By BRIAN COSTELLO
April 2, 2008 -- Jose Canseco fired another shot at Alex Rodriguez yesterday, saying he believes the New York Yankees star did more than just lust after his ex-wife, Jessica.
"I believe they had an affair," Canseco said during a book-signing at Bookends in Ridgewood, N.J. "I'm pretty sure of it. I spoke with Alex and he denied it, but the way he denied it, it wasn't reassuring. I spoke to my ex-wife last year about it and I'm not going to say she acknowledged that they did, but she did not say that they did not."
Canseco wrote in his new book "Vindicated" that Rodriguez was smitten with his then-wife and constantly called her. Canseco has said this is the reason he hates Rodriguez and decided to include him in his new book, including allegations that he introduced the Yankees third baseman to a steroid dealer in the late 1990s.
Before last night's season opener, Rodriguez was approached by The Post about Canseco's latest charge.
"I don't care," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez has not fired back at Canseco, choosing "no comment" at every turn. Canseco believes this shows he is telling the truth.
"He's basically trying to sweep it under the rug," Canseco said. "Basically he has 'no comment' to say. He should say it was the truth and move on. Obviously, I don't know if he used steroids but I did put him in contact with an individual who was a known steroid dealer, but we don't know what happened after that. But if you look at his physicals and his charts in spring training, it looked like after that he gained about 20 to 30 pounds."
About 100 people turned up at the bookstore yesterday to get Canseco's signature. Some lined up hours before the signing. In an interesting bit of scheduling, Julie Andrews was scheduled to appear at the bookstore last night.
Robert Bannon, a 24-year-old Yankees fan from Ridgefield Park, waited to get Canseco's signature. He said he believes most of the book but not the part about Rodriguez.
Several people in the crowd said Canseco has credibility because many of the allegations in his first book proved to be true.
"At first everyone treated Jose Canseco as if he was a joke," said Matt Whitfield, a 24-year-old from Chatham. "Everything he said in his first book came to be proven to be true. Now he has new allegations out and everyone is acting like he is a joke again. But he told the truth in his first book. A-ROD is a known womanizer. He was on the cover of your paper. I believe what he was saying and I want to meet him."
