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These factors could be putting officers at risk at a time when O'Donnell said there seems to be aggressive dialogue toward police on the Web and people starting to challenge authority and the government.

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That said, the city's aggressive enforcement borders on harassment. Those little white Cobalts swarming the central business district like bees on honey strike terror in motorists everywhere. It's no way to encourage people to come down and drop some loot at one of Detroit's fine restaurants, clubs and bars. More to the point, if the city insists on enforcing parking to the nanosecond, it should at least make sure the bleeping meters work.

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The plaintiffs in Duncan v. Michigan had challenged the state's deplorable system of providing legal counsel to poor defendants, arguing that the representation provided to such defendants in Berrien, Genesee and Muskegon Counties fell short of constitutional standards. Just three months ago, state Supreme Court justices unanimously allowed the lawsuit to proceed, setting the stage for a trial that could have established statewide standards for indigent defense.

Then, last Friday, four Republican justices who consented to the earlier court order inexplicably reversed themselves, adopting a dissenting lower court judge's opinion that the issues raised in the indigent defendants' suit were either premature or not amenable to judicial relief.

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