Are Ohio Prisons "About to Blow"? Reform Legislation Is Pushed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Violent or destructive incidents involving six or more inmates in Ohio prisons have almost quadrupled in three years, says the Columbus Dispatch. Such confrontations occurred an average of once every 28 days in 2007, but by last year it was once every 7.6 days. That's keeping Gary Mohr, the new director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, up at night. "Seven days a week, I'm watching these things show up on my Blackberry," said Mohr, a veteran of Ohio prisons picked by Gov. John Kasich to return. "This is not the same system I left eight years ago." State Sen. Bill Seitz also is concerned. "We are sitting on a tinderbox, and it's about to blow." Seitz and Mohr are pushing for a major overhaul of Ohio sentencing, parole, and probation law. Backers say the legislation would save $78 million over three years, reduce the prison population to 2007 levels and avoid the need to spend $500 million building prisons. State prisons house 51,000 offenders, 33 percent more than they were designed to hold. Budget cuts have forced staff reductions, including removing some corrections officers from cellblocks and dormitories. State Sen. Timothy Grendell, chairman of the Senate Judiciary-Criminal Justice Committee, has many questions. Yesterday, he challenged the idea of diverting low-level felony offenders from prison, or reducing the sentences of those incarcerated. "Today's low-level offender is tomorrow's violent offender," he said |
Texas Budget Woes Prompt Talk Of Freeing More Inmates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Faced with making deep cuts to schools and human services programs, closing at least two prisons and slashing rehabilitation programs, legislative leaders are beginning to talk about what is usually unthinkable in tough-on-crime Texas: releasing more convicts to save money, reports the Austin American-Statesman. They are targeting nonviolent foreign citizens who are eligible for parole and old, infirm convicts, some of whom have been diagnosed as dying. "We don't have the resources to continue business as usual in Texas," said Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire. Police, prosecutors, and crime victims groups are urging caution in paroling any more convicts so that Texas does not face a tragic déjà vu of the late 1980s, when wholesale paroling of hundreds of convicts to ease prison crowding triggered a crime wave several cities. "If they want to get rid of the dopers, OK. The drunks, hot check artists, the thieves, OK," said William "Rusty" Hubbarth of Justice for All, a crime victims group. "What this state is finally realizing is that we've got too many people locked up who may not need to be in prisons," said Sheryl Lynn Washington, a crime victim advocate and self-proclaimed tea party activist who was at the state capitol yesterday urging more treatment and rehabilitation programs and less imprisonment. |
Texas Parolees Finding It Easy To Discard Their Electronic Monitors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last month, Joe Shaw of Houston snipped off an ankle monitor that had tracked his whereabouts for 18 months after he was paroled for an attempted capital murder conviction, reports the Houston Chronicle. He discarded the device Jan. 14 in an apartment where his girlfriend was found dead with a bullet to the head. He is charged with murder. A few days later, a high-risk sex offender, Timothy Rosales Jr., removed his ankle monitor and fled from a halfway house in Houston. He had been tethered to his device since being paroled on two aggravated assaults in 2007. He remains on the lam. These parolees are among a growing number of offenders forced to wear ankle bracelets. They range from the famous like domestic diva Martha Stewart to the infamous like former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak (accused of plotting to kill her romantic rival). The number of Texas parolees being tracked with ankle monitors has mushroomed to nearly 3,000 in two years. The monitors are far from foolproof. In the last two years, arrest warrants were issued 632 times for "tamper alerts" involving parolees "after business hours." The tally does not include warrants issued during work hours, nor alerts that did not generate arrest warrants. While electronic monitors are an increasingly popular tool for law enforcement, the public may be unnerved by how easily the plastic straps can be shed. All it takes is a quick snip with some sturdy scissors. |
Prisoners in FL, GA, CA Get $19 Million In Undeserved Federal Tax Refunds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prisoners in Florida, Georgia, and California lead the inmate population in scamming payments from the IRS, says a federal audit reported by USA Today. Prisoners in the three states got nearly $19 million in IRS refunds during 2009 after filing false or fraudulent tax returns, said an an IRS report to Congress. It was part of $39.1 million in undeserved federal tax refunds the IRS issued to jail and prison inmates nationwide for phantom jobs on phony returns. That's nearly triple the $13.4 million in tax refunds the IRS issued to prison scammers five years earlier. The IRS said it could not immediately determine how much, if any, of the fraudulent refunds in 2009 has been recovered, because the recapture process "can take several years."J. Russell George, Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration said that if the IRS does not take action, the problem will only worsen and more taxpayer dollars will be lost." He added that "prisoners continue to find new ways to exploit weaknesses in the system in order to receive refunds to which they are not entitled. |
With U.S. Aid Level, Justice Department May Stress Anticrime Training ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As federal funding may become more limited for state and local anticrime projects, the Justice Department may shift its emphasis to providing training and technical assistance rather than full grants to fund projects, says James Burch, acting director of the department's Bureau of Justice Assistance. Burch told criminal justice organizations meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., that his agency may be able to respond more quickly to local problems by sending expert help than by funding entire projects. Burch said that as proposed by the Obama administration, aid to states and localities to fight crime would be provided at about the same level in the year starting October 1 as it is now. Still, House Republicans may demand further cuts across the board in federal programs in their effort to cut the huge federal deficit. Burch acknowledged modest cuts in the White House's proposed budget for his agency, including programs that help prosecutors repay educational loans, "competitive" local anticrime grants, and justice information sharing. He said that Attorney General Eric Holder is committed to providing substantial support for effective crime-fighting efforts nationwide "in a much-tighter fiscal environment." |
Dallas Reforms Neighborhood Policing With Community Engagement Units ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Dallas police "community engagement units" double the number of officers at each patrol station who are permanently assigned to tackling persistent neighborhood crime problems, says the Dallas Morning News. Beginning today each new unit will be staffed with 44 officers, five sergeants and one lieutenant. "You will have your own little task force at each of the patrol stations," said Assistant Chief Vince Golbeck, who oversees the city's seven patrol stations. The new units are the next step in Police Chief David Brown's Community Policing 2.0 plan, aimed at making the department more responsive to the crime problems plaguing neighborhoods. Some of the refocused manpower comes from disbanding the department's centralized 20-member Operation Disruption task force and returning those officers to patrol stations. Brown said he is giving individual patrol commanders more manpower because he believes they are more knowledgeable - and responsive - to neighborhoods' needs. One change creates clearer lines of authority - and more important, accountability. At each station, one lieutenant will oversee neighborhood police officers, or NPOs, who work directly with crime watches and community groups; plainclothes detectives who work on crime problems such as burglaries, robberies and thefts; and crime response squads that mostly target drug houses |
Expert Panel Casts Doubt on FBI's Certainty on Anthrax Mailing Suspect ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An independent National Research Council panel cast doubt on the FBI's certainty that it identified the only source behind the anthrax attacks a decade ago, says USA Today. The panel pointed to "genetic similarities" between anthrax sent by mail and samples from a federal biodefense lab but said it "cannot rule out" that the anthrax might have come from somewhere else. The FBI suspected federal researcher Bruce Ivins as the culprit behind anthrax mailings that left five people dead. Ivins, 62, committed suicide in 2008. The nation was on high alert in late 2001 when letters containing anthrax spores arrived in offices in Florida, New York, and Washington, D.C. The bacteria sickened 17 people and had killed five others by 2002. "We believe this independent review - done at the FBI's request - will help strengthen the law enforcement and national security community's scientific and analytical capabilities in future investigations," said panel chief Alice Gast, president of Pennsylvania's Lehigh University |
MO Black Teen Suspects 3-4 Times More Likely Than Whites To Be Tried As Adults ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despite a state law requiring judges to consider racial disparity when deciding whether to try juveniles as adults, Missouri prosecutes a disproportionate number of black youth accused of serious crimes in regular courts, where they can be sentenced to prison alongside hardened criminals, reports Black Voice News. In recent years, African-American teens faced trials in adult courts at a rate three to four times higher than their proportion of Missouri's youth population. They were defendants in 57 percent of such prosecutions in 2008 even though they make up only 14 percent of state residents between ages 12 and 17. One possible reason for the disparity is that Missouri does not require juvenile judges to hold a probable cause hearing before transferring a case. Nor do a dozen other states, including California and Maryland, and also Washington, D.C. Juvenile courts in 13 states could be violating a Supreme Court ruling, Kent v. United States, which says judges must determine, before transferring cases to adult court, that they are strong enough to secure a grand jury indictment. That 1966 decision requires that such criminal complaints against juveniles must have "prosecutive merit" and "measure up to the essentials of due process and fair treatment." Mae Quinn, co-director of a legal clinic at Washington University in St. Louis, suspects that Missouri prosecutors have an incentive to take weak cases into adult court, where young defendants can feel pressured to accept a plea bargain. Even though probation is often the result, she says the threat of prison time represents a form of punishment in itself. |
Sheldon Whitehouse To Head Senate Judiciary's Crime-Terrorism Panel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is slated to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime and terrorism. He succeeds former Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), who was defeated in a primary election last year. Other Democratic members of the panel are Herb Kohl (WI), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Dick Durbin (IL), Amy Klobuchar (MN), a former prosecutor, and Christopher Coons (DE). A new subcommittee on privacy, technology, and the law will be headed by Al Franken (MN). Top Republican on the subcommittee will be Jon Kyl of Arizona, who is not seeking another Senate term next year. Other Republicans members are Orrin Hatch of Utah, former chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions (AL), and Lindsey Graham (SC). The slate is expected to be approved at a full committee meeting tomorrow |
Madoff: Banks, Hedge Funds Were "Complicit" in his Ponzi Scheme ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bernard Madoff, serving a 150-year prison term for his huge Ponzi scheme, told New York Times reporter Diana Henriques that unidentified banks and hedge funds were "complicit" in his elaborate fraud, a shift from earlier claims that he was the only person involved. Henriques is writing a book about the case. Madoff pointed to the "willful blindness" of various banks and hedge funds, and their failure to examine discrepancies between his regulatory filings and other information available to them. "They had to know," Madoff said. "But the attitude was sort of, 'If you're doing something wrong, we don't want to know.' " Madoff's scheme lasted at least 16 years and consumed $20 billion in lost cash and almost $65 billion in paper wealth. |
Over Police Objections, More Mounted Units Fall in Budget Cutting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charleston, S.C., joined the growing number of cities that have retired their police horses and closed their stables to save money, says the New York Times. The Great Recession is proving to be the greatest threat to police mounted units since departments embraced the horseless carriage. Among cities that have eliminated their equine units are Newark, San Diego; Tulsa, Camden, N.J.; and Boston, whose police horses dated to the 19th century and were regulars at Fenway Park. New York Times |
Two Florida Sheriffs Have No Way of Pursuing 275,000 Pending Arrest Warrants ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In many South Florida cases, people officially listed as wanted by authorities aren't being pursued at all, and if they are found, might not be arrested, says the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Broward and Palm Beach counties have a combined 275,000 active arrest warrants, an enormous number that law enforcement says far exceeds their ability to find and apprehend. Sheriff's officials prioritize who they look for, starting with new warrants for serious crimes, and move on to the next case once leads are exhausted. The Sun Sentinel searched for wanted people who have been missing the longest, and found some living openly in other states for decades, including the Rev. Joenathan Hunter Sr. Wanted for 33 years in a Broward felony larceny case, Hunter is now a well-known pastor in Delaware and national advocate for adoption. Reached at his home, he said he has made no attempt to hide. The long arm of the law has reached only to the state line. Prosecutors have made the cost-benefit calculation that it isn't worth the expense of retrieving them from another state to face charges in Florida. Aaron Kennard, executive director of the National Sheriffs' Association, said the backlog of open warrants is a problem nationwide, and includes old crimes that make little sense to prosecute now. |
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Articles for 16 Feb 2011
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