Articles for 13 March 2011

Ohio Uses Animal Drug In Execution; Legal Challenges Likely Elsewhere ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ohio executed an inmate with a single drug previously used to euthanize animals, the first execution of its kind in the U.S. and a potentially pivotal development in the emotional battle over capital punishment, reports the Washington Post. Johnnie Baston, 37, got an infusion of the powerful barbituate pentobarbital. Capital punishment was thrown into disarray in January when the only U.S. company that makes sodium thiopental, which Ohio and other states had long used with two other drugs for lethal injection, said it would no longer produce the drug. Opponents and supporters of the death penalty predicted that other states would follow Ohio and adopt the new one-drug approach, alleviating delays in executions in the short-term but potentially leading to legal challenges that could mire the system in the long term. Some capital punishment opponents condemned the new protocol, saying too little is known about how pentobarbital works for this purpose in people. "Ohio is gambling blindly in its rush to execute," said law Prof. Deborah Denno of Fordham University. "There is no reason why Ohio cannot take the time to devise a constitutionally acceptable execution procedure in the way so many experts have recommended." Washington Post

Mexican Official: 150 Killed, Hurt With Guns Trafficked in U.S. Probe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mexican legislators are demanding an investigation into a U.S. law enforcement operation that allowed hundreds of weapons to flow into the hands of Mexican drug cartels amid claims from a ranking legislator that at least 150 Mexicans have been killed or wounded by guns trafficked by smugglers under the watch of U.S. agents, the Los Angeles Times reports. U.S. authorities say manpower shortages and the high number of weapons sold resulted in their losing track of hundreds of guns, from pistols to .50-caliber sniper rifles. A federal agent deeply involved in the Phoenix-based operation said it was "impossible" that U.S. authorities did not know the weapons were headed for Mexico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has acknowledged that at least 195 weapons sold in Arizona under Operation Fast and Furious have been recovered in Mexico, traced as a matter of routine via serial numbers after their recovery from crime scenes, arrests and searches. The Mexican lawmaker, Huberto Benitez Trevino, did not say how the new casualty statistics were calculated. A U.S. law enforcement official on the border, a defender of the ATF program, didn't know how Mexican officials came up with the casualty figure, saying, "It's probably just a good political thing to say, and how are you going to refute it?" Los Angeles Times

Oakland Police, Firefighters Devour City Budget (Deficit $46 Million) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A database of local government salaries and compensation compiled by California Controller John Chiang shows just how out of whack pay for some California police and firefighters has become in the state's largest cities, says San Francisco Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson. In San Francisco, a deputy chief earning $250,666 a year collected more than half a million dollars when he retired in 2009. In San Jose, nine of the top 10 earners were Police or Fire Department employees. None made less than $275,000. In Oakland, a police officer whose listed salary ceiling was $98,000 a year was paid $245,432. The data show some police and fire departments devouring local public dollars. In Oakland, the starting pay for police officers - $70,044.96 - is higher than most other police jobs in the state. It's no wonder Oakland can no longer afford to keep a minimum force of 832 officers and was forced to lay off 80 officers last year, Johnson says. This year's budget deficit is $46 million. The Oakland police officer who earned $245,432 isn't an anomaly. Oakland police officers and firefighters constituted 440 of the city's 500 highest-paid employees in 2009. San Francisco Chronicle

Prison, Jail Bed Glut In Texas May Hurt County Finances ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quite a few Texas jail and prison facilities - many owned by counties - overbuilt, banking on ever-growing inmate populations that haven't materialized and now appear unlikely, says the Grits for Breakfast blog, which lists 13 and says there may be others. In most cases they were built with taxpayer backed bonds which must be paid whether or not the beds are leased. Texas state officials last year cancelled contracts with counties for 1,900 beds and doesn't plan to rent beds from counties under the new budget. The underfilled facilities hope the feds will bail them out by leasing more immigration detention beds, but they won't bail out all of them and might not contract with any of them, given that there's lots of competition from other parts of the country. Corrections Corporation of America alone has 12,500 empty beds nationwide. Just five years ago there was excess demand for private prison capacity; today there is a glut. Grits for Breakfast

Durbin Believes U.S. Will Buy IL Prison Despite Gitmo Controversy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly a year ago, inmates at Illinois' Thomson Correctional Facility were moved out in anticipation of the federal government's buying the underused prison for detainees from Guantanamo Bay. That plan has been blocked by congressional opposition to transferring any Gitmo prisoners to the United States. The St. Louis Beacon quotes U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) as being optimistic that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is close to finalizing a deal to buy Thomson from Illinois for $170 million. He believes Congress eventually will fund conversion of the prison for inmates other than the Gitmo detainees. Durbin noted strong local backing because a reopened prison would create more than 1,100 jobs. "Our federal prisons are overcrowded, and if we can get a good price for the Thomson prison -- and I think we can -- it would be a good investment for the federal government, instead of building a new prison," Durbin told the Beacon. "It would also be some money for the state of Illinois, and we sure need it." St. Louis Beacon

Conyers' Wife Complains About Food, Lack of Work in U.S. Prison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some call it Camp Cupcake, but Alderson Federal Prison in West Virginia is no cakewalk, ex-Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers tells the Detroit News. The incarcerated wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, former House Judiciary Committee chairman, wrote a letter to the newspaper saying she's keeping her spirits up, loves Detroit, and hates prison chow. "It's over-crowded and they barely have food to feed the people," Conyers wrote. "The portions are smaller and no seconds when it's something good. Most of the women are here for drugs!" Conyers is federal inmate No. 43693-039 after pleading guilty to accepting $6,000 in bribes for switching her vote on a $1.2 billion sludge contract. She still signs her correspondence "Councilwoman Monica."In prison, Conyers said, "It's not a lot to do here. The main place of employment closed down [ ] It's mainly recreation choices because classes are filled." Detroit News

Insider View Of CA Pelican Bay Prison: Guards Fear "Gassing" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A corrections officer at California's Pelican Bay Prison told his story to radio station KALW's blog The Informant, reports NPR. Asked why anyone would take such a job dealing with some of the most dangerous criminals, the officer, whose name is not given in the piece, says it was a matter of needing a job - fast. "You don't grow up wanting to be a correctional officer," he said. The officer's original goal of joining the highway patrol was put on hold when his wife became pregnant. It would have taken him six months to finish training for the highway patrol. But the department of corrections' academy took only six weeks. The officer paints a picture of an emotionally charged environment, where guards are sometimes pelted by balls of feces and other bodily materials, hurled by inmates who may have hepatitis or AIDS. The attack, he says, is called "gassing." Said the officer: "We've probably had more officers lose their mental well being because of a gassing than anything else." NPR

Congress May Cut Funds For Law Enforcement Hand-Held Radios ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A key post-Sept. 11 security priority is on the federal budget chopping block: hand-held radios that allow officers from different law enforcement agencies to talk to each other, reports the Washington Times. House and Senate spending plans would slash up to $100 million for the Justice Department's Integrated Wireless Network (IWN), which would replace the mis-matched radios that were in use during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "The quality of the radios they have now is horrible," said James Craig, former chief information officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration, of the often incompatible radio systems still being used by the FBI, DEA and U.S. Marshals Service. "There's a potential for agents to be hurt or killed" because of the limitations of these systems, some of which are almost 20 years old, he said. Outside of the Washington, D.C., area, where IWN came on line last year, the plan is set to become a victim of bipartisan efforts to tackle the spiraling deficit by cutting government spending in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. "The agencies finally got together and have a plan, and everybody's on the same page [ ] and now the rug's been pulled away," Craig said of the proposed cuts. Washington Times

Obama Adviser Cites Increasing Federal Role Fighting School Bullying ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yesterday's White House conference on bullying had a single goal - to "dispel the myth that bullying is part of a normal rite of passage" - President Obama said, reports Youth Today. "No family should have to go through what these families had to go through," the president said, singling out several families in the room whose children recently committed suicide after being targeted by bullies. One speaker, University of Connecticut education professor George Sugai, said there must be school-wide measures in order to reduce bullying. Success in minimizing bullying at the individual level is linked to "the larger school climate," Sugai said his research has shown. Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett touted the increasing role the federal government is playing, mentioning two letters the Department of Education sent to schools urging them to strictly enforce anti-bullying measures; a new technical assistance center on bullying prevention run by the Education Department; and the launch of a new website, Stopbullying.gov. Sen. Al Franken (D-Mn.) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-Co.) introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would require that schools not discriminate against students based on sexual orientation or identity, and risk losing federal funds if such discrimination is found to exist on school grounds. Youth Today

NY Times Accused of "Blaming the Victim" In Story on Rape Of Girl, 11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times is under attack from bloggers who assert that a March 8 article about the alleged gang-rape of an 11-year-old girl Texas laid blame on the prepubescent victim, says Yahoo News. The social justice website Change.org started an online petition to "Tell the New York Times to issue a published apology for their coverage of this incident and publish an editorial from a victim's rights expert on how victim blaming in the media contributes to the prevalance of sexual assault." The Times has not apologized but did publish a letter to the editor from a woman who was "shocked to see the article report that town residents said the 11-year-old girl 'dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s.' The article continued, 'She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground, some said.' " The writer asked, "How is this relevant except to subtly blame the victim?" The Times told Yahoo News that, "Neighbors' comments about the girl, which we reported in the story, seemed to reflect concern about what they saw as a lack of supervision that may have left her at risk." Yahoo News

Congressional Hearing Shows Partisan Split On Terror Probes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A congressional hearing yesterday on homegrown Islamic terrorism featured divergent portraits of Muslims in America: law-abiding people who are unfairly made targets, and people ignoring radicalization among their own and failing to confront what one witness called "this cancer that's within," the New York Times reports. Four hours of sometimes emotional testimony showed a deep partisan split in lawmakers' approach to terror investigations and their views on the role of mosques in America. Democrats cited the lone law enforcement witness, Sheriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles, who testified that Muslims do cooperate, and they cited a Duke University study that found that 40 percent of foiled domestic terror plots had been thwarted with the help of Muslims. Other witnesses - Melvin Bledsoe, a Memphis businessman, and Abdirizak Bihi of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center in Minneapolis - offered compelling narratives of how their relatives embraced Islamic extremism. New York Times

David Simon Offers Sympathy For "The Wire" Actress After Arrest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, an actress in "The Wire" who was arrested this week on drug charges in Baltimore, has "had one of the hardest lives imaginable," says "The Wire" creator and producer David Simon in the Baltimore Sun. He notes that "the entertainment industry as a whole does not offer a great many roles for those who can portray people from the other America. There are, in fact, relatively few stories told about the other America." Simon notes that writers of "The Wire" said in a Time magazine essay that "the war on drugs has devolved into a war on the underclass, that in places like West and East Baltimore, where the drug economy is now the only factory still hiring and where the educational system is so crippled that the vast majority of children are trained only for the corners, a legal campaign to imprison our most vulnerable and damaged citizens is little more than amoral." Simon said that drug defendants, absent proof of violent acts, should be acquitted. He acknowledged that he does not know the details of the Pearson charges, such as what drug is involved and whether violence is alleged. Baltimore Sun