Articles for 28 March 2011

Violence Stifles Learning, Causes Trauma In Philly Schools ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the first of a seven-part series on violence in the Philadelphia schools that took five reporters a year to report, the Philadelphia Inquirer says there were 4,541 violent incidents last school year. On an average day, 25 students, teachers, or other staff members were beaten, robbed, sexually assaulted, or victims of other violent crimes. That doesn't even include thousands more who are extorted, threatened, or bullied. Teachers, students, and administrators told the newspaper that many incidents aren't even reported. During the last school year, 183 cases came to the district's attention only after the city police made arrests. Violence in the schools is more than the sheer numbers. The specter of violence traumatizes students and teachers, and stifles learning Philadelphia Inquirer

Dallas DNA Exonerations Show Importance of Saving Evidence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The exoneration of Cornelius DuPree Jr. after three decades in prison began in a cramped Dallas laboratory, where an unusual repository of biological evidence from thousands of crimes is liberating more wrongly convicted inmates than any in the U.S., reports USA Today. Crime-solving is the lab's primary mission, but exonerations have emerged as a by-product of that mission. Since 2001, the lab's DNA archive has secured freedom for 21 prisoners serving up to life in prison. As more horrific mistakes of the past are exposed, the Institute of Forensic Sciences has become Exhibit A in a national push by some lawmakers, civil rights advocates, prosecutors, and the federal government for more uniform standards regulating how biological evidence should be retained in criminal cases. In Dallas County, wrongs are being righted because "the evidence - decades after it was collected - was there to test," says District Attorney Craig Watkins. The county has been retaining evidence for decades, some samples since 1978. Only about half the states require the automatic preservation of DNA evidence after conviction, says the Innocence Project. Sixteen states have no preservation laws. USA Today

OK Non-Prison Sentencing Grows As Funds For New Cells Dry Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "District attorneys are being asked to do more and more [ ] now, we're also being asked to be social workers," says Commanche County, Ok., District Attorney Fred Smith. Prosecutors today may choose from a variety of nontraditional sentencing options ranging from drug court assignments to mental health and anger management counseling, The Oklahoman reports. GPS monitoring devices for sex offenders, alcohol monitoring bracelets, and drug patches are some of the newer probation tools. Alternative sentencing is a necessity borne from prison overcrowding and shrinking budgets. In Oklahoma, where the prison population has grown by 9,000 in 13 years, there is no money for prison construction and agencies are bracing for more budget cuts The Oklahoman

With No Cleanup Funds, Agencies May Scale Back Meth Lab Busts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police and sheriff's departments in states ravaged by methamphetamine may have to scale back efforts to bust manufacturers because federal funds for cleaning up the toxic sites has dried up and departments don't want to get stuck footing the bill, reports the Associated Press. Congressional funding for the program has been exhausted, and renewed funding in the next few years is unlikely. The COPS program provided $19.2 million for meth lab cleanup in the current fiscal year. "I think it will change enforcement strategy," said Tony Saucedo, meth enforcement director for Michigan State Police. "There's no way to be proactive. If we come across [a meth lab], obviously it's going to have to be handled. You can probably bet that nobody's going to go actively looking for meth labs." Tennessee, which has overtaken Missouri as the nation's top meth lab state, got $4.5 million from COPS last year for meth cleanup -- about 2 1/2-times more than any other state, and funding Tennessee will be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Associated Press/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sexting Tale: How WA Girl's Nude Photo Yielded 3 Felony Charges ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Law enforcement officials and educators are struggling with how to confront minors who "sext," an imprecise term that refers to sending sexual photos, videos, or texts from one cellphone to another, says the New York Times. For teenagers with ready access to technology, sexting is laughably easy, unremarkable, and usually done to look cool and sexy to someone they find attractive. "Having a naked picture of your significant other on your cellphone is an advertisement that you're sexually active to a degree that gives you status," said Rick Peters, a prosecutor in Thurston County, Wa., "It's an electronic hickey." The Times tells the story of what happened with Washington state charges against three students for dissemination of child pornography, a Class C felony, because they had set off a viral outbreak involving a girl's nude photo. New York Times

Violence Alleged in Large Private Mississippi Youth Prison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prisons are filled with stress and violence; without proper supervision they can revert to primitive places. NPR, in the first of a two-part series on private prisons, says that is what happened at Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi. The nation's largest juvenile prison, Walnut Grove houses 1,200 boys and young men in a sprawling one-story complex east of Jackson. The State of Mississippi pays Geo Group to run the prison. Allegations raise the fundamental question of whether profits have distorted the mission of rehabilitating young inmates. Former inmates describe an environment of violence inside the youth prison as so pervasive it became entertainment. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project have filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 13 inmates against Geo, the prison administration and state officials NPR

Federal Prison Director Harley Lappin to Retire in May ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harley Lappin director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, will retire May 7. Lappin has run the bureau for eight years. An agency employee for 25 years, Lappin became warden of the federal prison in Butner, N.C., in 1996. The prison included a forensic center, inpatient and outpatient psychiatric units, sex offender treatment, and a satellite prison camp. In 1998, he moved to become warden at the U.S. Penitentiary at Terre Haute, IN, where he activated a Special Confinement Unit, which houses federal inmates under death sentences, and he presided over the first two federal executions since 1963. In testimony March 15 before a House subcommittee on the bureau's $6.7 billion budget request for the fiscal year beginning October 1, Lappin talked about "severe crowding" in some of the agency's facilities housing 171,000 inmates (another 29,000 federal inmates are in private facilities.") Lappin said he federal prisoner population is increasing, and that he expects it to grow for the foreseeable future. The bureau noted that Lappin has "championed the Inmate Skills Development Initiative," which is aimed at improving prisoner re-entry into society U.S. Department of Justice

TX Scrap Metal Firms Not Reporting Amid Copper Theft Boom ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copper is like a gold mine for thieves because it has a fairly high resale value -- up to $4 a pound for scrap copper at salvage yards -- and is hard to trace, reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Hard times make a bad situation worse. Thieves stole about 100 feet of copper from behind a local restaurant this month. "We lost business for two days," said restaurant owner Steven Wong. Thieves target schools, churches, nonprofits, homes, foreclosed and abandoned houses, construction sites, and gas wells. They take copper from air-conditioning units, street lights and bronze vases on gravestones. They even steal manhole covers. Then they head to scrap yards to sell the metal. A 2007 Texas law was supposed to help put the thieves out of business. It requires all scrap metal businesses to register with the state and report purchases. Only 870 of the 2,400 metal recyclers have registered, and only about 430 have reported transactions the past year Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

TN-Made Assault Rifles, Gun Parts End Up in Middle East ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Illegally trafficked assault rifles and gun parts manufactured in Nashville found their way to Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, The Tennessean reports. Court document from federal agents show details of an alleged conspiracy to skirt U.S. regulators and law enforcement to get a leg up in the high-stakes international arms industry. Four Sabre Defence Industries executives charged in a 21-count federal indictment are likely to change their not guilty pleas Monday. The alleged fraud included British owner Guy Savage and Nashville officials using "phony shipping documents" and invoices from "fairy land," sending gun parts overseas under false bottoms in shipping containers and stamping silencers illegally imported from Finland as if they were manufactured in Nashville. Sabre officials were calling silencers "lawn mower mufflers" and rifle barrels "gear shafts" in an effort to fly under the radar of regulators. Savage allegedly purchased a Nashville gun maker known as Ramo Defense Systems in 2002 hoping to be able to ship parts to his British company and hoping to score U.S. defense contracts The Tennessean

NC Cases Raise Questions On Blood Test Results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ North Carolina district attorneys assured the public that there is no need to worry about the outcomes of blood cases cited in an audit of the State Bureau of Investigation, says the Raleigh News & Observer. There's no question of the guilt of any of the defendants, they said. Chris Foye begs to disagree. Foye, who has spent 19 years in prison, said he pleaded to charges in a murder he didn't commit rather than risk the death penalty in a trial. Foye didn't know that the bureau had identified another man's DNA in the victim's panties, information that would have changed how his lawyers handled the case. Foye's case and others call into doubt the prosecutors' assurances that there is no need to worry about last year's independent audit, commissioned by Attorney General Roy Cooper, which found that the bureau's crime lab withheld or misreported blood test results in 229 cases. The SBI said this week that it has identified an additional 74 cases with similar problems Raleigh News & Observer

Milwaukee Cops Still on Job After Sex Misconduct Discipline ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three Milwaukee police officers disciplined after women accused them of on-duty sexual misconduct continue to wear the badge, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. One of the officers, Scott Charles, served a 60-day suspension and has since been promoted to sergeant. The other two, Reginald Hampton and Milford Adams, were fired but reinstated after appealing to the civilian Fire and Police Commission, which has the power to overturn punishments imposed by the chief. Recently fired officer Ladmarald Cates - accused of raping a woman after he responded to her 911 call in July - hopes to use the same appeals process to get his job back. Like the other three, he is accused of using his police authority to prey on vulnerable women. Carmen Pitre of the Sojourner Family Peace Center said abusive officers are particularly dangerous to victims. They cast a shadow of doubt on the good work done by the rest of the force, she said. "Police officers have a lot of power in their hands and when they abuse that power, we have to take a very firm stand on that not being acceptable," she said. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Missteps in Federal Use of Wiretaps in Insider-Trading Case ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The wiretaps of conversations between Raj Rajaratnam, Galleon Group hedge fund manager, and his sources of information appear to provide powerful evidence that he traded on illegal insider tips, writes Peter Henning in the New York Times. The jury in the insider trading trial can hear what was actually said rather than relying on the sometimes-fuzzy recollections of witnesses. Missteps in how federal prosecutors obtained and monitored the wiretaps and tried to entice people into making incriminating statements have come to light, raising questions about how carefully the Justice Department has been in applying these tactics in white-collar crime cases says Henning. These should serve as a warning that wiretaps must be used very carefully in future cases. New York Times