Pared Federal Spending Plan Takes 17% from Anticrime Aid, COPS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal appropriations for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 being voted on by Congress this week would cut federal anticrime aid to state and local governments, and the COPS community policing program, by 17 percent. The bill does not cut funds to the Office for Violence against Women, the National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Justice for All, and Missing and Exploited Children's programs. The bill was the result of negotiations that avoided a government shutdown last weekend. The FBI gets $7.8 billion, above last year's figure but $249 million below the Obama administration's request. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons gets $6.3 billion, also above last year's figure but $239 million below the President's budget request. Justice Information-Sharing Technology gets $60.3 million, $119.5 million below the President's request. On paper, $4.9 billion is taken from the Crime Victim's Fund but that money would not have been spent anyway because there is a $705 million cap on annual spending from the fund. |
Jackson Doctor Case Tests Jury Selection in The Age of Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The marathon search for a jury in the trial of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's doctor, is testing whether it's possible to find unbiased jurors in the age of Twitter, blogs, and celebrity-news websites, reports USA Today. 29-page juror questionnaires are to be turned over to the defense and prosecution this week. Jackson died at age 50 in 2009 from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol mixed with sedatives, a coroner's report said. Murray, 58, a cardiologist, is charged with involuntary manslaughter. He was treating Jackson for insomnia as the entertainer rehearsed for his "This is It" comeback concerts in London. "Everybody's heard of the case," prosecution spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons says. Weeding out potential jurors with unchangeable views on guilt or innocence has taken on the elaborateness of celebrity trials like that of O. J. Simpson, who was acquitted at the same courthouse in 1995. Coverage by mainstream news outlets isn't the main problem, says Ed Chernoff, Murray's chief defense lawyer: "Blogs and other stuff that comes out, they're not objective." |
License-Plate-Reading Cameras Paying Off for NYC Police ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Police Department's growing use of license-plate-reading cameras has been transforming investigative work, says the New York Times. Though the imaging technology was conceived primarily as a counterterrorism tool, the cameras have aided in all sorts of traditional criminal investigations. Last month, Marat Mikhaylich, a suspect in nine bank robberies, was arrested as he was driving a stolen car whose license plates were identified by a security camera. There are 238 license plate readers in use in New York City; of those, 130 are mobile. They are mounted on the back of police cars assigned to patrol duties across the city's five boroughs and to specialized units like the highway and counterterrorism divisions. The remaining 108 cameras are set up at fixed posts at city bridges and tunnels and above thoroughfares. The cameras have provided clues in homicide cases and other serious crimes. The technique has been adopted by smaller cities in California, Minnesota and Arizona, and police in Philadelphia have started using the readers, too. "It's one of the fastest-growing technologies in the country," said Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum. |
New York Police Brace For Ticket-Fixing Scandal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York officials are preparing for a police ticket-fixing scandal the likes of which the city has not felt in decades, reports DNAInfo.com. For the past year, internal investigators and prosecutors have been eavesdropping on the telephones of New York City police officers. Most are delegates representing the city's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. With evidence from by thousands of hours of recorded conversations, at least 10 officers are expected to be arrested in a case dating back to 2008. The police department has a list of at least 24 cops who are not allowed to retire until this investigation is over. Prosecutors have established thresholds of alleged ticket fixing and wrongdoing to determine which officers will face criminal charges, such as bribery and perjury, and which ones will be charged only by the police department. Sources say it could reach into the hundreds, including supervisors, who will be slapped with violating various departmental rules - ranging from fudging reports and tampering with official records to failing to take action to stop fellow cops from fixing tickets |
Steve Croley, White House Adviser on Gun Issues, Stays Mostly Silent ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When gun-control activists visited the Justice Department last month to push the Obama administration for more firearm regulation. White House aide Steve Croley, the point man on the gun issue, stayed mostly silent, reports the Washington Post. That echoes the decision by Democrats to remain mute on guns as a national issue, even after the Tucson rampage in January. Democrats have no plans for serious gun-control initiatives, and the Gabrielle Giffords tragedy, as heart-rending as it was, hasn't changed their minds. Activists describe Croley as enigmatic. Croley, who since August has been Obama's assistant for justice and regulatory policy, favors closing a loophole in the law that allows unlicensed gun dealers to sell arms without background checks, especially at gun shows. His background in administrative law has prepared him for figuring out how state agencies can make their records readily available to a federal gun database. One area in which Croley has shown less interest, according to several people who have spoken with him about the issue, is restricting the large-volume ammunition magazines that allowed the Tucson shooter to keep firing. Croley refused to talk to the Post. |
Inner-City IN Pastors Miffed As Anticrime Grants are Eliminated ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some Indianapolis inner-city pastors are livid at being passed over in the first round for crime-fighting grants this year and have vowed to let City Hall know about it, reports the Indianapolis Star. "It doesn't make any sense to deny funding to the organizations that are out on the street in the black community every day doing things that work," said the Rev. Charles Harrison of the Ten Point Coalition, which received $124,000 last year. "We cannot let this stand. The community will be outraged." The Indianapolis Parks Foundation sent emails to 88 community groups Friday telling them they won't be getting any of the $1.7 million from this year's Community Crime Prevention Grant program. The 27 groups that made the cut will submit final applications by April 20. An estimated 15 to 20 final recipients will be announced a month later. The foundation is reducing the grant total from $4 million last year to $1.7 million this year. A seven-member selection panel trimmed 115 applicants -- seeking $12 million -- to 27 asking for $3 million. Last year, 68 organizations got funds. Foundation President Cindy Porteus said the Ten Point Coalition "is a great organization with great programs," but the panel had to consider a number of factors. Chief among them were whether the applicants could show results and keep the program running if the grants dry up next year |
Iowa Prison Population Tops 9,000 For First Time; Recidivism Down ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iowa's prison population, for the first time ever, topped 9,000 inmates over the weekend, reports Radio Iowa. There were 8,200 inmates just one year ago. Iowa Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin expects the numbers to drop again soon. Baldwin said the increase was due partly to the fact that the state parole board had three of it's five members leave in a very short span. "It takes three votes to release anybody from prison, so when you only have two (members) left, it's very difficult to keep the releases coming," he said. Iowa's nine prisons are 25 percent over capacity. A key Democratic lawmaker warned yesterday that Iowa's prisons could run out of money at the end of May if lawmakers fail to reach agreement on a supplemental appropriation requested by Governor Branstad. Baldwin said, "We have dropped down to a 32 percent recidivism rate. It wasn't that long ago, 10 or 12 years, we were hovering around 38 or 39 percent. So clearly what we have done has had an impact on the people who used to come back." |
Jury Gives L.A. Cops $2 Million in Dispute Over Traffic Ticket Quotas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Los Angeles jury awarded two police officers $2 million Monday after determining that supervisors had retaliated against the officers for complaining about alleged traffic ticket quotas, the Los Angeles Times reports. Howard Chan and David Benioff, veteran motorcycle officers, alleged that they had been punished with bogus performance reviews, threats of reassignment, and other forms of harassment after objecting to demands from commanding officers that they write a certain number of tickets each day. Ticket quotas are illegal under state law, because they can pressure police to write spurious tickets to meet the goal. The line between setting a quota and pushing officers to increase their productivity is a delicate one for field supervisors, who are often under pressure themselves to generate more citations. "We're very hopeful that this will put an end to fleecing motorists on the west side of Los Angeles," said Benioff's attorney, Gregory Smith. "Quotas are a direct violation of the vehicle code, and this case was about these officers being asked to break the law." |
MA Jail Inmates Served Out-of-Date Food; Prisons Reject It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Massachusetts Department of Education donated thousands of cases of out-of-date food from the school lunch program to state prisons and a county jail, the Boston Globe reports. More than 11,000 cases of cheese, blueberries, frozen chicken, and other goods was offered free to kitchens that serve inmates. An inmate advocate shuddered at the notion that food unfit for children could be served in jail. Federal guideline say that food properly stored or frozen can remain safe after expiration dates but loses nutritional value and taste. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Correction said that most of the food, including nearly 2,000 cases of cheddar cheese, was thrown out. The Hamden County jail, however, serves food from the school lunch program that is beyond its best-if-eaten-by date but not rotten. "It's been a good way to serve good food very frugally in terms of the budget,'' said spokesman Richard McCarthy. "It's not rancid food. It's not spoiled food.'' |
Arizona Official Believes High Court Will Affirm Immigration Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A federal appeals court ruled that key sections of Arizona's tough immigration statute are preempted by federal law and may not be enforced, handing an important victory to the Obama administration and bringing criticism from Arizona officials, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The three-judge panel said the key sections undercut a national scheme enacted by Congress and would complicate the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. The court said the finding on preemption was warranted by the "threat of 50 states layering their own immigration enforcement rules on top of [federal immigration statutes]." The law would, among other things, require police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws. Monday's ruling sets the stage for an expected appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and possible oral argument in 2012 - a presidential election year. "I believe the [ ] decision will be overturned by the United States Supreme Court, and I pledge to make every possible effort to achieve that result," said Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. The Arizona law touched off a heated national debate last year over immigration policies and enforcement. Bills reflecting Arizona's get-tough attitude were introduced in six states: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. None passed. Four other states, Georgia, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia, passed laws beefing up identification procedures for immigrants |
Six Cities In Federal Program Detail Youth Violence Prevention Plans ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National League of Cities provided details of youth violence prevention plans discussed last week by six cities in Washington, D.C., at a federally sponsored conference. Mayors and other leaders from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Salinas, Ca., and San José, Ca., spoke at the session. The project's launch by President Obama last October was inspired in part by the California Cities Gang Prevention Network, a 13-city initiative of the National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education and Families and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Boston plans to connect violence prevention efforts to the Circle of Promise initiative, a place-based approach to improving student achievement and family economic stability in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The CITY Task Force in Chicago will integrate the Chicago Public Schools Student Safety Initiative, the Juvenile Intervention Support Center, and the newly created Juvenile Violence Prevention Forums. In Detroit, community safety teams will work on unemployment problems, and city leaders plan to expand restorative justice practices, renew the work of "violence interrupters" through Operation Cease Fire, promote in-school alternatives to suspension and expulsion and restore a community prosecutor program. Memphis' Operation: Safe Community will provide a continuum of evidence-based services from prenatal to career. In Salinas and Monterey County, the Community Alliance for Safety and Peace (CASP) has a strategy to deal with the county's 71 gangs and 5,000 gang members. San José will build on the success of the 20-year old Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force. To learn more, visit www.findyouthinfo.gov/youthviolence |
Some Hawaii Inmates Serve More Time Than Required ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hundreds of Hawaii inmates may have served more time behind bars than they needed because of conflicting state policies and practices on when prison sentences are to run concurrently or consecutively, reports the Honolulu Star Advertiser. The state legislature is considering two bills that would change a sentencing law for the second time in three years in an attempt to clarify how sentences are to be calculated when judges do not specify whether an inmate facing more than one prison term should serve the time back-to-back. Starting in 2005, as their release dates approached, hundreds of inmates were told they would have to serve additional time - sometimes years more - because their sentences were previously miscalculated. The state said it was complying with a 1986 law that had been ignored prior to that, which mandated consecutive sentencing unless judges specified otherwise. "Simply put, this bill could save the state of Hawaii millions of dollars annually without compromising public safety," the American Civil Liberties Union, Hawaii chapter, said. |
This project is set up to let users post and discuss articles that are involved with Criminal Justice. Everyone is free to post their ideas or opinions.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
12 April 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment