Articles for 20 April 2011

NY Police Union Calls Ticket-Fixing a Courtesy, Not Corruption ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As scores of police officers, supervisors, and union officials are investigated for fixing tickets in the Bronx, the Sergeants Benevolent Association - the union for 12,000 front-line police supervisors - has started a campaign arguing that the practice, while widespread, is one of courtesy, not corruption, the New York Times reports. Union president Edward Mullins recorded an audio message calling on current and retired officers to come forward with testimonials about the beneficiaries of ticket-fixing. He expects to find that politicians, prosecutors, clergy members, business leaders, celebrities, athletes, and others have had tickets fixed, often with the help of top police officials. Mullins said his aim was to highlight a culture of courtesy that had been the norm. It could embarrass or implicate public officials or others who asked police to do them a little favor and make a ticket go away. New York Times

Republicans Warn Against Any Immigration Amnesty Plan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President Obama revisited a key campaign promise when he hosted a White House meeting of elected officials and experts on immigration. If a major overhaul of the nation's immigration policy is his goal, congressional Republicans say he shouldn't hold his breath, reports the Associated Press. They say any bill that even hints at amnesty or legalization for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. is dead before it ever makes an appearance in a congressional committee. President Obama revisited a key campaign promise when he hosted a White House meeting of elected officials and experts on immigration. If a major overhaul of the nation's immigration policy is his goal, congressional Republicans say he shouldn't hold his breath, reports the Associated Press. They say any bill that even hints at amnesty or legalization for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. is dead before it ever makes an appearance in a congressional committee. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said immigration reform proposals that offer a path to legal status are tantamount to amnesty. "I think most members of Congress and most Americans don't want to reward lawbreakers and don't want to give them amnesty," Smith said as Obama held his meeting. "Remember, in the last Congress, the Democrats had large majorities and weren't able to pass the comprehensive amnesty bill," Smith said. "I don't think that bipartisan resistance to mass amnesty has (abated)." Associated Press/Sacramento Bee

U.S. Immigration Detention: $72K To Hold Man Over 2 Old Pot Charges ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pedro Guzman, 30, has been in immigration custody for 19 month because of two misdemeanor pot-possession charges dating from 1998, reports Medill News Service. The federal government detained 383,524 immigrants in 2009. Detaining an immigrant costs $122 a day. That's $72,712 to detain Guzman from his arrest till a hearing May 16, when a judge will decide whether he can stay in the country. Guzman sits in a cell in Lumpkin, Ga., more than nine hours from his family and two hours from his attorney. Revisions announced in 2009 aim to give detention facilities more federal oversight, but critics say the changes aren't moving fast enough. The fractured network of detention facilities, often located in remote, rural towns, means that many detainees never speak to lawyers. "Unlike in the criminal system, where if someone can't afford a lawyer they're appointed one, in the immigration system you have a right to a lawyer but you have to find and pay for one yourself," said Tara Tidwell Cullen of the National Immigrant Justice Center, which provides legal services and advocates for immigration policy restructuring Medill News Service/McClatchy Newspapers

Justice Institute: Other Nations Handle Inmate Re-Entry Better ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Justice Policy Institute, in a report examining the criminal justice policies of Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Finland, and Germany, contends that the U.S. "should look outside our borders for examples of criminal justice policies that can save money while improving the well-being of both individuals and communities." The institute's Amanda Petteruti said the nations studied "handle law-breaking behavior in fundamentally different ways than the United States. Instead of relying heavily on incarceration, other countries successfully use community-based responses, treatment for addiction, and services to ensure that once a person is released from prison that he or she does not return." Justice Policy Institute

MA Court: Pot Odor Doesn't Justify Police Ordering Occupant Out ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Massachusetts' highest court, overturning precedent and denying police a crime-fighting tool, ruled yesterday that the odor of marijuana smoke is not enough for officers to order a person out of a parked car, now that possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is no longer a crime in the state, the Boston Globe reports. "Without at least some other additional fact to bolster a reasonable suspicion of actual criminal activity, the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity to justify an exit order,'' the court ruled, 5 to 1. Yesterday's ruling dismayed police and prosecutors. Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said it "presents an enormous problem for us. The logic escapes me. [ ] We will be the only state in the country where this standard is in place. It just doesn't make a lot of sense." Boston Globe

Obama Prescription-Drug Plan Could Require Doctor Training ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Obama administration plan to try quelling prescription-drug abuse includes a Food and Drug Administration requirement that some painkiller manufacturers produce new educational tools, reports the Wall Street Journal. The rule affects makers of long-acting and extended-release opioids, which include oxycodone, morphine and methadone. "This growing public-health crisis is suffocating our society," said Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Howard Koh. Education won't become mandatory for physician licensing without congressional approval. Michele Leonhart, Drug Enforcement Administration chief, said, "I believe you'll see great interest from members of Congress." In the meantime, the FDA hopes to entice physicians to receive the education voluntarily by offering continuing education credits, called CME or CE, required to maintain board certification. Wall Street Journal

Mohr: 5 OH Prison Sales Needed to Stabilize Corrections System ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gary Mohr, Ohio's new corrections director, is trying to sell five prisons, turn three of them over to private operators, and lay off 115 parole employees. Mohr tells the Columbus Dispatch that recent weeks have been the most difficult of his nearly 37-year career in the corrections business. He has been ripped by critics inside and outside the system. He insists that selling prisons isn't reform; it's "stabilizing" to keep the agency afloat. He has a larger reform vision of creating a three-tier corrections system, bracketed by "integration" prisons, where inmates work, study and focus on self-development so they can be released to the community, and "control" prisons for the truly bad who are in it for the long haul. Sentencing reform is a Mohr priority. A series of proposed moves are projected to save nearly 7,000 prison beds: granting credit for an earlier release for prisoners who complete work in education, vocational or employment training, or substance-abuse education; funneling nonviolent, low-level offenders to community corrections facilities; equalizing the penalties for crack and powder cocaine; and allowing early release for inmates who've served 85 percent of their sentences. Most of the proposals are in the pending state budget bill. Columbus Dispatch

Study Says NC Death Penalty Biased; GOP Seeks to Void Race Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ North Carolina should repeal the death penalty because it is expensive, ineffective, and racially biased, an Appalachian State University professor says in a new study, reports the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal. Matthew Robinson, a professor of government and justice studies, analyzed data from more than 20 studies. Robinson said the studies he looked at were remarkably consistent in their conclusions - that the death penalty doesn't deter crime, is racially biased, and has led to people being wrongfully convicted. The study comes two weeks after Republicans proposed to nullify the 2009 Racial Justice Act. The law allows a death row inmate or a defendant facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to prove that racial bias was a "significant factor" in his sentence or in prosecutors' decision to pursue the death penalty Winston-Salem (NC) Journal

St. Louis Finally Could Regain Control of Its Police From State ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St. Louis officials have cut a bargain with the police union that may return control of the St. Louis police department to local leaders, ending 150 years of state control, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Mayor Francis Slay and the St. Louis Police Officers Association agreed on terms of a bill in the state legislature that could give police officers a collective bargaining agreement for the first time ever and would protect current officers' salaries, benefits and freedom to live outside the city. In exchange, the police department would become a division of the city Department of Public Safety. The mayor's office would pick the police chief. And city leaders would not only set the department's budget, but determine how that money is spent. "I think it's the city changing its approach as much as us changing our mind," said association Business Manager Jeff Roorda. "The threat of filibuster by our Senate allies encouraged the city to come to the table. "It's a very delicate compromise," he said. A five-person state board currently runs the department. The governor appoints four members, and the city mayor fills the last spot. The arrangement dates from the Civil War era St. Louis Post-Dispatch

How VA County's Cops Handle the Mentally Ill Amid Treatment Cuts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Volatile and sometimes deadly confrontations between the police and the mentally ill have been more common since state psychiatric hospitals began to discharge large numbers of patients in the 1960s and 1970s. In response, police departments have launched "crisis intervention" training to create cadres of officers with more than just an hour or two of mental health training. With financially strapped state and local governments cutting community-based mental health programs, the pressures on police could mount as more people leave treatment, says the Washington Post. The Post describes how the police handle cases involving the mentally ill in Fairfax County, Va., a major Washington suburb. Virginia has been cutting back inpatient and community care for the mentally ill. In Fairfax, where the county's wealth helps supplement state mental health funding, the mental health mobile crisis unit hasn't grown since it was created three decades ago. Since then, Fairfax's population - and the police force - have each nearly doubled in size. Washington Post

D.C. Juvenile Detention Facility "Insecure," Says Official After 3rd Escape ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An escape by an 18-year-old by Monday from Washington, D.C.'s New Beginnings Youth Development Center in Laurel, Md.,l has heightened concerns about staffing and security at the state-of-the-art facility, which has had three escapes since it opened in May 2009, reports the Washington Post. "We're having an intense revelation of how insecure the facility is," said D.C. Council member Jim Graham. Graham said the youth was being held on burglary and theft charges. He said the youth had been written up dozens of times since May for breaking facility rules, infractions Graham said should have sparked additional intervention. A guard with more than two decades' experience was escorting a detainee back to his room from a bathroom break about 12:30 a.m. when he was attacked. "I was shocked. It was like a bad dream," said the guard. Like other officers, he was by himself on a unit with 9 or 10 inmates on an overnight shift. "I wish we had more staffing on midnights," he said. "It wouldn't have happened if we had more officers." Washington Post

Police Ridealong in Flint, MI: "We Take Reports. We Don't Fight Crime" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times magazine does a police ridealong in Flint, Mi., one of the nation's murder capitals. Last year in Flint, population 102,000, there were 66 documented murders. The murder rate is worse than in Newark, St. Louis, and New Orleans. It's even worse than Baghdad's. There are only six patrolmen on duty for a Saturday night. So broke is Flint that the city laid off two-thirds of its police force in the last three years. The front desk looks like a dusty museum piece. Officer Steve Howe, a 20-year-veteran of the department, says, "We ain't cops anymore. We're librarians. We take reports. We don't fight crime."A 50-mile drive with Howe proves to be a slow night. "Last weekend we had four murders," he says. New York Times