Articles for 8 April 2011

DOJ Crime Mapping Session Cancelled Over U.S. Budget Crisis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Justice Department's annual Crime Mapping Research Conference today became a casualty of the threatened federal budget shutdown. The National Institute of Justice cancelled the event, which was to have been held next Wednesday through Friday in Miami. "because of a possible lapse in budget appropriations." The agency explained that "many conference travelers are scheduled to board planes before the budget deadline expires, and we felt compelled to take this action." NIJ has sponsored a crime mapping conference since 1997. It said that, "the conference is about understanding crime, criminal justice, and public safety and their effect on, and by, places." National Institute of Justice

Prediction: Ray Kelly to FBI, Holder Out of Obama 2nd Term ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is a leading candidate to head the FBI when Robert Mueller leaves, and Attorney General Eric Holder won't serve in a potential Barack Obama second presidential term, says Murray Weiss, a columnist for New York City's online news report DNAInfo.com, citing "sources with solid connections in the White House." Weiss says Kelly, 69, didn't deny his interest in heading the FBI, saying only, "I am taking it one day at a time." Weiss says Kelly has discussed the FBI job with Obama. As for Holder, Weiss says his departure announcement "will likely be coming soon now that the contentious decision has been made to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 plotters in a military court." DNAInfo.com

Chicago Cop Misconduct Scandal Ending With Only 4 Charged ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A four-year federal investigation aimed at reaching up the chain of command in a Chicago police misconduct scandal culminated pretty much where it began, with charges against the accused rogue cops but no new allegations against their bosses, says the Chicago Tribune. When the U.S. Attorney took over a state's attorney's investigation of the elite Special Operations Section in 2007, investigators said they were pursuing evidence of a coverup that may have protected officers who had been repeatedly accused of robberies and false arrests. The probe of one of the department's worst misconduct scandals dragged on for more than four years, and when federal civil rights charges and plea deals against the reputed ringleaders were announced yesterday, there were no new allegations of wrongdoing against the officials who had supervised former officer Jerome Finnigan's team, which was disbanded in 2007. Sources cautioned that the investigation could still yield more charges, but the federal charges against Finnigan and Keith Herrera - and new misdemeanor counts against two additional officers who had minor roles in the allegations - signal that the major thrust of the case appears to be winding down. The U.S. attorney's office said all four officers intend to plead guilty. Chicago Tribune

MN Prison Chief: If Same Inmate Walks Out In 5 Years, "We've Failed" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tom Roy, appointed by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton in January to lead the corrections department, started his career as a probation and parole officer in 1974. Roy, 58, has a staff of 4,200 employees overseeing 9,400 adult inmates and 100 juveniles. He tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "We are not in a prison population crisis. County jails around the state are in relatively good shape. There is a lot of capacity in the counties for local offenders. Minnesota was way out in front with sentencing guidelines. Coupling that with the Community Corrections Act, which set the philosophy to put more offenders back in the community under a probation treatment model, those two things really led to a controlled prison growth." He adds: "Prisons are often the forgotten element of the criminal justice system until things go badly. Catching the guy and prosecuting him is really important work, but if we don't do anything with that individual after we've got him, then shame on us. If all that effort goes to waste and we just open the doors five years later, and it's the same guy walking out the door and the same criminal thinking, we've failed in our mission." Minneapolis Star Tribune

AZ Passes Law Allowing Guns on College Campuses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Arizona legislature gave final approval to a measure that will allow guns on college campuses, although it doesn't go so far as to allow them inside buildings or classrooms, says the Arizona Republic. The final version of the bill requires state community colleges and universities to allow both concealed and openly carried weapons in their public rights of way, which would likely include public roads and adjacent sidewalks. The original version would have allowed guns everywhere on college campuses, including in classrooms. Sponsoring Sen. Ron Gould said he narrowed the scope to assure the bill's passage. A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer refused comment on whether she would sign the bill, but she historically has supported measures expanding gun rights. Arizona and 24 other states allow public colleges and universities to make their own decisions about regulating firearms on campus. None in Arizona allows the public to carry guns on campus Arizona Republic

Young Women With Controlling Partners Have Higher Violence Risk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young women age 15-24 are exposed to increased risk for physical and sexual domestic violence if they have controlling partners, found researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The study, quoted in The Crime Report, was published in the April issue of the JAMA journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, after surveying 600 women aged 15 to 24 who were patients at a reproductive health center. An especially vulnerable population, researchers said, young women were more apt to enter controlling relationships if they were between the ages of 15 to 18, had been pregnant at least once, or were Hispanic, among other causes. Controlling relationships included having to ask partner's permission to see friends or family and before seeking health care The Crime Report

Violence Up at CA Units for Mentally Ill Offenders After DOJ Probe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Violence is rising at California's Atascadero State Hospital, built to treat mentally ill criminal offenders, reports NPR. It's gotten worse since 2006, the year the state signed an agreement with the federal government to put in a detailed new treatment plan. The 92-page plan resulted from a U.S. Justice Department civil rights investigation that found serious problems: abuse and neglect of patients; substandard care; and lousy record-keeping. While the plan has produced some improvements, violence is up at three of the four hospitals covered by the plan. At Atascadero, it's gone up 36 percent. One employee who was attacked in 2008, a year with more than 1,000 violent incidents at Atascadero, blames the plan the hospital was forced to adopt after the Justice Department's investigation. She says it drove a wedge between the staff and the patients by requiring massive amounts of documentation. "Spending more time on paperwork than you are treating the patient," she says. "That's really the security problem right there." NPR

Lethality Assessment Use Urged After FL Domestic Violence Murders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four Central Florida residents were murdered and several children lost their mothers in a deadly weekend of domestic violence, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The recent outbreak has advocates urging those in abusive relationships to take a free and anonymous lethality assessment to determine whether the situation could turn deadly - and to get help if so. Advocates are working with local law enforcement to incorporate the assessments in their investigations. "Those 15 minutes [to take the survey] can mean the difference between life and death for someone leaving a relationship where domestic abuse was present," said Carol Wick of domestic-violence shelter Harbor House. The lethality survey was adopted by Orlando police in 2009 based on a Johns Hopkins University study. Threats of suicide, financial woes and increased brutality boost the risk of abuse turning deadly. The more specific the threat or plan, the more seriously it should be taken, Wick said. "A lot of people blow it off if someone threatens suicide, but that threat needs to be taken very, very seriously," Wick said. "They [suicidal batterers] have nothing to lose and have already decided to die. They have no intention of being caught by police and no fear of accountability. Orlando Sentinel

Why Rape Kits Should Be Tested in Non-Stranger Cases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Women's eNews commentator Sarah Tofte of the Joyful Heart Foundation argues against Wendy Murphy's contention, reported in an earlier edition of Crime & Justice news, that rape-kit testing in non-stranger rape cases is a waste of resources, because the suspect has already been identified and a violation of victim's privacy rights. Tofte says rape-kit testing can produce essential evidence in all kinds of rape cases. She quotes former prosecutor Linda Fairstein as maintaining that rape-kit evidence in non-stranger cases can identify serial rapists, including serial acquaintance rapists, affirm a victim's version of events, discredit the assailant and exonerate innocent defendants. In some cases, police apply the term acquaintance rape even when a prior connection between a victim and a suspect is extremely tenuous and, in any other context, would qualify them as strangers to one another. Women's eNews

NY Prostitute Murders Called "Open War" Against Sex Workers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It took the disappearance of a prostitute who was an aspiring actress from Jersey City for Long Island authorities to suspect a serial killer and discover four bodies of women whose disappearances since 2007 had caused no stir, says the New York Times. The actress' mother, Mari Gilbert, says police failed to protect her daughter and, along with the press and the public, did not take her disappearance seriously until she became part of a serial-killer case. Prostitutes have long been invisible, vulnerable prey for the wicked and the depraved. Few notice them when they are alive, fewer still when they are missing or found dead, the Times says. "It really feels like there's just an open war against this population," said Sienna Baskin of the Urban Justice Center's Sex Workers Project, which provides legal and social services. "I think it makes all sex workers feel vulnerable to violence. Even if they're working in a safe way, they live in a world where this happens regularly. From sexual assaults to stalking to theft to police brutality, these are really daily experiences that many sex workers face. New York Times

UT Sex Crime Suspect Out; Nancy Grace Says Call the Judge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Will media and politics play a part in a Utah sex-crimes case? Lonnie Johnson, 38, who has been convicted of raping a teenager and still faces 20 new child sex abuse counts, was released from custody yesterday when Judge James Taylor said he has no legal basis to hold Johnson, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. The judge had found Johnson was incompetent to stand trial, with no likelihood of restoration, based on doctors' reports. Last week, a different judge declined to impose a civil commitment, saying he found Johnson wasn't a danger to the community. Prosecutor Craig Johnson believes the defendant is a threat to society. He said intense media interest in the case could help mitigate that. "I feel there's been enough coverage that I suspect people will have their eye on him," he said. The coverage includes a Tuesday broadcast of "Nancy Grace" in which viewers were encouraged to call Taylor. Court spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said the show resulted in 100 voice messages from people in 20 states. No one uttered threats, but Volmer characterized the calls as "harassing." Gov. Gary Herbert said he was "outraged" that Johnson was being released without a trial. Salt Lake Tribune

Jurors in WI Cocaine Case Fall in Love; Wedding Tomorrow ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can a random jury selection in a cocaine case lead to marriage? It did in Milwaukee, where Stephanie Johnson and Kris Kuzmic met on jury duty in 2005 and will be married tomorrow by the judge who presided at the trial, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It is remarkable in its randomness," said Clerk of Courts John Barrett. They were falling for each other during the three-day trial, but they refrained from holding hands or too much courtroom cooing. The other jurors, especially a nun and another older lady, noticed them. "I swear to God, they were saying stuff like, 'You two are so cute together. You two should date.' They were making comments in front of all the jurors," Stephanie laughed Milwaukee Journal Sentinel