Terror Experts Warn of New Attack after Bin Laden Death ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Governments around the world, warning against complacency in fighting terrorism, prepared for retaliatory attacks after Osama bin Laden's death, the Wall Street Journal reports. The death of bin Laden "places al Qaeda's new leadership under extreme pressure to prove al Qaeda is a viable organization," said Raphael Perl of the Action Against Terrorism Unit at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Al Qaeda may within days launch a large-scale attack or several smaller attacks "as a vehicle to introduce its new leadership," he said. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the terror network's most active affiliate, could launch retaliatory attacks. AQAP was behind the failed 2009 Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt in Detroit and the foiled 2010 air-cargo plot. "AQAP is a likely candidate for retributive attacks, although attacks against the West take some time to plan and carry out-and the branch faces its own organizational limitations," said Leah Farrall, an Australian counterterrorism analyst. "Localized reactions against U.S. and Western interests in the Arabian peninsula are more likely in the short term." |
States Reassess Medical Marijuana Policies After Federal Threats ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several states are reassessing medical marijuana laws after stern warnings from the federal government that everyone from licensed growers to regulators could be subjected to prosecution, reports the Associated Press. Ominous-sounding letters from U.S. attorneys have injected the federal government back into a debate that has for years been continuing at the state level. Warnings in Washington state led Gov. Chris Gregoire to veto a proposal that would have created licensed marijuana dispensaries. Gregoire, chair of the National Governors Association, wants to work with other states to push for changes to federal marijuana laws to resolve the legal disputes caused by what she described as prosecutors reinterpreting their own policies. "The landscape is changing out there. They are suggesting they are not going to stand down," Gregoire said. The Department of Justice said two years ago it would be an inefficient use of federal funds to target people who are in clear compliance with state law. U.S. attorneys have said in their recent memos that they would consider civil or criminal penalties for those who run large-scale operations - even if they are acceptable under state law. |
MythBusters of Prisoner Re-Entry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a rare show of collaboration, 18 federal agencies that deal with prisoner re-entry issues are working together to clarify their practices, and in some cases change their policies, so that states and localities where the ex-prisoners live can better help them find necessities like housing, health care, jobs, and various government benefits. Te Federal Interagency Reentry Council posted a set of "Reentry MythBusters" as a guide. The material is available on a website, http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/reentry-council, that the Justice Department has funded to provide a wide range of information. To take one major myth as an example, it's widely believed that people who have been convicted of a crime are banned from living in public housing. Actually, locally operated public housing agencies can determine their own policies. They are prohibited by federal law from admitting only those with a lifetime registration requirement as a sex offender or people who manufactured meth in public housing. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan is urging housing authorities to help "ex-offenders gain access to one of the most fundamental building blocks of a stable life - a place to live." |
CA Gov. Brown Dramatically Increases Murder Parole Rate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California's parole board doesn't find convicted murderers suitable for release very often. And when the board granted parole in recent years, the inmate usually found the governor waiting to bar the door. Not Gov. Jerry Brown, says the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm obviously going to interfere less with the parole board than my predecessors, because I'm bound to follow the law," Brown told the Chronicle. Statistics from his first four months in office bear him out. Brown has reviewed 130 decisions by the Board of Parole Hearings granting release to murderers sentenced to life and has approved 106, or 81 percent. He has vetoed 22 paroles and sent two back to the board for new hearings. Fomer Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved about 30 percent of lifers' paroles. Former Gov. Gray Davis - who declared that "if you take someone else's life, forget it" - vetoed 98 percent of murderers' parole cases. Brown said that both Davis and Schwarzenegger failed to follow proper legal standards for reviewing paroles. The governor also said his approach reflects shifts in sentencing practices, judicial rulings. and public attitudes on crime. "Now, you talk to people and they're worried about jobs," he said. "There's still public safety (as a concern), but there's different dominating issues. |
LaPierre: Holder "Has To Go" Over Mexican Gunrunning Operation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National Rifle Association's CEO Wayne LaPierre says Attorney General Eric Holder should step down for allowing an operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that involved the sale of guns to suspicious customers with ties to Mexican drug cartels, says Politico. ATF allegedly encouraged gun dealers to sell multiple firearms to known and suspected criminals as part of a sting operation to crack down on gunrunning. Speaking to the NRA convention that concluded in Pittsburgh over the weekend, LaPierre said two assault rifles that the ATF "let walk" were found at the crime scene where a border patrol agent was gunned down in December. Holder has said he did not authorize the operation. Said LaPierre: "He's the attorney general of the United States of America - the highest law-enforcement officer in our land. Who's in charge? If he didn't know, then who's minding the store? If Holder didn't know, Holder has got to go." Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Holder "takes seriously the concerns that have been raised, and that's why he has asked the inspector general to get to the bottom of it. He has also made it clear to the law enforcement agencies and prosecutors working along the Southwest Border that no one in the Department should allow guns to illegally cross the border into Mexico." |
McCarthy Credits 9/11 Experience, To Focus on Fear of Crime ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Garry McCarthy says his experience at New York City's ground zero on 9/11 was "horrific" but it helped Chicago's new police superintendent develop leadership skills. "I really learned how to lead with a coolness and a confidence that will translate throughout the police agency," he said. "I have a good reputation as far as being a leader in crisis management situations." McCarthy, 51, said he'll look for a top deputy from inside the department to help him navigate, acknowledged he's got a learning curve about the city's street gangs, and plans to emphasize reducing the "fear of crime." Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel said, "Garry's experience spearheading innovation will bring new ideas to the Chicago Police Department. Garry is ready to lead today. He knows how to lead a large police force. The main reason I wanted to move with speed and haste was the fact that our citizens, with the summer months coming, deserve a public safety team ready to go on day one." |
Critics: McCarthy Never Got Full Community Support in Newark ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Garry McCarthy leaves Newark to become Chicago police superintendent with a reputation as a talented crime fighter who often struggled to connect with people he strived to protect, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Deputy Chief Samuel Demaio is expected to be interim chief. City Councilman Ron Rice Jr., said McCarthy "put forth a great effort, a great four years with major faux pas and major missteps. The great things he was able to do with numbers are probably matched as far as the things he wasn't able to do community-wise." City Council President Donald Payne said, "I don't ever think he really got the support of the community that you need to be successful in this town. It was kind of a double-edged sword with him." Deborah Jacobs of the American Civil Liberties Union said, "The Newark Police Department remains in need of fundamental changes to ensure accountability." |
Ohio Prison Director Maps Plan To Combat Rising Inmate Violence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the past four years, nearly 8,600 assaults were reported in the Ohio prison system, 4,157 of them on corrections officers and other staff members, reports the Columbus Dispatch. Of those, 116 were considered serious: stab wounds, concussions and head trauma, fractures and sprains, eye injuries, a damaged spinal cord, nerve damage and bite wounds. The totals also include sexual assaults and "harassment," which typically means throwing or expelling bodily fluids or feces. County prosecutors file charges in only about one of 10 staff assault cases. Prosecutors cite financial constraints and often argue that it's futile to file charges against inmates already behind bars, some of them for life. Gary Mohr, Ohio prisons director, is working with Attorney General Mike DeWine to support local prosecutors so they pursue charges in more of the serious cases of assault on staff members. "There's not one priority of mine any greater than reducing inmate violence," said Mohr. "This is not the same system I left 8 1/2 years ago," he said. "The biggest difference is the level of violence." Mohr said there has been a steady increase in violence for many years. He said violent incidents involving six or more inmates are erupting, on average, every week, compared with once a month five years ago. |
Father, Son Spend Nearly 15 Years Together in NY Prison Cell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bernard and Scott Peters, father and son, are serving time together in a cell in New York State's Elmira Correctional Facility, says the New York Times. Bernard, 69, and Scott, 42, have been cellmates for most of their 15 years in prison. It's rare for a father and son to share a cell, but of the estimated 600,000 parents of minor children in state prisons in 2004, half had a relative who was currently or used to be incarcerated, says the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. New York officials do not know how many parent-child pairs were sharing cells in the prison system, which includes 57,000 offenders at 67 facilities. Only 3,000 of more than 20,000 maximum-security cells statewide are double-bunk cells. The Peterses are each serving 25-to-50 year terms for attempted murder and robbery--part of what the Times calls a violent string of crimes in 1995 that netted them $2,900 in cash. |
Baseball Analyst Bill James Turns to Crime, Miniprisons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In "Popular Crime," a book reviewed by Jeff Leen in the Washington Post, baseball analyst Bill James "turns his formidable but idiosyncratic critical apparatus on murder and mayhem." The book is not original research, but a review of tabloid crime over the ages, such as JonBenet Ramsey, O.J. Simpson and the Lindbergh kidnapping. Conceding that he is not a crime expert, James urges taking the 2.3 million people incarcerated in the U.S. and dispersing them into facilities with populations of no more than 24, the better to reintegrate them into society and segregate the bad from the very, very bad. That's nearly 100,000 miniprisons. James believes there would be a great savings because a single guard using electronic surveillance could watch several mini-prisons, which would be housed in strip malls and on the floors of office buildings |
Man Convicted of Murder, Attacks Oklahoma Prosecutor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A convicted murderer attacked Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater in a courtroom yesterday at the close of trial, and the two men fell fighting to the floor at the feet of the victim's mother, The Oklahoman reports. Prater, a former police officer, was punched in the face. He then pushed Emanuel "E Man" Mitchell toward a wooden rail that splits the courtroom in two. They fell through a swinging gate, their upper bodies landing inside the spectators' section. Sheriff's deputies rushed to subdue and handcuff Mitchell. Horrified jurors and spectators rushed out courtroom doors. Jurors earlier yesterday found Mitchell, 33, and Anthony "Black" Morrison, 44, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a 16-year-old accomplice during a 2009 pharmacy robbery. Jurors decided the cousins should spend life in prison. Prosecutors told jurors the men were cowardly and predators for sending two boys in to rob the pharmacy. The pharmacist fatally shot one boy; he faces his own murder trial in two weeks. |
Accused Killer Of KS Boy Wasn't on Sex Offender List for Teen Acts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A sex offender case involving both Kansas and Texas is another illustration of differing state laws on the subject. The Wichita Eagle reports that when a prosecutor charged Mark Anthony Baker, 25, with murder and sodomy in the death of a 19-month-old boy, it wasn't the first time he had been accused of sex crimes against children. Baker had been convicted twice, when he was 15, of crimes against two girls in Kansas. Those crimes were enough to land him on the Texas public sex offender registry when he moved there. But Kansas - because of the way its law governing juveniles is written - does not list him on its sex crime registry, even though the crimes against the girls occurred here. Relatives of the murdered boy said that had they known Baker was a sex offender, they wouldn't have wanted him around the toddler. Joe Pennington, the boy's paternal grandfather, said Kansas should have required Baker to be listed on its public registry, even if he was a juvenile when he committed sex crimes. "Those type of laws, juvenile or not, they need to be changed so people can be aware," he said. "That's the only protection we've got. |
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Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Articles for 3 May 2011
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