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Next Step in Better Witness IDs: Take Science to Police Station
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the New York Times' "Room for Debate" feature, a prosecutor and four professors weigh in on the Supreme Court of New Jersey's ruling last week telling judges to proceed with caution when a case hinges on a witness's memory. Amy Bradfield Douglass, an associate professor of psychology at Bates College, said judicial interventions "do nothing to prevent mistaken identifications, only mistaken convictions. The next logical step is to improve police procedures using science-based recommendations to avoid even prosecuting innocent suspects."
She continued, "These changes will spare judges and juries from confronting the extremely difficult task of evaluating an eyewitness's identification. This is especially important because jurors are not very good at understanding judicial instructions or applying them appropriately. For their part, judges do not always have a firm grasp on the relevant empirical literature and rarely choose the "ultimate sanction" of suppressing the eyewitness's identification. Taking psychological science to the police station itself will further protect innocent suspects from wrongful prosecution."
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Florida Gun Law Sponsor Sees 'Bed-Wetting' by Local Officials
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ City and county governments in Florida are scrambling to rewrite local laws to comply with a new state gun law, reports the St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg is getting ready to repeal its ordinance against discharging firearms in the city limits. Brooksville killed a ban on guns in parks and also deleted a law that could have suspended the sale of ammunition and firearms during emergencies. There are many more.
All those ordinances have been illegal for years because state law prevents cities and counties from regulating guns. But a new law, set to take effect Oct. 1, takes it a step further. It allows judgments of up to $100,000 against local governments that enforce such laws. And, in an unusual move, the law also says local officials could be fired and fined $5,000, with no representation from the city or county attorney. St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon said, "I think they went overboard." State Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, who sponsored the law, said "There's been plenty of hand-wringing and bed-wetting from local government."
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CA Prison Spending Boomed While Education Funding Declined
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the past 30 years, California has spent an increasing portion of its budget on prisons and less on the state university systems, reports the Bay Citizen. The state budget has increased from about 3 percent of the state's general fund in 1980 to 11.2 percent for this fiscal year. Meanwhile, public university funding dropped from 10 percent of the state's general fund 30 years ago to about 6.6 percent this fiscal year.
A recent report by the Pew Center on the States said spending for corrections nationwide quadrupled over the last two decades, making it the second fastest growing area of state budgets, behind Medicaid. In California, spending for criminal corrections has more than tripled since 1980. The state's prison population has increased significantly over the last 30 years, largely because the state began imposing determinant sentences, meaning the vast majority of crimes have fixed prison terms. The number of prisoners climbed from about 25,000 in 1980 to about 165,000 in 2010. The state spends about $50,000 per inmate each year.
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Feds Indicts Florida Doctors, Clinic Owners in Big Pill Mill Bust
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the first time since Florida's prescription drug abuse crisis began, investigators are pursuing pill mills as organized crime enterprises - and corrupt doctors as murderers, reports the Miami Herald. After a three-year investigation, federal authorities announced the details of Operation Oxy Alley, a sweeping indictment charging 32 people under racketeering statutes for their involvement in South Florida-based pill mills that doled out 20 million oxycodone pills and profited more than $40 million dollars from illegal sales of controlled substances.
In a companion indictment, local authorities charged a doctor with first-degree murder in the death of a West Palm Beach man who died within hours of filling a prescription for a painkiller. Operation Oxy Alley targeted owners, 13 doctors and operators of the nation's four largest pain clinics - all in Broward and Palm Beach counties - as well as two pharmacies, one pharmaceutical supplier and one internet-based steroid business. The defendants, aged 25 to 76, were charged with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
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Missouri Opens Judicial Interviews to the Public for First Time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attorneys and judges hopeful of winning a spot on the Missouri Supreme Court took turns publicly recounting their qualifications Wednesday as a special nominating panel opened the doors for the first time on its once secretive interview sessions, reports the Associated Press. The seven members of the Appellate Judicial Commission asked prospective members of the state's highest court about their work experiences, mentors and whether they could review legal cases with a "clean slate."
Fewer than two dozen people, several of whom were with the media or an activist group, watched the interviews, which are scheduled to continue on Thursday. The nominating commission is to whittle the 13 applicants down to three finalists from which Gov. Jay Nixon can appoint a replacement for Judge Michael Wolff, who resigned in August after 13 years on the court. The panel's deliberation process will remain closed to the public, though it plans to release its vote for the nominees.
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After Deadly Manhunt, Jamaican Drug Lord Pleads Guilty in NY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christopher Coke, a Jamaican drug trafficker whose arrest last summer came after a monthlong manhunt that left dozens dead in Kingston, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to racketeering conspiracy charges in federal court in Manhattan, reports the New York Times. Coke, 42, pleaded guilty to trafficking large quantities of marijuana and cocaine, as well as approving the stabbing of a marijuana dealer in New York. He faces a maximum sentence of 23 years in prison.
The manhunt for Coke, conducted last year at the request of American authorities, led to more than 70 deaths, many in his stronghold of Tivoli Gardens in Kingston. In some instances, the police executed unarmed men, according to relatives of victims. In the months before the Jamaican prime minister acted on the extradition request, Jamaican leaders warned the American Embassy that any move to arrest Coke could result in widespread violence or civil unrest because Coke was well fortified in Tivoli Gardens, where he was a popular figure, according to a review of secret State Department cables released by WikiLeaks.
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Baltimore Curfew Center on Front Line of 'Flash Robs' Trend
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Baltimore Sun takes a look inside the city's juvenile curfew center, which opened four years ago as a collaboration by police, the school system and social services to get kids off the street and away from potential harm. The center's work has taken on a new urgency as other cities grapple with so-called "flash robs," most notably Philadelphia, which moved up its curfew to 9 p.m. in hopes of combating large, roving groups of young people who caused mayhem there.
Though city officials said they have not seen any evidence of "flash robs" in Baltimore, there appears to have been at least one incident that fits the bill: Records show that on successive nights, groups of 10 and 15 youths robbed a 7-Eleven in July. This summer, pranks have evolved into something more serious, with authorities saying that social media tools may have been used to coordinate crimes in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Chicago and the Washington area. More broadly, the reports appear to indicate a trend of a youth crime involving large groups who use their numbers to overwhelm retailers and law enforcement officers, though not necessarily using social media.
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Two Months Into Year, Arkansas Drug Court Funding Depleted
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just two months into the fiscal year, funding for Arkansas drug court treatment programs has nearly run out, and the Legislature's chief advocate for the program wants an advisory panel to find additional funding, reports the Arkansas News Bureau. Sen. Bill Pritchard, R-Elkins, said he may ask lawmakers in next year's fiscal session to replenish coffers of imperiled programs considered key to newly enacted reforms aimed at steering nonviolent drug offenders away from the state's chronically overcrowded prisons.
"They're pretty much broke," Pritchard said of the treatment programs used by the state's 41 drug courts. The Legislature this year approved a bill appropriating $1.5 million from the state Department of Community Correction for the treatment programs. But the funding was a casualty of about $30 million in tax cuts also approved by lawmakers, Pritchard said.
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New State Funding Reduces San Francisco Court Closures, Layoffs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New state funding should allow San Francisco's courts to avoid more than half their threatened layoffs and nearly half their planned courtroom closures, reports the city's Chronicle. The agreement negotiated with the state Administrative Office of the Courts would provide $3.15 million in emergency funds and grants to San Francisco Superior Court, said Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein.
Feinstein had announced July 17 that the court would have to lay off 200 employees, more than 40 percent of its staff, and close 25 of 63 courtrooms. She blamed major reductions in state funding and said members of the public would face delays in everything from paying a traffic ticket to getting a divorce. Feinstein later reduced the layoff estimate to 177. She said Wednesday's agreement, subject to approval by the state Judicial Council on Sept. 9, would lower the layoff total to 75 and the courtroom closures to 14.
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After Death, Fayetteville, N.C., Police Department Tests All Tasers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Fayetteville, N.C., Police Department has taken its Taser weapons off the streets so officials can determine whether it's safe to use them, reports the city's Observer. The decision comes almost a week after a Fayetteville man died after police used a Taser as they tried to take him into custody. Chief Tom Bergamine called it "the responsible and prudent response," although he said he there is no indication that the device had malfunctioned.
The department also plans to review its policies and procedures regarding the use of Tasers. The department's use-of-force policy addresses the use of Tasers and cites conditions in which the weapons should be used. Fayetteville police have used Tasers since 1996.
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Paper Urges Canada to Expand Use of Facial-Recognition Technology
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Toronto Sun says the expanded use of facial-recognition technology could be used in Canada as a tool to capture both international and domestic criminals. High-tech cameras could be installed at train stations, major airports and border crossings, and the images they capture would be compared to the faces of offenders stored in a database, the paper suggested.
The technology is already in use at most Ontario casinos to curb cheats and gambling addicts and at Canadian Tire stores to target shoplifters. The Sun has reported aggressively about the search for war criminals in Canada and suggested that facial recognition could be used in that realm. A Canadian border official said her agency uses biometric technology in a trusted traveler program for quicker trips across the border but that there are no plans to introduce the technology at this time.
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Missouri-Based Prosecutor a Leading Advocate Against Sex Trafficking
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cynthia Cordes, a federal prosecutor in Kansas City, has become a leading advocate for addressing the growing problem of sex trafficking by targeting the men who seek to have sex with teenage girls. She spoke this week at the eighth annual "Protect Our Children Conference" in Wichita, reports the city's Eagle. In 2009, Cordes worked with police in Independence, Mo., to set up a sting that began when they placed online classified ads for "young fun" and "little girls." "Within the first 24 hours, we got 500 responses," Cordes said.
Last month, the Department of Justice approved a pilot program for enhanced enforcement task forces to combat sex trafficking from St. Louis to western Kansas. It will be headquartered in Kansas City, where Cordes works as an assistant U.S. Attorney. She is among a growing number of law enforcers who have started viewing the females involved in commercial sex as victims, rather than prostitutes. "It's so hidden, people say it doesn't happen here, but all you have to do is look, and it's there," said Barry Grissom, U.S. Attorney for Kansas.
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