27 Sept 2011

Court Journalists Using Social Media To Get Readers, Sources ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Journalists usually learn more about a story than they can possibly get published or on the air. For some who cover courts, social media is the solution. Speaking yesterday at the Society of Professional Journalists-Radio Television Digital News Association convention in New Orleans, Rebecca Baker of the Journal News in New York's Lower Hudson Valley said her co-authored blog, Completely Legal, helps her expand her coverage and connect with sources. "It benefits readers with more information that they can't get in the paper," said Baker. "It helps me develop stronger and better sources, and it enables me to give everyone a better sense of what it's like to cover courts." The Wichita Eagle's Ron Sylvester is a big proponent of new media technologies and was an early adopter of Twitter to cover trials. He's pushing the multimedia envelope with dozens of short videos on his blog, What the Judge Ate for Breakfast. "Common Law is a video series that shows what goes on in the courtroom every day," Sylvester said. "It's a way of engaging sources and the audience." Social media has allowed Rummana Hussian of the Chicago Sun-Times to connect to surprising new audiences, something she discovered when tweeting from a trial involving the Mumbai bombing. "In one day, I got more than 300 followers from Mumbai and Pakistan," she said. John Ensslin of the Bergen, N.J., Record says reporters should not worry about the number of Twitter followers, Facebook friends, or blog hits. "The reason you do this is not to become the Huffington Post," said Ensslin. "The reason is there will be a small community paying close attention to your work - they're called sources."

Newspapers Remain a Prime Source of Crime News: Pew Survey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crime is one of the most popular subjects for Americans to seek local information, ranking 4th of 16 categories, says a new survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project. The survey, released yesterday, said that 66 percent of Americans seek local crime information, and newspapers remain a main source of it. Crime outranked topics like taxes, housing, schools, and traffic but was somewhat lower than the weather, politics, and "breaking news" (which can include crime). The Internet was identified as a main source of information about restaurants and other local businesses. The survey found generally that people use a variety of platforms to get information, including newspapers, television, radio, and the Internet. For the 79 percent of Americans who are online, the Internet is the first or second most relied-upon source for 15 of the 16 local topics examined. One basic conclusion: "Most Americans, including more tech-savvy adults under age 40, also use a blend of both new and traditional sources to get their information." Pew Research Center

705 Laid-Off NJ Cops Can't Find Work; Union President Warns of Riots ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 705 New Jersey police officers laid off since January have been unable to find work in law enforcement again, says survey by the State Policemen's Benevolent Association, the state's largest police union, reports the Newark Star-Ledger. The survey includes all officers, not just those represented by the union. Like the thousands of other New Jerseyans laid off in the crippling economy, the officers have struggled to pay their bills, taking on part-time work like truck driving, plumbing and private security, said association president Anthony Wieners. Municipalities forced to lay off officers are still financially strapped, he said. "There's nobody hiring, and if they are, it's very sporadic." This month, Trenton laid off 105 of its city police officers, a third of the force. Police forces in other economically depressed large cities have suffered a similar fate. In Camden, more than half of the 93 total officers laid off earlier this year haven't found new jobs in law enforcement, said the local police union president John Williamson. Last month, Williamson sounded an alarming tone by warning of possible riots in the streets if more officers were not rehired. Williamson said he stands by those words today. "This is not fear mongering," he said. "Based on my observations and history in the U.S. and in the world, where people feel desperate and impoverished, they tend to let out their frustrations." Newark Star-Ledger

Charlotte To Spend $1.83 Million For 1,600 "Safer" Tasers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charlotte will spend $1.83 million on new Tasers police say have important safety features designed to prevent officers from seriously injuring or killing suspects, the Charlotte Observer reports. Police Chief Rodney Monroe two months ago suspended the use of Tasers after the death of a suspect who was stunned by police at a light-rail station. Monroe believes Tasers are an important tool. Council members voted to buy 1,600 of a new model, the Taser X2, from Arizona-based Taser International. Monroe says a safeguard that puts a five-second limit on each electric charge will make the new Tasers safer. "That five-second limit is critical," he said. "No matter how long the officer may hold the trigger down, five seconds is as long as it will cycle itself." In 2008, Darryl Turner, 17, died after a police officer shocked him with a Taser. The officer violated policy when he shocked Turner for about 37 seconds. The officer held the trigger until Turner fell to the floor. A federal jury awarded $10 million to Turner's family from Taser International, which has appealed. Another safety feature of the new Taser is that an officer can trigger a visible and audible warning with the Taser. "That pre-warning stops so many people," Monroe said. Charlotte Observer

Mexican Newspaper Employee Killed After Posts on Crime Website ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The killing of a Mexican woman in retaliation for posts on an anti-crime website has stunned chat users and employees at the newspaper where she worked in the violent border city of Nuevo Laredo, reports the Associated Press. Press freedom groups condemned the killing of Maria Elizabeth Macias, whose decapitated body and head were found Saturday next to a message citing posts she wrote on "Nuevo Laredo en Vivo," a website used by Laredo residents to denounce crime and warn each other about drug cartel gunfights and roadblocks. "If we want to regain our peace and our freedom, we always have to fight on, I wouldn't ask anybody to take up arms, clearly, but with our reports, we can do them damage," said one poster logged on as "anon9113," who quickly added a note of distrust, "don't become friends with anybody on here [ ] we have to be careful with something as simple as giving out personal information." Macias was the newspaper's advertising supervisor. An editor said the killing apparently was not related to Macias' job. The newspaper, in the face of intimidation and threats by drug gangs, stopped reporting on drug violence two years ago. "We were taken by surprise, because [ ] we don't even do crime reporting," said the editor. "We don't have a crime reporter." Associated Press/Minneapolis Star Tribune

Jackson Doctor Defense: Pop Star Was to Blame for Death ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the trial of the Houston cardiologist accused of causing Michael Jackson's overdose death gets underway, the doctor's attorneys are preparing to argue that the blame should be pointed at the other person who was in the room: the King of Pop himself, reports the Los Angeles Times. Jackson may have injected the lethal dose, or drunk it, attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray have suggested. It may have been out of financial desperation, pressure to perform or anxiety about his career comeback. Blaming the patient for his or her own death is a common defense in the small but growing number of cases of doctors charged in connection with overdose deaths, where a patient's desperate search for drugs collides with a physician's responsibilities. "There's a fundamental human theme that occurs in all of these cases, that is how much the defense can paint the addict as this powerful driving force, in some sense bent on killing himself," said UCLA law Prof. Peter Arenella. "If the jury starts viewing the victim in that light, it's easy for them to acquit the doctor of any serious criminal charge." Murray, 58, faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, injecting Jackson with the dangerous surgical anesthetic propofol at the entertainer's rented mansion and leaving his bedside. Los Angeles Times

Fl. Gov. Scott Tries to Silence Ex-Prisons Chief's Testimony ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed Buss had a lot to say in the short time he ran Florida's prisons, and even though he was fired, he's still talking, says the St. Petersburg Times. That may help explain why his former boss, Gov. Rick Scott, was so insistent that Buss not testify under oath in a lawsuit against the state over the privatization of dozens of state prisons. Buss lost his $145,000-a-year job in August after clashing with the governor's office. He was around long enough to make skeptical statements about a privatization venture that was hatched by the Legislature, discussed only fleetingly in public and imposed on his former agency without ever seeking his expert opinion. The Florida Police Benevolent Association, the union for correctional officers whose jobs are endangered by privatization, wanted to put Buss under oath in its lawsuit seeking to have the outsourcing declared illegal. Scott and his lawyers sought to silence Buss, saying an important principle was at stake. "It's a common principle that high-ranking people in government don't testify," Scott said. "And the problem is that if they change that, what's going to happen is you're going to have people that won't want to take these jobs because what's happened is they'll always be in depositions or testifying?" St. Petersburg Times

DEA Bath Salt Ban Due Soon; "It Makes You Absolutely Crazy" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christine Lunsford, 35, of Wilmington started injecting a new drug this spring, a white powder she said caused her to attack her boyfriend with a knife, reports the Wilmington News Journal. Lunsford legally purchased "bath salts," a powerful designer drug made of up to three stimulants, at a tobacco store. She abused the drug for four months -- winding up in a hospital in a psychotic state twice -- before she finally quit four months ago. "It makes you absolutely crazy, like a walking paranoid schizophrenic," she said. Federal and state authorities are now racing to ban the drug (already banned in 29 states), which is sending abusers like Lunsford to emergency rooms across the U.S. in startling numbers. Christiana Care and Bayhealth, which each oversee two hospitals, are treating about one person a day for adverse reactions. An emergency, one-year nationwide ban by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will go into effect next month. In Delaware, prosecutors and police chiefs are drafting a bill that would permanently ban the drug here. Bath salts abusers can stay awake for days. The drug makes them agitated, delusional, paranoid, violent and gives some people an unusual amount of strength Wilmington News Journal

NY Times: Feds Should Investigate NYC Low-Level Pot Arrests ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times editorializes that the city's police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, was "too little, too late" with his memo telling officers not to arrest people caught with small amounts of marijuana unless it is in plain view. Last year, more than 50,000 people were arrested for such pot offenses, most of the minorities. The newspaper believes that the U.S. Justice Department and state legislators should investigate the legality of hundreds of thousands of arrests since the mid-1990s. Since 1996, the city has taken more than 536,000 people into custody for the lowest-level marijuana charge, says Harry Levine of Queens College. He believes that a significant majority of those arrested last year had never been convicted of any crime. Young African-Americans and Hispanics, who are disproportionately singled-out in street stops, make up a high percentage of people arrested for marijuana possession, despite federal data showing that whites are more likely to consume marijuana. This policing practice has damaged young lives and deserves deeper scrutiny by federal and state monitors, says the Times New York Times

More Jail or Inmate Treatment: CA Counties Must Decide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In less than two weeks, Sacramento County will start assuming responsibility for thousands of inmates and parolees now watched over by California state officials. The Sacramento Bee says the pending shift has touched off a debate in the county over how to spend millions of dollars also coming from the state - whether to create more jail beds or fund treatment programs aimed at keeping convicts from offending again. The state budget now makes counties responsible for lower-level offenders released from prison or sentenced under new requirements. Counties will get offenders convicted of crimes called the "triple-nons": nonserious, nonviolent and nonsexual. Sacramento County expects to receive about 200 parolees and newly sentenced offenders next month. When the transition is complete in four years, the county can expect responsibility for 2,300 additional inmates and parolees. Chief Deputy Jamie Lewis of the Sheriff's Department said the number of offenders "scares me." Criminologist Edward Latessa of the University of Cincinnati says treatment is more effective than punishment at keeping offenders from committing new crimes. He said punishment alone doesn't work. Said Don Meyer, the county's chief probation officer, "This county has been successful at locking people up. This county has not been successful at stopping the problem (of crime)." Sacramento Bee

Indiana Lawyer Sues Cities for Not Allowing Public Gun Carrying ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Indiana lawyer Guy Relford has become the unofficial enforcer of a new state law that took away communities' right to enact and enforce their own gun ordinances, says the Indianapolis Star. Relford, known as "the gun lawyer," has checked with dozens of communities to make sure they're complying with the law that went into effect July 1. He's filing lawsuits against the ones that aren't. Though Relford is getting support from gun enthusiasts state, his tactics are drawing criticism. Mayor Thomas McDermott of Hammond--one of Relford's lawsuit targets--wrote the suits off as a money grab. "Guy is basically trying to get easy money from cities around the state," McDermott said. The new legislation prevents communities from banning guns in public places, including government buildings that do not house courtrooms. Supporters say the measure was necessary because local ordinances varied, making it confusing for people who carry a weapon to travel across the state. Lhe law's critics say that having fewer restrictions on guns could lead to more violence. Though more than 40 other states also ban local gun ordinances, Indiana's ban bothers Brian Malte of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Indiana's gun laws are too weak, he said, so forcing communities to adhere to those laws instead of their own could be dangerous. Indianapolis Star

New York Police Review Response to Wall Street Protesters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When members of the loose protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street began a march in New York City last Saturday, the participants seemed relatively harmless, even as they were breaking the law by marching in the street without a permit. The New York Times says that to the city's police department, the protesters represented an example of lawlessness like that at other anticapitalist protests like the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. On Saturday, police efforts to maintain crowd control suddenly escalated: protesters were corralled by police officers who put up orange mesh netting; the police forcibly arrested some participants; and a deputy inspector used pepper spray on four women who were on the sidewalk, behind the orange netting. The police's actions suggested the flip side of a force trained to fight terrorism b ut that may appear less nimble in dealing with the likes of the Wall Street protesters. Police commanders have been discussing the riots in London this summer, and strategizing how they would stop a similar situation in New York, said Roy Richter, the president of the union that represents officers of captain and higher rank. The protest on Saturday appeared to have resulted in the largest number of arrests since the demonstrations surrounding the Republican National Convention in 2004. New York Times