In a Shift, Feds Urge More Discretion in Immigrant Deportations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a sweeping change, federal immigration enforcement is shifting toward faster deportations of convicted criminals and fewer deportations of many illegal immigrants with no criminal record, reports the New York Times. The Department of Homeland Security is beginning a review of all deportation cases before the immigration courts and will start a nationwide training program for enforcement agents and prosecuting lawyers. The accelerated triage of the court docket - about 300,000 cases - is intended to allow severely overburdened immigration judges to focus on deporting foreigners who committed serious crimes or pose national security risks, Homeland Security officials said. It is part of a policy announced in June to encourage immigration agents to use prosecutorial discretion when deciding whether to pursue a deportation. The policy would scale back deportations of illegal immigrants who were young students, military service members, elderly people or close family of American citizens, among others. While the announcement raised expectations in immigrant communities, until now the policy has been applied sporadically. |
Justice Department Launches 'Pattern' Probe of Miami PD Shootings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Justice Department will investigate whether Miami police violated the constitutional rights of seven black men who were shot to death by officers over a recent eight-month span, raising tensions in the inner city and sparking demands for an independent review, reports the Miami Herald. The civil investigation - known as a "pattern and practice'' probe - will examine Miami police policies and training involving deadly force. The goal: to determine if systemic flaws made shootings of black men more likely, rather than unfortunate, last-choice actions, as the officers' supporters maintain. The investigation was announced Thursday in Miami. "Oh, that's great, great, really good," said Sheila McNeil, whose unarmed son Travis McNeil, 28, was shot to death in his car in Little Haiti Feb. 10 by Officer Reinaldo Goyo. The officer said McNeil was driving erratically. No weapon was ever found. "I'm just glad to know it's not forgotten,'' McNeil said. But Nathaniel Wilcox, executive director of the advocacy group PULSE, criticized federal authorities for not opening a criminal investigation into the shooting deaths, which occurred from July 2010 to February 2011. |
Despite New DNA Evidence, Some Prosecutors Cling to Convictions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times reports on the resistance mounted by a minority of prosecutors around the country in the face of exculpatory DNA evidence in criminal prosecutions. For most prosecutors, the presence of post-conviction DNA evidence is enough to prompt action. An examination of 194 DNA exonerations found that 88 percent of the prosecutors joined defense lawyers in moving to vacate the convictions. But in 12 percent of the cases, the prosecutors opposed the motions, and in 4 percent, they did so even after a DNA match to another suspect. Hundreds of people in the United States have been cleared by DNA evidence over the last two decades, in some cases after confessing to crimes, often in great detail. Juveniles, researchers have found, are more likely to make false confessions. Four of the five teenagers who were convicted in the brutal 1989 rape of Trisha Meili, known as the Central Park jogger, for example, confessed to the rape but were later exonerated when DNA evidence confirmed another man's involvement. |
L.A. County Has Sent Problem Sheriff's Deputies to Work in Jails ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For years, the Los Angeles County sheriff's department transferred problem deputies to lockups as a way of keeping them from the public, reports the Los Angeles Times. Other deputies were allowed to remain working in the jails after being convicted of crimes or found guilty of serious misconduct. Among them was a deputy who beat a firefighter bloody and unconscious during an off-duty incident, and another who allegedly threatened to stab a bar bouncer. The backgrounds and conduct of deputies working in the jails have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks amid revelations that some employees have beaten inmates, smuggled in contraband, and falsified reports. The cases offer a window into how the Sheriff's Department has managed its jails, and offer more ammunition to critics who have asked Sheriff Lee Baca to use more experienced, better qualified deputies in the jails. "This is shocking and a total aberration for the profession," said David Bennett, a criminal justice consultant who has been hired by jails. |
Some See High Risk in Escapes from MA Minimum-Security Prisons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An escape from a minimum-security Massachusetts prison last April by a man who went on a deadly shooting spree in Springfield has raised questions about the risk that such facilities pose, reports the Boston Globe. The alleged killer, Tomik Kirkland, was serving a 2 ½-to-4-year sentence on gun charges related to a 2008 murder attempt. Some wonder why he was housed in a prison without walls that made it easy for him to slip out an unbarred window. The paper says all but two of the 73 prisoners who have escaped from Massachusetts prisons since 2000 have come from similar facilities that lack fences or walls around the perimeter, even though they hold fewer than 15 percent of all state inmates. Twenty escapees remain at large, and at least four others were accused of new crimes while they were free. Defenders of minimum-security prisons say the Springfield killing should not overshadow the value of these facilities as training grounds for life after prison. Research shows that inmates released from minimum security are less likely to commit future crimes than those released from higher-security prisons. |
Report: Federal Financial Fraud Prosecutions Drop to 20-Year Low ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Financial criminals are facing the lowest number of federal prosecutions in at least 20 years, reports the Los Angeles Times. The government has filed 1,251 new prosecutions against financial institution fraud so far this fiscal year, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. If the same pace holds, federal attorneys will file 1,365 such cases by the end of the year -- the lowest number since at least 1991. The report, compiled from Justice Department data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, considers crimes involving crooked mortgage brokers, bank executives with something to hide and accounts hiding illegal activity. The expected volume of prosecutions by the end of 2011 would be 2.4% smaller than that of last year, 28.6% thinner than that of five years ago and less than half the amount from a decade ago. The number of federal bank fraud cases has slipped every year since 1999. |
Tennessee Legislators Warn Judges to Shape Up--Or Else ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The commissions that nominate, evaluate and discipline Tennessee's judges were all scrutinized at a legislative hearing this week that set the stage for an expected fight next year over the future of the state's judiciary, reports the Tennessean. The Government Operations Joint Subcommittee on Judiciary and Government met Tuesday to discuss whether to retain the Court of the Judiciary, the Judicial Nominating Commission and the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission or let them expire. Members made it clear that a broad restructuring will be on the table when the full General Assembly reconvenes in January. The Court of the Judiciary, which investigates ethical complaints against judges and determines discipline, received most of the committee's attention. Lawmakers from both parties warned Court of the Judiciary officials that if they don't change their processes, the General Assembly will do it for them. The hearing featured testimony from several people who complained of mistreatment by Tennessee judges. "Judges, you better get your house in order because we're going to do it for you if you can't," Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, warned after listening to testimony from disgruntled litigants. |
Bodies Pile Up as St. Louis Heroin Epidemic Enters Fourth Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St. Louis is in the fourth year of a heroin epidemic that is killing in numbers that law enforcement and medical examiners say they have never seen before, reports the city's Post-Dispatch. To provide a glimpse of those affected, the Post-Dispatch reviewed heroin-related deaths that occurred in St. Louis and Madison counties during an 18-month period beginning in January 2010, when the epidemic was kicking into high gear. In that period, 99 people in St. Louis County and 30 in Madison County died of heroin overdoses, according to medical examiner records. The typical victim was an unmarried, 33-year-old white man. The oldest to die was 57, the youngest 17. Almost 85 percent were white. Thirty-two were women. At least 14 were married. At least a third were parents, often of young children. Some, such as Seebeck, came from supportive families who felt helpless against the drug's powerful pull on their loved one. The dead included laborers, college students and military veterans. There was a steel worker, a hair dresser, a youth baseball coach and a paramedic. There was a nurse, a mechanic, a baker, a sous chef, an adult dancer. Others were unemployed or operated on the fringes of society, scraping by on the charity of strangers, friends and - if they hadn't alienated them with their drug use - family. |
Reports Finds High Unemployment, Recidivism Among DC Ex-Cons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new report says that half of the roughly 8,000 people behind bars who have served their time and are released in Washington, D.C., will be locked up again within three years, reports the Washington Examiner. The report by the Council for Court Excellence, an ex-convict advocacy group, says one factor in this high recidivism is the inability of parolees to find a job that pays the bills. Nearly half of the city's 60,000 ex-cons are unemployed. The report also found that half of those who received education and training while incarcerated said those benefits helped them find a job after release. But the group's survey of 550 ex-convicts revealed no difference in the employment rate of those who received an educational certificate and those who didn't. |
Cities Shared Occupy Wall Street Tips in Conference Calls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Officials from nearly 40 cities are using phone conference calls to share ideas on how to deal with Occupy Wall Street protests, reports the Associated Press. The best conventional wisdom now suggests that cities should not set public deadlines for eviction because that serves to rally the demonstrators. Ultimatums likewise only seem to incite protestors. And cities that have managed to disassemble encampments suggest that parks be fenced off to prevent a new occupation. As concerns over safety and sanitation grew at the encampments over the last month, officials commiserated over how best to deal with the leaderless movement. From Atlanta to Washington, D.C., officials talked about how authorities could make camps safe for protesters and the community. Officials also learned about the kinds of problems they could expect from cities with larger and more established protest encampments. The Police Executive Research Forum organized calls on Oct. 11 and Nov. 4. |
Federal Report Says Homicide Rate Has Ebbed to Four-Decade Low ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that the homicide rate in the United States is at its lowest level in four decades. The largest decline was in big cities, where the rate dropped from nearly 36 homicides per 100,000 residents in 1991 to 12 per 100,000 in 2008. The nationwide rate during that same period fell from an all-time high of 9.8 homicides per 100,000 in 1991 to 4.8 in 2010. The report analyzes homicide trends and provides profiles of victims and perpetrators. It says most murders are intra-racial. The victimization rate for blacks was six times higher than for whites, while the offending rate for blacks was almost eight times higher than the rate for whites. The number of homicides known to be caused by gang violence has quadrupled since 1980. |
Expert Sees a New Era of Homeland Security Policing Across the U.S. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. era of community policing is being transformed into an age of "homeland security policing," says criminologist MoonSun Kim of the State University of New York Brockport. Speaking at the American Society of Criminology, which is holding its annual convention in Washington, D.C., Kim said he based his conclusion on an analysis of data collected by the U.S. Justice Department from law enforcement agencies around the nation in 1999, 2003, and 2007. Kim looked at various factors, including the kind of training police officers were undergoing before and after the September 11, 2001, terrorism attacks. Considering funding limitations to law enforcement these days, the "economies of scale" cannot support both traditional community policing and new forms of homeland security policing with equal force, Kim said. Perhaps reflecting Kim's analysis, a larger proportion of the 800-plus sessions at the criminology meeting seem to be focused on terrorism issues than in the past. |
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15 Nov 2011
Congress Saves COPS, Second Chance, Youth Justice Aid at Lower Levels ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Senate-House conference committee agreed last night to save major federal criminal justice programs including COPS community policing, the Second Chance law on prisoner re-entry, and juvenile justice aid, but at lower levels than last year. Congress is expected to approve the appropriations this week. COPS and Second Chance were endangered by votes in one house or the other to eliminate them. Federal aid for state and local anticrime grants under the Byrne JAG "formula" program would be funded at $352 million, down 17 percent from last year. For many programs, the reductions reflect a trend that could get worse as Congress considers debt-reduction plans. Under the agreement, COPS police hiring would be cut to $166 million this year, compared with $247 million last year. Second Chance funding would drop from $83 million to $63 million, and juvenile justice programs face a cut from $276 million to $263 million. The SCAAP program to subsidize states' incarcerating alleged illegal immigrants would be retained at $240 million, down from $274 million last year. |
| NYC, Oakland Police Clear "Occupy" Protester Encampments ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his decision to clear the park that was the birthplace of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, saying "health and safety conditions became intolerable" in the park where the protesters had camped for nearly two months, the New York Times reports. "New York City is the city where you can come and express yourself," he said. "What was happening in Zuccotti Park was not that." He said protesters had taken over the park, "making it unavailable to anyone else." A court will hold a hearing today on a lawsuit challenging the eviction of protesters. Officials said nearly 200 people were arrested, most on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Yesterday in Oakland, Ca., hundreds of police officers raided the main Occupy encampment, arresting 33 people. Protesters returned later in the day. Police said no one would be allowed to sleep there anymore, and promised to clear a second camp nearby. |
| As With Anthony, Penn State Case Prompts Calls for Tougher Laws ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Legislators in several states are reacting to the Penn State child sex abuse scandal by proposing stricter child abuse reporting requirements, reports Stateline.org. Pennsylvania, reeling over allegations that a former Penn State football coach sexually molested at least eight boys over 15 years, could could change its child abuse reporting law before the end of the year, said Gov. Tom Corbett. A new law likely would require those who learn of child abuse to report the crime directly to police rather than to third parties, such as university officials. Two New York legislators are calling for the addition of university coaches and administrators to the list of people currently required to report child abuse to the police, says the Albany Times Union. A Maryland senator may propose criminal penalties for those required to report suspected child abuse but fail to do so. The Penn State scandal is the second time in four months that state legislators are responding to a high-profile case by vowing to create stricter reporting requirements for possible crimes against children. Proposals for tougher criminal penalties for failing to reporting a missing child were made after Casey Anthony was found not guilty in Florida for murdering her 2-year-old daughter. No one had reported Caylee Anthony missing for more than a month after her disappearance. |
| House Takes Up Disputed Bill On State Gun Permit Reciprocity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The House of Representatives will consider a bill today allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry handguns across state lines, reports the Daily Caller. A floor vote is expected on the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act, a bill introduced by Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Heath Shuler (D-NC). The legislation would allow those with permits to carry a concealed handgun in any state where concealed carry is not restricted. Forty nine states allow some form of concealed carry, but the training and requirements for obtaining a permit vary. The bill is poised to pass the Republican-controlled House: It has more than 245 co-sponsors, and it survived the markup process intact, despite numerous attempts by Democrats to amend it. National Rifle Association lobbyist Chris Cox says the current situation "presents a nightmare for interstate travel." The proposed law, he argued, "would solve this problem by simply requiring states that allow concealed carry to recognize each others' permits." Gun control advocates such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Mayors Against Illegal Guns say the legislation would erode the laws of states with stricter gun controls. The Brady Campaign said the bill should be called the "packing heat on your street bill," and Mayors Against Illegal Guns called it "a race to the bottom." |
| Few States Send Mental Records to Gun Background-Check Database ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mentally ill can buy guns with alarming ease because nearly 90 percent of states don't forward all mental health records to a national database that is used to run background checks on firearms purchasers, says a report from the anti-gun advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns quoted by the New York Daily News. It showed that 23 states submitted fewer than 100 mental health histories to the National Instant Criminal Background Check. The study found that another 17 states submitted fewer than ten mental health histories, and 4 submitted none at all.The database has blocked more than 1.6 million gun-permit applications and sales to felons since it was created in 1999. Though a judge found Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho to be mentally ill two years before his 2007 rampage, that information never made it into the database. Cho was able to pass several background checks to buy the guns he used to kill 32 people and then end his life. The massacre prompted passage of a federal law that gives states enticements to send stats on mental health and drug abuse information to the database. |
| Parole Supervision Helps Cut Recidivism: Montana Study ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a study of Montana ex-inmates, researchers found that offenders released early from prison without parole supervision are more likely to recidivate than those freed with parole supervision. Kevin A. Wright of Arizona State University and Jeffrey W. Rosky of the University of Central Florida believe that offenders who are released early are more likely to recidivate because they are not adequately prepared for reentry into the community. The study was published in Criminology & Public Policy, which is available only by subscription or to members of the American Society of Criminology. Montana offenders released from prison on traditional parole supervision are required to have a detailed parole plan that includes housing and employment. The authors argue that given current pressures on correctional systems to reduce their budgets, it is unwise to do away with early release procedures. They say attention should be paid to the transition between prison and community reentry. In the same issue, Faye Taxman of George Mason University and Susan Turner of the University of California, Irvine, argue that correctional practitioners should look beyond the basic risk-assessment model of release and focus more on a client-centered approach, like the healthcare field. Journalists who want access to the papers should send a message to tgest@sas.upenn.edu. |
| Hate Crime Reports to Police At Same Level From 2009 To 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The FBI's hate-crime compilation for last year found 6,628 incidents, about the same as the 6,604 reported in 2009. The incident total included 8,208 victims, which encompass individuals, businesses, institution or "society as a whole," the FBI says. Some 43.7 percent of "single-bias" incidents were motivated by race, 20 percent by religion, 19.3 percent by sexual orientation, 12.8 percent by ethnicity/national origin bias, and .6 percent by physical or mental disability. A reported 4.824 offenses were crimes against persons and there were 2,861 reported crimes against property. Of the 6,008 known offenders, 58.6 percent were white and 18.4 percent were black. |
| Tale of Innocent Detroit Man Killed: "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Detroit community where DeMonté Thomas lived and died, friends walked from door to door carrying buckets to raise $6,000 to bury him, says the Detroit Free Press in the second of a series on local killings. The newspaper says Thomas "was every young person's brother and every older person's son." He was killed going to get his weekly haircut. Investigators believe the barber was the intended target. Thomas was the 131st person killed last year, one of 3,313 killed in the city since January 2003. Though Thomas, 24, died under unusual circumstances, he fit the profile of most murder victims in Detroit: young, male, and black. Of the 3,184 murder victims from 2003 through June 30, 88% were black; 86% were male. The average age was 32. Thomas "was a good young man," said police investigator LaTonya Brooks. "People in the neighborhood spoke highly of him. Basically wrong place, wrong time." |
| New Mexico Fines GEO Group $1.1 Million for Understaffing Prison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Florida-based GEO Group will pay New Mexico $1.1 million in penalties for not adequately staffing a private prison it operates in Hobbs, N.M., says the New Mexican in Santa Fe. GEO also has agreed to spend $200,000 over the next year to recruit new correctional officers for the Hobbs facility. By contract, New Mexico can penalize GEO and Corrections Corp. of America, the two firms that operate the private facilities, when staffing vacancies are at 10 percent or more for 30 consecutive days. The settlement represents the first time in years - possibly ever - that New Mexico has penalized the out-of-state, for-profit companies for not adequately staffing the facilities they operate. The issue has come up in the past, but state officials said New Mexico had never levied penalties for understaffing issues. Last year, when state lawmakers were struggling to find ways to close a yawning state budget gap, a committee estimated Gov. Bill Richardson's administration had skipped $18 million in penalties by not assessing penalties against the two firms for inadequate prison staffing levels. GEO, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fl., reported $1.2 billion in earnings and $58.8 million in profit through the first nine months of this year. |
| New AZ Senator Seeks Moderate Approach to Immigration Reform ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arizona's newest state senator, Jerry Lewis, is taking the national stage as an advocate for a moderate approach to immigration reform, reports the Arizona Republic. After defeating Senate President Russell Pearce in last week's recall election, Lewis, a Republican, made clear he is intent on reversing what he has called Arizona's dismal image on civil-rights and immigration issues. Joining other advocates of immigration reform, Lewis participated in a national teleconference to mark the Nov. 11, 2010, adoption of a document called the Utah Compact, which advocates a more humane approach to immigration issues. The compact -- endorsed by political, business and religious leaders in Utah -- says the nation must find ways other than strict enforcement to deal with people in the U.S. illegally but working productively. It says immigration is a federal problem requiring federal solutions, local police should focus on serious crime rather than civil immigration violations. It also encourages policies that keep families together, recognizes immigrants' contributions to the economy, and says immigration policy should be based on the principles of a free society. |
| St. Louis Officers Try to Block DNA Collection Without Policy on Use ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The St. Louis Police Officers' Association filed a grievance and expects to sue this week to stop the department from collecting DNA samples from police officers, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "This is a shockingly alarming practice," said Jeff Roorda, the association's business manager. Police Chief Dan Isom said the department has been collecting voluntary DNA samples from officers for years to eliminate them from crime scene samples. In recent months, the department has increased its efforts to collect DNA, saying that as technology advances, the chances of crime scene contamination also increase. Eliminating DNA found at crime scenes by matching it to an officer's DNA on file can help bolster prosecutions by eliminating reasonable doubt, Isom says. Roorda said officers aren't necessarily opposed to submitting their DNA, but the members do not want to do so without guarantees about how the DNA will be handled. "Officers have a right to privacy, and there are too many unanswered questions because the department has not met its responsibility of the contract to establish a written policy," Roorda said. |
| MS-13 Turns to Sex Trafficking in Washington, D.C., Suburb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The MS-13 gang got its start among immigrants from El Salvador in the 1980s. Since then, reports NPR, the gang has built operations in 42 states, where members typically deal in drugs and weapons. In the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax County, Va., one of the nation's wealthiest places, authorities have brought five cases in the past year that focus on gang members who have pushed women, sometimes very young women, into prostitution. "We all know that human trafficking is an issue around the world," says Neil MacBride, the top federal prosecutor. "We hear about child brothels in Thailand and brick kilns in India, but it's something that's in our own backyard, and in the last year we've seen street gangs starting to move into sex trafficking." One MS-13 member nicknamed "Sniper" recently was sent to prison for the rest of his life. Another will spend 24 years behind bars for compelling two teenage girls to sell themselves for money. Usually, investigators say, gang members charge between $30 and $50 a visit, and the girls are forced into prostitution 10 to 15 times a day. It's easy money for MS-13 - thousands of dollars in a weekend, with virtually no costs. Often, the activity takes place at construction sites, in the parking lots of convenience stores and gas stations. |
Thursday, November 10, 2011
10 Nov 2011
Arizona's Anti-Immigration Champion Is Bounced from Office ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Russell Pearce, a powerful Arizona legislator who was the architect of its tough immigration law, was sent packing on Tuesday after disgruntled voters in his west Mesa district banded together to recall him from the State Senate and replace him with a more moderate Republican. "If being recalled is the price for keeping one's promises, then so be it," Pearce said. The Arizona Republic said political experts will spend years analyzing how a political novice, Jerry Lewis, emerged from obscurity in west Mesa to knock off Arizona's most powerful lawmaker in Tuesday's unprecedented recall election. But analysts and people involved in the fierce campaign pointed Wednesday to an array of factors in Lewis' improbable upset victory over Senate President Pearce, including the nature of the recall itself, which allowed Democrats and independents to vote in what amounted to an "open primary" election pitting two Republicans against each other. |
FBI Makes a Priority of the Growing Problem of Economic Espionage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The FBI has made a priority of investigating high-stakes economic espionage, placing it second only to terrorism on its enforcement agenda, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The growing crime has a potential cost of tens of billions of dollars. Robert Grant, the FBI's top man in Chicago, said Americans feel the effects of the crime when someone steals intellectual property from a business, takes it overseas and creates a competing enterprise that leads to layoffs here. "And that is happening on an enormous scale right now," Grant said. Many companies, he said, are protected against outside hackers but don't do enough to protect data from within the company. In fact, many firms don't even know their security was breached and sensitive data stolen until they see the exact same product they had spent years inventing being released overseas. In Chicago alone, several new allegations of economic espionage or stealing trade secrets emerged in recent months. A trial began this week in one of the highest-profile cases in Chicago, involving onetime Motorola employee Hanjuan Jin. |
Reality Check: Sex Crime Recidivism Lower Than Other Offenses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With sexual predation back in the national spotlight with the Penn State scandal, Huffington Post commentator Paul Heroux offers statistics on sex crimes that seem counter to the conventional wisdom. Contrary to popular belief, he says, sex offenders have the lowest rate of recidivism of all the crime categories. The percentage of those rearrested for the "same category of offense" for which they were most recently in prison included 41 percent for drug offenders, 34 percent for larcenists, and about 20 percent each for defrauders, assaulters and burglars. The rate for released rapists was 2.5 percent. Heroux writes, "Independent studies of the effectiveness of in-prison treatment programs for sex offenders have shown that evidence-based programs can reduce recidivism by up to 15 percent. This might not sound like much, but it is. Recidivism can be further reduced up to 30 percent with after-prison intervention. However, our current policies make no sense; we release many offenders to the public without some form of post-release supervision." |
With New Council Elected, Cincinnati Police Ranks Face Cuts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serious crime in Cincinnati continues to decline, and the number of police officers is dropping - yet taxpayers still pay more for police service, reports the city's Enquirer. The city now has 1,032 officers, the lowest number since 2003. But the department's budget jumped in the eight years since to $104.4 million this year - a 22 percent increase, mostly due to increased benefits and health care costs. A conservative majority of the city council had refused to cut the number of officers. But that may be about to change. A "sea change" local election swept out all but one member of the conservative bloc and elected seven Democrats and an independent. |
Santa Clara, Calif., Gains Rep for Cutting-Edge Crime Policies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Santa Clara County, Calif., is developing a reputation for trying criminal justice policies that critics blast as risky but supporters call cutting-edge, reports the San Jose Mercury News. From its controversial stand against a federal policy on detaining jailed illegal immigrants to its open-arms, welcome-home stance toward newly freed state prisoners, Santa Clara County has struck the kind of permissive chord that puts Fox News pundits in a lather. "The county is shaping up to be one of the most progressive in the state on reforming the criminal justice system," said Allen Hopper, police practices director of the ACLU of Northern California. To be sure, prosecutors and judges in Santa Clara County are still filing stiffer charges and putting people behind bars longer than in San Francisco. But on the immigration front, the Board of Supervisors late last month approved a policy that made Santa Clara County only the second jurisdiction in the nation to defy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. Chicago's Cook County was the first. Now, the Santa Clara County sheriff releases illegal immigrants with a history of committing serious or violent crimes onto the streets unless ICE pays to detain them. |
Anti-Drug Web Comments Lead to Fourth Murder in Nuevo Laredo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gangsters killed and beheaded an Internet blogger Wednesday in Nuevo Laredo, the fourth slaying in the city involving people associated with social media sites since early September, reports the Houston Chronicle. "This happened to me for not understanding that I shouldn't report on the social networks," advised a note left before dawn with the man's body at a key intersection in the city's wealthier neighborhood. The victim, identified on social networking sites only by his nickname - Rascatripas or Belly Scratcher - reportedly helped moderate a site called En Vivo that posted news of shootouts and other activities of the Zetas, the narcotics and extortion gang that all but controls the city. The beheaded body of another blogger, 39-year-old Elizabeth Macias, who contributed to the blog, was found in the same location in late September. A young man and a woman were hung from a highway overpass earlier that same month. A sign left with their bodies said they too had been killed for their social media activity. |
Sign of Tough Times: Reports of Cattle Rustling on the Rise ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A sagging economy and high beef prices have prompted a rise in livestock thefts, reports USA Today. A single beef cow can be worth up to $2,500. The thefts have increased from the Beef Belt in Texas and Oklahoma to other beef producing states in the Midwest and South. These modern rustlers won't fit the typical Hollywood image of mounted desperados wearing 10-gallon hats with bandannas covering their faces. "Most of them use stock trailers pulled by pickups, or even 18-wheelers, to haul the animals away," said Billy Powell, executive vice president of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association. No national group collects stock theft data. Budget cuts are complicating law enforcement efforts in rustling cases. For example, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries did away with its investigative division June 1 due to state budget cuts. The group's 10 investigators looked into crimes ranging from equipment theft to rustling. |
DNA Leads to Arrest in Latest TX Wrongful Conviction Case ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Texas dishwasher was arrested Wednesday in the brutal 1986 beating death of Christine Morton, whose husband was freed last month after spending 25 years in prison following his wrongful conviction in her murder, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Mark Alan Norwood, 57, was arrested at the duplex where he lived. Charged with capital murder, Norwood was jailed on $750,000 bail. Norwood also is a suspect in an unsolved Austin murder, the 1988 bludgeoning death of Debra Masters Baker in her home. Like Morton, Baker was clubbed to death as she lay in her bed. Michael Morton, freed Oct. 4, has been living with his parents in Northeast Texas as he tries to rebuild his life. That's where lawyer John Raley reached him Wednesday to convey the news. He had been waiting for word of Norwood's arrest since July, when his DNA was linked to the slaying through blood on a bandana found at the scene. |
Illinois Crime Victims Seek Legal Recourse for Violated Rights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Illinois advocacy groups have joined a national push to amend state constitutions and give teeth to existing victims'-rights statutes, reports the Chicago Tribune. For example, the Illinois Constitution provides 10 rights for crime victims, including that they be treated with respect, given notice of court hearings and be allowed to attend trials and present victim-impact statements. But if those rights are violated, there's no mechanism for a crime victim to appeal to a higher court. Illinois is the only state whose constitution specifically prohibits victims from seeking legal remedy through appeal. Denise Rotheimer, whose daughter was sexually assaulted as an adolescent, wants the right to sue the Lake County, Ill., prosecutors who sent the offender to jail, saying they defamed her child by telling the judge that the girl "had issues." But she learned that the rights of crime victims are unenforceable, after floundering through a complex criminal justice system that critics say is weighted toward ensuring the rights of the accused. Rotheimer and her daughter, now 21, have filed a federal lawsuit against county and state officials. She hopes it leads to a precedent that prosecutors can be held legally accountable. |
Georgia County Joins National Trend With Drug Accountability Court ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Henry County, Ga., has joined a national trend, creating a drug court designed to help offenders avoid jail time through rigorous rehabilitation programs. The number of these accountability courts nationwide has grown to more than 3,000 since their inception in the early 1990s, reports the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Judge Brian Amero said the goal in Henry County is to turn human tax burdens into taxpayers. Georgia has 2,800 offenders being supervised by 33 adult felony drug courts. In addition to drug courts for adults and children, Georgia has accountability courts for DUI, mental health, domestic abuse, family dependency treatment, child support and veterans. Henry's drug court is financed with money seized in drug raids and court fees paid by offenders. Henry had more than 6,000 arrests last year; 25 percent -- or 1,500 -- involved drugs or alcohol. Narcotics use was associated with other arrests for burglary, robbery, larceny and aggravated assault. |
Some Passed, Some Failed in Nationwide Emergency System Test ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank goodness it was only a test. Wednesday's first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, showed that there are kinks in the system. Viewers and listeners in many states said they saw and heard the alerts at the scheduled time, but others said they did not, says the New York Times. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancies, but that was one of the purposes of the test - to find out how well the system would work in an actual emergency. Certainly, viewers and listeners have grown accustomed to hearing the tones and reminders - "this is just a test" - when the systems are activated locally each week by broadcasters. But government officials said the national system had never been tested before as a whole, nor had it been used in an emergency, allowing the president to address the public. Many of the reported failures affected cable and satellite television subscribers, and some were quite puzzling. Some DirecTV subscribers said their TV sets played the Lady Gaga song "Paparazzi" when the test was under way. |
Some Use Milwaukee 'Gun Court' to Retrieve Seized Firearms ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most people land in Milwaukee County's "gun court" as defendants, charged with carrying a concealed firearm, being a felon with a gun or using one in a reckless manner, reports the Journal Sentinel. But once a month, people appear on their own accord to ask the judge for help getting guns back from police, who in their effort to keep dangerous weapons off the streets might seize any and all guns in certain situations and sort out the details later. A gun's lawful owner may not be convicted, charged or even involved, such as when someone in their household uses it when they're away. Or the gun may have been confiscated during the owner's arrest for an offense that didn't involve the gun and results in a citation or misdemeanor conviction that still allows them to possess a firearm. Their cases highlight the increasingly delicate balance between law enforcement, safety and gun rights, one likely to become even trickier as Wisconsin residents begin legally carrying concealed weapons. |
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