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. Arizona Republic

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. Chicago Sun-Times

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." Huffington Post

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. Cincinnati Enquirer

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. San Jose Mercury News

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. Houston Chronicle

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. USA Today

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. Austin American-Statesman

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. Chicago Tribune

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. Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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. New York Times

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. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel