23 Dec 2011

Dec. 23, 2011



ATF Relaxes Rules Restricting Gun Purchases by Non-Citizens

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ATF is relaxing restrictions on the sale of guns to noncitizens because Justice Department lawyers have concluded that the rules had no legal basis, reports the New York Times. In a letter to firearms dealers on Thursday, the bureau said it would soon drop a regulation that bars the sale of guns to noncitizens until they can document that they have lived in a state for at least 90 days, such as by producing three months of utility bills in their name at a local address.

While citizens, too, must generally be residents of a state in order to buy weapons there, the 90-day rule does not apply to them. The letter said the Justice Department had concluded that the Gun Control Act does not empower the ATF to impose a stricter requirement on noncitizen gun buyers. Under the new policy, both U.S. citizens and aliens legally present in the U.S. will be subject to the same requirements, the ATF said in the letter. Critics said the relaxed restrictions could make it easier for foreign terrorists to obtain weapons inside the United States.

New York Times


Florida Pol Reveals Secret: TSA Body Scanners 'Badly Flawed'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. Rep. John Mica, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee, says the Transportation Security Administration's airport body scanners are "badly flawed" and "can be subverted," reports ProPublica. The TSA uses hundreds of the devices to prevent suicide bombers from smuggling explosives onto planes. But Mica says indicate a significant failure rate. "If we could reveal the failure rate, the American public would be outraged," he said earlier this year.

Mica's comments received almost no press coverage. But his outrage, together with other reports by government inspectors and outside researchers, raise the disturbing possibility that body scanners are performing far less well than the TSA contends. The issue is difficult to assess since the government classifies the detection rates of the devices, saying it doesn't want to give terrorists a sense of their chances of beating the system. But the evidence is mounting. Last week, Department of Homeland Security investigators reported that they had "identified vulnerabilities" in the scanners' detection capability. And Mica described the findings of covert tests on the machines "embarrassing."

ProPublica


Wichita Council Approves Carrying of Guns in Many City Buildings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wichita City Hall voted this week to allow citizens to bring concealed guns into 111 city-owned buildings, reports the city's Eagle. The vote was 4-3 along party lines, with Democrats strongly opposed and Republicans in support of the ordinance.

The state legalized the carrying of concealed weapons six years ago, allowing each city to form its own ordinance. Wichita had originally banned guns in all of the 392 city-owned buildings. But after the vote, 111 buildings will allow concealed weapons, including 82 parks and recreation facilities, 19 fire stations, four public works facilities and six garages. Mayor Carl Brewer, Vice Mayor Lavonta Williams and City Council member Janet Miller pushed for a public hearing on the issue, to no avail.

Wichita Eagle


Probe Finds Scrutiny by Coroners Lacking When the Elderly Die

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ProPublica and PBS "Frontline" say they have identified more than three dozen cases in which the alleged neglect, abuse or even murder of senior citizens eluded authorities. But for the intervention of whistleblowers, concerned relatives and others, the truth about these deaths might never have come to light. Often, the system errs by omission. If a senior dies under suspicious circumstances, there's no guarantee anyone will ever investigate, and autopsies on the elderly have become increasingly rare.

ProPublica, in concert with other news organizations, has been scrutinizing the nation's medical examiner officers, which are responsible for probing sudden and unusual fatalities. It has found that these agencies -- hampered by chronic underfunding, a shortage of trained doctors and a lack of national standards -- have sometimes helped to send innocent people to prison and allowed killers to walk free. Concerning the deaths of the elderly, it found that when treating physicians report that a death is natural, coroners and medical examiners almost never investigate; that in most states doctors canfill out a death certificate without ever seeing the body, and that the overall share of autopsies of seniors declined by more than half between 1972 and 2007.

ProPublica


Survey Indicates Police Are Overburdened by Mental Health Overflow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new nationwide survey of 2,406 senior law enforcement officials indicates that police agencies are being overburdened by the mentally ill, according to the Huffington Post. DJ Jaffe, executive director of PublicIllnessPolicy.org, writes that this is the unintended consequence of a policy change that "removed the daily care of our nation's severely mentally ill population from the medical community and place it with the criminal justice system," prompting a spike in the arrests of severely mentally ill persons.

The survey by Michael C. Biasotti, vice president of the New York State Chiefs of Police, calls for implementation of assisted outpatient treatment laws to improve care for people with mental illness, conserve law enforcement resources, and keep patients and the public safer. The laws allow courts to order mandatory treatment for severely mentally ill individuals who have a past history of dangerous behavior, arrest, incarceration or multiple hospitalizations.

Huffington Post


All Eyes on NYC Anti-Crime Project, But Not Much to See So Far

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are more questions than answers so far about the Young Men's Initiative, a highly touted three-year, $127 million program launched in New York by Mayor Michael Bloomberg last August. It was hailed at the time as an innovative approach to ending the cycle of poverty and educational disadvantage that has condemned thousands of young minority men to a bleak future. But details of the program have been hard to come by, and skeptics are wondering whether the project is as innovative as it claims to be, according to The Crime Report.

The initiative stands out because of the way it mixes philanthropy with tax dollars in an effort to help revenue-starved municipalities promote innovative ideas at a time of economic crisis. Financier George Soros pledged $30 million to the project, and Bloomberg, one of America's richest men, is kicking in $30 million of his own money. Taxpayers would provide the remaining $67 million. But when Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs was grilled about the program last month by City Council members, she referred them to the program's website. In an interview, Gibbs conceded that she had made some tactical mistakes in getting the initiative off the ground.

The Crime Report


A Second Judge Criticizes SEC Over Soft Corporate Crime Settlement

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A federal judge in Milwaukee has criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission for being too soft with corporate enforcement, marking the second time the agency has been criticized for weak settlements in the past month, reports the Huffington Post. Last month, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff put the kibosh on the agency's $258 million proposed settlement with Citibank. Now, Judge Rudolph Randa has told the SEC that its proposed settlement with the Koss Corp. is too vague and asked the agency to provide more facts by Jan. 24. In October the SEC charged Koss Corp., a headphone-manufacturer, with accounting fraud.

Wednesday's ruling is the latest in a string of actions by federal judges to challenge the way the government agency enforces regulations. The decision underscores the significance of the November ruling by Judge Rakoff to toss out the proposed settlement between the SEC and Citigroup that didn't have enough facts and did not force the corporation to admit guilt. The SEC responded that the proposed agreement was business as usual, but the two decisions indicate the status quo may be changing.

Huffington Post


'Wily' Politician Sets Sights on Justice Reform in Cook County, Ill.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Chicago Reader profiles Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County board, who has set a goal of reshaping the county's $1 billion-a-year criminal justice system, starting with shrinking the number of nonviolent offenders behind bars. For decades crafty politicians have been finding creative ways to convince voters that they're cracking down on crime, mostly by playing on racial fears and locking up black men for drugs. But Preckwinkle is a wily politician herself, and she's betting that concerns about crime have evolved. She argues that voters don't just want "toughness"-they want smarts. And she knows they're tired of being asked to pay more and more for policies with unclear results.

She has set a 2012 goal of cutting the daily inmate rolls by at least 1,000, or more than 10 percent. It would save taxpayers $5 million. Preckwinkle's jail campaign really began this summer, when she declared the war on drugs had "failed." She then pressured Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to get city police to stop making arrests for misdemeanor marijuana possession. There are about 23,000 of these arrests a year, which end up costing the county at least $78 million annually in court and jail expenses.

Chicago Reader


'The Weep': When Tears Flow in Court, Do Lawyers Have a Stategy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weep is a courthouse staple, notes the New York Times. The latest excruciating example came this week, as a previously powerful state senator from Brooklyn, Carl Kruger, sobbed his way through an admission of receiving bribes sufficient to have financed a shiny Bentley and a mansion originally built for a mob boss. Kruger's wad of tissues emphasized the humiliation of the moment. But his defense-table crying was far from unique. Which raises a question: What is the proper response to a courtroom wailer? Look away? Tell him or her to man up?

Defense lawyers, who are usually the ones within tissue-supplying range, say that in court, as in life, there is no easy answer. "You can't do much about it," said Ronald P. Fischetti, a defense lawyer who has handled his share of weeping politicians and red-eyed white-collar criminals. "You can put your arm around him," Fischetti offered. Kruger's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said that sitting next to his sobbing client was an ordeal, particularly because he could sense the ridicule coming. Many people, he said, "have watched too much TV and believe everything is rehearsed and staged."

New York Times


NJ Internal Affairs Reports Omit Key Data on Open Investigations

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After rolling out tougher rules in May for police departments' internal affairs units, State Attorney General Paula Dow has released new reporting forms that omit a crucial question: How many complaints about police officers are being investigated at the end of each year? The Newark Star-Ledger says the new forms, which were published Tuesday, don't require police departments to list the number of open investigations at year's end, raising concerns among rights' advocates that cases will continue to fall off the books, as they have for years.

"The intention with these forms is to provide a snapshot of accountability," Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for Dow, said today. "That reporting was never intended as a means to track individual cases." But Deborah Jacobs, executive director of ACLU-NJ, who initially supported Dow's proposals until she saw the finished product on Tuesday, called it "a huge step backward." Critics said it was the second time this month that Dow, who is leaving for a new job at year's end, limited access to public data. Earlier this month, she restricted information on overtime compensation for state law enforcement officers. Her office said today she was only codifying a set of legal precedents dating to 2002.

Newark Star-Ledger


Under Pressure, Seattle Mayor Orders Chief to Carry Out Federal Reforms

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Facing mounting public outcry, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has ordered Police Chief John Diaz to immediately begin carrying out reforms urged by the U.S. Department of Justice in its scathing report on the Police Department's use of force, says the city's Times. The directive represented a dramatic change of course for McGinn, who stood with Diaz when the Justice Department report was issued last Friday, and both questioned what they called "allegations" that Seattle police engaged in a pattern of excessive use of force.

It also set the city on a course that could result in the most sweeping changes in the Police Department since it was fundamentally altered in the 1970s after decades of corruption and payoffs. McGinn said he would convene a public review panel to oversee the city's response to the report, which also raised serious concerns about the Police Department's treatment of minorities. Although McGinn reaffirmed his support of Diaz, the chief now finds himself in a weakened position, forced to accept the mayor's edict after Diaz defiantly challenged the Justice Department findings.

Seattle Times


California Funeral Home Inspector a 'Mortician With a Badge'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Los Angeles Times profiles Steve Allen, a field representative for California's Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Called "mortician with a badge," Allen visits funeral homes to check licenses, inspect embalming and storage rooms and look at the price sheets. He knows how disconcerting the work might sound to an outsider - poking around funeral homes, looking into the backrooms and darkened closets for anything amiss - yet he does not take his authority lightly.

With a staff of 18 and an annual budget of $4 million, the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau employs nine field representatives like Allen whose job is to make sure licensed cemeteries, crematories and funeral establishments are not breaking state laws and regulations. The bureau is overseen by the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Los Angeles Times