14 Feb 2012

Feb. 14, 2012 Today's Stories
In Shift, Private Corrections Firm Offers to Buy State Prisons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets," reports the Huffington Post. In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full. The move reflects a significant shift in strategy for the private prison industry, which until now has expanded by building prisons of its own or managing state-controlled prisons. It also represents an unprecedented bid for more control of state prison systems. Corrections Corporation has been a swiftly growing business, with revenues expanding more than fivefold since the mid-1990s. The company capitalized on the expansion of state prison systems in the '80s and '90s at the height of the so-called 'war on drugs,' contracting with state governments to build or manage new prisons to house an influx of drug offenders. During the past 10 years, it has found new opportunities in the business of locking up undocumented immigrants. CCA's offer of $250 million toward purchasing existing state prisons is yet another avenue for potential growth. The company has billed the "corrections investment initiative" as a convenient option for states in need of fresh revenue streams: The state benefits from a one-time infusion of cash, while the prison corporation wins a new long-term contract. Huffington Post
Growing Trend in NYC: 'Community Guns' Shared by Criminals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times says community guns, hidden and shared by a small group of people who use them when needed, appear to be rising in number in New York. It is unclear why, but money may be one reason. "The gangs are younger, and their resources are less," said Ed Talty, an assistant district attorney in the Bronx. The hiding places include keyed mailboxes, car wheel wells, light pole compartments and garbage pails. "Behind some bushes or under a building," said State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, who has visited the scenes of shootings in his Queens district that were linked to community guns. The police believe that a community gun is now in play in a series of gang-related shootings in East New York, Brooklyn, between the Rock Starz and their colorfully named rivals, the Very Crispy Gangsters. Sharing guns predates the Wild West, but the sophistication of maintaining today's community gun can be striking. "You call it a community gun, so that name has to be able to market itself," Senator Smith said. "You have a business model behind this concept, a schedule, which is a shame. If they used that intellect for something positive, who knows how successful that person could be?" New York Times
Texas Murders Highlight Dilemma of 'Open Line' Calls to 911 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Open line" silent calls to 911 during urgent emergencies have long plagued dispatchers, reports the New York Times. To those on the receiving end of the line, the silence can signify a prank, a pocket-dial or, just as easily, something haunting. The paper cites an open-line call on Christmas Day 2011 to 911 in Grapevine, Texas, where a dispatcher heard only static, a few muffled comments and breathing. In fact, a gunman named Aziz Yazdanpanah was in the process of shooting six relatives. Across the country, policies on open-line calls vary, depending on the size and resources of the city. Some require dispatchers to investigate every call, reaching out to cellphone service providers for more information if necessary. Faced with the uncertainty of an open line, dispatchers sometimes send officers into comically innocuous settings, some of which make the local newspapers. In 2008, when a dispatcher in Shrewsbury, Mass., heard a child screaming in the background, the responding officer reported that an "8-year-old child was given a timeout and called 911." And last winter, a dispatcher in Glenburn, Me., sent a deputy to an empty house, where a pug named Lucy was found chewing on the phone that had dialed 911. New York Times
'Speed Freak Killer' Brings Spotlight to His Northern CA Hometown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Authorities are searching near Linden, Calif., after a man on death row for murder claimed that he and a boyhood friend killed many others and dumped their remains there. Serial killer Wesley Shermantine says he was a partner in murders committed by a neighbor, Loren Herzog. Shermantine, 46, was condemned for killing women with Herzog in the 1980s and '90s. A neighbor called them "total trouble" and "scary speed freaks," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. So far, more than 300 bone fragments have been dug up near Linden, along with shoes, jewelry, coats and a purse. Herzog, 45, hanged himself on Jan. 16. When Shermantine and Herzog were arrested in 1999, they were dubbed the Speed Freak Killers for committing a string of methamphetamine-fueled slayings throughout Central California. Between them, they were convicted of seven murders, but investigators believe they killed more than a dozen people. Shermantine started doling out details of body locations to several people, including a local bounty hunter, a Stockton Record reporter and a retired FBI agent, this winter in hopes of getting reward money to pay off debts and buy candy bars and other goodies prized in prison. Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla struck a deal to pay Shermantine $33,000 for the information. San Francisco Chronicle
A Hold-the-Line Budget at Justice May Avoid Conservative Fire ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President Obama's Justice Department spending plan for next year is a balancing act, with a few tiny increases for popular programs and $1 billion in various forms of cuts. The $27.1 billion budget sent to Congress would be an 0.4 percent drop from this year, says The Crime Report. Among the few items that would get more money: prosecution of financial crimes, civil rights enforcement, combating human trafficking, and increasing prison and detention capacity. Steady funding was assured for national security and Southwest border work. Obama would maintain many items favored by leaders of both parties, including the Violence Against Women Act, the Second Chance Act for prisoner re-entry, and anticrime aid to state and local governments, the so-called Byrne JAG program. The Crime Report
Assaults Up But Sexual Attacks Down at TX Juvenile Lockups ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Assaults between youths at secure juvenile offender facilities in Texas has tripled in the past five years, reports the Texas Tribune. Attacks on staff members also apparently increased, although statistics indicate reductions in violence perpetrated by staff and in all types of sexual assaults. Cherie Townsend, executive director of the juvenile justice agency, acknowledged there is room for more work, but she said that reforms are making the facilities safer. Advocates and experts, however, say the rise in youth-on-youth assaults and attacks on staff indicate there is still critical work to be done. "It's really disappointing," said Deborah Fowler, deputy director of Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit organization that advocates juvenile justice reform. "The implementation has not been what we hoped for." In 2007, following reports that staff at what was then the Texas Youth Commission had sexually and physically abused youths in their custody, legislators passed laws intended to improve conditions at the lockups. They gave counties incentives to keep low-level offenders in their communities, where they could be close to treatment services and support systems. The average daily population at the secure facilities has dropped to about 1,200 in 2011 from nearly 3,000 in 2007. Texas Tribune
Soros Donates $500,000 to CA Three-Strikes Ballot Initiative ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Billionaire investor George Soros has given $500,000 to the effort to overhaul California's three-strikes law, reports the Sacramento Bee. The donation to the "Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012" was reported Friday by the ballot drive's fundraising committee, sponsored by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, records show. Stanford University professor David Mills, the measure's proponent, invested an additional $250,000 last week. He cumulatively has contributed $603,000, records show. The campaign must collect 504,760 valid voter signatures by May 14 to qualify for the November ballot. The initiative would amend California law to require that only serious or violent felonies qualify as a third strike punishable by prison sentences of 25 years to life. The measure also would allow some offenders to appeal if they were sentenced under "three strikes" law after conviction of minor crimes. Sacramento Bee
Las Vegas Celebrates Criminal Roots With New Mob Museum ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the 83rd anniversary of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Las Vegas on Tuesday opened a new $42 million museum dedicated to the mobsters that helped create the desert Sin City, reports the Associated Press. Las Vegas has long been enamored with its gangster roots. Its longtime former mayor played himself in the mob flick "Casino" and hotels here often promote their nefarious origins. But the publicly funded Mob Museum, located downtown, represents a new height in its devotion to lawlessness. It's the second mob-themed attraction to open in Las Vegas in the past year. The Mob Experience at the Tropicana casino on the Las Vegas Strip quickly shut down because of slow ticket sales and other problems. It's slated to reopen later this year under the name Mob Attraction Las Vegas. City officials said their version will perform better because it's an authentic examination of the decisions and circumstances that made Las Vegas an international symbol of debauchery and excess. The museum is housed in a former Depression-era federal courthouse where the seventh of 14 U.S. Senate hearings on organized crime was held in the early 1950s. Associated Press
VA Gun Law Repeal 'Unfathomable,' Says WashPost Editorial ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In an editorial, the Washington Post takes Virginia legislators to task for discarding a law, passed 20 years ago, that imposed a one-a-month limit on gun purchases. The law was a response to the state's standing as a leading supplier of guns linked to crimes committed out of state. A study later showed that the limit reduced by 66 percent the number of Virginia-bought guns recovered from crimes scenes in the Northeast corridor. But last week, both chambers of the Virginia legislature approved eliminating the one-gun-a-month limit. The only thing standing in the way of the bill becoming law is the signature of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, who voted for the limit as a state delegate but has since reversed course. Washington Post
MI Group Portrayed at Trial as Social Club or Dangerous Militia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Was Michigan's Hutaree organization a harmless social club or a dangerous militia preparing for war with the government? Those were the opposing narratives presented Monday, by a federal prosecutor and a defense attorney, as the group's seditious conspiracy trial began in Detroit, reports the city's News. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline told jurors the group "wanted a war." Attorney Todd Shanker replied, "Calling this group a militia is pushing it. It's really a social club." Defense lawyers framed the case as a First Amendment fight. William Swor, defense lawyer for alleged Hutaree leader David Stone Sr., said, "David Stone was exercising his God-given right to blow off steam and open his mouth." Members of the group were arrested two years ago with national fanfare after Hutaree was infiltrated by an undercover agent and a paid informant. Detroit News
Police Chiefs Ask For Remote Shutdowns of Stolen Phones ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police chiefs are asking regulators and wireless-network operators to allow stolen smartphone devices to be shut down remotely through unique identification numbers within them, says the Washington Post. That could make it less likely that robbers would point a gun at a victim, knock someone down, or grab a smartphone from a subway rider because the device's resale value would plummet. "This is a national issue," says Washington, D.C., Police Chief Cathy Lanier. "We have done all we can at the local level." Lanier wants wireless companies to use existing technology to let people who report stolen phones ask their service providers to shut them down using IMEI numbers, a unique registration akin to a fingerprint. The United Kingdom uses a similar system. Lanier has sent a request, endorsed by other big-city police chiefs, asking the Federal Communications Commission to require mobile companies to "disable stolen mobile devices to deter the commission of these thefts." Said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, "It's a simple way to alleviate it. Why would [mobile companies] not want to do it?" Washington Post
Police Stun Gun Use Up In Poughkeepsie Area: FOI Search ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police stun-gun use in the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., area is growing, finds a Poughkeepsie Journal database analysis of 467 stun-gun reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Law from 19 local police departments. In 2006, 30 people were shocked with the so-called electronic control weapon or conducted energy device, the Journal research showed. By 2010, the number had more than tripled to 100. Among those stunned: a drunken and hysterical 15-year-old girl pulled off a school bus, a man believed to have broken the eye socket of another man, a suicidal woman who had slashed her arm with a knife, and a man holding a box cutter to his throat. The reports open a rare window on the frightening, chaotic, and adrenaline-laced life of a modern-day police officer. Poughkeepsie Journal