07 March 2012

March 7, 2012   Today's Stories

Legendary Hacker Sabu Helps FBI Crack Cybercrime Group 'Anonymous' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An influential computer hacker turned FBI informant led investigators to his former accomplices, helping federal agents make their first significant crack into Anonymous, a cybergroup that attacks corporate and government websites, reports USA Today. Four members of the international computer hacking group LulzSec were charged Tuesday with a worldwide conspiracy after the legendary hacker known in Internet circles as Sabu exposed the inner workings of the sophisticated attacks. LulzSec hackers are allegedly part of a loose confederation of computer saboteurs known as Anonymous, which has "waged a deliberate campaign of online destruction, intimidation and criminality," according to an indictment made public Tuesday in a federal court in New York. Twitter, where many hackers boast of their conquests, lit up with recriminations after the indictment disclosed that Hector Xavier Monsegur, 28, of New York, had pleaded guilty to federal hacking charges in August. He worked for the FBI for eight months following his June 7 arrest, according to a sworn statement by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Christensen. USA Today

A Dozen States Consider Laws to Eliminate Concealed Gun Permits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Legislatures in a dozen states are considering laws that would eliminate requirements that residents obtain permits to carry concealed weapons, reports USA Today. Gun-control advocates view the efforts as part of a long-range strategy to eventually weaken gun laws across the country. But supporters say armed, law-abiding citizens prevent crime. The states are include Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia. Andrew Arulanandam, policy director for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, which supports these legislative efforts, argues that crime rates are low in four states - Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming - that already allow residents to carry without a permit. "Our viewpoint is, a good person will always be a good person," he said. "They don't need a license to be a good person." Brian Malte, the director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, calls a permitless system "a recipe for disaster." USA Today

'New Jim Crow' Book Documents Racist Impact of U.S. Crime Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A provocative book about the racial impact of American crime policy, by law professor Michelle Alexander, has become a surprise best-seller. "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" has sold some 175,000 copies after an initial hardcover printing of a mere 3,000, reports the New York Times. For many African-Americans, the book - which has spent six weeks on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list - gives eloquent and urgent expression to deep feelings that the criminal justice system is stacked against them. The book marshals pages of statistics and legal citations to argue that the get-tough approach to crime that began in the Nixon administration and intensified with Ronald Reagan's declaration of the war on drugs has devastated black America. Today, Professor Alexander writes, nearly one-third of black men are likely to spend time in prison at some point, only to find themselves falling into permanent second-class citizenship after they get out. That is a familiar argument made by many critics of the criminal justice system, but Professor Alexander's book goes further, asserting that the crackdown was less a response to the actual explosion of violent crime than a deliberate effort to push back the gains of the civil rights movement. New York Times

Accountability Courts Find Believers in Georgia, Including the Governor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Atlanta Journal and Constitution this week is publishing a series that takes a close look at "accountability courts," which are central to a new approach to justice in Georgia. The state's typical response to crime - from stealing to nonviolent drug offenses to armed robbery and homicide - has been to lock people up. While effective in taking people off the streets, this approach has had two obvious consequences: The first is a $1 billion annual corrections budget that is growing by the year; the second is that minor criminals often leave prison to become major criminals, a greater danger to the community than when they went in. The state now has 101 accountability courts, many of which require defendants to work, stay sober and get treatment, and Gov. Nathan Deal is proposing in this year's budget to quintuple the funding for them to $10 million. Deal is a former prosecutor and judge. His son, Superior Court Judge Jason Deal, who swore-in his father as governor, is known to hand out stiff sentences to drug dealers. But Judge Deal also presides over accountability courts in Hall and Dawson counties, and he's a believer. "Those who get it, those who buy into what we're doing, they're changed people when they complete drug court," Jason Deal said. "Drug court is the best part of what I do as a judge. It's by far the most rewarding." Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Times Editorial Decries Supreme Ruling on Miranda Protocols ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In an editorial, the New York Times says the Supreme Court recently did significant damage to the Miranda rule, which requires that suspects in custody be told of their right to remain silent and to have a lawyer present, and that any statements they make could be used against them in criminal proceedings. The paper says, "Without these warnings, statements made are inadmissible as evidence, the court said in the 1966 case Miranda v. Arizona, because "the very fact of custodial interrogation exacts a heavy toll on individual liberty, and trades on the weaknesses of individuals." The paper says that principle was violated by the court's new ruling in Howes v. Fields, a case involving Randall Lee Fields, who was in jail in Michigan for disorderly conduct. He was interrogated by sheriffs there and, based on what he said, was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for a sex crime. The Times says, "The court's 6-to-3 majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito Jr., said that Mr. Fields should not be considered in 'custody' for Miranda purposes because a person already in jail is not shocked and coercible as someone newly arrested might be; cannot be induced to speak in hopes of being released; and does not worry that a sentence will be lengthened if he does not cooperate." But the Times says Fields had no choice when he was taken from his cell to be questioned in a locked conference room for seven hours into the night, without being told why he was being interrogated about behavior unconnected to his disorderly conduct. He surely would have felt an acute imbalance of power with the police. New York Times

In Response to Crime Surge, Michigan Governor Plans Additional Funding ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was expected to announce a $15 million package of public safety funding and reforms Wednesday in Flint, reports the Associated Press. The plan is expected to include crime prevention and criminal justice reforms to help former criminals gain skills and jobs. Michigan's crime problem has drawn international attention, and Snyder noted during his February budget address that Flint, Detroit, Pontiac and Saginaw rank among the nation's top 10 in violent crime rates for cities with at least 50,000 people. "That's unacceptable," Snyder said. It's unclear, however, whether his proposal will do much to help local governments cope with steep declines in police and firefighters during the past decade. Shrinking state and local budgets have left the state with 3,400 fewer law enforcement officers since the terrorist attacks in September 2001, according to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards. Michigan lost nearly 15 percent of its civilian and officer law enforcement employees combined from 2001 through 2010, the steepest percentage drop in the U.S., according to a review of annual FBI statistics. Associated Press

Judge Blocks Release of Report on UC Davis Pepper-Spray Incident ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A California judge Tuesday temporarily blocked the release of a University of California investigative report about the controversial pepper-spraying of UC Davis student protesters by campus police in November, reports the Los Angeles Times. Judge Evelio Grillo's ruling in an Oakland courtroom came at the request of the UC police union, which contends that state law forbids public disclosure of such information as the names of UC Davis campus police officers involved in the spraying incident and personnel information garnered from interviews with them. The matter is scheduled to return to court on March 16 for a hearing. Police union attorney John Bakhit said he was not seeking to squelch the entire report about the police tactics, which was written by a task force chaired by former state Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso with help from a security consulting firm headed by former Los Angeles police Chief William J. Bratton. But Bakhit said he wanted UC to cut out the portions containing what he said appeared to be confidential personnel information that he likened to a patient's hospital records. Even though the names of two of the officers are widely known and have appeared in media reports, other information about them has not been disclosed and other officers have not been identified, he added. Los Angeles Times

L.A. County Courts Face a New Round of Layoffs, Cutbacks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Los Angeles County Superior Court system is expected to lay off about 350 employees in June and "restructure" more than 50 courtrooms because of deep cuts in funding by the state, according to the Los Angeles Times. The latest reductions come after the court has already reduced staff by 500 -- or about 10% -- due to layoffs and attrition over the last two years. "These changes will affect every judicial officer and staff member -- as well as the millions of attorneys and litigants who depend upon our courts to deliver justice," Presiding Judge Lee Smalley Edmon and Executive Officer John A. Clarke wrote in a four-page memo. "Nonetheless, there is no escaping the fact that this next round of cuts will be the most significant event to happen in our court .... Never before has a budget crisis dealt so crippling a blow to our court." While exact details of the austerity plan have yet to be worked out, the court contraction will include $30 million in staffing-related cuts as part of $48 million in overall spending reductions. Savings will be wrung from several areas. Some $6.8 million in savings would result after layoffs to 50 judicial assistants and 20 courtroom assistants. Another $10.2 million would come from elimination of more than 60 court reporter posts and conversion of a similar number of full-time positions to part time. Plans call for $4.8 in cuts to courtrooms in juvenile courts and $8.2 million in reductions to "non-courtroom staff" amounting to 100 positions across the court system. Los Angeles Times

Four AP Reporters Win Harvard Prize for NYPD Investigation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four Associated Press reporters won the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting on Tuesday for a series of stories about the New York Police Department's widespread surveillance of Muslims after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the news service reports. Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Chris Hawley and Eileen Sullivan won the $25,000 prize for their extensive reporting on the spying programs that monitored and recorded life in Muslim communities. Alex S. Jones, director of the center that gives out the prize, the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said the Goldsmith judges "found that the AP had shown great courage and fortitude in pursuing what they knew would be a very sensitive story, but it was one that needed to be told." The four reported that police monitored mosques and Muslims around the New York metropolitan area and kept tabs on Muslim student groups at universities in the region. Other criminal justice-related finalists for the Goldsmith Prize included the New York Times, for reporting on state workers who beat or sexually abused developmentally disabled people, and ProPublica and the Washington Post, for an analysis of the Justice Department's presidential pardon recommendations during George W. Bush's administration that showed racial bias and other problems. Associated Press

$7 Billion Ponzi Conviction Completes a Long Fall for Miami's Stanford ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Allen Stanford, the flamboyant billionaire banker who concocted one of the country's most spectacular frauds from an Antiguan bank and a posh Miami office, was found guilty Tuesday by a federal jury in Houston of bilking thousands of investors of more than $7 billion, reports the Miami Herald. The once powerful businessman whose extravagant lifestyle included a $10 mansion near Coral Gables and a $6 million yacht on Biscayne Bay, was convicted on nearly every charge in what prosecutors called one of the nation's largest Ponzi schemes. One of the wealthiest people in the U.S. before his arrest three years ago, Stanford looked down as the verdict was read, while his mother and daughters hugged each other in the courtroom. The verdict marks the final chapter of a rags-to-riches story that began with Stanford's humble roots in Texas, and later his foray into the Caribbean where he founded a fledgling bank in Antigua that became the center of one of the largest banking empires in the hemisphere. Prosecutors charged that Stanford reaped most of his money from the sale of bogus certificates of deposit in his bank. The funds for the CDs were never properly invested but poured into a string of failed businesses, luxury homes, private jets and sports sponsorships including a $20 million cricket tournament. Miami Herald

Rehab Gets Short Shrift as Fresno's Jail Population Increases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fresno County has poured millions of dollars into law enforcement over the past six months to manage hundreds of new criminals shifted from state to county hands. It eventually will add nearly 900 new beds and will hire nearly 20 probation officers. But the Fresno Bee says little money has gone toward rehabilitation for the new criminal population. No drug treatment has been added. No new mental-health services exist. No additional vocational training is offered. County public-safety leaders say it's just a matter of time before such services are put in place. But critics say the county is offering too little too late. The county was given responsibility for more criminals last year under the state-funded policy known as realignment. But without realignment-funded rehabilitation programs, critics say, more offenders will repeat their bad behavior and the cycle of crime will continue. "Fresno has always taken this old attitude of just lock them up," Public Defender Kenneth Taniguchi said. "This is an opportunity for the county to do something different." Fresno Bee

Advocacy Group Notes Troubling Facts About Incarcerated Women ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Center for American Progress notes some troubling facts about the incarceration of women. The Washington, D.C.-based progressive organization says the number of women incarcerated has increased by 800 percent over the past three decades, and minority women are locked up at disproportional rates. It says as many as nine out of 10 women under the control of the criminal justice system have a history of domestic or sexual abuse. The center says many girls who enter the juvenile justice system are runaways with a history of abuse. It adds that women face barriers in effectively re-entering society and providing for themselves and their children after they are released from incarceration. Women of color, who are disproportionately poor, find themselves restricted from governmental assistance programs, such as housing, employment, education, and subsistence benefits. Many states even impose statutory bans on people with certain convictions working in certain industries such as nursing, child care, and home health care-three fields in which many poor women and women of color happen to be disproportionately concentrated. Center for American Progress