08 March 2012

March 8, 2012   Today's Stories

Pharmacists Now Man Front Line of Florida 'Pill Mill' War ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A year after stepped-up enforcement began, Florida's "pill mill" problem has diminished but evolved, reports the Wall Street Journal. Drug users and dealers have adapted to the changing landscape, and pill demand has shifted to retail pharmacies and other establishments that appear to have been set up to skirt the new restrictions. Pharmacists find themselves on the front lines of the pain-pill fight. Pharmacies are struggling to deal with the influx of customers who used to rely on pain clinics to get controlled drugs, said Michael Jackson, chief executive of the Florida Pharmacy Association. The onus is on them to determine whether prescriptions are fraudulent or unnecessary-a difficult task given the lack of uniform guidelines on how pharmacists are supposed to evaluate prescriptions. "You have to rely on a pharmacist's intuition," said Jackson. "This is not a perfect science." Wall Street Journal

Advocacy Center's Survey Finds Surge in Militias, Hate Groups ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fed by antagonism toward President Obama, resentment toward changing racial demographics and the economic rift between rich and poor, the number of hate groups and antigovernment organizations in the nation has continued to grow, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. The center, which has kept track of such groups for 30 years, recorded 1,018 hate groups operating last year, says the New York Times. The number of groups whose ideology is organized against specific racial, religious, sexual or other characteristics has risen steadily since 2000, when 602 were identified, the center said. Antigay groups, for example, have risen to 27 from 17 in 2010. The report also described a "stunning" rise in the number of groups it identifies as part of the so-called patriot and militia movements, whose ideologies include deep distrust of the federal government. In 2011, the center tracked 1,274 of those groups, up from 824 the year before. New York Times

FBI Director Warns of New Terrorism: Computer Attacks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress Wednesday that terrorists may seek to train their own recruits or hire outsiders with an eye toward pursuing cyber attacks on the United States, reports the New York Times. "Terrorists have not used the Internet to launch a full-scale cyber attack, but we cannot underestimate their intent," Mueller said in prepared testimony to a House appropriations subcommittee. He said terrorists have shown interest in developing hacking skills, and that the evolving nature of the problem makes the FBI's counterterrorism mission more difficult. Mueller said there are FBI cyber squads in each of the bureau's 56 field offices. The FBI has more than 1,000 specially trained agents, analysts, and digital forensic examiners who run complex undercover operations and examine digital evidence. The hacking group Anonymous embarrassed the F.B.I. in February when it posted a 16-minute recording of a conference between the bureau and law enforcement officials in Europe about their joint investigation into the hackers. New York Times

Speeding Kills, But States Mostly Ignore Highway Reforms ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seven years ago, highway safety leaders from around the U.S. gathered to adapt a strategy for attacking speeding - a problem that contributes to about one-third of all traffic deaths, reports USA Today. Since then, seven states have actually increased speed limits while two have increased speeding fines. In 2010, 10,530 people died in speed-related crashes. Over the past decade, speeding has been the one area of road safety where advocates have had little success: Fatalities related to non-use of seat belts dropped 23% since 2000 and drunken-driving deaths 3%; speed-related deaths rose 7%. "There hasn't been much done at the state level or the federal level on speeding" since 2005, says Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association Her group, which represents state highway safety offices, recently surveyed members to see what progress is being made on speeding and aggressive driving. The collective response: not much. USA Today

New Jersey FBI Boss Criticizes NYPD for Muslim Spying ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As friction over the New York police spying on New Jersey's Muslims continues to grow, the FBI's top officer in the Garden State says the uproar is damaging his agency's ability to gather important counterterrorism intelligence, reports the Newark Star-Ledger. Muslims had already distrusted law enforcers and feared they were being watched, said Michael Ward, director of the FBI's Newark division "And the impact of that sinking tide of cooperation means that we don't have our finger on the pulse of what's going on in the community, as well," he said. "We're less knowledgeable, we have blind spots, and there's more risk." In his first public comments on the deepening controversy - one that Tuesday also saw the filing of a formal complaint by civil rights groups with the state's attorney general - Ward said the FBI has spent the years after 9/11 opening lines of communication with New Jersey's Muslim communities. In a rare public criticism of another agency, Ward also questioned whether the now widely known surveillance the New York Police Department conducted in 2007 in Newark - as plainclothes officers charted mosques and other places frequented by Muslims - was effective intelligence gathering. Newark Star-Ledger

Michigan Governor Touts 'Smart Justice' in Anti-Crime Plan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder wants to add 180 state troopers, hire 20 forensic scientists and expand drug and mental health courts throughout the state, reports the Detroit News. The public safety plan unveiled by Snyder in Flint on Tuesday includes strategies to fight truancy, joblessless and other root causes of crime in Michigan's four most violent cities. The governor said he supports "smart justice" in Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Pontiac. Snyder did not say he would support funding for additional police officers in the four cities as some police chiefs had hoped. Instead, the first-term Republican governor detailed a series of initiatives targeting criminal activity and poverty. "Overall, it's a good plan," said Flint Police Chief Al Lock, who will see the city's jail reopened and corrections officers embedded with his department under the plan. "Not having a lock-up has been a hindrance - the criminals know we don't have a place to hold 'em." Detroit News

Idaho Judge Seals Inflammatory Prison Report; Hearing Set ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Idaho Department of Correction officials say a report on health care and other conditions at a Boise prison is so inflammatory that it must remain sealed, reports the Associated Press. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill appointed a prison health care expert last year to see if Idaho is complying with a ruling in a lawsuit brought by inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Institution. The report was filed under seal last month, and the judge ordered attorneys to review the document to see if any information should be redacted to protect health privacy concerns. Though they agreed no such redactions were needed, the state says the report should be sealed anyway because the public could mistakenly believe it amounted to the opinion of the court, leading to an "unjustified public scandal." A hearing on the matter is set for Thursday afternoon. Idaho Deputy Attorney General Colleen Zahn wrote the report has "serious deficiencies" that "resulted in inflammatory and unsupported legal findings accusing the Department and its third-party medical contractor, Corizon Inc., of serious constitutional violations." Circulating those findings would amount to libel, Zahn contends. Associated Press

I Paid a Bribe: Website Calls Attention to 'Retail Corruption' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A website is calling attention to what its founder calls "retail corruption" in the developing world--the sort of nickel-and-dime bribery, as opposed to large-scale graft, that infects everyday life, reports the New York Times. Swati Ramanathan and her husband in August 2010 started ipaidabribecom, a site that collects anonymous reports of bribes paid, bribes requested but not paid and requests that were expected but not forthcoming. About 80 percent of the more than 400,000 reports to the site tell stories of officials and bureaucrats seeking illicit payments to provide routine services or process paperwork and forms--to enroll a student in school, get a tax legitimate tax refund or received a driver's license after passing the test. "I was asked to pay a bribe to get a birth certificate for my daughter," someone in Bangalore, India, wrote in to the Web site on Feb. 29, recording payment of a 120-rupee bribe in Bangalore. "The guy in charge called it 'fees' " - except there are no fees charged for birth certificates, Ramanathan said. New York Times

Second Alabama Vote-Buying Trial Ends in Acquittal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After seven days Montgomery, a second federal court jury in Montgomery, Ala., has acquitted six politicians, lobbyists and a casino owner of corruption and bribery charges in connection with their failed attempt to get the State Legislature to legalize some forms of gambling in 2010. The case exposed the often sordid backroom dealing of Alabama politics, but at the heart of the case was an argument about whether the dealing was criminal or simply the messy reality of the legislative process, according to the New York Times. The defendants were acquitted on all 27 counts. The Birmingham News called it a sweeping defeat for federal prosecutors. They had accused a casino owner of being the kingpin of a conspiracy to buy and sell votes for a gambling bill in the Alabama Legislature by using campaign contributions as vote-swaying bribes. "They never had the evidence," said defense attorney Joe Espy. Birmingham News

Busier Crime Labs Continue to Struggle With DNA Backlogs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After 12 years and $785 million in federal funding to reduce a DNA testing backlog, a serious problem continues to exist, reports Stateline. Recent advances in science and technology have made DNA a more useful tool for convicting the guilty and exonerating the innocent, but delays in processing DNA evidence are keeping criminals on the streets. Kermit Channel, director of the Arkansas state crime lab, says, "Because the technology offers so much more today than even five or six years ago, law enforcement is asking for more and more from us." Federal funding has helped labs keep current on analysis of evidence from violent felonies, but Channel says testing of property crime evidence lags. In addition to analyzing DNA evidence recovered from crime scenes, crime labs are tasked with maintaining databases that hold DNA profiles of certain convicted offenders. State and local DNA databases and the national DNA database, connected through the FBI-run system CODIS, have become important tools for solving crimes in cases for which there are no suspects. As of January 2012, CODIS had led to 171,800 "hits" or matches and assisted in more than 165,100 investigations, according to the FBI. Stateline

Former MD Governor Seeks to Fix Inequities in Pardons Process ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For years, lawyers, faith-based groups and students have helped file petitions for inmates seeking to cut short lengthy prison sentences. But there have been no comparable resources for felons who sought pardons after serving their time. That may soon change, says the Washington Post. In response to stories published in December by ProPublica and the Post, former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich plans to launch the nation's first law school clinic and training program devoted to pardons. Ehrlich's proposal takes aim at the inequities identified by ProPublica's investigation into the dispensation of presidential pardons over the past decade. White applicants were nearly four times as likely to receive forgiveness as minorities. African Americans had the worst chances of being pardoned. Applicants with congressional support were three times as likely to receive pardons as those without it. Ehrlich, who granted clemency to more than 200 convicts while in office from 2003 to 2007, said a pardons program would help disadvantaged applicants and give law school students experience dealing with people seeking a second chance, fostering "a sense of fairness and justice." Washington Post

Arpaio's Pink Undies for AZ Inmates Unconstitutional? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Firebrand Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio's requirement that jail inmates wear pink underwear may be unconstitutional when applied to prisoners who haven't been convicted of a crime, a federal appeals court said on Wednesday. Reuters says two members of a three-judge appeal panel raised the issue while ruling for the majority in a related lawsuit against Arpaio and Maricopa County. But they stopped short of striking down the pink-underwear practice, saying it had not been formally challenged by plaintiffs in the case. Pink underwear for male jail inmates is famously part of the tough stance against crime taken by Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County who has come under fire by the U.S. Justice Department for a crackdown on illegal immigration that the government said involved racial profiling. "Unexplained and undefended, the dress-out in pink appears to be punishment without legal justification," U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John T. Noonan wrote for the majority. Reuters