20 March 2012

March 20, 2012 Today's Stories

Robberies Spiking in Some Big Cities; "Cash, Tech Gear, Handbags" in D.C. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robbery is up more than 30 percent in Washington, D.C., this year, a jump that has forced police to redeploy resources, shake up tactics, and urge residents to provide tips and act as witnesses in investigations, the Washington Post reports. This year's increase is much larger than the rise last year, when robberies increased 5 percent. Driving the increase has been a jump in incidents in which a gun was used--up more than 70 percent. Commuters, pedestrians, and shop workers have had bags snatched and registers looted; they've been threatened with weapons and bare-handed violence; and robbers, alone or in groups, have grabbed cash, tech gear and handbags. The rise is significantly steeper than that seen in some other big cities. Robberies were up about 8 percent in New York through March 11, and rose about 10 percent in Philadelphia during the same time. It's meant busy days and nights for Washington police. "We are hammering robberies," Police Chief Cathy Lanier said. "We are putting everything we have into this." Washington Post

Gangs Causing Chicago Bloodbath, McCarthy Says; Audit Planned ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Responding to a bloodbath of violence over the weekend, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said he's seeing an "uptick" in gang conflicts - and will soon provide beat cops with better information about gangs to stop retaliatory shootings, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Gangs were responsible for almost all of the 37 shootings and nine murders from Friday through Sunday, McCarthy said. When he took over as superintendent almost a year ago, gangs represented about half the firearm violence, but now they're to blame for more than 80 percent of it, McCarthy said. "They are splintering off into smaller gang factions and it's getting more difficult for us to track and predict what's going to happen next," he said. McCarthy said he's launching "gang audits" in each of the city's police districts. Beat cops and gang officers have been meeting over maps to chart the turf and membership of gangs in the district, McCarthy said. That information will be merged with gang intelligence from the police department's existing databases, he said. "The violence this past weekend is unacceptable to me and every law-abiding Chicago resident," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. " Our streets belong to the families and children of our city, not to the gangs and gangbangers. Chicago Sun-Times

Atlanta Settling Cases Over Police Touching: Necessary or Humiliation? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atlanta taxpayers have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle lawsuits brought by men who said they were touched inappropriately by police officers searching them, and the city is on the verge of paying out more, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Late last year, the Atlanta Police Department spent almost $300,000 to settle two lawsuits brought against officers who touched the genitals of suspects. Yesterday, the City Council agreed to pay $470,000 to settle a lawsuit by five men who said officers pulled down their pants and touched them inappropriately while looking for drugs that were not found. Critics say officers have continued to use invasive search techniques, even after earlier settlements, though some in law enforcement say they understand that officers don't want to risk a hidden weapon. "This is not something that happened just once with a particular officer who has issues," said Marlon Kautz of the grassroots organization Copwatch. "It's an observable pattern throughout the department. That's got to make one ask is this a deliberate strategy on the part of APD to humiliate people." Former police officer Frank Rotondo, director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, said such searches are necessary. saying he had "missed weapons in the crotches of people, so regretfully you have to do that sometimes." Atlanta Journal-Constitution

J. Q. Wilson Scholarship Informed Almost Every Area of Crime Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James Q. Wilson, who died this month, left a legacy of wisdom-and clear and prolific scholarship-that has informed almost every area of America's crime policy, writes criminologist Joan Petersilia of Stanford Law School for The Crime Report. Whether you agreed with his positions or not, there was no denying that his writings were a force to be reckoned with on such diverse topics as the death penalty, gun control, drugs, juvenile justice, crime prevention, deterrence, prisons and policing, she says. Wilson told Petersilia he hoped he wasn't mostly remembered for Broken Windows policing (named after the famous "Atlantic Monthly" article with George Kelling), because when he and Kelling wrote it, he viewed it as just a psychological theory in need of testing. That article-like so much else Wilson published-turned out to be extraordinarily influential. The Crime Report

DOJ to Probe Martin Shooting; Congressman: "Vigilante Justice" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some members of Congress are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to consider Trayvon Martin's shooting death a hate crime after the announcement that the federal law-enforcement agency will investigate the teen's slaying, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Congressional Black Caucus chairman Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO) said Martin's slaying by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who hasn't been charged, "compromises the integrity of our legal system and sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice." Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered a state investigation also. The probes come amid swelling public scorn and demands for justice from activists, legislators, church leaders and indignant citizens. A petition on Change.com has attracted more than 500,000 signatures from supporters, including celebrities like Gabrielle Union, Alyssa Milano, Cher, and Russell Simmons who have weighed in on the controversy through social media. Orlando Sentinel

Bales Afghan Case Could Take Years in Military Justice System ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Staff Sgt. Robert Bales has yet to be formally accused of the nighttime massacre of 16 Afghan civilians in a village a mile from his post. The New York Times says that once preliminary charges are announced, as early as this week, the military justice system will proceed deliberately, regardless of the enormity of the charges of the international repercussions. It is a system devised to be flexible enough to be convened on a battlefield, and broad enough to deal with anything from theft and insubordination to atrocity. Experts agree there will be no quick resolution in the case, especially if the charges carry the death penalty, which Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said last week "could be a consideration." That, said John Galligan, a military lawyer in Texas private practice, means "it's going to take several years." Sgt. Bales, held at Fort Leavenworth, Ks., met with his defense team for the first time yesterday. His lawyer, John Henry Browne, told the Associated Press that his client's recall of that night was patchy. New York Times

Occupy Protesters Back in NYC--So Are Complaints Against Police ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The return of Occupy Wall Street protesters to New York City's Zuccotti Park last weekend also brought back complaints of aggressive police conduct from demonstrators and elected officials, reports the Wall Street Journal. Hundreds of protesters arrived in Lower Manhattan Saturday night to mark a 6-month milestone since the anti-corporate movement first entered the privately-owned public plaza. By Sunday, 74 people had been arrested, several protesters and two police officers had suffered injuries, and law-enforcement officials temporarily erected barricades around Zuccotti Park. Two City Council members who have supported Occupy Wall Street since its inception, Ydanis Rodriguez and Jumanne Williams, denounced what they characterized as police abuse of protesters. The protesters "are not terrorists, they are not enemies of the state," said Williams. "This park is to be used by the public. Occupy Wall Street is part of the public." He added: "What this is about - and let's be clear - is suppression of dissent." Wall Street Journal

Florida Subjecting Public Employees to Random Drug Tests ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Florida, which tests welfare recipients for drug and alcohol abuse, is poised to extend drug testing to state public employees - a first-in-the-nation move that lawmakers from other states may copy, even as labor unions, civil libertarians, and small-government advocates rail against it, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Under the law, agency heads may test randomly up to 10 percent of their workforce for illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and alcohol, every three months. Elected officials are exempt. The Republican-backed measure is intended to be a net benefit in that it gives workers who have drug problems a way to get clean, while at the same time protecting the broader citizenry from impaired public servants. Florida state workers are not known to have more substance abuse problems than workers elsewhere. Rather, the new law seems part of a trend to raise accountability for a wide range of people who are receiving taxpayer dollars - be they public employees, welfare recipients, or jobless people collecting unemployment benefits. Christian Science Monitor

State Anti-Corruption Rankings: NJ Does Well, 8 States Get F's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Center for Public Integrity, with two other organizations, did the first data-driven assessment of transparency, accountability. and anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states. No one earned an A grade. Only five states got a B: New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, California, and Nebraska. Nineen states got C's, 18, D's, and 8 got Fs: Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina, Maine, Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Georgia. State ethics, open records, and disclosure laws lack one key feature: teeth. "It's a terrible problem," said Tim Potts of the nonprofit advocacy group Democracy Rising PA, which works to inspire citizen trust in government. "A good law isn't worth anything if it's not enforced." New Jersey emerges at the top of the pack, a seemingly stunning ranking for a state with a reputation for dirty politics. Sparsely-populated Western or Plains states like Idaho, Wyoming, and the Dakotas do poorly. There, libertarianism roots, a small-town, neighborly approach to government, and the belief that "everybody knows everybody" has overridden any perceived need for strong protections in law. Center for Public Integrity

Armed Career Criminal Act's " Grossly Unfair Results" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times says the federal Armed Career Criminal Act remains a source of confusion for judges. The law ratchets up sentences to a mandatory minimum of 15 years for felons who illegally possess guns and have three prior violent felony convictions. Some judges have misinterpreted this statute, as happened in the case of John Joel Foster, who could end up serving 15 years in prison rather than 27 months for possession of a firearm because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit wrongly categorized 20-year-old crimes as violent felonies. Justice Antonin Scalia calls the law unconstitutional because some of its language is so vague that it "permits, indeed invites, arbitrary enforcement." In a dissent, he wrote, "Many years of prison hinge on whether a crime falls within" the act. The Times calls the Foster case "further evidence that Congress needs to clarify vagueness in the statute, which can lead to grossly unfair results." New York Times

No Jail For Cincinnati Man In Case Over Facebook Apology ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Civil rights matter," Mark Byron of Cincinnati said yesterday after Judge Jon Sieve chose to chew him out but not jail him. The Cincinnati Enquirer said Byron, 37, was in court in a case that has drawn international attention because of a court order requiring him to post on his Facebook page an apology to his estranged wife, Elizabeth Byron, or go to jail. The apology was ordered by a magistrate who ruled that Mark Byron's Facebook posting - and the comments on it made by his Facebook friends - made his ex-wife concerned for her safety. "I'm sure they didn't put me in jail (Monday) to keep it from getting bigger," said Byron, who wore under his sports jacket a T-shirt that read "freespeech." The case has been commented on around the globe - many, if not most, of the comments critical of the court-ordered apology - because of the free speech issues: a judge writing an apology and forcing Byron to post it on his Facebook page. Judge Jon Sieve saw it differently, saying Byron was using the case - and the media - for his benefit. "There is a certain monetary interest to be served in this media exploitation," Sieve said. Byron and his estranged wife are going through a contentious divorce and custody fight over their toddler son. Cincinnati Enquirer

High Court Taking up Issues of Mental Competence, Death Row Cases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Supreme Court a quarter century ago said it was unconstitutional to execute an insane person, and it extended that ban to the mentally retarded in 2002. Lyle Denniston in Scotusblog says the court never has decided whether an individual has any right, under the Constitution or any federal law, to actually be competent in order to take part in a federal habeas review of his case or to have the case put off indefinitely. Yesterday, it agreed to rule on those issues, accepting cases from Arizona and Ohio. That brings brings the court back to an exploration of the rights of individuals who have been sentenced to death in murder cases and then are found to be mentally incompetent. The court has not sorted out what other legal rights the mentally ill on death row have when, having failed in challenges in state court, they turn to federal courts to press their legal claims. Officials in 17 states joined in urging the Court to spell out what a federal court is to do in a habeas case when a death-row inmate is found to be incapable - because of a mental defect - of helping out his lawyers in pursuing a habeas challenge. ScotusBlog