02 April 2012

April 2, 2012   Today's Stories .

Nearly Half in U.S. Say There Are Too Many Inmates, 1/5 Could be Freed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly half of Americans told a new survey they believe there are too many prisoners in the U.S., says the Pew Center on the States. The survey of 1,200 likely voters found that 45 percent said there were too many prisoners, 28 percent called the number about right, 13 percent said there are too few, and 14 percent didn't know. On average, voters believed that one-fifth of prisoners could be released without threatening public safety. The survey was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and the Mellman Group. In other findings, 48 percent said it would be acceptable to reduce funding for state prisons. Eighty-four percent favored keeping violent criminals in prison for their full sentences. Large majorities favored reducing prison time for low-risk, non-violent offenders. Some 87 percent said they would allow such inmates to be released up to a year early if they have behaved well and are considered a low risk for recidivism. When given a choice between violent offenders serving five years in prison or four years of a five-year term, followed by supervision for a year, respondents favored the shorter-sentence-plus-supervision option, 67 percent to 26 percent. Pew Center on the States

Martin Killing Tops U.S. News Coverage; Accounts Sharply Differ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The case of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin and shooter George Zimmerman has become the most covered story in the U.S. eclipsing the presidential election, says the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The Los Angeles Times says the center found that about one-fifth of total news space recently was devoted to the shooting. News consumers are getting radically different accounts of what happened. On Twitter and the liberal cable outlet MSNBC, Martin has appeared as an innocent victim of racially charged violence by an overzealous would-be cop. Conservative websites like Breitbart.com said the racial angle had been concocted or overblown, and the conservative DailyCaller.com implied that Martin might have been the sort of streetwise young man who would provoke a confrontation. The avalanche of coverage has not resolved the most critical unknowns: Who instigated the final confrontation? Did Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, have good reason to feel he was in danger? Did local police handle the case evenhandedly? Los Angeles Times

12 FL "Stand Your Ground" Cases Protected People Who Pursued Others ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since its passage in 2005, Florida's "stand your ground'' law has protected people in circumstances similar to the possible sequence of events in the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The newspaper cites cases in which people pursued others, initiated a confrontation, and then used deadly force to defend themselves. Citing the law, judges have granted immunity to killers who put themselves in danger, so long as their pursuit was not criminal, so long as the person using force had a right to be there, and so long as he could convince the judge he was in fear of great danger or death. The Times identified 140 cases in which "stand your ground" has been invoked, and many involve defendants whose lives were clearly in jeopardy. At least a dozen share similarities with what is known about the Trayvon Martin case, and they show the law has not always worked as its sponsors say they intended. Tampa Bay Times

U.S. Justifiable Homicides Nearly Double Over a Decade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the U.S. homicide rate declines, more people are killing each other and claiming self-defense-a trend most pronounced in states with "stand your ground" laws, reports the Wall Street Journal. These laws, which grant people more leeway to attack kill someone who is threatening them, are attracting scrutiny after the controversial killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, by a Florida neighborhood watchman. Florida has one of the broadest self-defense laws of the 25 states with some version of a "stand your ground" principle. So-called justifiable homicides nearly doubled from 2000 to 2010, when 326 were reported. Over that same period, total killings averaged 16,000 a year. The data don't capture why a killer felt threatened, or whether the victim was armed. In about 60 percent of justifiable-homicides in which the relationship between victim and killer was known, the pair were strangers. Among all homicides, when races differed, the victim was more often white. In justifiable-homicide cases, the opposite was true: The victim was more often black. Criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University said that difference "is certainly, on the face of it, something that needs to be explored. Could it be an element of racism? You can't necessarily assume that." The full article is available only to paid subscribers. Wall Street Journal

ACLU Finds Local Police Tracking Cellphones Without Warrants ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Law enforcement tracking of cellphones has become a powerful and widely used surveillance tool for local police, with hundreds of departments large and small using it aggressively with little or no court oversight, the New York Times reports. Cellphone companies are marketing a catalog of "surveillance fees" to determine a suspect's location, trace phone calls and texts, or provide other services. Some departments log dozens of traces a month for emergencies and routine investigations. Police call phone tracing a valuable weapon in emergencies like child abductions and suicide calls, and investigations in drug cases and murders. Civil liberties advocates say the wide use of cell tracking raises legal and constitutional questions, particularly when the police act without judicial orders. Many departments require warrants to use phone tracking in nonemergencies. Others claim broad discretion to get the records on their own The American Civil Liberties Union provided the times with 5,500 pages of internal records from 205 police departments nationwide. New York Times

Millions in Forfeited Bail Uncollected in Texas' Tarrant County ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When police in 2003 busted a Texas man accused of dealing cocaine, a judge set his bond at $100,000. An attorney posted the bond, but the man jumped bail and years after the drug bust is nowhere to be found, reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. The attorney didn't pay the $100,000. He hasn't yet paid a penny. The bond forfeiture went into a kind of legal thicket, eliminating a big incentive for bond agents to track the suspect down. The Star-Telegram found that in the past three years, hundreds of bond forfeitures, for some of the worst criminal offenses, have been delayed, dismissed, or settled for a small fraction of the amount. District Attorney Joe Shannon said, "The vast, vast majority of them comply, the vast majority of them show up, the vast majority of them deal with the judicial system as it comes along." Critics question the effectiveness of the county's criminal justice system when forfeitures amounting to millions of dollars go uncollected. "If the bondsman never has to pay a penalty, then what is the point of having bail bonds?" said Mark Holtschneider of Lexington National, a Maryland-based bail bond surety company. "The forfeiture must be enforced." Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

As Prisoner Numbers Decline, 1/3 of Texas Jail Cells Are Empty ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jones County, Tx., has an empty $35 million lockup to house 1,100 state convicts who never arrived, says the Austin American-Statesman. Such situations are increasingly common in Texas and across the U.S. because of declining crime rates, government budget cuts, and increased use of treatment programs that have deflated a 20-year boom in building jails and prisons. The trend is drawing few cheers in Jones County and other places where taxes are going up to pay for the empty lockups. While counties mostly operate jails, which house pre-trial prisoners and those serving time for minor offenses, more than a dozen counties in Texas have for years housed state prison convicts - either in their county jails or in prison-like lockups built with the help of private firms. More than 30,000 of the state's 93,000 county beds currently sit empty - both at county jails and at the ones built with county-private partnerships. "The problem is, there just aren't enough prisoners to go around anymore," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden. Austin American-Statesman

CA Prison Gang Changes Could Cut Numbers in Solitary ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California has for decades used long-term segregation to combat gang violence in its prisons, says the New York Times. Thousands of inmates said to have gang ties have been sent to solitary confinement for years, or in some cases decades. California corrections officials - prodded by two hunger strikes by inmates last year and the advice of national prison experts - has proposed changes in the gang policy that could decrease the number of inmates in isolation. Depending on how California moves forward - critics say the changes do not go far enough and have enough loopholes that they may have little effect - it could join a small but increasing number of states that are rethinking the use of long-term solitary confinement, a practice that became common in the U.S. over the past three decades. The changes in California would represent one of the largest shifts in how it handles prison gangs since officials began pulling gang leaders, known as shot-callers, out of the general population in the late 1970s. "California really pioneered the mass segregation of gang members," said David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project. "So California could start to show the way out." New York Times

Prescription Drug Deaths Down in OH--Start of Turnaround? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prescription-drug overdose deaths in Ohio inched downward last year for the first time in 10 years, reports the Columbus Dispatch. Four fewer people fatally overdosed in 2011 than in 2010. While the statewide decline is small, more than half of Ohio's counties saw a reduction - including virtually all of southern Ohio, considered the heart of the problem. The persistent correlation between the number of pills handed out and the number of drug-related deaths held true: 17 fewer people lost their lives in Scioto County. Credit for the possible turnaround is multifaceted: a concentrated effort to close "pill mills" that dispensed prescriptions or drugs in large quantities, a new state law cracking down on pain clinics, an active public-private education campaign, and doctors' newfound awareness about the dangers of overprescribing addictive painkillers. Columbus Dispatch

High Court, 5-4, Allows Strip Searching Minor Offenders in Jail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jails may conduct strip searches of people arrested on minor offenses, the Supreme Court ruled today, 5 to 4. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "Correctional official have a legitimate interest, indeed a responsibility, to ensure that jails are not made less secure by reason of what new detainees may carry in on their bodies." The court ruled against Albert Florence, who complained that strip searches in two New Jersey county jails violated his civil rights. Florence was strip searched after his arrest on a warrant for an unpaid fine, even though the fine had been paid. The court majority rejected Florence's suggestion that new detainees who are not arrested for serious crimes be exempt from strip searches as "unworkable," noting that the seriousness of an offense is a poor predictor of who has contraband. In a dissent for the court's more-liberal members, Justice Stephen Breyer said, "I cannot find justification for the strip search policy at issue here-a policy that would subject those arrested for minor offenses to serious invasions of their personal privacy." U.S. Supreme Court

McCarthy Shuffles Chicago Command Staff As Murders Spike ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amid a 35 percent spike in murders this year, Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy reshuffled his command staff, replacing commanders in five of the city's 23 districts, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. McCarthy also promoted three supervisors to deputy chief positions. He said the changes were made to "strengthen the department's ongoing efforts to reduce violence" and create a "more efficient departmental structure." As of Thursday, there have been 114 murders this year, up 35 percent from last year. Through March 18, crime has dropped 10 percent in the city compared with 2011. Because of the spike in gang-related murders, McCarthy is putting together an anti-gang strategy that includes getting patrol officers detailed information about gangs in their districts; keeping tactical officers in their districts to fight gang crime instead of assigning them outside the district, and improving the exchange of gang intelligence among the patrol division, gang units and detectives. In 2008, newly appointed Superintendent Jody Weis swept out 21 of 25 district commanders and replaced the first deputy and other top brass. Chicago Sun-Times

Judge Overturns Fine For Virginia Tech Over Warning on Shooting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Virginia Tech did not violate federal law in its email response time that notified students of a shooting before a campus rampage that left 33 people dead, the worst mass shooting by a gunman in U.S. history, said an administrative judge's ruling reported by the Los Angeles Times. The Department of Education had fined the university $55,000 for waiting more than two hours after the first round of gunfire to send out an email warning students, teachers, and others to take cover. Judge Ernest Canellos said the university did not violate a law requiring timely warnings of safety threats, and overturned the fine. "Yes, the warning could have gone out sooner, and in hindsight, it is beyond regretful that it did not,'' he wrote. "If the later shootings [ ] had not occurred, it is doubtful that the timing of the email would have been perceived as too late.'' Los Angeles Times