09 April 2012

April 9, 2012   Today's Stories

Two Whites Arrested In Killings of Three Tulsa Blacks--A Hate Crime? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police in Tulsa say it's much too early in their investigation to describe the murder of three black residents and the wounding of two others as a hate crime, NPR reports. Two men were arrested early Sunday morning and are expected to face charges of first degree murder and shooting with intent to kill. "The crime-stopper tips were the biggest help to us," says police Maj. Walter Evans says. "From that, we were able to develop some really good suspect information on those two suspects and other associates that were involved with them." The suspects are Alvin Watts, 33, who is white according to court records and Jake England, 19, who is identified in some records as white and in others as Native American. The men share a home. Part of the investigation has focused on Facebook postings that appear to have been written by England, who used a racial slur and angrily blamed his father's death which occurred two years ago on a black man. The posting said "It's hard not to go off" given the anniversary and the death of his fiancee earlier this year, NPR

FL Justifiable Homicides Tripled After "Stand Your Ground" Passage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neither the state nor Florida's association of prosecutors declares the jump in justifiable homicides to be a direct result of the new law. The state public defender's association does draw that connection, as have advocacy groups opposed to Stand Your Ground laws. The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys argues that Stand Your Ground is not just a technical expansion of the castle doctrine, the ancient legal concept that allows property owners to defend their homes, but rather a barrier to prosecution of genuine criminals. "It's almost like we now have to prove a negative - that a person was not acting in self-defense, often on the basis of only one witness, the shooter," said Steven Jansen, the group's vice president. Washington Post

NBC Fires Producer Over Misleading Zimmerman Segment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NBC News fired a producer in the production of a misleading segment about the Trayvon Martin case, the New York Times reports. The segment strung together audio clips in such a way that made George Zimmerman's shooting of Martin sound racially motivated. Ever since the Feb. 26 shooting, there has been a debate about whether race was a factor in the incident. The segment was shown on the "Today" show March 27. It included audio of Zimmerman saying, "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black." The comments had been taken grossly out of context by NBC. He told a 911 dispatcher of Martin, "This guy looks like he's up to no good. Or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about." The dispatcher asked, "O.K., and this guy - is he white, black or Hispanic?" Only then did Zimmerman say, "He looks black." New York Times

Shooting of 4 NYC Cops Has Kelly Talking About Gun Control ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the first moments of Easter Sunday, four New York City Emergency Service Unit cops were shot by what Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called a "very bad dude" with a Browning automatic that was part of a multiple gun sale in North Carolina eight years ago. New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica quotes Kelly as saying guns "can be around a very long time, and then you load them and pull the trigger and they still work, against a cop or anybody else. These are the guns that are turning our city into a shooting gallery. We had three cops shot last year. This year we've had eight shot already, and it's only Easter." The guns keep coming into the city from North Carolina and Virginia. Says Lupica, "We constantly hear about how it gets easier to get guns now, not harder, and the laws go softer." Says Kelly: There is no easy solution to this problem absent a comprehensive anti-gun strategy throughout the country, as opposed to a pro-gun strategy. In New York, we have every law we need on the books. The problem isn't this state, it's all the other ones." New York Daily News

Drug Czar to Address National Summit on Prescription Drug Abuse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Top health leaders, drug experts, and lawmakers from around the nation will meet in Orlando this week to tackle prescription drug abuse, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. The National Rx Drug Abuse Summit, which runs tomorrow through Thursday, is being organized by the Eastern Kentucky anti-drug group Operation UNITE and is expected to draw about 700 people. The goal is to foster understanding and cooperation among those involved in the battle against the epidemic, such as law enforcement officials, medical professionals, educators, insurance managers, and others. White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske is scheduled to speak at the summit tomorrow. Last year, Kerlikowske visited Kentucky, which loses about 1,000 residents a year to overdoses, and called the state "ground zero" for prescription drug abuse, along with Tennessee and West Virginia. Louisville Courier-Journal

States, Counties Must Maintain High-Tech Anti-Terrorism Gadgets ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal anti-terrorism grants have given Tennessee cities and counties emergency response equipment that, a decade ago, they couldn't have tried to buy in their dreams, The Tennessean reports. The money was real: $192 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that paid for remote-controlled bomb-handling robots; special equipment for collapsed building rescues; high-tech surveillance cameras; all sorts of boots, masks, and body armor; and food for police dogs. There was even a training seminar about how to apply for more money. Now, cities and counties are being asked to maintain all the high-tech gadgetry they obtained. Among the most coveted pieces is the armored Bearcat, a paramilitary vehicle with a gun turret on top and the ability to drive directly into an explosive or hazardous "hot zone." Nashville police got one funded for $89,000 and have rolled it out about 175 times since 2009, including during barricades and high-risk searches. Some equipment sits on shelves. "This year for the first time, DHS is encouraging sustainment," said Rick Shipkowski, deputy Homeland Security adviser for Tennessee. "They realize they have put billions of dollars into this program and have capabilities people couldn't have dreamed of years ago, and it would be a shame to see those go to waste if we don't prioritize sustaining them." The Tennessean

How Austin Police Will Try to Learn From Killing of Officer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An event like the shooting death of Austin police officer Jaime Padron on Friday "will become part of the organizational narrative that will be communicated to young cops there forever," Vincent Henry, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on how police respond to death on the job, tells the Austin American-Statesman. "This guy is now part of the history of the agency. He'll be used to teach and train cops for generations." Police experts, psychologists specializing in working with law enforcement, and former officers said research and experience show that Austin police can expect to behave in predictable ways in the coming weeks and months as they process the violent death of one of their own. The reactions will range from heightened vigilance on calls that resemble Padron's final response at a Wal-Mart, to occasional anger, to what those who have studied the phenomenon describe as an almost obsessive quest to learn even the most insignificant details of the event in an effort not only to learn what happened, but also to convince themselves that it could not happen to them. "Cops are masters of second-guessing, third-guessing - 297th-guessing," said Daniel Clark, a department psychologist with the Washington State Patrol for the past 18 years. Austin American-Statesman

Why Ex-Advocates of California Death Penalty Seek to Repeal It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A successful campaign to expand California's death penalty in 1978 was run by Ron Briggs, today a farmer and Republican member of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors. It was championed by his father, state Sen. John Briggs. It was written by Donald Heller, a former New York City prosecutor. This year, reports the New York Times, Ron Briggs and Heller are advocating an initiative to repeal the death penalty and replace it with mandatory life without parole. Partly, they changed their minds for moral reasons. They also have a political argument to make. "At the time, we were of the impression that it would do swift justice, that it would get the criminals and murderers through the system quickly and apply them the death penalty," says Briggs, 54. "But it's not working. My dad always says, admit the obvious. We started with 300 on death row when we did Prop 7, and we now have over 720 - and it's cost us $4 billion. I tell my Republican friends, 'Close your eyes for a moment. If there was a state program that was costing $185 million a year and only gave the money to lawyers and criminals, what would you do with it?' " New York Times

Why Seattle Police Are in the Justice Department's Sights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police departments have come under increased scrutiny from the Obama administration as the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division steps up investigations of corruption, bias, and excessive force, NPR reports. Some of the targeted law enforcement agencies have had ethical clouds hanging over them for years, like New Orleans, but others, like Seattle, aren't exactly usual suspects. Seattle came to the Justice Department's attention a year and a half ago, after the shooting death of John Williams, a homeless man of Native Canadian descent. Chris Stearns, a lawyer on the city's Human Rights Commission, says Williams was killed for walking across a street carrying a carving knife and a piece of wood. The shooting was ruled unjustified, and the young cop involved left the force, though he was not prosecuted. "Seattle does have problems," Stearns says. "Anytime you've got the officers, you know, routinely - 20 percent of the time - violating our constitutional rights, that's a huge problem." U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said, "We found in the cases that we reviewed that when officers used force, it was done in an unconstitutional and excessive manner nearly 20 percent of the time." Seattle Times

"Prison Consultant" Business Expanding--Can They Do Any Good? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times profiles the business of prison consulting," ex-cons' selling their advice to future inmates. "This industry's exploding," says one of the, Larry Levine, who runs two websites, American Prison Consultants and Wall Street Prison Consultants. More competition means rising tempers and flying accusations, the Times says. Some prison consultants say that others are so lacking in expertise that their businesses are practically criminal enterprises. The competitors walk a fine marketing line, bragging about an extensive criminal record to attract customers. That can make it tough for potential clients to choose: How much incarceration time is enough? What kind of experience is right for the job? Do the consultants make a difference? They can, say people who work in the criminal justice system. A sharp consultant can help with complicated paperwork, in much the same way that a college consultant can help a family navigate complicated financial aid forms. New York Times

AZ Prisons Contract With Health Care Provider Under Criticism ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The private contractor taking over health care in Arizona's prisons promises significant improvements in care while saving money, saying it will do more with less. Critics charge that Wexford Health Sources' record elsewhere suggests that sometimes it fails to live up to its promises and may do less with less, reports the Arizona Republic. Arizona's Department of Corrections, fighting a federal lawsuit that accuses it of providing grossly inadequate health care, issued a contract to Wexford this week as part of the state Legislature's attempts to save money by privatizing prison health care. There are reasons for great skepticism" that Wexford can deliver what it promises, said Caroline Isaacs of the American Friends Service Committee. "One is that Wexford has a clear pattern of not living up to its commitments in other contracts," and another is that the Department of Corrections has a history of failing to hold other contractors, such as private-prison operators, accountable when they haven't lived up to contract terms. Arizona Republic

Reports Find Confusion, No Intentional Lying on Secure Communities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Investigators found no evidence that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials intentionally misled Congress or state and local officials about the controversial Secure Communities program that gives federal immigration authorities access to fingerprints of prisoners in local jails, say two new reports quoted by the Los Angeles Times. Secure Communities began with considerable fanfare in 2008 as a way to find violent criminals who should be deported. When deportations soared as a result of ICE's finding minor violations, some agencies sought to back out of the agreements, but were told by ICE that they could not. The acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, Charles Edwards, said initial "confusion" inside ICE about whether local approval was needed to join the federal effort resulted in a "lack of clarity" in explaining it to state and local officials. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Ca.), who requested the reports, said she was "frankly disappointed" that they failed to answer her questions about whether the program encouraged racial profiling or discouraged immigrants from reporting crimes to police. Los Angeles Times