12 April 2012

April 12, 2012   Today's Stories
Zimmerman Murder Charge Carries Minimum 25-Year Prison Term ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forty-five days after police in Sanford, Fl., released neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman without charges after he shot unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, a special prosecutor has charged him with second-degree murder. News that Zimmerman was in custody capped an emotional and tense three weeks that raised questions about racial injustice and sparked a fiery national debate about Florida's Stand Your Ground self-defense law, reports the Christian Science Monitor. under the Stand Your Ground law. A charge of second-degree murder involves a claim that death was caused by dangerous conduct and an obvious lack of concern for human life. Florida law requires a minimum punishment of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison without parole if convicted. Officials remained on high alert. On Monday, an empty police cruiser was riddled with bullets near where Martin was shot. Zimmerman was held in an undiscosed location for his safety and the safety of others. Christian Science Monitor
How NRA, ALEC Have Advanced Stand Your Ground Laws Nationwide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times details the work of the National Rifle Association to advance the Castle Doctrine, otherwise known as "stand your ground" laws, in Wisconsin and other states. In Wisconsin, the idea was extended to include include self-defense on lawns, sidewalks, and swimming pools outside the residence, as well as vehicles and places of business. The expanded bill is the newest of more than two dozen stand your ground statutes that have been enacted around the U.S. in recent years. Those laws are coming under increased scrutiny after Trayvon Martin was shot to death by George Zimmerman in Florida. Critics see the laws as part of a national campaign by the NRA, which starts its annual meeting in St. Louis tomorrow, to push back against limits on gun ownership and use. That effort has been assisted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which has promoted model legislation based on Florida's law; the council, known as ALEC, is a conservative networking organization made up of legislators, corporations like Walmart, a large retailer of long guns, and interest groups like the rifle association. Bills pending in several states that would allow concealed weapons to be carried on college campuses, in churches, and in bars. New York Times
Chicago Homicides Up 60% In Ist Quarter; Could Weather Be a Factor? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Homicides in Chicago soared by 60 percent in the first three months of 2012, continuing a troublesome trend that began late last year, reports the Chicago Tribune. Nonfatal shootings were up sharply. The worsening violence comes as the Rahm Emanuel administration touts its efforts to combat gang crime and add officers and resources to some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. Chicago police blame street gangs for much of the violence. Another contributing factor was the unseasonably warm weather this past winter, but police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has scoffed at that explanation. "In better weather, people are outside more, interacting more with neighbors, acquaintances, even strangers, and there's greater opportunity for conflict than when it's cold and windy," said Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox. Fox and other experts caution that concluding too much from a few months of crime statistics can be misleading and noted that in recent years Chicago has been at historic lows for homicides. In 2008, the city saw similar spikes early in the year and ended up with more than 500 homicides, the only time that has happened in the last nine years. Chicago Tribune
Another Look at Police Homicides: Dramatically Down This Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We said this week that the New York Times had reported "a 25 percent increase" in 2011 in police officer homicides. The Times didn't note that the number had dramatically declined this year, notes the Grits for Breakfast blog. There have been only 31 compared with 59 at this time last year, says the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The blog accuses the Times of playing up the increase because "sensationalistic bad news draws more readers than stories about positive trends." Limiting the analysis to police homicides ignores most on-the-job police deaths, which much more frequently happen because of accidents, often in traffic. In 2010, 153 officers died on the job nationwide, but the FBI on which the Times based its analysis counted 56 officers "feloniously killed" that year. So when calculating the increase in the Times story, most on-the-job police deaths weren't counted. Special care is warranted when analyzing statistics involving such small numbers. With more than 700,000 sworn officers in the U.S., these small fluctuations are not necessarily statistically significant. Notably absent from the Times story was any analysis by a statistician on whether these short-term data fluctuations are meaningful. Instead, the article is filled with speculation about the reasons for a trend that may or may not exist, says Grits for Breakfast. Grits for Breakfast
Report on UC Davis: Police Shouldn't Have Pepper-Sprayed Occupy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ University of California Davis police violated policy and used poor judgment in pepper-spraying student demonstrators in November, while school leaders badly bungled the handling of that campus protest, according to a highly critical report quoted by the Los Angeles Times. "Our overriding conclusion can be stated briefly and explicitly. The pepper spraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented," said a university-appointed task force chaired by retired state Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso. The study strongly rebutted campus police claims that Occupy demonstrators who had pitched tents on a quad posed a violent threat. It said administrators wrongly assumed that many protesters were off-campus troublemakers. The report, and an accompanying one by the Kroll security consulting firm, detailed "a cascading series of errors" and poorly timed efforts to evict the campers. It questioned the legal basis for the operation. The actions led to an international furor after an online video showing campus police Lt. John Pike repeatedly spraying the chemical irritant into the faces of seated students went viral. Pike contended that the spray was the "most appropriate" tool on hand to deal with what he described as an unruly mob encircling the officers. Los Angeles Times
Mitt Romney to Address NRA, but "He's Not a Gun Guy" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had trouble demonstrating familiarity with hunting and firearms. His sometimes tenuous relationship with gun owners will be in the spotlight when he addresses the National Rifle Association tomorrow at its convention in St. Louis, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. NRA members who vastly prefer Romney to President Obama but look warily at his time as governor of Massachusetts, his support for certain gun control measures, and his sometimes half-cocked attempts to describe himself as an outdoorsman. At times, Romney has boasted of his independence from the NRA and once vowed that he would not "chip away" at tough gun laws in Massachusetts. As many NRA members see it, Romney is just not one of them. "He's not a sportsman. He's not a gun guy," said Ray Kohout, a lifetime NRA member and principal of Heizer Firearms, a pistol manufacturer in St. Louis. "He's trying to be one, and he'll try to be one at the NRA convention, but that's just not his real person." While running against Democratic icon Ted Kennedy in 1994, Romney supported the Brady Bill, which instituted background checks on gun purchases, and a federal assault weapons ban. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Feds Begin Penalizing States That Haven't Adopted U.S. Sex Offender Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly six years after the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was enacted, the U.S. Justice Department is beginning to penalize many of the states that have failed to follow its provisions, says The Crime Report. The latest count shows that only 15 states are in "substantial" compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) parts of the Adam Walsh law, long after a deadline of last July. The 2006 law expanded the categories of crimes requiring registration and increased the length and frequency of registration for some adults and juveniles. Many states believe that the federal requirements are too costly and burdensome, deciding that they will give up some U.S. anticrime aid rather than retool their sex offender registries in line with the federal law. The Crime Report previously noted, for example, that Texas had estimated that it would have to spent nearly $39 million to comply with SORNA but would lose only $1.4 million in federal funds if it didn't act. Some states have declined to comply on policy grounds, most commonly disagreeing with the federal requirement that juvenile sex offenders involved in violent crimes be registered for life. Their first opportunity to ask a court to end their registration would not be available until 25 years after they are listed on a registry, a requirement that some states believe is too harsh. States had been threatened with a 10 percent cut in aid from Washington. In practice, the cuts ordered by Justice Department will not go so deeply. Only federal money going solely to state governments will suffer the 10 percent reduction, not the relatively large amount of U.S. aid destined for local governments. This was the course urged by the National Criminal Justice Association, representing states and localities, which argues that local programs "should not be penalized because of a state's policy on sex offender management." As a result, the potential penalty to most states will be cut roughly in half, depending on how much of the state's federal aid ends up in local hands. The Crime Report
As Edwards Trial Starts, Questions About Legitimacy of Charges ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four years ago, John Edwards was running for the White House. Now, he's a defendant in a trial starting today, fighting campaign finance charges that could send him away for as long as 30 years, NPR reports. Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics thinks the Justice Department case against him is wrong. "John Edwards is a despicable and loathsome human being, but that doesn't also make him a criminal," she says. Prosecutors accuse Edwards of failing to report nearly $1 million that two old friends and campaign donors funneled through intermediaries to support a lavish lifestyle for his mistress. The donors themselves face no criminal charges. One of them, trial lawyer Fred Baron, has died. And the other - heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, who looked upon Edwards as a sort of romantic hero - is 101 years old. New York University law Prof. Richard Pildes says, "No campaign finance lawyer can tell you they've seen any case in which the government comes anywhere close to the extremely aggressive use they're making here of the idea of a campaign contribution." Pildes says under this new Justice Department theory, almost anything could be considered a contribution, greatly expanding the legitimate uses of money in politics and confusing people about where prosecutors draw the line. NPR
iPhone App Can Help Report Sexual Violence, Access Hotlines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new iPhone app may help people report sexual violence, reports Youth Today. Circle of 6 uses GPS and text messaging to alert friends to your location if a date goes bad, says Nancy Schwartzman of the app's developer, the Line Campaign Inc. More than 19,000 users have downloaded the app since its release last month. Circle of 6 uses pre-installed short message service (SMS) notifications, which are mapped to six friends or family members on a user's smartphone. Using the phone's GPS, friends and family can locate the user. Additionally, the app allows users to quickly access national hotlines, as well as immediately notify several pre-programmed contacts that they need advice or someone to call them during the course of a date. Available as a free download at Apple's iTunes store, the application was honored as the winner of the 2011 White House Apps Against Abuse Technology Challenge. Youth Today
Texas Victim Compensation Fund Due to Run Out of Money Next Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The multimillion-dollar Texas fund that compensates crime victims is on track to run out of money next year, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Officials who oversee the Crime Victim Compensation Fund said it faces a "serious shortfall" in September 2013 because of declining revenue and will be unable to pay for services to victims. Created in 1979, the account reimburses violent crime victims for expenses not covered by insurance or restitution. It has been funded mainly through fines and court fees paid by lawbreakers across Texas - and reached its high point in 2005, when crime victims were paid $85 million. The problem: Legislative leaders, facing a severe budget crunch last year, raided the fund to pay for victim services programs provided by agencies and nonprofit organizations that had previously been paid for from the state's general fund. If the fund pays only victims, and stops paying for grants to victim services groups, it could satisfy all victim claims. That could decimate dozens of victim services programs across the state that have come to rely on the fund - to the tune of more than $36 million last year alone. Austin American-Statesman
U.S. Likely to Sue AZ's Arpaio as Settlement Efforts Fail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The lead attorney in the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to resolve a civil-rights complaint with Maricopa County, Az., Sheriff Joe Arpaio has cut off verbal communication with Arpaio's attorney, saying the entire affair is best left for the courts to decide, reports the Arizona Republic. A Justice Department report in December accused the Sheriff's Office of rampant discrimination against Latinos in its police and jail operations, and asked the office to negotiate a solution to the problems or face legal action. The most recent exchange of letters between Arpaio's lawyers and federal civil-rights prosecutors contained dueling and now-familiar accusations about failures to negotiate an agreement in good faith. "It is clear that DOJ's concerted effort to attain voluntary compliance by your client has failed," Deputy U.S. Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin wrote to Arpaio attorney Joe Popolizio. "It is also clear that we should not discuss anything else by telephone because you will not accurately portray those conversations," Austin said. Arizona Republic
Philly Courts Crack Down on Fugitives After Paper Reports 47,000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To stop criminal defendants from thumbing their noses at appearing in court, Philadelphia's criminal justice system is opening the door wider for private bail firms and starting a special court to crack down on fugitives, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The changes are aimed at changing a toxic culture in which defendants felt - rightly - that they could duck court with impunity, say two state Supreme Court justices who pushed through the changes. Chief Justice Ronald Castille and Justice Seamus McCaffery have implemented many reforms in response to a 2010 Inquirer investigative series on the Philadelphia courts that documented widespread witness intimidation, a massive number of fugitives, and some of the nation's lowest conviction rates for violent crimes. McCaffery, a former Philadelphia homicide detective and city judge, said, "The bottom line is we no longer can allow our system to be run by people who show up when they want to show up - if they want to show up. They need to understand that there will be sanctions." The Inquirer disclosed that a staggering 47,000 defendants were long-term fugitives from the courts, and the system was owed $1 billion in forfeited bail. Philadelphia Inquirer