25 April 2012

April 25, 2012   Today's Stories

New Signs Show Growing Opposition to Death Penalty in United States ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are new signs that America may be losing its taste for capital punishment, reports USA Today. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy is poised to sign a bill repealing the death penalty in that state. A separate proposal has qualified for the November ballot in California that would shut down the largest death row in the country and convert inmates' sentences to life without parole. And the National Research concluded last week that there have been no reliable studies to show that capital punishment is a deterrent to homicide. That study, which does not take a position on capital punishment, follows a Gallup Poll last fall found support for the death penalty had slipped to 61% nationally, the lowest level in 39 years. Even in Texas, which has long projected the harshest face of the U.S. criminal justice system, there has been a marked shift. Last year, the state's 13 executions marked the lowest number in 15 years. And this year, the state - the perennial national leader in executions - is scheduled to carry out 10. Capital punishment proponents say the general decline in death sentences and executions in recent years is merely a reflection of the sustained drop in violent crime, but some lawmakers and legal analysts say the numbers underscore a growing wariness of wrongful convictions. USA Today

House Cyber-Security Bills Used to Force Dems to Take a Position ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The House is sending a message to the White House and Senate Democrats this week by passing a batch of cyber-security bills aimed at preventing the digital version of a Pearl Harbor, reports Politico. The idea is to spur Democrats to move - giving them the choice to either bring their own stalled bill to a vote or risk standing on the wrong political side of a national security issue. The bills - including the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act - are expected to pass the House without a problem by Friday, giving Republicans a partisan talking point and providing them cover should cyber-enemies execute attacks against American agencies or utilities. It's a tough spot for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and for President Barack Obama, whose aides lean toward the Senate's comprehensive cyber-security approach but have been unwilling to box themselves in by criticizing the House bill directly. Politico

Texas Reports Increase in Anti-Government Extremists, Militias ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Texas is experiencing a considerable uptick in confrontations with anti-government extremists, mirroring a troubling nationwide phenomenon, reports the Houston Chronicle. Law enforcement agencies are witnessing the resurgence of a dangerous anti-government movement that peaked with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Last month, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported so-called "patriot" groups, including militias and sovereigns, skyrocketed from 149 in 2008 to 1,274 in 2011, the highest it has ever been. Texas topped the list with 76 groups, up from six in 2008. Mark Potok, who tracks extremist groups for the center, called the growth "astounding." Fueling the rise is a long list of grievances: the shoddy economy; the foreclosure crisis; Barack Obama's presidency; income inequality; concerns about the Second Amendment; fear Hispanics will overtake whites as the majority; and unease about the role of white working-class men in the U.S. Houston Chronicle

Report: Jail Population Declines Outpace Those of Fed, State Prisons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An analysis of new data on jail populations in the U.S. shows that the number of people confined in local jails is declining more rapidly than in state and federal prisons. The Sentencing Project finds that from 2007-2010 the incarceration rate in jails declined by more than three times the rate of prisons, 6.6 percent compared to 1.8 percent. The prison and jail population declines "has produced no adverse effects on public safety," said Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project. "We now have the opportunity to free up resources for public safety initiatives that do not depend on record rates of incarceration." The analysis by the Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice policy, is based on data released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in its annual report of individuals in jail. The report shows a decline in the number of inmates for the third consecutive year. Jails are local facilities that generally house persons awaiting trial or serving short sentences, while prisons are run by state and federal governments to confine persons sentenced to one year or more of incarceration. The BJS report also documents a sharp 23.4 percent reduction in the number of juveniles housed in adult jails between 2008-2011. The practice of housing juveniles with adults has come under broad criticism. Crime & Justice News

UN Estimates That Crime Generated $2.1 Trillion Globally in 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crime generates an estimated $2.1 trillion in global annual proceeds, or 3.6 percent of the world's gross domestic product, and the problem may be growing, Reuters reports. "It makes the criminal business one of the largest economies in the world, one of the top 20 economies," Yury Fedotov, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said this week in Vienna. The figure was calculated recently for the first time by the UN and World Bank, based on data for 2009. Speaking on the opening day of a week-long meeting of the international Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, he suggested the situation may be worsening "but to corroborate this feeling I need more data." He said up to $40 billion is lost through corruption in developing countries annually and illicit income from human trafficking amounts to $32 billion every year. Reuters

Texas Joins Slow National Conversion to Paperless Court Filings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Change has come slowly, but Texas is among a number of states where courts are converting from a paper-intensive to a paperless operation, reports Stateline. The new electronic system in Texas uses a fee-based model in which private sector providers act as electronic couriers and a centralized service provider is a sort of electronic post office. Around the country, private sector companies are willing to pay many of the upfront costs of building electronic court filing systems in the hopes of eventually making their money back - and then some - through fees. Most state judiciaries are now moving toward electronic filing, although with dramatically varying degrees of speed and sophistication. Some electronic systems simply allow litigants to email files to the court. Others automate a host of judicial functions, such as sending notices to other involved parties when a document has been filed or a judge has taken action on a case. According to the National Center for State Courts, statewide electronic filing is up and running in Delaware, Colorado, Alabama, Utah and Nebraska, with a number of other state judiciaries phasing in systems that are intended to go statewide eventually. In Nebraska, the state estimates that electronic filing in 2011 saved more than 12,000 hours of administrative court staff time. Stateline

Californians Will Vote on Death Penalty Abolishment in November ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A proposal to abolish capital punishment and replace it with a maximum sentence of life without parole qualified for the Nov. 6 ballot this week, so Californians voters going to the polls in November will again decide the fate of the death penalty, reports the Sacramento Bee. Supporters of the repeal say that capital punishment, which voters added to the state's books in 1978, costs California more than $130 million a year while leading to very few executions because of the time it takes to go through the appeals process. The measure would apply to the more than 700 inmates currently on death row. The coalition created to oppose the measure, including the California District Attorneys Association, argues that repealing the death penalty would harm public safety. It said in a statement that the problem is "frivolous appeals, endless delays and the ongoing re-victimization of California," not the death penalty itself. Proponents collected 800,000 petition signatures in support of the measure earlier this year. It officially made the cut after a random signature check conducted by counties projected that at least 555,236 of those signatures were valid. Sacramento Bee

NJ Troopers Suspended for Leading High-Speed Escort to Atlantic City ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two New Jersey troopers have been suspended and a commander reassigned after the law enforcers led a high-speed escort of sports cars to Atlantic City on March 30. The Newark Star-Ledger said two troopers led a caravan of dozens of Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris--all with their license plates covered with tape--in excess of 100 mph down the busy Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike and Atlantic City Expressway. The paper said the escort was requested by former New York Giants football star Brandon Jacobs. The Star-Ledger also posted video of a similar, trooper-led caravan in 2010. "We will not tolerate any conduct by a member of the State Police that puts the public in jeopardy, as this unauthorized caravan had the potential to do," Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said in a statement. He added those responsible "will face serious discipline." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called the escort "dumb." Newark Star-Ledger

NC Ruling on Race and Death Penalty the Start of 'Honest Discussion' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Writing for The Daily Beast, commentator David R. Dow says last week's landmark ruling on a racist application of the death penalty in North Carolina indicates "we're finally beginning to have an honest discussion about how we justify legally killing people." In the first invocation of North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, a judge ordered that a death-row inmate's sentence be reduced to life in prison, after finding that his trial had been so irreversibly tainted by racism that executing him would violate the Constitution. Twenty-one years ago, Marcus Robinson shot and killed 17-year-old Erik Tornblom. He stole Tornblom's car and took $27 from his wallet. But Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks concluded that despite Robinson's horrendous crime, there was no doubt that racism infected the state's criminal-justice system-specifically, that prosecutors intentionally kept blacks off of capital juries-and that this same racism presumptively infected Robinson's trial too. He ruled that even abhorrent crimes do not nullify the Constitution's guarantee of racial equality. The Daily Beast

'Threateners' Declare Bomb-Threat Campaign in Pittburgh Has Ceased ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A group calling itself "The Threateners" has declared an end to what it claims is its emailed bomb-threat campaign against the University of Pittsburgh because Pitt officials have met its demand: withdrawal of the university's promised reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the bomb threats, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The university authorities at Pitt have withdrawn the $50,000 reward they offered, and, as our only demand has been met, our campaign is over with immediate effect," according to an emailed statement. The series of more than 100 bomb threats since March 30 has disrupted life on the campus. A Cambria County transgender couple, Seamus Johnston, 22, and Katherine Anne McCloskey, 56, have been under investigation in connection with the threats. On Wednesday, FBI agents served the couple with a search warrant and seized a personal computer, laptop, cell phone, computer router and some CDs from their apartment. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Panelist: Verdict Still Out on Evidence-Based Crime-Fighting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Official Washington is increasingly basing anti-crime policy on evidence-based solutions, but "I'm not sure we're there yet," says Noah Bookbinder, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy's main adviser on criminal justice issues. He spoke this week at the annual Jerry Lee Crime Prevention Symposium on Capitol Hill, says The Crime Report. Bookbinder was one of seven speakers on a panel moderated by Laurie Robinson, until recently the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for justice programs. The other speakers generally agreed that tough economic times are prompting a new look at spending priorities at all government levels, and that scientific evidence of a program's success or failure may play a part in whether it survives a budget cut. One problem is that solid evidence is lacking on many anticrime programs, so there may be no good way of determining if they are worth funding. The Crime Report

Detroit Prosecutor Says $15 Million Needed to Analyze 11,000 Rape Kits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 2009, Detroit prosecutors discovered more than 11,000 boxes of potential evidence in rape cases left completely unprocessed. Row upon row of what are called "rape kits" remained untouched on shelves in a police evidence room for years. No DNA evidence was extracted; no DNA evidence was used to catch or prosecute the assailants, reports NPR. Since then, Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy has led the effort to sort through those 11,000 rape kits and to find the funding to get them processed. "I don't know if they were just forgotten, I don't know if they were ignored, I don't know if they were deliberately put there," Worthy says. She arranged for a federal grant of one million dollars, but says that didn't allow her team to do much more than sort the evidence, match them up with police reports, and begin a database. To process all of the kits, Worthy estimates, would cost about $15 million. NPR