14 October 2011

California officials said the hunger strike at the state's prisons is over, the New York Times reports. Thousands of inmates had stopped eating over the last three weeks in protest against conditions of prolonged isolation in security units. The number of strikers dwindled under 600 this week. After negotiations yesterday between the corrections department and lawyers representing the inmates, strike leaders agreed to resume eating. Corrections officials reiterated the reforms the department had agreed to at the end of a previous hunger strike in July, which they said would take several months to finalize, and "agreed to stay on its same course." The state had agreed to a review of its policies for placing inmates in security housing units. Carol Strickman, a lawyer with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, said that most importantly, the department had agreed to review the cases of all prisoners already in isolation because of "validated" gang affiliation, rather than because of their behavior while in prison. New York Times

TX University Wants to Shed Prison Health Care; Costs Way Over Budget ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Officials with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston proposed yesterday to put the state prison system back in the health care business for the first time in 18 years as a way to exit what they claim is a money-losing program that the university cannot afford, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Declaring an impasse in negotiations on a new contract, university President David Callender told its correctional health care employees that unless a deal can be reached, the university plans to "begin transitioning to (the Texas Department of Criminal Justice) a number of the services we currently provide." The newspaper reported yesterday that in a new sign that Texas' state budget crisis is far from over, officials drafting a new contract to provide medical care for Texas' 153,000 imprisoned criminals acknowledged that the $900 million allocated by the legislature will not cover the costs. For Texas taxpayers, the funding disparity could mean they will have to pay more money to provide care for prison inmates during the next two years, even if private vendors do start providing the care. For convicts, it could mean further cuts in a system that already is drawing increasing complaints about inadequate care. Prison officials said the university has reported that its current expenses are running about $2 million more per month than is budgeted. Austin American-Statesman

Is Extraditing Mexican Underworld Leaders To U.S. An Effective Tactic? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fifteen major players in the Mexican underworld landed on U.S. soil Jan. 20, 2007 to face charges from New York to Texas, from Colorado to California, says the San Antonio Express-News. Among them was Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, one of the most ruthless and feared drug lords in the Western Hemisphere. The handover was swift, unexpected and unprecedented in number, lauded as a "clean sweep" across drug cartel ranks and a triumph for [Mexican] President Felipe Calderón, who only a year earlier had pledged to use extradition in his all-out offensive against Mexico's drug trafficking organizations. Yet as 2012 presidential elections loom for both Mexico and the U.S., analysts are taking a closer look. Shipping Mexican cartel leaders to U.S. judges might score immediate hits and headlines. It might make affairs more dangerous in the long run, as the leaderless organizations splinter into violent offshoots competing over more fragmented turf. Some question whether extradition is really bringing the two nations closer to a successful end of their multibillion-dollar shared struggle. "It might be too soon to tell, but it certainly makes for good politics," observed Héctor Ramírez Schulz, a penitentiary system official in Mexico City. San Antonio Express-News/The Crime Report

Seattle Diversion Effort Offers Help to Justice System "Frequent Fliers" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seattle's new Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program has made partners out of professional adversaries and brought shared hope to those dealing with the ramifications of the war on drugs, says the Seattle Times. Funded by private foundations, the $950,000-a-year, four-year pilot program offers hand-picked participants individualized alternatives to arrest, from inpatient drug treatment and educational opportunities to housing assistance and microloans for would-be business owners. "Honestly, this is the most hopeful thing I've ever been a part of in my career as a public defender," said Lisa Daugaard of The Defender Association, who is credited with taking the germ of an idea and turning it into an on-the-street reality. Evergreen Treatment Services, a private nonprofit founded in 1973, was awarded the contract to develop intervention plans for participants, who must voluntarily agree to be part of the program. In exchange for their participation, no criminal charges will be filed, even if someone later relapses. "Most of these people will have been to jail many times. These are frequent fliers through the system, but no one has ever offered them help," King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said of the population the program hopes to reach. Clearly, jail or prison stints did nothing to curb their involvement in the drug trade, he said, "because they're right back in an alley putting a needle in their arm." Seattle Times

Rajaratnam Gets 11 Years; Insider Trading Term Could Have Been 24+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Raj Rajaratnam was ordered to prison for 11 years yesterday for multiple insider-trading conspiracies and trades he directed as head of one of the world's largest hedge funds, reports the New York Law Journal. The pivotal figure in the most wide-ranging insider-trading prosecution in history could have done worse, federal judge Richard Holwell gave the government virtually everything it wanted by calculating a sentencing range of between 19 1/2 and 24 1/2 years in prison but imposed a sentence that fell well below that range. Howell said he went below the range partly because of Rajaratnam's good works throughout the world, from helping Sri Lankan tsunami victims to giving aid to earthquake victims and aiding poor children and cancer sufferers in New York. He also cited poor health of the Galleon Group hedge fund founder, who suffers from advanced diabetes that is leading to "imminent kidney failure and a host of other problems." Prosecutor Reed Brodsky urged the judge to impose the toughest sentence possible, calling Rajaratnam "arguably the most egregious insider trader to face sentencing in a federal courthouse in the United States." New York Law Journal

White House: Terror Cases Show Miranda Warnings Justified ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The guilty plea by the Underwear Bomber in Detroit and charges in an assassination plot linked to Iran added new fuel to the debate over whether terrorism cases are better handled in the criminal justice system or by the military, says the New York Times. Both cases were handled in the traditional court system, and investigators warned the defendants of their Miranda rights to remain silent and have an attorney. "Both of these cases demonstrate that Miranda was not at all an impediment" to winning a conviction and eliciting intelligence during an initial interrogation, respectively, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan told the Times. Conservatives questioned whether either of the developments truly undercuts their arguments in support of the military system. In the alleged plot by Iran to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., American officials advised the Iranian-American defendant, Mansour Arbabsiar, of his Miranda rights. He waived those rights, as well as a right to be quickly presented to a judge, and spent nearly two weeks providing "extremely valuable intelligence," officials said. Giving Miranda warnings to terrorism suspects led to political furor several times in 2010. "The concern is that the Obama administration has sought to treat foreign terrorists the same way that they would treat U.S. citizens who have committed an act of terrorism by extending additional rights to foreign terrorists, including Miranda rights," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. New York Times

D.C. Media Protest Encryption of Police Radio Communications ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Washington, D.C., journalists are protesting against the city police department's new policy to encrypt radio communications, which prevents them from learning about breaking news as it unfolds, says the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Since mid-September, news media have not been able to monitor police and dispatch chatter on radios. Media organizations can sign up to be paged when "serious crimes" occur. Police Chief Cathy Lanier attributed the new policy to the development of mobile phone applications that allow criminals to listen to police communication, thus putting officers at risk. Lanier, Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe and members of Mayor Vincent Gray's staff met with media representatives this week to discuss the issue. "We feel this is a public safety issue," said Mitchell Miller of radio station WTOP, who said that when his station "is able to put over the air in real time what is happening on major downtown streets in the nation's capital, it benefits not only the people who are listening to our radio station, but arguably law enforcement as it tries to take care of the situation." Tom Sherwood of NBC4 said the media's complaints are for the benefit of the public. "It's not just accommodating business, but community leaders like to listen to what is going on in their neighborhoods, senior citizens like to listen to what's going on in their neighborhoods. It's about public access," Sherwood said. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Joe Torre To Head DOJ Panel on Children Exposed to Violence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Justice Department is launching an Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. Members are 14 leading experts from diverse fields and perspectives, including practitioners, child and family advocates, academic experts, and licensed clinicians. Joe Torre, Major League Baseball Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, founder of the Joe Torre Safe at Home® Foundation, and a witness to domestic violence as a child, will serve as the co-chair of the task force. The panel will conduct four public hearings, in Baltimore, Albuquerque, Miami, and Detroit, to learn from practitioners, policymakers, academics, and community members about the extent and nature of the problem of children's exposure to violence, both as victims and as witnesses. The task force will also identify promising practices, programming, and community strategies used to prevent and respond to children's exposure to violence. the first hearing will be in Baltimore Nov. 29. U.S. Departmernt of Justice

Supreme Court Test on Exceptions to Double Jeopardy Protection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Supreme Court will decide an Arkansas case that will test how big the exceptions to the double-jeopardy protection contained in the Fifth Amendment are, reports Time. Experts say the decision could resolve long-standing differences between the states about when the government may retry defendants when it can't get a conviction the first time. Arkansas prosecutors want to try Alex Blueford on capital-murder charges because they believe he hit his girlfriend's 19-month-old toddler so hard that the boy's eyes bled and his brain swelled so much that he died. The state already has tried him once and without success. Blueford says it was an accident, and the jury apparently believed him, voting to acquit him of murder but split on a manslaughter charge. The judge declared a mistrial, and when prosecutors tried to charge him again, the Arkansas Supreme Court approved it because the votes to acquit weren't entered into the record. Now the high court will review the complicated case. Time

How Washington, D.C., Youth Court Tries to Get Kids Back on Track ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times profiles Washington, D.C.'s Youth Court, one of 1,000 such institutions around the nation. The capital's youth court heard 675 cases in the last fiscal year. About one fifth of juveniles arrested in the city are sent to the court, which tends to work with older teens and more serious offenses than do other youth courts. The court is designed to give first-time non-violent offenders between 12 and 17 a way to stay out of the formal juvenile justice system. Cases are heard by juries composed of the offenders' peers: other teens who have been through the same process - some as recently as the week before. Local judicial officials must agree to divert an arrested teen to the court. It can't investigate guilt or innocence, so teens who don't admit responsibility stay in the formal system. In Youth Court, a teenager can be sentenced to write essays, make apologies, attend boys' or girls' discussion groups, or pay restitution; almost everyone is sentenced to serve on the Youth Court jury. Teens who don't complete the requirements in 120 days go back to a real judge. "The idea is to take that first encounter with the law, especially for minor things, and use it to put them back on the right track, turn it into something positive," said Carolyn Dallas, the court's director. Since 2003, the one-year re-arrest rate for people who come through Youth Court is 11 percent, compared to the formal juvenile justice re-arrest rate of about 25 percent. New York Times

Juvenile Justice Conference Takes On Youth Sentencing Issues ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More than 2,000 people are attending a national conference on juvenile justice sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department near Washington, D.C., says Youth Today. The session concludes today. Youth Today reported on a number of programs at the conference, including one on "Collateral Consequences of Crime and Expungement of Juvenile Records," a discussion of issues like barriers to reentering schools, passing background checks for jobs, and having to register as a sex offender. Most states do not require public defenders to pursue expungement or sealing of records for clients, so most juveniles would need to shell out $1,000 to make it happen. Pennsylvania is a rare exception, said Lisa Campbell of the Philadelphia Defender Association. She has increased the number of expungements won by her office from 100 to 1,000 per year. Campbell believes a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling holds potential for challenging collateral consequences for juveniles. In Padilla v Kentucky, the high court found that a lawyer for an alien charged with crime has a constitutional obligation to tell the client that a guilty plea carries a risk he will be deported. Campbell says it would be possible to equate deportation with things like sex offender registration and tl challenge anything meted out to a juvenile whose lawyer did not help them make an informed decision about what admitting guilt would mean for them long term. Youth Today