7 Oct 2011

U.S. Warns CA Marijuana Dispensaries Of Prosecution ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a move that escalated pressure on medical marijuana collectives, federal prosecutors in California sent letters yesterday warning landlords who provide space to the storefront dispensaries that their property could be seized, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. The letters, which were sent to property owners in San Diego and others across the state, tell landowners they have 45 days to stop the sale or distribution of marijuana at the properties. Today, all four U.S. attorneys from California will hold a news conference in Sacramento to "outline actions taken targeting the sale, distribution and cultivation of marijuana" in the state. The crackdown is the latest move by federal authorities against medical marijuana in California and is sure to open a new front in the federal-state split on the issue. Although Californians voted in favor of medical marijuana in 1996, its use is illegal under federal law. Federal law also does not recognize the need to use medical marijuana as a defense in criminal cases. "It is becoming clear to more and more people that these stores are providing marijuana for recreational use and their advertising clearly is targeting young, not ill people," said Scott Chipman of San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods. California NORML, an advocacy group for medical marijuana, denounced the action of federal prosecutors as a cowardly example of unwarranted over-regulation. San Diego Union-Tribune

Kelly Defiant Over Criticism Of NYPD Surveillance of Muslims ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York City Council members yesterday took aim on the police department's surveillance of Muslims, pointedly questioning Commissioner Raymond Kelly about the breadth of the force's undercover efforts in the decade since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, reports the New York Times. Council members tried to pierce the secrecy surrounding the Intelligence Division, which is involved in counterterrorism investigations> "It looks like we are targeting Muslim neighborhoods and communities," Councilman Brad Lander said. "That's not good for us. We have people out there who are partners who feel the trust is betrayed." The questioning revolved mostly around a series of recent articles by the Associated Press examining the department's focus on Muslim communities in the New York metropolitan area and efforts to identify "hot spots," like mosques and other gathering places. Some council members raised the possibility of requiring an outside review when the police intend to conduct undercover surveillance as part of counterterrorism investigations. "Without some more independent oversight to figure out what the standards are," Lander said, "it's hard to believe we're getting the balance between civil liberties and protection right." Kelly, who began his second stint as police commissioner in 2002, struck a defiant tone, defending his re-engineering of a municipal police force to address counterterrorism and surveillance. He said his investigators and analysts did not engage in racial profiling, but instead "follow leads wherever those leads may take us." He said surveillance was conducted only in the context of an investigation, but his answers also suggested a low threshold for opening an inquiry. New York Times

Bush DOJ Used Same "Guns Walking" Method As Fast & Furious ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Republican lawmakers for eight months have been leading the probe into "Fast and Furious," the controversial ATF gun operation, and trying to determine who in President Obama's Justice Department knew what, and when they knew it. The Washington Post says it turns out there was another gun operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives years before, using the same tactics of allowing guns to flow illegally onto U.S. streets and into Mexico. This operation was conducted under the George W. Bush administration's Justice Department. Dubbed "Operation Wide Receiver," the case was run out of Tucson between 2006 and 2007 and involved hundreds of guns that were purchased by small-time buyers who transferred them to middle men who then passed them up the chain and into Mexico. Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler says that some of the e-mails used in the attempt to discredit Attorney General Eric Holder were referring to the Tucson case, Wide Receiver. She said that when the e-mails mention "guns walking," they are referring to the 2006-07 Tucson case, Operation Wide Receiver. Washington Post

Vera Institute Edits Journal on "Sentencing Within Sentencing" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York City-based Vera Institute of Justice has produced a special issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter titled "Sentencing Within Sentencing" that explores, as Vera's Alison Shames puts it, "the many ways in addition to the actual sentencing decision imposed by a judge that people are punished by de facto sentences in the criminal justice system." Shames writes that, "People involved in the criminal justice system are, in fact, punished at multiple points." The special issue, which must be purchased from the University of California Press, includes articles on a range of issues, including pretrial detention due to inability to afford bail, solitary confinement, court fees and fines, and the impact of sentencing on families, victims, and the community. Vera Institute of Justice

Under New MI Law, Prosecutors Will Be Told About Prisoner Releases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michigan prosecutors now will know when prisoners are set to be paroled in their counties, reports the Detroit Free Press. A law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder this week requires that prosecutors receive written notice within 10 days of the parole board's decision to release a prisoner. The notice must be sent to prosecutors where the crime occurred and where the offender will be released. Although county sheriffs are notified routinely, prosecutors have complained in recent years that it's difficult to get information about upcoming parole hearings or prisoner release dates. Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper sued the Michigan Department of Corrections over the issue last year. Cooper praised the law as a "baby step in the right direction," but said additional legislation is needed to give prosecutors a 48-day notice -- time enough to file an appeal with the courts if they object to the parole. "It would give us a chance to look at the case, pull our files together," she said. "It doesn't hurt to have a second pair of eyes on these cases, or even a third or fourth. Mistakes get made." Detroit Free Press

After Juvenile-Unit Violence, OK May Use Tasers, Spray, Not Guns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The governing board of the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs voted yesterday to seek legislative authority to hire certified law enforcement officers to beef up security at state juvenile correctional centers, reports The Oklahoman. The board decided not to allow them to carry firearms inside perimeter fences. The board will develop a plan that would specify conditions under which Tasers and pepper spray could be deployed inside the state's secure juvenile centers. Those were among several steps taken in response to a series of violent incidents and an escape from the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center. The disturbances occurred as the agency closed the state's only maximum-security juvenile correctional center, and transferred its residents to two other units. The Oklahoma Public Employees Association said employees should not carry firearms, "risking a gun falling into the hands of a juvenile." Board members agreed. The Oklahoman

TN Woman Formerly On Death Row Set for Release On 4-2 Parole Vote ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gaile Owens, the Tennessee woman who was scheduled to be executed last year before her sentence was commuted to life by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen, will be released from prison today after 26 years, The Tennessean reports. Owens, 59k was sentenced to die in 1986 for paying a man to kill her husband. Though the details didn't come out in her trial, she later said that she suffered years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse at his hands. She said abuse and his constant cheating was what prompted her in 1984 to troll the streets of Memphis, offering $5,000 to $10,000 to anyone willing to kill her husband. Sidney Porterfield, now 68, took the job and killed him with 21 blows from a tire iron. Porterfield remains on death row. A parole board voted 4-2 last month to release her. The Tennessean

CA Quarry Worker Who Killed 3 Eluded Huge Manhunt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For 22 tense hours, Shareef Allman somehow eluded an army of officers, search dogs, and helicopters in one of Silicon Valley's biggest manhunts ever, says the San Jose Mercury News. He melted into a neighborhood Wednesday, stashing weapons along the way -- hiding an assault rifle under a garbage bin and propping another against a utility box. A massive search of about 400 houses turned up nothing. Then, an hour after sunrise yesterday, Silicon Valley's most wanted man suddenly appeared, crouching between two cars in a driveway, with a gun in his hand and a dog barking inside the house. Within seconds, three Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies spotted Allman and ordered him to give up. Instead, he died in a hail of gunfire. The portrait of the 47-year-old quarry worker and single dad that emerged a day after he gunned down three co-workers and wounded seven other people -- was not that of a spiritual, peace-loving man who snapped. It was one of a coldblooded killer who sheriff's officials said kept a handgun at home hidden in the cutout pages of a Bible. San Jose Mercury News

Few Convictions Under WA's Pioneering Human Trafficking Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 2000, federal legislation criminalized human trafficking and in 2003 Washington became the first of 41 states to pass a similar law, says Women's eNews. Yet there have been only two convictions under the state law. Washington led the way because of its international border with Canada, two major ports, and an interstate highway connecting from Seattle to south California and rural areas. t took six years for the first conviction. In a more recent case, a 32-year-old Seattle man was convicted in January of beating, raping and prostituting a 15-year-old runaway girl. Rob McKenna, Washington's attorney general, says law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors weren't properly educated about the trafficking law and how to use it. "Penalties weren't high enough to make it an attractive enough (solution)," McKenna says Women's eNews

Survey to Measure "Procedural Fairness" by NY Police Agencies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you've been arrested, issued a traffic ticket or called police for help in Syracuse or Schenectady , N.Y., now might be your chance to tell city cops what you really think of them, says the Albany Times-Union. The John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety in Albany has a $340,000 National Institute of Justice grant to examine what people think about their encounters with the Schenectady and Syracuse police. The institute aims to conduct telephone interviews of 1,800 people who contacted police themselves or were stopped or arrested by police and ask questions about the respect and fairness shown by officers. Schenectady Police Chief Mark Chaires said his department will promote the survey so people know the nonprofit institute is a legitimate organization that will keep respondents' identities confidential. The department conducted a similar survey in 2008, but it was much smaller and done in-house by two civilian staffers. The 10-minute phone surveys, which began in August, measure something called "procedural fairness," which refers to citizens being treated with dignity and respect and having someone listening to them, and an officer explaining what is being done. Studies have shown that when officers practice procedural fairness, the public is more likely to cooperate with police and commit fewer crimes. Albany Times-Union

Landrieu Gets 600 Volunteers To Help Anticrime Campaign ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is getting a positive response to his call for New Orleanians to take a more active role in the city's quest to curb street violence, with hundreds offering to volunteer for crime-fighting and youth-mentoring initiatives, says the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The mayor's office has nearly 600 written commitments from residents who indicated a desire to donate to a nonprofit, start a Neighborhood Watch program, or provide job opportunities for young people and ex-offenders. Officials are following up with people who filled out a commitment card since Landrieu sounded the alarm last month at a rime summit. That event attracted a crowd of about 2,000, including neighborhood activists, students, criminal-justice officials and family members of murdered children. The Landrieu administration said business, education, and community leaders also have made commitments to help end the cycle of violence and murder in New Orleans. Landrieu also is providing ex-inmates with employment options. Ex-offenders make up half of the 12-member work force hired earlier this month for a program established to cut, clear and maintain overgrown lots in the Lower 9th Ward. New Orleans Times-Picayune

Many PA Cities Repealing Tough Versions of Megan's Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When 7-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by a neighbor, a twice-convicted child sex offender, the reaction in communities large and small was: God forbid something like that should happen here, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bolstered by online registries of convicted sex offenders, towns enacted laws to keep such criminals from living near schools, parks, day-care centers, and bus stops. Many of the estimated 150 Pennsylvania cities and towns with such laws are repealing or reconsidering them after a state Supreme Court ruling in May invalidated one statute. New Jersey municipalities did the same after the N.J. Supreme Court ruled residency restrictions invalid in 2009. "The repeals are overdue," said Don Driscoll of the Community Justice Project, who argued the case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. "The laws contributed to enhanced risk of public safety, instead of the opposite. They exclude sex offenders from stabilized housing, employment, and treatment, all of which have been identified as factors in recidivism." Philadelphia Inquirer