January 18, 2012 |
| Judge To End Federal Oversight Of CA Prison Health Care ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal oversight of prison health care in California is nearing an end, a judge said yesterday, six years after he ruled that abysmal medical conditions were contributing to an inmate death every week, reports the Los Angeles Times. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said health care in state lockups has improved significantly since he seized control of the system, a move that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Henderson directed state officials, receiver J. Clark Kelso, and an inmate advocacy group that sued the state over prison conditions to meet and file a report by April 30, spelling out how to go forward. The parties will have to determine how progress will be measured, sustained and monitored. Donald Specter of the Prison Law Office, the inmate advocacy group, warned that progress could be fleeting. "I'm very worried about the state backsliding, especially in times when money is tight," he said. Specter said medical care in some prisons remains poor despite improvements, and he criticized the state for stalling the construction of new facilities. |
| NYPD Tests Radiation Scanners To Detect Concealed Weapons on Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Police Department is developing a new way to seek people toting guns on the street with radiation scanners that can detect those packing heat, says the New York Daily News. The technology, which works like infrared imaging, includes a mechanism that can detect a natural energy, known as terahertz radiation, that emits from a person's body, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Because the radiation waves cannot travel through metal, a concealed gun can be detected from the image captured by the lens of the detector, Kelly said. "This technology has shown a great deal of promise as a way of detecting weapons without a physical search," he said. However, the technology, which has been undergoing testing for three years, can be used only at a distance of 3 to 4 feet. Civil liberties lawyer Norman Siegel said he hopes the scanning devices will be able to distinguish between a gun and other harmless metal objects, such as an iPod. |
| Alcohol and the Badge: Excess Drinking Part of Police Culture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a three-part series on police officers and drinking problems, the Dallas Morning News profiles officers with promising careers that were ruined by serious incidents. The series is available only to paid subscribers. It is difficult to gauge statistically whether being a police officer makes one more vulnerable to the travails of excessive drinking or alcoholism. Experts have estimated that as many as 20 percent of police officers are problem drinkers. One study found officers drank less frequently than the general population, but tended to binge drink when they did. Many agree that drinking is part of the police culture. "They drink a lot, and they drink together," said John Violanti of the University at Buffalo and a former New York state trooper who studies police stress and alcohol use. "It's part of the macho image, part of being a cop." Experts on police, and many officers, say cops drink because of peer pressure and high stress levels. They get into trouble with alcohol, says the Morning News, "because they feel invulnerable and, as society's helpers, are less likely to show weakness by seeking help. As mores change and technology advances, they're more likely to get caught and their colleagues less likely to risk assisting them in covering up their problems." |
| Romney: Violent Convicts Should Not Be Allowed to Regain Voting Rights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum took GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney to task for opposing voting rights for felons who have served their time -- and for what Santorum cast as a flip-flop on the issue from his time as Massachusetts governor, CBS News reports. During a Fox News/Wall Street Journal-hosted Republican presidential debate Monday ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary, Santorum said a Romney "super PAC" ad suggested that Santorum "voted to allow felons to be able to vote from prison." "I would ask Governor Romney, do you believe people who have -- who were felons, who served their time, who have extended, exhausted their parole and probation, should they be given the right to vote?" Santorum said, noting that he was speaking on Martin Luther King Day, "This is a huge deal in the African-American community, because we have very high rates of incarceration, disproportionately high rates, particularly with drug crimes, in the African-American community." Romney's answer: "I don't think people who have committed violent crimes should be allowed to vote again." Santorum noted that when Romney was Massachusetts Governor, "not only could violent felons vote after they exhausted their sentences, but they could vote while they were on probation and parole." |
| TX Case Highlights Parole Reluctance In High-Profile Cases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eroy Brown, whose acquittal on murder charges in the deaths of a prison warden and a farm manager in the 1980s shook the corrections system to its roots, is coming up for parole again, says the Austin American-Statesman. Brown is serving 90 years as a habitual criminal for robbing a convenience store of $12 and some candy bars. The graying, almost 60-year-old is serving time in a South Carolina prison because a federal judge thought his safety could not be guaranteed in a Texas lockup. If he's denied parole, he would be released within five years without any supervision under controversial early release policies enacted in the 1970s to ease prison crowding. "He got more publicity for (the acquittal) than Christ on the cross," said his attorney, Bill Habern. Brown's case highlights a long-standing issue with Texas' parole system: a reluctance to parole longtime offenders with high-profile cases, even those who soon will be freed anyway, and those with serious and costly health problems. Brown is earning liberal credits for good behavior on his sentence, which he would finish by 2017. At that time, he would be released free and clear, with no supervision. Brown is among just 4,208 of Texas' 156,000 convicts who are still accruing such credits under old laws, a number that dwindles each year as more are paroled or released. |
| White House Hosts Police Chiefs to Discuss Homegrown Terrorism ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Obama administration is providing senior state and local police officials with its analysis of homegrown terrorism incidents, including common signs law enforcement can use to identify violent extremists, reports the Associated Press. The warning signs include someone joining a group advocating violence, receiving support from a network that plans attacks or seeking out charismatic leaders who encourage violence. The analysis comes from the Homeland Security Department, the FBI, and the National Counterterrorism Center. An overview was shared with the Associated Press and was being presented today at a White House conference. The conference marks the first time the unclassified analysis is presented to 46 senior federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, many of them police chiefs and sheriffs. The conference includes sessions on other federal programs for countering violent extremism and a briefing from a deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department about what the city has done on this front. |
| Barbour: MS Pardon Curbs Would Remove "Reason to Try Harder" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who said he is "at peace" with the 200-plus pardons he granted on his way out of office, said limiting pardon power in Mississippi would be "a very bad mistake," reports the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. That's exactly what some state leaders seek to do not only through a legal challenge from Attorney General Jim Hood, but also through legislation. Some bills, supported by newly inaugurated Gov. Phil Bryant, could lead to constitutional amendments. Critics of Barbour's clemency to 221 offenders, including 208 on his last day Jan. 10, have called his actions a travesty. Barbour said restrictions would eliminate an incentive for offenders to improve. "It takes away the power to give people hope or a reason to try harder," Barbour said. Mick Bullock, Bryant's spokesman, said the governor "will only pardon an individual when clear evidence exists that he should do so." |
| Wife's Video Alleges Second S.F. Sheriff Violent Incident ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's wife said in a videotaped account of his alleged New Year's Eve attack against her that he had manhandled her on an earlier occasion last year, and that the former city supervisor had warned her he could gain custody of their young son because he was "very powerful," say court documents reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Mirkarimi, 50, is awaiting arraignment Thursday on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness, stemming from an incident that began after the couple left their home for a New Year's Eve meal. Mirkarimi has denied the allegations. A key piece of evidence is a Jan. 1 videotape taken of Mirkarimi's wife, Eliana Lopez, by a neighbor, Ivory Madison. On it, Lopez is crying and points to a bruise on her right bicep where she said Mirkarimi grabbed her during the confrontation the day before, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. "This happened yesterday," Lopez says on the video. "Two times in 2011, and this is the second time this is happening. Mirkarimi's defense attorney, Robert Waggener, said he was aware of the accusation of a prior incident in March 2011 involving the couple. "I know that issue is out there," he said, "but there's no domestic violence." |
| U..S. Using "Consequence Delivery" To Stiffen Illegal Immigrant Penalties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For years, the majority of illegal immigrants from Mexico caught by the Border Patrol were fingerprinted, photographed,and sent back fairly quickly, while repeat border-crossers and those with criminal records were charged with federal crimes or officially deported. Since 2009, Customs and Border Protection has been gradually rolling out the Consequence Delivery System, which aims to stiffen punishment of undocumented immigrants, says the San Diego Union-Tribune. The program includes sending people far away from where they entered the U.S. so it's tougher to reconnect with their smugglers, putting them through immigration court, sending them to prison, and working with Mexico to prosecute smugglers. The program is key to a new national strategy for dealing with illegal immigration that's expected to be released this month. Consequence Delivery, first used in Arizona, assigns illegal immigrants one of seven levels of punishment based on factors such as how many times they have been apprehended and their criminal history. |
| Iowa Legislator Suggests Nursing Home for Elderly Sex Offenders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iowa may have to establish a special nursing home for elderly sex offenders and other criminals, say legislators quoted by the Ft. Dodge Messenger. ''These individuals should not be turned loose,'' said state Rep. Helen Miller. ''We will have to have a facility where these individuals will be contained." Miller and other legislators addressed the issue after an eighty-three-year-old registered sex offender reportedly sexually assaulted another resident at a care center. William Cubbage is accused of sexually assaulting a 95-year-old woman last summer. He was convicted of sex crimes in 2000, 1997, 1991 and 1987. He moved into the nursing home in 2010. He was removed after the alleged assault and was placed in a corrections facility. State Rep. Tom Shaw said the state may have to buy a small nursing home and staff it with personnel trained to deal with sex offenders. |
| In Seattle, Teen Uses "Find My iPhone" To Find His Burglar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A tech-savvy 14-year-old helped Seattle police track down a felon who was arrested with thousands of dollars in electronics equipment stolen from the boy's home, says the Seattle Times. Using a laptop and the "Find My iPhone" app, Max Malkin pinpointed the location of his mother's iPhone, taken with other items during a burglary last weekend. An officer "quarterbacked" the search from Malkin's kitchen, communicating with officers on the street until a suspect was detained - and a well-timed phone call to the iPhone enabled police to recover the stolen loot. "When the phone rang," said Harold Malkin, a federal prosecutor, "the guy kind of knew the jig was up." The 20-year-old man was arrested for investigation of possession of stolen property. Said the father, "From the time the laptop was opened to the time they got this guy, it was probably 15 minutes." |
| Court: DEA Agent "Laughing Stock" Video Didn't Violate Privacy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lee Paige, an undercover federal drug agent who accidentally shot himself in the leg during a videotaped talk with children, lost his appeal in a suit that alleged the government illegally released personal information, reports Legal Times. Paige charged that the Drug Enforcement Administration violated federal privacy rights. Paige shot himself in 2004 as he spoke to about 50 children and parents in Orlando. A parent recorded the talk, and the video showed up on YouTube. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the video clip was not a part of the agency's "system of records." Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson said, "The widespread circulation of the accidental discharge video demonstrates the need for every federal agency to safeguard video records with extreme diligence in this internet age of iPhones and YouTube with their instantaneous and universal reach." Paige's attorney said the video made him "a laughing stock around the world despite his notable and often extremely dangerous service to the United States." |
| S. Hakan Can, Ph.D. |
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
18 Jan 2012
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