While much of the nation grieves for the tragic loss of 26 people in a Newtown, Conn., shooting, a community on the West Coast is still trying to come to grips with its own loss after a gunman opened fire in a Portland-area shopping mall.
The Clackamas Town Center was reported to have had 10,000 holiday shoppers in and out of its stores on the day Jacob Tyler Roberts arrived and began randomly firing a semiautomatic weapon in the shopping center’s food court, killing two and seriously wounding another before turning the gun on himself.
No motive has been determined, and family and friends of the shooter say he was a mild-mannered man who never showed any signs of mental disturbance or violent tendencies. He was employed and had plans for the future that he spoke of often; all things that seem to set him apart from many shooters, including Adam Lanza, although details about the Connecticut gunman are still murky.
Read more here.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
W.Va. inmate crowding study homes in on drug abuse
West Virginia can likely reduce prison crowding by assessing more quickly the risks posed by offenders and providing substance abuse treatment to those on probation, parole and other community-level supervision, researchers told state officials Monday.
The recommendations are among several findings emerging from a study of the state's criminal justice and corrections systems by the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The project of the Justice Center at the nonpartisan Council of State Governments began scrutinizing West Virginia's situation earlier this year. With plans to present more formal proposals in January, its staff on Monday updated a panel that includes corrections and court officials, legislators, county prosecutors, defense lawyers and community leaders.
Read more here.
The recommendations are among several findings emerging from a study of the state's criminal justice and corrections systems by the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The project of the Justice Center at the nonpartisan Council of State Governments began scrutinizing West Virginia's situation earlier this year. With plans to present more formal proposals in January, its staff on Monday updated a panel that includes corrections and court officials, legislators, county prosecutors, defense lawyers and community leaders.
Read more here.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Treating them as victims, not criminals
Two years ago, Los Angeles County probation officer Michelle Guymon was asked to help child abuse experts study human trafficking. She imagined a globe-trotting break from 23 years in the trenches managing law-breaking teens. "I figured I'd be traveling the world," she said. But Guymon never left home. The human trafficking victims she studied were local girls forced into sex — not much different from the hundreds she'd encountered in juvenile hall, locked up and punished for working the streets.
"That was an 'aha' moment for me," she recalled.
Guymon had spent years in the county's probation camps "working with young girls who had come into the system as a result of a prostitution-related offense. But I never really saw those girls as being sexually exploited."
"I had more of a judgment thing: 'You need to quit that. This is not a good thing to be doing.' I thought I was a good therapist, but I missed it," she said.
"I didn't make the correlation with the girls I had been working with: These are the girls being sexually exploited. This is not just some bad choice they made."
That was then. Now Guymon is serving on a county task force charged with translating that insight into policy. Its goal? Finding ways to keep young girls out of prostitution, and young prostitutes out of the criminal justice system. Treating them, finally, not as criminals but victims.
Read more here.
"That was an 'aha' moment for me," she recalled.
Guymon had spent years in the county's probation camps "working with young girls who had come into the system as a result of a prostitution-related offense. But I never really saw those girls as being sexually exploited."
"I had more of a judgment thing: 'You need to quit that. This is not a good thing to be doing.' I thought I was a good therapist, but I missed it," she said.
"I didn't make the correlation with the girls I had been working with: These are the girls being sexually exploited. This is not just some bad choice they made."
That was then. Now Guymon is serving on a county task force charged with translating that insight into policy. Its goal? Finding ways to keep young girls out of prostitution, and young prostitutes out of the criminal justice system. Treating them, finally, not as criminals but victims.
Read more here.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
NYC crime news update: the impossible occurs
On Wednesday, November 28, 2012, the news out of New York was that NYC went all day Monday without a shooting, knifing or slashing.
What city can boast that of a similar population?
An almost impossible feat, actually, and one historian said it hasn’t happened since…they can’t remember when. Tom Reppetto is the historian questioned about the unusual lack of violence by the NY Daily News, and he says it may be rare that none of these violent activities occurred on Monday, but then it is also unusual that NYC has only had about 400 murders this year too. By the end of the year, Reppetto said, “They’re going to come in with the fewest number of murders since 1960.”
He’s probably right, as of Nov. 28, 2012 the city reported that murders were down 23 percent from last year’s 472 murder total. Yet crime isn’t decreasing overall just because murder crime has decreased. In fact, NYC is seeing a rise in other types of crime, making the overall crime rate go up by three percent. That was namely due to grand larcenies, however, which rose as much as nine percent thanks to the increased thefts of smart phones and tablets.
Smart phone and tablet users in New York beware.
Read more here.
What city can boast that of a similar population?
An almost impossible feat, actually, and one historian said it hasn’t happened since…they can’t remember when. Tom Reppetto is the historian questioned about the unusual lack of violence by the NY Daily News, and he says it may be rare that none of these violent activities occurred on Monday, but then it is also unusual that NYC has only had about 400 murders this year too. By the end of the year, Reppetto said, “They’re going to come in with the fewest number of murders since 1960.”
He’s probably right, as of Nov. 28, 2012 the city reported that murders were down 23 percent from last year’s 472 murder total. Yet crime isn’t decreasing overall just because murder crime has decreased. In fact, NYC is seeing a rise in other types of crime, making the overall crime rate go up by three percent. That was namely due to grand larcenies, however, which rose as much as nine percent thanks to the increased thefts of smart phones and tablets.
Smart phone and tablet users in New York beware.
Read more here.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Risks of Texas prison guard shortage magnified during holidays, union says
A union for correctional officers in Texas says understaffing is putting guards at increased risk, especially around the holidays, during what has already been the deadliest year inside state prisons in more than a decade. Union leaders want better pay for the nearly 5,000 correctional officers working for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The agency lost about 500 guard positions after lawmakers slashed the state budget last year, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Correctional Employees.
The base salary for a first-year correctional officer in Texas is about $28,000. After seven years on the job, guards make about $37,000 annually before overtime. Between budget cuts and retention difficulties, the union claims the agency is 2,700 guards short and says understaffing is putting officers at heightened risk. There have been at least 10 inmate-on-inmate killings inside Texas prisons this year, up from three in 2011.
There were five in 2010 and just one in 2009, according to agency figures. Union leaders say the dangers inside lockups are amplified around the holidays. "During the holidays, TDCJ employees aren't the only ones wishing they were at home," said Lance Lowry, a local union president. "Correctional officers have to be on high alert during the holidays because there is a greater risk of suicides and escapes throughout Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's."
Read more here.
The base salary for a first-year correctional officer in Texas is about $28,000. After seven years on the job, guards make about $37,000 annually before overtime. Between budget cuts and retention difficulties, the union claims the agency is 2,700 guards short and says understaffing is putting officers at heightened risk. There have been at least 10 inmate-on-inmate killings inside Texas prisons this year, up from three in 2011.
There were five in 2010 and just one in 2009, according to agency figures. Union leaders say the dangers inside lockups are amplified around the holidays. "During the holidays, TDCJ employees aren't the only ones wishing they were at home," said Lance Lowry, a local union president. "Correctional officers have to be on high alert during the holidays because there is a greater risk of suicides and escapes throughout Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's."
Read more here.
Monday, November 26, 2012
(Medicating) ADHD 'may reduce risk of criminal behaviour'
People with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who are involved in crime are less likely to reoffend when on treatment than not, a Swedish study shows. Earlier studies suggest people with ADHD are more likely to commit offences than the general population. Providing better access to medication may reduce crime and save money, experts and support groups say. Researchers say the benefits of the drugs must be weighed against harms.
In the UK 3% of children have a diagnosis of ADHD, with half of them continuing to have the condition in adult life. People with the disorder have to deal with problems with concentration, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Estimates suggest between 7-40% of people in the criminal justice system may have ADHD and other similar disorders, though in many cases the condition is not formally recognised.
Read more here.
In the UK 3% of children have a diagnosis of ADHD, with half of them continuing to have the condition in adult life. People with the disorder have to deal with problems with concentration, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Estimates suggest between 7-40% of people in the criminal justice system may have ADHD and other similar disorders, though in many cases the condition is not formally recognised.
Read more here.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
A courtroom created to offer assistance for veterans
Veteran’s Day is around the corner, and there is one courtroom in Clark County trying to make a difference for veterans caught in the criminal justice system. Veteran Randy Lewis has been attending Veterans Court trying to get his life back on track, and he’s been successfully sober for one year.
“This is my life. I mean who wants to live a life of drugs man? I want to be a productive member of society like most everyone else wants to be and it's important to me and this program has been a gateway for me to return to that,” Lewis said.
Judge Linda Bell presides over Veteran’s Court in District Court. It is now a stand-alone courtroom that grew out of Drug Court. It’s been operating on its own for about two months, focusing solely on Veterans with criminal charges to help them get their lives together. Judge Bell says often they are coping with their problems through substance abuse.
“I think it's a very difficult transition that vets have such a hard time making and sometimes they self-medicate to make the whole thing easier,” Bell said.
Read more here.
“This is my life. I mean who wants to live a life of drugs man? I want to be a productive member of society like most everyone else wants to be and it's important to me and this program has been a gateway for me to return to that,” Lewis said.
Judge Linda Bell presides over Veteran’s Court in District Court. It is now a stand-alone courtroom that grew out of Drug Court. It’s been operating on its own for about two months, focusing solely on Veterans with criminal charges to help them get their lives together. Judge Bell says often they are coping with their problems through substance abuse.
“I think it's a very difficult transition that vets have such a hard time making and sometimes they self-medicate to make the whole thing easier,” Bell said.
Read more here.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Jury Nullification Gaining Influence On Criminal Trials
The power of jury nullification has gained recognition, acceptance, and wider use in recent years, and has the potential to profoundly affect the application of criminal justice in the United States. Jury nullification allows juries to acquit defendants who are guilty as charged, but who they believe do not deserve to be punished. The power to nullify is not widely known among modern laymen and is the subject of much debate. But little doubt exists of a jury’s right and ability to employ it.
Nullification is derived from and supported by several inherent qualities and precedents shared by most common law systems: discouragement of inquiry into the deliberations and motivations of juries; the prohibition of punishment of jurors for verdicts rendered; the inability of criminal courts to instruct juries to render a particular verdict, no matter the strength of the evidence; and, the prohibition of retrying defendants after they are acquitted.
On June 18 of this year, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed into law HB 146, commonly known as “the jury nullification bill,” which reads in part, “In all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.” The law also states that “the jury system functions at its best when it is fully informed of the jury’s prerogatives.” The law will take effect on January 1, 2013.
Read more here.
Nullification is derived from and supported by several inherent qualities and precedents shared by most common law systems: discouragement of inquiry into the deliberations and motivations of juries; the prohibition of punishment of jurors for verdicts rendered; the inability of criminal courts to instruct juries to render a particular verdict, no matter the strength of the evidence; and, the prohibition of retrying defendants after they are acquitted.
On June 18 of this year, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed into law HB 146, commonly known as “the jury nullification bill,” which reads in part, “In all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.” The law also states that “the jury system functions at its best when it is fully informed of the jury’s prerogatives.” The law will take effect on January 1, 2013.
Read more here.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Juvenile crime drops to record low in California
Youth crime levels in California dropped to the lowest in recorded history last year, according to a new report from the San Francisco based think tank, the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. In 2011, there were 3,483.1 arrests per 100,000 youth aged 10-17, the lowest since the state began keeping such statistics in 1954. That reality contrasts sharply with popular myths about the rising tide of youth violence, writes CJCJ researcher Mike Males, also author of the book Kids and Guns: How Politicians, Experts, and the Press Fabricate Fear of Youth. Particularly, the data dispel any notion that Black and Latino youth drive up crimes rates.
"In fact, the state’s largest, most diverse youth population has the lowest level of both major and minor offenses ever reliably tabulated," Males wrote in his report. In the 1950s, California's youth population was 80 percent non-Latino White. Today it's 73 percent non-White.
The crime low comes at other historic points for the state when it comes to juvenile justice. The state's juvenile prison system is the smallest it's been in more than a decade. And in general, incarceration levels have dropped. As of December 2011, an estimated 7,500 youth were in some sort of state or county lock-up on any given night, down from 11,000 in the mid-1990s. If not tougher policing or more time locked up, what explains California's dramatic drop in juvenile crime? Males cites two potential factors: changes in marijuana laws and socioeconomics.
Read more here.
"In fact, the state’s largest, most diverse youth population has the lowest level of both major and minor offenses ever reliably tabulated," Males wrote in his report. In the 1950s, California's youth population was 80 percent non-Latino White. Today it's 73 percent non-White.
The crime low comes at other historic points for the state when it comes to juvenile justice. The state's juvenile prison system is the smallest it's been in more than a decade. And in general, incarceration levels have dropped. As of December 2011, an estimated 7,500 youth were in some sort of state or county lock-up on any given night, down from 11,000 in the mid-1990s. If not tougher policing or more time locked up, what explains California's dramatic drop in juvenile crime? Males cites two potential factors: changes in marijuana laws and socioeconomics.
Read more here.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Raising The Age: One Step Towards Fixing The Juvenile Criminal System
Javier Gonzalez, a 24-year-old from the South Bronx, looks down at the floor as he speaks. The traces of prison are tattooed on his body. “Dear God,” starts off the ink on his right arm, “I am a sinner and need forgiveness.” Gonzalez was arrested for the first time when he was 16 and was caught carrying a knife. A charge for weapons possession sent him to the Mohawk Correctional Facility, a medium security prison near upstate Utica, where the median age of inmates is 35. That initial charge altered the rest of his life. If Gonzalez had been arrested in Connecticut or New Jersey, he would not have to report his record to future employers. But because he was arrested at age 16 in New York State, Gonzalez was considered an adult and his record follows him wherever he goes. “If you’re old enough to commit the crime, you’re old enough to do the time,” he said. “That’s how they look at it.”
Approximately 46,000 minors come into contact with the New York courts each year. In 2009, 47,339 youths between the ages of 16 and 17 were arrested. More than half of those arrests were in New York City, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. New York and North Carolina are the only two states that set criminal responsibility at the age of 16. While the law is at the discretion of the court judge, minors arrested after their 16th birthday and sentenced to more than a year are often tried as adults and incarcerated in adult correctional facilities. New York also treats teens 13 to 15 years old as adults when they are accused of murder or other serious crimes. They are considered juvenile offenders, and are subject to mandatory imprisonment unless the ruling judge decides to make an exception.
Read more here.
Approximately 46,000 minors come into contact with the New York courts each year. In 2009, 47,339 youths between the ages of 16 and 17 were arrested. More than half of those arrests were in New York City, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. New York and North Carolina are the only two states that set criminal responsibility at the age of 16. While the law is at the discretion of the court judge, minors arrested after their 16th birthday and sentenced to more than a year are often tried as adults and incarcerated in adult correctional facilities. New York also treats teens 13 to 15 years old as adults when they are accused of murder or other serious crimes. They are considered juvenile offenders, and are subject to mandatory imprisonment unless the ruling judge decides to make an exception.
Read more here.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Effects of change in California criminal justice system difficult to discern
Critics of a year-old law shifting responsibility for thousands of convicted felons to the counties have seized on the brutal beating of a San Joaquin County woman – allegedly by a man released from jail just days before the attack – as evidence that the law is eroding public safety. But criminal justice experts say that understanding the law's effects will take more time and more information than a few headline-grabbing cases can provide.
Parolee Raoul Leyva allegedly beat Brandy Marie Arreola, then 20, into a coma in April. Shortly before the attack, Leyva had been sentenced to jail for 100 days for violating the conditions of his parole. He was released after two days because of overcrowding in the jail. Before the passage last year of the criminal justice reform law – AB109 – he would have been subject to prison time, rather than jail, for the parole violation.
Critics of prison realignment, as AB109 is commonly known, say crime rates are surging because fewer people such as Leyva are going to prison, and some may be getting out of jail early because of overcrowding. Leyva's last prison term was for motor vehicle theft, a nonviolent offense. Crimes classified as nonviolent are now met with jail or community supervision instead of prison. Violations of parole by nonviolent offenders also mean jail time rather than prison for the offender.
The law's enactment followed a court order to reduce the state's prison population. The prisons were at double their capacity at the time of the order. Since then, the prison population has dropped by more than 26,000 inmates.
Read more here
Parolee Raoul Leyva allegedly beat Brandy Marie Arreola, then 20, into a coma in April. Shortly before the attack, Leyva had been sentenced to jail for 100 days for violating the conditions of his parole. He was released after two days because of overcrowding in the jail. Before the passage last year of the criminal justice reform law – AB109 – he would have been subject to prison time, rather than jail, for the parole violation.
Critics of prison realignment, as AB109 is commonly known, say crime rates are surging because fewer people such as Leyva are going to prison, and some may be getting out of jail early because of overcrowding. Leyva's last prison term was for motor vehicle theft, a nonviolent offense. Crimes classified as nonviolent are now met with jail or community supervision instead of prison. Violations of parole by nonviolent offenders also mean jail time rather than prison for the offender.
The law's enactment followed a court order to reduce the state's prison population. The prisons were at double their capacity at the time of the order. Since then, the prison population has dropped by more than 26,000 inmates.
Read more here
Monday, October 22, 2012
How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters? An Analysis of Child Sex Crime Rates on Halloween
States, municipalities, and parole departments have adopted policies banning known sex offenders from Halloween activities, based on the worry that there is unusual risk on these days. The existence of this risk has not been empirically established. "How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters? An Analysis of Child Sex Crime Rates on Halloween," by Mark Chaffin, Jill Levenson, Elizabeth Letourneau and Paul Stern, and published in the September 2009 issue of Sexual Abuse looks at this issue. Below is an overview of the article by the authors; you can read the full article here.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Violent Crime Jumps 18% in 2011, First Rise in Nearly 20 Years
Violent crimes unexpectedly jumped 18 percent last year, the first rise in nearly 20 years, and property crimes rose for first time in a decade. But academic experts said the new government data fall short of signaling a reversal of the long decline in crime.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reported Wednesday that the increase in the number of violent crimes was the result of an upward swing in simple assaults, which rose 22 percent, from 4 million in 2010 to 5 million last year. The incidence of rape, sexual assault and robbery remained largely unchanged, as did serious violent crime involving weapons or injury.
Property crimes were up 11 percent in 2011, from 15.4 million in 2010 to 17 million, according to the bureau's annual national crime victimization survey. Household burglaries rose 14 percent, from 3.2 million to 3.6 million. The number of thefts jumped by 10 percent, from 11.6 million to 12.8 million.
The statistics bureau said the percentage increases last year were so large primarily because the 2011 crime totals were compared to historically low levels of crime in 2010. Violent crime has fallen by 65 percent since 1993, from 16.8 million to 5.8 million last year.
"2011 may be worse than 2010, but it was also the second-best in recent history," said Northeastern University criminology professor James Alan Fox.
Read more here.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Report: Local Youth Programs Need More Funds, Oversight
Local juvenile probation departments are doing a better job and spending less money than state lockups when it comes to treating and rehabilitating troubled youths, according to a report released Wednesday by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. But the report’s authors say that counties need more money and more oversight from the state to ensure the progress continues.
“These county programs are doing a lot of really innovative things,” said Benet Magnuson, policy attorney at the criminal justice coalition. “They are doing it on shoestring budgets, and they are really finding ways to connect kids to community resources.”
In 2007, following reports of physical and sexual abuse at some of the state’s secure youth facilities, lawmakers began overhauling the juvenile justice system. In the years since, legislators have continued the reforms with the goal of keeping more youths in community programs close to their homes instead of sending them to far-flung state facilities. The population at state facilities has dropped precipitously, from about 5,000 in 2006 to fewer than 1,200 now. The state shuttered facilities, and now only six of the original 15 institutions remain open.
Read more here.
“These county programs are doing a lot of really innovative things,” said Benet Magnuson, policy attorney at the criminal justice coalition. “They are doing it on shoestring budgets, and they are really finding ways to connect kids to community resources.”
In 2007, following reports of physical and sexual abuse at some of the state’s secure youth facilities, lawmakers began overhauling the juvenile justice system. In the years since, legislators have continued the reforms with the goal of keeping more youths in community programs close to their homes instead of sending them to far-flung state facilities. The population at state facilities has dropped precipitously, from about 5,000 in 2006 to fewer than 1,200 now. The state shuttered facilities, and now only six of the original 15 institutions remain open.
Read more here.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Fighting crime in the computer age
Technology is changing at a dizzying pace, and law enforcement officers are having trouble keeping up. ew smartphones are being released constantly. Tablets like the iPad are replacing laptop computers. Almost everybody - including those who break the law - have access to a cellphone.
"We tend to play catch-up a lot of times because technology is changing so rapidly," said Jason Lee, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Wyoming.
This new way of committing crime can pose a problem for law enforcement officers, who have to be knowledgeable about every new device. According to a 2011 report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, that year marked the third in a row that it received more than 300,000 complaints. The center received 314,246 complaints, an increase of 3.4 percent from 2010.
Read more here
"We tend to play catch-up a lot of times because technology is changing so rapidly," said Jason Lee, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Wyoming.
This new way of committing crime can pose a problem for law enforcement officers, who have to be knowledgeable about every new device. According to a 2011 report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, that year marked the third in a row that it received more than 300,000 complaints. The center received 314,246 complaints, an increase of 3.4 percent from 2010.
Read more here
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Novel courts handle low-level crimes across US .
In most courtrooms, spontaneous applause could get you thrown out. But in this San Francisco court, it's expected — and strongly encouraged for the defendants.
Bowls of hard candy rest in front of the judge's bench, as a reward for the men and women making their weekly court appearances and attending group therapy. Almost daily, the judge awards one standout a $5 grocery store gift card — while the gallery claps and cheers.
These scenes have played out thousands of times at the Community Justice Center, a novel, 4-year-old court system in the city's rough-edged Tenderloin district. It's one of about 40 community courts around the United States that tackle mostly low-level crimes in troubled neighborhoods using judges — not juries — to send defendants to drug treatment, shelter and social services, instead of handing down fines and time in overcrowded jails.
"We go to the root of the problems rather than just throwing them in jail," said the Community Justice Center's lone judge, Lillian Sing.
Read more here.
Bowls of hard candy rest in front of the judge's bench, as a reward for the men and women making their weekly court appearances and attending group therapy. Almost daily, the judge awards one standout a $5 grocery store gift card — while the gallery claps and cheers.
These scenes have played out thousands of times at the Community Justice Center, a novel, 4-year-old court system in the city's rough-edged Tenderloin district. It's one of about 40 community courts around the United States that tackle mostly low-level crimes in troubled neighborhoods using judges — not juries — to send defendants to drug treatment, shelter and social services, instead of handing down fines and time in overcrowded jails.
"We go to the root of the problems rather than just throwing them in jail," said the Community Justice Center's lone judge, Lillian Sing.
Read more here.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Free Article from SAGE Open: A State of Emergency in Alabama: Prison Overcrowding
A State of Emergency in Alabama: Prison Overcrowding
From Larry Edward Spencer, Alabama State University,
Montgomery, USA
Published on SAGE Open and available for free here: http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/2/3/2158244012460695.full
Larry Edward Spencer, Alabama State University, 915 S
Jackson Street, Montgomery, AL 36101, USA Email: larrylezlie@aol.com
Abstract:
This study examines the Alabama Department of Corrections
August 2009 Monthly Statistical Report and Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report,
recent articles to explain the serious public safety issue of prison
overcrowding within the state of Alabama, lack of funding and correctional
staff, and increasing violence among inmates. It is imperative that the
stakeholders take a restorative justice approach to offenders who commit
nonviolent crimes or otherwise be prepared to release substantial numbers of
violent inmates due to federal court intervention, expanding parole, and other
types of early release programs. Violent offenders will pose a greater threat
to the community. Correctional workers continue to be exposed daily to the risk
of injury or death caused by severe prison overcrowding. The state could
experience additional financial hardship to rebuild a destroyed correctional
facility in an event of a riot. The excessive use of incarceration for
nonviolent offenders is one of the most important issues facing the state of
Alabama this decade.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Using death's clues to solve life's mysteries
Dr. Bill Bass opens the long, brown cardboard box, a slender rectangle that could hold long-stemmed roses. The forensic anthropologist reaches in to select a human skull. Three dozen people lean up in their chairs as the retired University of Tennessee anthropology professor cradles a dead man's head in his hands. Bass threads thin metal survey stakes — the type more often used to mark utility or property lines — through holes two bullets left in the skull. Neon orange flags at the stakes' tips protrude from the skull cavities.
A few people groan quietly; most appear enthralled. William M. Bass is in his element. He's holding bones and teaching.
It's a humid early evening in June at James White's Fort; Bass is speaking at the downtown landmark's $75-a-ticket "Forensics at the Fort" benefit. He talks for nearly an hour, holding up other skulls from his box to teach their stories. He answers questions until it's nearly dark, only ending when assistant Susan Seals gives him the "stop" signal from the back of the group.
The lecture is one of dozens that Bass, who retired from UT in 1995, gives in a year to groups that include churches, the Knoxville Bar Association and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. This night skulls substitute for one of the 15 or so sets of slides he often brings. Those images of decomposing corpses, shown at a breakfast lecture Bass gave at a forensic conference, once appalled crime writer Patricia Cornwell. To the 84-year-old Bass, maggot-covered bodies and bullet-pierced skulls are pieces to puzzles.
Read more here.
A few people groan quietly; most appear enthralled. William M. Bass is in his element. He's holding bones and teaching.
It's a humid early evening in June at James White's Fort; Bass is speaking at the downtown landmark's $75-a-ticket "Forensics at the Fort" benefit. He talks for nearly an hour, holding up other skulls from his box to teach their stories. He answers questions until it's nearly dark, only ending when assistant Susan Seals gives him the "stop" signal from the back of the group.
The lecture is one of dozens that Bass, who retired from UT in 1995, gives in a year to groups that include churches, the Knoxville Bar Association and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. This night skulls substitute for one of the 15 or so sets of slides he often brings. Those images of decomposing corpses, shown at a breakfast lecture Bass gave at a forensic conference, once appalled crime writer Patricia Cornwell. To the 84-year-old Bass, maggot-covered bodies and bullet-pierced skulls are pieces to puzzles.
Read more here.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Judges on Judging: Views from the Bench, Fourth Edition
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New from SAGE and CQ Press. Don't forget IACFP members receive discounts on all SAGE books. See our member page for details. Judges on Judging: Views from the Bench, Fourth Edition Thoroughly revised and updated, the Fourth Edition offers insights into the judicial philosophies and political views of those on the bench. Broad in scope, this one-of-a-kind book features "off-the-bench" writings and speeches in which Supreme Court justices, as well as federal and state court judges, discuss the judicial process, constitutional and statutory interpretation, judicial federalism, and the role of the judiciary. Engaging introductory material provides students with necessary thematic and historical context, making this book the perfect supplement to present a nuanced view of the judiciary. Learn more. New to this Edition:
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 Editor: David M. O'Brien, University of Virginia ISBN: 978-1-4522-2783-2 October 2012, 340 pages  Stay connected with SAGE CQ Politics at  
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Friday, September 28, 2012
Study: Low-Level Felons Often Are Repeat Offenders
Most people imprisoned for low-level felonies have several prior convictions, according to a new study from the Center for Criminal Justice Research at Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute. The finding could change the state legislature’s effort to reform criminal sentencing.
Governor Mitch Daniels tried to push through prison reform legislation in 2011 to reduce the number of people held in state prisons and limit the amount of money Indiana spends on inmates. The idea was that many people who are put in prison for low-level felonies such as theft would be better off in treatment or on probation.
But the new study from the Center for Criminal Justice Research shows people who commit those low-level felonies often have been convicted of other crimes. John von Arx is the project manager for the study. He says the data shows prison time isn’t being used for first-time offenders.
Read more here.
Governor Mitch Daniels tried to push through prison reform legislation in 2011 to reduce the number of people held in state prisons and limit the amount of money Indiana spends on inmates. The idea was that many people who are put in prison for low-level felonies such as theft would be better off in treatment or on probation.
But the new study from the Center for Criminal Justice Research shows people who commit those low-level felonies often have been convicted of other crimes. John von Arx is the project manager for the study. He says the data shows prison time isn’t being used for first-time offenders.
Read more here.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Texas inmate prepares for 3rd trip death house
What Cleve Foster remembers most about his recent brushes with death is the steel door, the last one condemned Texas inmates typically walk through before their execution.
"You can't take your eyes off that door," he says.
But twice over the past year and a half, Foster has come within moments of being escorted through the door, only to be told the U.S. Supreme Court had halted his scheduled punishment.
On Tuesday, Foster, 48, is scheduled for yet another trip to the death house for participating in the abduction and slaying of a 30-year-old Sudanese woman, Nyaneur Pal, a decade ago near Fort Worth.
Read more here.
"You can't take your eyes off that door," he says.
But twice over the past year and a half, Foster has come within moments of being escorted through the door, only to be told the U.S. Supreme Court had halted his scheduled punishment.
On Tuesday, Foster, 48, is scheduled for yet another trip to the death house for participating in the abduction and slaying of a 30-year-old Sudanese woman, Nyaneur Pal, a decade ago near Fort Worth.
Read more here.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
In U.S. executions, decades of delay, last-minute stays called cruel
Texas convicted murderer John Balentine made the round trip of 100 miles from death row to the execution chamber and back last week, a journey most condemned inmates make one way. Set to be executed on Wednesday shortly after 6 p.m. local time, Balentine was transported from his cell in Polunsky, Texas to the execution facility in Huntsville and placed in a small holding cell outside the death chamber.
Just after 5 p.m., he was informed that the U.S. Supreme Court had stayed his execution. He smiled but showed no other emotion, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 2011, Balentine was also one hour away from execution when he received a stay. A delay was granted less than 24 hours before Balentine was to die in 2009. While three stays of execution for one person is unusual, some Americans say the slow grind of legal justice, sometimes followed by appeals that result in last-minute stays of execution, are cruel both to inmates and the families of their crime victims.
Read more here
Just after 5 p.m., he was informed that the U.S. Supreme Court had stayed his execution. He smiled but showed no other emotion, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 2011, Balentine was also one hour away from execution when he received a stay. A delay was granted less than 24 hours before Balentine was to die in 2009. While three stays of execution for one person is unusual, some Americans say the slow grind of legal justice, sometimes followed by appeals that result in last-minute stays of execution, are cruel both to inmates and the families of their crime victims.
Read more here
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Millions of mentally ill missing from background check system
Nothing in the public record would have stopped alleged Aurora theater shooter James Holmes from legally obtaining guns. He had never been found criminally insane by a judge or convicted of a felony, both of which could have resulted in his name being entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). And even if he had been adjudicated as mentally defective, there is no guarantee his name would have been added to the database against which gun-purchase applications are compared.
More than 2 million qualifying mental-illness records are missing from the NICS index, according to the National Center for State Courts and SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics. Judges who find a defendant mentally defective under the law are required to add that person's name to the index.
"Part of the reason they don't report is lack of funding, and part is they just don't make this system a priority," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Read more here
More than 2 million qualifying mental-illness records are missing from the NICS index, according to the National Center for State Courts and SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics. Judges who find a defendant mentally defective under the law are required to add that person's name to the index.
"Part of the reason they don't report is lack of funding, and part is they just don't make this system a priority," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Read more here
Thursday, September 13, 2012
In justice system, life is cheaper than death
Ector County may be saving taxpayers and the state money by not seeking the death penalty on accused killer James Doyle Burwell. District Attorney Bobby Bland on Tuesday waived the death penalty in Burwell’s capital murder case, in which he is accused of slaying Dick and Peggy Glover in May 2011 in their home. Bland said the family requested that it be waived. The Glover family declined to comment Tuesday.
According to state and national advocacy groups, everything about death penalty cases, including sentencing someone to death, could be as much as three times more costly than sentencing a person to life in prison in a capital case. Richard Dieter, the director of the national nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, said costs vary not only state-by-state, but also locally.
Although it’s impossible to estimate a national average of costs for capital cases, Dieter said studies done across the United States allow him to safely estimate that a death sentence costs three times more than a capital case in which life in prison is the sentence.
Read more here
According to state and national advocacy groups, everything about death penalty cases, including sentencing someone to death, could be as much as three times more costly than sentencing a person to life in prison in a capital case. Richard Dieter, the director of the national nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, said costs vary not only state-by-state, but also locally.
Although it’s impossible to estimate a national average of costs for capital cases, Dieter said studies done across the United States allow him to safely estimate that a death sentence costs three times more than a capital case in which life in prison is the sentence.
Read more here
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Cycle of Mistrust Leaves Crimes Unprosecuted in the Bronx
Walk around Forest Houses, a public housing complex in the South Bronx, and people will say they’ve been stabbed, robbed, beat up — even shot. But most never wanted to get police involved, and many say they wouldn’t go to prosecutors either — even if their attackers were arrested. They say they fear retaliation.
“If I knew the dude that did it, I wouldn’t tell on him,” said James Johnson, a 17-year-old who lives in Forest Houses, “because that’s how people come looking for you. It’s the truth. I’m telling you.”
Around here, residents say they don’t trust law enforcement to protect them because criminals keep coming back to the neighborhood, even after they’ve been locked up.
“They can start all over again harassing you, and you’re not getting relocated. You’re gonna still be in your hood, dealing with the problem again,” said Melissa White, 30, another resident of Forest Houses. “At the end of the day, this is why people don’t want to talk. Because they have nowhere to go.”
Read more here
“If I knew the dude that did it, I wouldn’t tell on him,” said James Johnson, a 17-year-old who lives in Forest Houses, “because that’s how people come looking for you. It’s the truth. I’m telling you.”
Around here, residents say they don’t trust law enforcement to protect them because criminals keep coming back to the neighborhood, even after they’ve been locked up.
“They can start all over again harassing you, and you’re not getting relocated. You’re gonna still be in your hood, dealing with the problem again,” said Melissa White, 30, another resident of Forest Houses. “At the end of the day, this is why people don’t want to talk. Because they have nowhere to go.”
Read more here
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
9/11 -- 11 years later: A nation pauses to reflect and mourn anew
With bagpipes and somber bells sounding a sharp counterpoint to the commemorative moments of silence, the nation on Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack that brought down the World Trade Center in Manhattan and shattered the country’s political psyche.
At ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and in Washington, relatives and friends mourned the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack by Islamic terrorists. The scenes were as moving as those from previous ceremonies, though they also seemed more personal than in the past, especially compared to last year’s 10th anniversary. Unlike past events, authorities did not raise any special security alerts this year.
The sun rose on a cool, crisp morning, remarkably similar to that which dawned 11 years ago. At all three sites -- the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pa. -- the focus was on the victims who died when terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners. The Manhattan ceremony also honored the six people killed on Feb. 26, 1993, when attackers set off a truck bomb beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Read more
At ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and in Washington, relatives and friends mourned the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack by Islamic terrorists. The scenes were as moving as those from previous ceremonies, though they also seemed more personal than in the past, especially compared to last year’s 10th anniversary. Unlike past events, authorities did not raise any special security alerts this year.
The sun rose on a cool, crisp morning, remarkably similar to that which dawned 11 years ago. At all three sites -- the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pa. -- the focus was on the victims who died when terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners. The Manhattan ceremony also honored the six people killed on Feb. 26, 1993, when attackers set off a truck bomb beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Read more
Monday, September 10, 2012
Using Supportive Housing to Help Solve the Prison Problem
Throughout the country, prisons are stressing state budgets. Recidivism rates are high, driving costs even higher and reducing public safety. And for the small cohort of state inmates who have very high health care needs, the costs are higher still. Those men and women have histories of mental illness, substance use, chronic illness and homelessness -- and they cycle between the streets and expensive institutions, jails and prisons. But there's a solution that works to tackle the seemingly insurmountable problem of this high-need, high-cost group: supportive housing.
One state has already taken the lead in demonstrating the potential of supportive housing to reduce recidivism and costs. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) saw the problem and built a supportive housing program for the men and women coming out of Ohio's prisons that would help keep them housed, healthy and stable. The Returning Home Ohio initiative focuses on people being released from prisons who have been chronically homeless -- with priority given to those with severe mental illness, a developmental disability or other ongoing challenges that make services necessary to maintain housing.
Read more here
One state has already taken the lead in demonstrating the potential of supportive housing to reduce recidivism and costs. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) saw the problem and built a supportive housing program for the men and women coming out of Ohio's prisons that would help keep them housed, healthy and stable. The Returning Home Ohio initiative focuses on people being released from prisons who have been chronically homeless -- with priority given to those with severe mental illness, a developmental disability or other ongoing challenges that make services necessary to maintain housing.
Read more here
Friday, September 7, 2012
Windsor's forensic unit: Putting bad guys behind bars
"Dead bodies don't speak but they tell an incredible story.”
As stated in part one of the series, the Windsor Police Forensic Identification Branch may not be as glamourous as television – but there are still many stories to be told in Windsor. Just recently, Forensic Identification officers were able to obtain latent fingerprints from a scene and that led to the suspect's identity. They helped the Windsor Police arrest a 17-year-old who committed a string of sexual assaults. Further investigation revealed that the suspect was also responsible for two other sexual assaults that occurred in July.
The Forensic department handles much more than just homicides – they're at every crime. They always have cases to work on. According to Sgt. Douglas Cowper, their “bread and butter” are break and enters. It's what we do day in and day out. Finger prints and foot prints can be found around every scene. They photograph many scenes for the Windsor Police – the need for photos will always be there. They deal with assaults, sexual assaults, traffic accidents, grow-ops and much more, but it's the crimes involving death that is the most challenging.
“There are a lot of awful things in this job,” Cowper said. “Other officers look at us and say they can never do our job. We see a lot of death. We deal with a lot of autopsies. Death is messy, gross and smells awful, and I give my officers a lot of credit.”
Read more here
As stated in part one of the series, the Windsor Police Forensic Identification Branch may not be as glamourous as television – but there are still many stories to be told in Windsor. Just recently, Forensic Identification officers were able to obtain latent fingerprints from a scene and that led to the suspect's identity. They helped the Windsor Police arrest a 17-year-old who committed a string of sexual assaults. Further investigation revealed that the suspect was also responsible for two other sexual assaults that occurred in July.
The Forensic department handles much more than just homicides – they're at every crime. They always have cases to work on. According to Sgt. Douglas Cowper, their “bread and butter” are break and enters. It's what we do day in and day out. Finger prints and foot prints can be found around every scene. They photograph many scenes for the Windsor Police – the need for photos will always be there. They deal with assaults, sexual assaults, traffic accidents, grow-ops and much more, but it's the crimes involving death that is the most challenging.
“There are a lot of awful things in this job,” Cowper said. “Other officers look at us and say they can never do our job. We see a lot of death. We deal with a lot of autopsies. Death is messy, gross and smells awful, and I give my officers a lot of credit.”
Read more here
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Texas prison population shrinks as rehabilitation programs take root
In July, Texas' prison system posted its lowest head count in five years, even as the state's overall population continued to grow at a fast clip. Instead of 156,500 prisoners behind bars in Texas' 111 state prisons a year ago, the lockups now hold just over 154,000 — a drop of about 2,500, according to state statistics. Texas, which historically has had one of the highest incarceration rates per capita of the 50 states, is now in fourth place, down from second two years ago.
Whether the declining prison population is the start of a long-term decrease or a short-lived dip is a matter of debate that will be settled only by time. Still, experts say, prison population declines are occurring in other states, too.
"It's real. It's happening, not only in Texas, but around the country," said Tony Fabelo, an Austin-based criminal justice consultant who coached Texas officials during the 1990s as the state tripled the size of its prison system and is now advising other states on how to decrease their prison populations.
Read more here
Whether the declining prison population is the start of a long-term decrease or a short-lived dip is a matter of debate that will be settled only by time. Still, experts say, prison population declines are occurring in other states, too.
"It's real. It's happening, not only in Texas, but around the country," said Tony Fabelo, an Austin-based criminal justice consultant who coached Texas officials during the 1990s as the state tripled the size of its prison system and is now advising other states on how to decrease their prison populations.
Read more here
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The cost of a murder
A few minutes after sunset on June 12, 2010, three shots rang out in Allens Alley on Wilmington’s East Side, and a young man lay dying. It was a drug deal gone bad, the kind of violence that’s become so pervasive in the city that police say it can be tough to tell victims, suspects and witnesses apart. Cynics in the criminal justice system sometimes dismiss such murders as “thug-icide,” and the public rarely sheds a tear.
But the murder of 28-year-old Anthony Bing that Saturday night took a financial toll on every person in Delaware.
Taxpayers got the bill for the police investigation, plus the work of paramedics and hospital staff who tried to save Bing’s life and the work of a medical examiner after he died. They paid both for prosecutors and defense attorneys in two murder trials. They’ll be paying for the incarceration of three killers for decades to come. Taxpayers may also foot the bill for social services for Bing’s family.
Read more here
But the murder of 28-year-old Anthony Bing that Saturday night took a financial toll on every person in Delaware.
Taxpayers got the bill for the police investigation, plus the work of paramedics and hospital staff who tried to save Bing’s life and the work of a medical examiner after he died. They paid both for prosecutors and defense attorneys in two murder trials. They’ll be paying for the incarceration of three killers for decades to come. Taxpayers may also foot the bill for social services for Bing’s family.
Read more here
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
People with HIV Fear Unfair Treatment in Courts
Nearly half of HIV-positive respondents to a recently released survey on HIV criminalization say they believe they will not receive a fair hearing in the criminal justice system if they ever face charges for failing to disclose their status to sexual partners. The findings come from the preliminary results of a study released at the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC in late July. The results, researchers say, show HIV criminal laws have created a hostile legal environment for those living with HIV.
Those preliminary results included the responses of 2,076 people living with HIV in the U.S. The responses were collected online during June and July. The study found that 49 percent said they didn't "trust" they would get a fair hearing if they were charged in criminal court for failing to disclose their HIV-positive status to sex partners, while 30 percent said they were unsure if they would receive a fair hearing. Twenty-one percent of respondents said they trusted the system would provide a fair hearing.
"To me, that's shocking," says Laurel Sprague, lead researcher for the Sero Project, which sponsored the survey. The organization advocates against HIV criminal laws.
Read more here
Those preliminary results included the responses of 2,076 people living with HIV in the U.S. The responses were collected online during June and July. The study found that 49 percent said they didn't "trust" they would get a fair hearing if they were charged in criminal court for failing to disclose their HIV-positive status to sex partners, while 30 percent said they were unsure if they would receive a fair hearing. Twenty-one percent of respondents said they trusted the system would provide a fair hearing.
"To me, that's shocking," says Laurel Sprague, lead researcher for the Sero Project, which sponsored the survey. The organization advocates against HIV criminal laws.
Read more here
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Overcrowding and staff shortages at Czech prisons
It is lunchtime at Prague's Pankrác Prison. While some inmates sit and eat in their musty cells, others mill around the corridor, bowls of soup in hand, chatting to staff. The time is 11 a.m., and these men have already been up for more than six hours. Dressed in gray slacks, they will spend most of their day staring at the prison's peeling white walls. Some are young, some are old, but they all share cells designed to hold far fewer people than their current occupancy levels. And these prisoners are among the luckier ones. Pankrác is overcapacity, but not by much.
If you cast the net nationwide, the picture looks bleaker: Czech jails are at their fullest since records began, with the number of prisoners rising yearly. Human rights campaigners blame judges for imposing harsh custodial sentences and ignoring alternative forms of punishment. Meanwhile, there are growing fears staff safety could be jeopardized. On average, the country's 36 prisons house 12 percent more inmates than they are designed to, according to official data from July 20. Put in real terms, they have space to hold up to 20,855 inmates when there are currently 23,369. The worst offender is Heřmanice Prison in Ostrava, whose capacity is teetering on the brink at 137 percent.
As jails are filled to bursting point, Prisons Service spokesman Robert Káčer says the cramped conditions have already led to violence and tension between inmates and staff.
Read more here
If you cast the net nationwide, the picture looks bleaker: Czech jails are at their fullest since records began, with the number of prisoners rising yearly. Human rights campaigners blame judges for imposing harsh custodial sentences and ignoring alternative forms of punishment. Meanwhile, there are growing fears staff safety could be jeopardized. On average, the country's 36 prisons house 12 percent more inmates than they are designed to, according to official data from July 20. Put in real terms, they have space to hold up to 20,855 inmates when there are currently 23,369. The worst offender is Heřmanice Prison in Ostrava, whose capacity is teetering on the brink at 137 percent.
As jails are filled to bursting point, Prisons Service spokesman Robert Káčer says the cramped conditions have already led to violence and tension between inmates and staff.
Read more here
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