Monday, September 23, 2013

A Tie to Mental Illness in the Violence Behind Bars

AMARILLO — The most violent prisons in the Texas state system share a common factor: they house a high proportion of mentally ill inmates.

The Texas Tribune analyzed data from violent-incident reports from 99 state prisons filed from 2006 to 2012, and found far more reports of violence at facilities housing high numbers of mentally ill, violent offenders than at other prisons. 

It is not surprising that prisons with a greater proportion of mentally ill inmates would have more violence than others, said Michele Deitch, a prison conditions expert at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. But the volume of violent incident reports raises questions about the staff’s ability to manage inmates and keep prisoners and officers safe, Ms. Deitch said. 

“You can’t ignore those numbers,” she said. 

Read more here & to join the conversation about this article, go to texastribune.org.

Monday, September 16, 2013

12 killed in Navy Yard shooting rampage

Washington (CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 2:09 p.m.]
At least 12 people have been killed in the Washington Navy Yard shooting, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said.

Multiple people were killed Monday after a shooter opened fire in a rampage at a Navy yard in the nation's capital, putting government buildings on lockdown and sending police SWAT teams rushing to the scene.

One suspect is dead, but two others may be on the loose, Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.

"The big concern for us right now is that we potentially have two other shooters that we have not located at this point," Lanier told reporters hours after the shooting.

Authorities are looking for a white man and a black man in military-style clothing who could be connected to the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, she said.

Click here to stay up to date on this story as it progresses.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Man indicted on homicide charge after DUI video confession

(CNN) - A driver who confessed in an online video that his drunken driving killed a man now faces a homicide charge.
A grand jury in Franklin County, Ohio, indicted Matthew Cordle on Monday on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, more than two months after the deadly wrong-way collision.
The 22-year-old's online admission that he was to blame has been watched more than a million times on YouTube.
Now, Ohio's legal system must decide what punishment fits his crime. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of eight and a half years in prison, prosecutor Ron O'Brien said.

Read more and watch the video here.