Tuesday, January 31, 2012

NY state saw fewest homicides since 1975 last year - WSJ.com

NY state saw fewest homicides since 1975 last year - WSJ.com

"ALBANY, N.Y. — The number of homicides in New York dropped last year to the lowest level in decades to roughly 750, or about one-third of the killings in 1990, the deadliest year on record, officials said Monday.

Sean Byrne, the state's acting criminal justice commissioner, told a legislative committee that preliminary data show all crime, including violent crime, declined in 2011. That included a drop of more than 10 percent in homicides compared to 2010.

"Homicides will be at the lowest number reported since statewide crime reporting began 37 years ago," Byrne said. They peaked at 2,606 in 1990.

Byrne noted several factors, including better crime analysis and follow-up. He told lawmakers that one of the best methods of reducing recidivism is helping former offenders get jobs, and there is some proposed program funding for that next year.

Authorities also say the expanded database of offender DNA samples has helped cut crime. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed roughly doubling the program to include every felony or penal misdemeanor. People convicted of all penal felonies and three dozen misdemeanors now have to give samples of their genetic material from a simple saliva swab.

"No initiative has more potential to reduce violent crime than the proposal to expand the DNA databank," Byrne said, noting the database has had more than 10,000 hits since it began in 1996. "DNA also breathes new life into cases whose trail of evidence went cold decades ago. ... Just as important, countless suspects are routinely excluded from suspicion and 27 individuals have been exonerated in New York state through DNA evidence."

The state Senate passed similar legislation last year. The Assembly-passed version also had other provisions intended to help prevent wrongful convictions, like giving defense lawyers more access to DNA information.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told reporters Monday there is a consensus in his Democratic conference on expanding the database and seeing it used for clearing the wrongly accused. "Because every false arrest, especially in a sex crime case, somebody is running around the streets at large as a result of not being able to access the databank and find the appropriate criminal," he said."

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Supreme Court Decision Limits Police GPS Tracking

Supreme Court Decision Limits Police GPS Tracking

"The US Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement agents may not use GPS tracking devices to gather evidence on suspects under investigation, although the ruling still leaves many questions for criminal justice professionals.

The ruling is a response to a challenge filed in a lower-court case involving the tracking of Antoine Jones, a man previously convicted of drug trafficking. That conviction was overturned with the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling; however, the three-way split among justices in their reasoning leaves much to be considered in the application of the new precedent.

Some legal analysts and those who support more sweeping surveillance techniques argue the ruling is an announcement to the law enforcement community that electronic tracking of any kind without a warrant will be challenged and that the ruling severely limits the capability of police officers and federal agents to fight crime.

Privacy advocates and other legal scholars, however, argue the ruling is too narrow and may only be construed to apply to the act of trespassing when attaching a GPS device to a vehicle for tracking purposes. Justice Sonia Sotomayor echoed these concerns in her portion of the opinion, noting that the ruling may not specifically apply to other instances of tracking that do not involve a physical invasion of privacy."

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Criminal Justice May Get New Legislation Against Convicted Sex Offenders

Criminal Justice May Get New Legislation Against Convicted Sex Offenders

"Personal lawyers for sexual predators, be aware, protection from sexual assault and abuse are the focus of Anchorage Representative Pete Petersen as he introduced his Child Protection Legislation. It is House Bill 278, “An Act allowing as a condition of probation for a defendant convicted of certain sex offenses a prohibition against the defendant’s residing at a residence where outdoor recreational equipment suitable for use by children under 16 years of age is located on the property.” Tuesday, January 17, 2012, it was read and then was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

This legislation will mainly focus on prohibiting sex offenders, especially convicted sex offenders on parole, from committing another sexual assault by disallowing them to reside “at a residence where outdoor recreational equipment suitable for use by children under 16 years of age is located on the property”.

“We need to make sure judges have the tools they need to keep Alaskan children safe,” said Rep. Petersen. “If a person has done this type of thing before, or if the judge has reason to believe a potential repeat-offender might use these toys to lure children into harm, then we need to give our justice system the power to stop them.”

Included in the Alaska Law is the power to allow judges the discretion to require convicted sex offenders out on parole to refrain from committing the following: communicating with children less than 16 years of age, possessing or using a computer as well as using or creating an internet site, and residing within 500 feet away from a school.

One valuable tool for keeping your distance from sex offenders is the State of Alaska Sex Offender/Child Kidnapper Registration Central Registry . The State of Alaska has nearly three-thousand names listed in the Alaska Central Registry for sex offenders, seventy-four of those are non-compliant with the law that says that they must keep their addresses up to date on the registry. In the last couple of months, Alaska State Troopers have arrested non-compliant offenders for just this little detail that the sex offenders have not kept up with."

Monday, January 23, 2012

Human trafficking a growing crime in the U.S. - USATODAY.com

Human trafficking a growing crime in the U.S. - USATODAY.com

"DETROIT — A University of Michigan janitor. A Ukrainian nightclub owner. A Detroit man nicknamed "Gruesome."

The three men, authorities say, are all tied to a growing crime: human trafficking.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry — just behind drug trafficking — with children accounting for roughly half of all victims. Of the 2,515 cases under investigation in the U.S. in 2010, more than 1,000 involved children.

And those are only the ones we know of. Too often, authorities say, victims stay silent out of fear, so no one knows they exist.

That's why President Obama declared January National Human Trafficking Awareness month.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center estimates it's a $32 billion industry, with half coming from industrialized countries.

Over the last decade, numerous human trafficking cases have been prosecuted in Michigan. The court dockets detail the horror stories: Children being sold for sex at truck stops, servants held in captivity and forced to clean for free, and women forced into the sex industry, forfeiting their earnings.

Several human trafficking cases are now making their way through state and U.S. District Court.

Jean Claude Toviave, a former University of Michigan janitor and part-time tennis instructor, is federally charged with trying to pass off four African immigrants as his own children, giving them fake names and birth dates to sneak them over in 2006. Documents accuse him of abusing them for years in his Ypsilanti home, which he got through Habitat for Humanity, and forcing them to do housework.

His so-called children told authorities they were deprived of food and beaten with broom handles, a plunger, electrical cords and an ice scraper when they didn't finish chores or homework. They detailed the years of abuse in journals, which police confiscated, and said Toviave threatened them if they tried to leave.

The "children" weren't a big secret. Prosecutors say he enrolled the three youngest — 21, 20 and 15 — in a public middle school.

The students reported the abuse to counselors, triggering an investigation.

Toviave, 42, was arrested in May and is behind bars on human trafficking and forced labor charges.

In state court, six defendants are facing human trafficking charges in two separate cases brought by Michigan's new human trafficking unit, formed in 2011 by state Attorney General Bill Schuette."

Friday, January 20, 2012

BBC News - Cost of prison prompts change in US states

BBC News - Cost of prison prompts change in US states

"After a few minutes in Baton Rouge Parish prison you forget what the sky looks like.

Men lie on bunks, wait to make a call, watch daytime TV. Guantanamo-orange jumpsuits are everywhere.

You don't have to spend much time in the American criminal justice system to become overwhelmed by the waste, the futility and the failure.

Dennis Grimes is the warden at the prison. He has spent 27 years in these places.

"We are always at our capacity," Mr Grimes says. "Always. As soon as we let some of them out there's nearly always that many coming in."

Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate of any US state. One in 55 of its residents are behind bars.

'A party without women'

"It's just been a trend that's kept going," says Mr Grimes as he walks around his prison. "I think they just believe that if you put them in jail, put a criminal in jail, you don't have to worry about them no more."

Does it stop crime?

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
We see the children who don't have shoes on their feet - most of the time their father is locked up or dead”
End Quote
Lori Hart

Church administrator
"Doesn't seem like it," he laughs, a big dry chuckle going through his big frame. "Doesn't seem like, 'cause this thing is still rolling."

Just under half of those released from prison in the US will be back there within three years. And failure does not come cheap.

It costs $27,000 (£17,650) to hold one prisoner for a year. Last year, US states spent $50bn on incarceration.

Criminal justice professionals have a phrase that sums up the financial challenge: the "million dollar block" - a city neighbourhood where a million dollars a year is spent locking up people from a single block.

And then there is what might be called collateral damage from time spent in prison.

"Like a party without the women" is how Antoine, a former crack dealer, describes it.

The prisons he went to are rife with drugs and rich in criminal-learning experiences.

At 31 years old, he has spent the last 15 years of his life going through the revolving door of state and federal penitentiaries. He saw his two children, now six and 12, in between."

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Bennett L. Gershman: Pardoning Criminals -- Appropriate Mercy or Perverting Justice?

Bennett L. Gershman: Pardoning Criminals -- Appropriate Mercy or Perverting Justice?

"Pontius Pilate would have been proud of Haley Barbour. Pilate, the Roman procurator over Judea at the time of Jesus, pardoned Barabbas, a murderer/insurrectionist against Pilate's own authority (as the Gospel of Mark tells us), the most famous pardon in the history of the world. Barbour, the outgoing procurator (actually, governor) of Mississippi pardoned 203 criminals, including 17 convicted murderers, one of whom shot his wife to death while she was holding her six-week old baby, and wounded her friend. Imagine: a dictator like Pilate, at festival time, using his totally arbitrary, unbridled power to free a prisoner who was actually an insurrectionist against him. Imagine Barbour pardoning a vicious and guilty murderer.

Given Barbour's somewhat bizarre record of pardons, the pardon power has become a topic of interest, although it has never been very far from inflaming public opinion and exciting controversy. President Richard Nixon pardoned teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa to gain support from his union; President Gerald Ford, ostensibly to "heal the nation's wounds," pardoned Richard Nixon before Nixon could be charged, let alone convicted of any crime; President William Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger, but his most notorious pardon was of fugitive financier Marc Rich after application from the state of Israel because of Rich's supposedly charitable endeavors; President George W. Bush gave clemency to Vice President Dick Cheney's crony "Scooter" Libby; and New York Governor George Pataki granted a full pardon to only one man, the comedian Lenny Bruce (and, indeed, posthumously).

What is this "pardon power," and why does it incite controversy? The pardon power is engraved in the U.S. Constitution ("The President shall have the Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons") and according to the Framers, was intended to be a "benign prerogative" in the interests of "humanity and good policy." Alexander Hamilton long ago explained why the power is critical: criminal law, he said in one of the "Federalist" papers, "partakes so much of necessary severity," and that without "exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel." Chief Justice William Rehnquist called the pardon power a "fail safe" in a justice system that is fallible and convicts innocent people. But however benign and protective, the pardon power is the essence of arbitrary power - a power that can be used capriciously and without any basis to believe that the justice system has malfunctioned or that the person being given a pardon is innocent, and without any mitigating circumstances to warrant any official mercy. And there are no standards or guidelines to regulate a unilateral executive decision that is unconditional, final, and cannot be appealed.

This is not to suggest that the pardon power may not be a necessary "fail safe" for a system prone to errors, as Chief Justice Rehnquist observed. For example, Governor George Ryan of Illinois pardoned several men on Death Row who were convicted on the basis of confessions extracted through torture by the notorious Chicago homicide squad. Pardons have been given to persons serving draconian sentences for minor drug offenses. President Jimmy Carter pardoned hundreds of thousands of draft resisters after the Vietnam War. But in surveying how it is used, it is clear that the pardon power is not the corrective to injustice that the framers intended it to be. Despite mountains of evidence showing that innocent people get convicted -- often the data proves this to a certainty -- it is hard to find many cases where a person has been pardoned exclusively on the basis of innocence. Nor are there many instances where persons are pardoned who have been convicted of a crime many years ago and the government seeks to deport them."

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Three Decades of Capital Punishment in Texas — Death Penalty | The Texas Tribune

Three Decades of Capital Punishment in Texas — Death Penalty | The Texas Tribune

"Thirty-five years ago today, the state of Utah executed Gary Gilmore by firing squad and restarted the death penalty in the United States. Texas followed suit, reinstating capital punishment in 1982 and quickly becoming home to the nation's busiest execution chamber.

A 1972 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that the states' use of the death penalty was arbitrary and capricious led to a de facto moratorium on the penalty across the nation. States began changing their death penalty laws, and the pause on executions ended with a subsequent high court decision in 1976.

The first post-moratorium execution in Texas was in 1982. Charles Brooks Jr. was executed for the 1976 shooting death of a mechanic. Since 1982, Texas has executed 477 men and women, more than any other state. And there are more than 300 men and women in Texas awaiting execution now.

Executions in Texas — and nationwide — eventually peaked and then evened out in the 1990s. In 1994, there were 328 death sentences issued nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Starting in 1999, though, use of the death penalty began to drop off dramatically, and by 2009 there were 109 death sentences.

Last year, Texas executed 13 prisoners, the lowest number in more than a decade. And juries assigned eight new death sentences in 2010 as well as in 2011, compared with 48 in 1999, according to the Texas Defender Service."

Friday, January 13, 2012

Judges get say on plea bargains - Boston.com

Judges get say on plea bargains - Boston.com

"The state’s highest court confirmed yesterday a little-known judicial power to ignore prosecutors and shorten criminal sentences in plea deals if the judge believes “justice may not have been done.’’

In a 6-to-1 decision, the Supreme Judicial Court decided to make it clear that judges are allowed to shorten sentences because of mitigating circumstances. The court also asserted that prosecutors cannot revoke a plea deal if a judge shortens the agreed-upon sentence.

Justice Francis X. Spina, the sole dissenter on the ruling, worried that it could open the door to judges using their power to act as pseudo-defense lawyers.

The statute on judicial powers of sentencing is hazy: A judge cannot “impose a sentence that exceeds the terms of the [plea bargain] recommendation,’’ but the law says nothing about whether a judge can shorten the sentence agreement.

Over the years, a few judges took the ambiguity of that statute to mean that reducing sentences was allowable, and two of those cases prompted the high court’s ruling yesterday that the practice is fair.

“The judge simply exercised a quintessential judicial power, the power to sentence, and ultimately concluded that the agreed recommendation was more severe than justice permitted,’’ wrote Justice Ralph D. Gants, who represented the majority.

Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, whose office was prosecuting one of the men whose case was tackled by the SJC, argued that the ruling will dramatically change the criminal justice landscape.

“It will definitely change the way we do business in the district courts in the future,’’ Blodgett said. “I think it is going to be problematic.’’

In a statement yesterday, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said he thinks the decision will have a damaging effect on the criminal justice system."

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Bay Area Reporter Online | Justice Department revises rape definition

The Bay Area Reporter Online | Justice Department revises rape definition

"Men can now be victims of rape in the eye of the law. In a landmark decision that advocates say has been long overdue, the FBI has changed its definition of rape to include males.

The change was announced by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Friday, January 6.

Holder announced revisions to the Uniform Crime Report's definition of rape, which will lead to a more comprehensive statistical reporting of rape nationwide. The new definition is more inclusive, better reflects state criminal codes, and focuses on the various forms of sexual penetration understood to be rape.

"These long overdue updates ... will help ensure justice for those whose lives have been devastated by sexual violence and reflect the Department of Justice's commitment to standing with rape victims," Holder said in a statement.

The new definition of rape is: "The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim."

The definition is used by the FBI to collect information from local law enforcement agencies about reported rapes.

"Rape is a devastating crime and we can't solve it unless we know the full extent of it," Vice President Joe Biden, a leader in the effort to end violence against women for over 20 years, said in the release issued by the Justice Department. Biden was the author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act when he was in the Senate. "This long-awaited change to the definition of rape is a victory for women and men across the country whose suffering has gone unaccounted for over 80 years."

Additionally, the revision addresses the issue of consent for the first time, since drug and alcohol intoxication are often present at the scene of reported crimes.

Another important change: the removal of the word "forcibly" from the bureau's definition, which had been in place since 1927.

The revised definition includes any gender of victim or perpetrator, and includes instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, including due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or because of age. The ability of the victim to give consent must be determined in accordance with state statute. Physical resistance from the victim is not required to demonstrate lack of consent. The new definition does not change federal or state criminal codes or impact charging and prosecution on the local level."

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

New push to expand DNA samples from NY offenders - WSJ.com

New push to expand DNA samples from NY offenders - WSJ.com

"ALBANY, N.Y. — The addition of petit larceny to a list of crimes requiring DNA samples from convicted offenders has helped solve 51 murders, 222 sexual assaults, 117 robberies and 407 burglaries over the past five and a half years, New York authorities say.

Now the Cuomo administration wants to expand the statewide DNA databank to include all misdemeanor convictions under the penal code, plus all felony convictions under other statutes such as traffic and business laws. That would mean DNA samples for DWI convictions and securities fraud, for example.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo called last week for putting New York "on the cutting edge of criminal justice" by becoming the first state to collect DNA on all crimes under the state's penal laws, noting that since 1996 the database provided leads to 2,700 convictions while helping free 27 people who were wrongly accused.

"We are missing an important opportunity to prevent needless suffering of crime victims," the governor said. "We are also failing to use the most powerful tool we have to exonerate the innocent."

The databank currently has genetic profiles from more than 386,000 criminals convicted of penal law felonies and 36 misdemeanors, plus samples from nearly 38,000 crime scenes. It links to the FBI's national system with more than 10 million offender profiles and some 400,000 samples of crime scene material.

Legislation to expand the databank passed both houses of the Legislature last year, but died when lawmakers failed to reconcile the differences.

The Assembly bill had added provisions that would have required better access to DNA evidence for defense lawyers; prohibited other DNA identification indexes; increased the penalty for tampering or misusing DNA samples; and required police to get written consent before collecting a voluntary sample from someone for an investigation.

"Last year, when the bills crossed, we didn't have the governor's attention because of other matters like the $10 billion deficit," said Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, the bill's sponsor. "I hope that this year we will have the governor's attention and help in passing the bill. But I'd like to see it done the right way."

The Brooklyn Democrat is the Codes Committee chairman. He said, "There's very little in any DNA legislation to protect the innocent substantively because people wrongly convicted don't have equal access to the DNA like the prosecution does."

He said the bill would protect the public. "If somebody is wrongfully convicted, you don't have the real perpetrator, the real person behind bars," he said.

The database began in 1996 with the genetic material from convicted killers and sex predators. It has been expanded three times, in 2006 adding all remaining penal law felonies and three dozen misdemeanors."

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

DeLeo: House will broaden scope of anti-crime bill - Lincoln, MA - Lincoln Journal

DeLeo: House will broaden scope of anti-crime bill - Lincoln, MA - Lincoln Journal

"Boston — Hoping to break a stalemate with the Senate on a criminal justice package intended to eliminate parole for repeat violent offenders, House Speaker Robert DeLeo indicated Monday he intends to put before the House a slew of crime policies acted on in the Senate but left untouched by the House prior to the winter recess.

“Hopefully, we can get the other portions done and send them all into a conference,” DeLeo told the News Service on Monday.

The proposals range from changes in drug weights and a crackdown on gun possession by convicted felons to the judicial option to include pets in restraining orders and a plan to shrink the size of schools zones within which drug offenders receive stiff mandatory minimum sentences.

The Senate unanimously supported these proposals and others during a November debate. Days later, the House passed a bill to eliminate parole for third-time violent felons, leaving the other issues unaddressed.

House leaders argued members needed more time to review the provisions of the plan adopted by the Senate. The competing bills were sent to a six-member conference committee intended to iron out differences between the bills, but Senate President Therese Murray has suggested the Senate would be unwilling to accept a three-strikes rule without accompanying reforms.

DeLeo said the remaining pieces of the crime package, along with a bill reforming oversight of education collaboratives and Murray’s financial reform bill filed last session, were likely the top priorities for the House early in the 2012 session.

He said he expected the House to hold a formal session Wednesday, Jan. 18 though he did not indicate what might appear on the agenda.

“Bottom line, I think for us to get a real comprehensive piece relative to sentencing reform we have to do that. If we didn’t get the bill so late last time, it would have been a whole lot easier to do it that way, but we just didn’t have the time to do the whole bill,” DeLeo said.

The conference committee – chaired by Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty, D-Chelsea, and Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, – has largely remained at odds, with the House insisting its members are not prepared to weigh in on the Senate’s more comprehensive bill and the Senate refusing to back down from its omnibus proposal.

But DeLeo’s stance, and his plans to take action on the proposals, indicates a solution could be nearing."

Read more: DeLeo: House will broaden scope of anti-crime bill - Lincoln, MA - Lincoln Journal http://www.wickedlocal.com/chelmsford/news/x449147815/DeLeo-House-will-broaden-scope-of-anti-crime-bill#ixzz1j4qQz99Y

Monday, January 9, 2012

Bill would keep kids out of criminal justice system | Bluegrass Moms | Kentucky.com

Bill would keep kids out of criminal justice system | Bluegrass Moms | Kentucky.com

"Should 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds face criminal charges?

In 2009 and 2010, complaints were filed against at least 748 Kentucky children younger than 11 for offenses that included being out of control, minor injury assaults and criminal mischief. Sixty-three of those children were ages 5, 6, and 7, according to a 2011 Herald-Leader analysis of state records. Eight of those children were 5 years old.

State Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, last week introduced House Bill 143, which would prohibit children 10 or younger from being charged with criminal offenses. Instead, those children could be found neglected or dependent on the state for services.

Juvenile justice and court officials recently told Owens and other Kentucky lawmakers on an interim judiciary committee that children 10 and younger can't comprehend criminal responsibility and would be better served by the social service system. Owens said HB 143 ensures that the behavior is still dealt with.

Kentucky now puts no limits on the age at which a child may be charged. The bill sets that age at 11.

Kentucky would be following at least 11 other states in having laws that don't allow children 10 or younger to be charged criminally.

Owens said in an interview that he has talked to attorneys who told him many children are found incompetent to face criminal charges.

"Their mind just hasn't developed to the point to where they understand what they are doing," Owens said.

Patrick Yewell, executive officer of family and juvenile services for the Administrative Office of the Courts, or AOC, said Thursday that if HB 143 were to become law, the AOC would work closely with the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

"We could place the children on diversion," Yewell said, "and, if the child failed the diversion, we could then send the child and his/her family to" the cabinet "as a family in need of services."

Officials in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services won't discuss their position on the legislation."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/09/2021386/bill-would-keep-kids-out-of-criminal.html#storylink=cpy

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Incarcerated parents need contact with their children, Oklahoma legislative panel says | NewsOK.com

Incarcerated parents need contact with their children, Oklahoma legislative panel says | NewsOK.com

"Community-based sentencing programs should be increased and relations between state inmates and their children should be encouraged, according to findings released Wednesday by a legislative task force that looked at the issue of children of incarcerated parents.

On any given day, more than 26,000 Oklahoma children have a parent in a state prison, according to the report. That does not include children with parents jailed in county and city jails and federal correctional facilities.

“It is important for us to understand how many children are hurt by having a parent in prison so we can take action to slow the parade of children who would follow their parents' footsteps into prison,” said former Creek County Associate District Judge April Sellers White, who served as chairman of the task force.

A new survey, conducted as part of the 21-member task force's work, surveyed male and female offenders and found that nearly 3 percent of Oklahoma children have a parent in the state prison system. Child advocates and experts report that children of incarcerated parents run a higher risk of going to prison.

About 80 percent of the 26,106 children, or 21,482, have a father in state prison, according to the task force's survey. It found 4,624 had a mother in state prison.

“These are the forgotten victims of crime,” said the Rev. Stan Basler, a task force member who is director of criminal justice and mercy ministries of the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church. “It's not their fault.”

Oklahoma leads the nation in the rate of incarcerating females and is fifth in the rate of men sent to prison, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics.

“It has been our hope to work together in a way to help focus the attention of the good people of this state of Oklahoma on the children who are paying a price when parents are incarcerated and the children did nothing that they should pay for,” White said. “It has not been the position of our group that people should not be punished for their crimes. But the question for us was: What's happening with the children?”

Sheila Harbert, chief community outreach officer for Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma in Tulsa and a task force member, said her agency has taken children to several prisons to be with their mothers.

“I cannot express how powerful this need is in Oklahoma,” Harbert said. “There are thousands upon thousands of children and they need to see their moms. They've committed no crimes and it is so important that we provide programs on site at these facilities.”

Oklahoma's overall incarceration rate ranks third among the 50 states. Of the state's $6.5 billion in state appropriations this year, nearly $460 million was spent on the state Corrections Department.

The task force's recommendations include supporting interaction between an incarcerated parent and their minor child when it's in the child's best interest, expanding the use of community-based sentencing and providing information to incarcerated noncustodial parents on how they can responsibly address financial obligations to their children while in state custody.

Read more: http://newsok.com/incarcerated-parents-need-contact-with-their-children-oklahoma-legislative-panel-says/article/3637535#ixzz1ibNFukG9

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Murder victims, suspects share familiar traits - baltimoresun.com

Murder victims, suspects share familiar traits - baltimoresun.com

"As the number of killings in Baltimore dipped last year to its lowest level in decades, one trend remained constant: Those accused of killing and their victims had been in and out of the criminal justice system.

More than 90 percent of the 71 people arrested on murder charges and 80 percent of the 196 people who were slain last year had criminal records, according to Baltimore police statistics released Monday. More than half the suspects had previous gun arrests, and four in 10 were on parole or probation.

"It is further evidence that violence sticks to violence," said city police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, noting that the trend has been steady for years. "The vast number of cases that we deal with are bad guys versus bad guys. What we have to do is put those people behind bars."

These numbers helped compose a portrait of violence on city streets in 2011, which according to police showed double-percentage point drops in several categories.

Many of last year's statistics remained virtually unchanged from years past. The overwhelming number of victims, 183, were black, as were the suspects, 66. More than half the victims were between the ages 18 and 29, and 181 were male. Handguns continued to be the choice of murder weapon, in 149 killings.

Most people, 112, were killed on public streets. Police didn't uncover a motive in 156 homicides, though they said most involved drugs or people connected to the drug business. Twelve people were killed in robberies, 11 during arguments and six in domestic disputes.

The number of juveniles killed went up from 12 in 2010 to 14 last year, but was significantly lower than the 27 slain in 2007. Overall, Baltimore saw the fewest number of killings since 1977. The number of people fatally stabbed jumped 16 percent from 2010, with 32 last year.

Finishing with fewer than 200 killings was a symbolic threshold for city leaders, who last reached a similar milestone — under 300 — in 2000. Overall, police say violent crime in the city was down 6 percent, gun-related killings were down 13 percent and nonfatal shootings were down 9 percent. Property crime, including burglaries, rose 4 percent."

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Justice And A Safe Haven For Chicago's Court Case Dogs - Forbes

Justice And A Safe Haven For Chicago's Court Case Dogs - Forbes

"As a new year opens and another closes, we look back on a period of new beginnings for more than a hundred Chicago dogs who landed squarely in the middle of the criminal court system.

Those 142 canines are lucky; they’ve benefited from the first-ever Court Case Dog Program, which was formed because of an abuse case.

The innovative enterprise was founded not long after a dog named Chula and 36 others arrived at Chicago Animal Care and Control, where volunteers with Project Safe Humane happened to be that day. As a result, most were soon placed in rescue.

The rescued canines — ranging in age from puppies to adults — became the inspiration for the Court Case Dog Program and the impetus for the current partnership between Chicago Animal Care and Control and Best Friends’ Project Safe Humane, which is run by national director Cynthia Bathurst.

The landmark case was the largest dog-fighting seizure in the history of the State of Illinois.

Chula, her face scarred and teeth filed down to stubs so she wouldn’t bite other dogs while she was used as a breeder and a bait dog, was saved from that life. Through the group P.A.W.S. of Tinley Park, Chula went to Pawsitively Heaven Pet Resort in Chicago Ridge, where she lives today.

As for Kevin Taylor, the abuser of the 37 dogs, a Cook County judge last November threw the book at him, finding him guilty of 62 felony counts relating to dog fighting and animal cruelty.

On December 14, more than four years after the raid, Taylor stood before Judge Brian Flaherty for his sentencing of the maximum three years for crimes against the dogs, plus a year of supervision after his release.

Taylor is serving out his sentence inside the walls of the maximum-security Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, Illinois, where inmates are given industry jobs making soap and furniture."