Some view America's criminal justice system as favoring defendants, allowing them to exploit legal technicalities and generous plea-bargains to avoid being duly punished for their crimes. Others see a system that is stacked against defendants, one in which people, particularly the poor and underprivileged, are victimized by police misconduct, overzealous prosecutions, inadequate legal representation, and biased juries.
Though both are gross oversimplifications, each does have some merit.
For example, the United States is the only nation in the world that employs the so-called "exclusionary rule," a principle whereby most evidence improperly obtained by law enforcement is inadmissible against a defendant at trial. Such an instance occurred last Tuesday when, in People v. Gavazzi, the New York Court of Appeals suppressed evidence of child pornography obtained from the defendant's home because of a clerical error in the search warrant. Judge Robert S. Smith dissented, lamenting that the defendant would go free "because the constable has blundered."
Read more here.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
Portland Shooting Not Forgotten
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.
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.
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.
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