Crime

Senator Dewine's Run for Ohio Attorney General: Return to Scene of Crime

Michael Kwiatkowski — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:46:10 -0700

Why would a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives – granted he was most well-known for falling asleep during the Iran-Contra hearings – and U.S. Senator, be seeking the seemingly lesser office of Ohio’s chief law enforcement officer?

Fixing Our Criminal Injustice System

Alan Jenkins — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:56:23 -0700

Two important reports released in the last two weeks point to a critical challenge facing the next president and his or her attorney general, as well as states across the nation: fixing our broken criminal justice system to serve the interests of fairness, crime prevention and rehabilitation.

First, the Pew Center on the States released a devastating report, One in 100: Behind Bars in America, finding that more than one in every 100 adults is now incarcerated in a US prison or jail. The numbers are 1 in 54 for men, 1 in 36 for Latino men, and 1 in 15 for African-American men.

A week later, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination released its review of U.S. compliance with an important treaty on the elimination of discrimination. The committee found that racial bias affects many U.S. systems and institutions and, particularly, our criminal justice system. The committee identified a number of concerns, including:

That “persistent systemic inadequacies” in the appointment of lawyers for poor people accused of crimes disproportionately harms people of color;
That young people of color are especially likely to be sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole;
That race, particularly of the victim, plays a powerful role in determining who receives the death penalty in America, according to data from the American Bar Association [http://www.abanet.org/moratorium/assessmentproject/keyfindings.doc] and others.
That laws denying the right to vote to people with past felony convictions disproportionately disenfranchise African Americans; and
That the lack of adequate anti-discrimination training for law enforcement officials and judges remains a persistent obstacle to the fair administration of justice.

The U.N. Committee also noted the lack of adequate U.S. systems for remedying bias. Currently, for example, there is no effective way to challenge systematic racial bias in policing, prosecution, or sentencing, because doing so generally requires proof that identifiable actors in the criminal justice system specifically intended to harm people of a particular race. But that standard of proof is not only virtually impossible to satisfy—since it requires proving someone’s subjective intentions; it also fails to address the lion’s share of unequal treatment in our justice system, which is less an intentional conspiracy and more a mounting confluence of implicit, societal, and institutional biases that lead to profoundly unjust results.

Together, these reports expose two interrelated and unacceptable trends: warehousing over rehabilitation and bias over equal justice. The priorities that should drive our justice system—crime prevention, protection of the public, and fair treatment for all—have given way to an unwise and unequal approach that the Pew Center has dubbed “prison-fits-all.”

The human and financial costs of those trends are staggering. Discrimination in our justice system violates our basic values, as well as our Constitution, and undermines the credibility and effectiveness of law enforcement in communities across the country. Investing in more prison cells instead of drug treatment and mental health services exacts untold suffering from families and neighborhoods, as well as those struggling with addiction or illness. And, ultimately, overreliance on incarceration makes us less safe, because it fails to address underlying problems and typically comes with high recidivism rates.

The financial costs are similarly daunting. Total state spending on corrections last year exceeded $49 billion, up from $12 billion in 1987. By 2011, the bill could grow by an additional $25 billion. Cash-strapped California is the national leader, at $8.8 billion last year.

As the Pew study noted, these are public funds that could go toward improving schools, health care, transportation, or other pressing needs. While spending by the states on higher education increased by 21 percent over the last 20 years, state spending on corrections increased by 127 percent.

Fortunately, both reports included recommended policy reforms that can make our criminal justice system more fair, as well as and more effective. The Pew study pointed to efforts in Texas and Kansas, for example, aimed at reducing recidivism through alternatives to incarceration for people convicted of non-violent crimes. A bipartisan effort in Texas is expanding drug treatment, changing parole practices, and using “drug courts” in which defendants who successfully complete drug treatment can avoid jail time.

After statewide polling showed that most Kansans supported programs to help people on probation succeed and avoid re-incarceration, the Legislature responded by offering grants to community corrections agencies that significantly cut parole and probation revocations; providing guidelines to judges and officers; and tracking and monitoring revocations to measure effectiveness.

The U.N. Committee also made concrete recommendations, based on promising international practices and human rights principles. The Committee called for the passage of legislation outlawing racial profiling at the federal and state levels. It urged adequate funding for public legal aid systems and improvements in the quality of representation provided to low-income defendants. It recommended further study of the causes of racial disparities in the imposition of the death penalty. It sought the discontinuation of life sentences without possibility of parole for people under the age of eighteen. And it recommended that the U.S. “review the definition of racial discrimination used in…federal and state legislation and in court practice, so as to ensure…that it prohibits racial discrimination in all its forms, including practices and legislation that may not be discriminatory in purpose, but in effect.”

These reports are noteworthy precisely because they identify reforms that are working around the country and globe, and that can become part of our national policy. Adapting those approaches to our needs and circumstances should be high on the priority list of a new attorney general.

Eric Lotke

Eric Lotke — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:22:48 -0800

Eric Lotke is Research Director at the Campaign for America's Future. Before coming to CAF, he worked over a decade in and around the criminal justice system. As Policy Director at the Justice Policy Institute and a Soros Senior Justice Fellow, he authored path breaking research on the demographics of incarceration, patterns of youth homicide, and the fiscal and electoral impact of the U.S. Census Bureau counting people in prison where they are confined rather than their original homes. As Executive Director of D.C. Prisoners’ Legal Services Project, Mr. Lotke represented inmates in a groundbreaking class action lawsuit against the private Corrections Corporation of America, and he pioneered litigation over excessive, non-competitive pricing of prison phone calls. Mr. Lotke has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown and George Washington Universities, and a judicial clerk on the Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Most recently, Mr. Lotke published a novel, 2044. 2044 starts where George Orwell’s 1984 left off. The problem isn’t Big Brother and the leviathan government. The problem is Big Brother Inc., and the all-powerful marketplace.

Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up

Bill Scher — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:19:35 -0800

A rare event: Tim Russert of Meet the Press heard the calls of the people asked a Watchdog question.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was asked, since our intelligence now says that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, if the "military option" should be taken off the table.

Not the best way to ask the question if Giuliani should end his saber-rattling and change his Iran policy in light of new evidence. But Giuliani made clear that he wouldn't and he doesn't.

He gave lip service to "diplomatic" pressure, but he offered no change in the current Iran policy -- instead, arguing that the current "diplomatic" policy is working -- and no mention of direct negotiation.

Meanwhile, over on Fox News Sunday, Sen. John McCain was asked about direct negotiation with Iran, and childishly said: "The most overrated aspect of our dialogue about international relations is direct face-to-face talks. BlackBerries work. Emissaries work. There's many thousands of ways to communicate."

Fox News Sunday did not ask the other Watchdog questions.

Host Chris Wallace failed to ask former Gov. Mike Huckabee about his role in the parole of rapist-murderer Wayne Dumond. But it should be noted Wallace was tough on Huckabee regarding several other issues.

Wallace also failed to ask McCain -- in a largely softball interview -- about his missed vote on the energy bill.

(It's starting to seem like Fox News isn't taking a "fair and balanced" approach to the Republican presidential field.)

Weekend Watchdog

Bill Scher — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:51:53 -0800

Every Friday in our Weekend Watchdog feature, we post suggested questions for scheduled Sunday guests. You can add your own questions in the comment thread. We'll also include contact information for the shows, so we can let them know what their viewers want asked.

And on Sunday at 4 PM ET, tune in to Air America Radio's "Seder on Sundays" program, where I'll offer the Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up.

For former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y. (NBC's Meet The Press): You recently said "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and they’re threatening to use them," and you have regularly raised the prospect of military attack to prevent Iran from acquiring such a weapon.

But new conclusions from our intelligence community say (PDF file):

Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined
to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005...

...some combination of threats of intensified
international scrutiny and pressures, along with opportunities for Iran to achieve its security, prestige, and goals for regional influence in other ways, might—if perceived by Iran’s leaders as credible—prompt Tehran to extend the current halt to its nuclear weapons program.

Now that you are presented with new evidence that Iran does not pose an imminent threat, will you adjust your Iran policy to fit reality, and emphasize diplomatic opportunities instead of military action?

For Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (Fox News Sunday): On Thursday in New Hampshire, you were campaigning in support of alternative energy.

But on Friday, you missed a key Senate floor vote on major legislation to invest in renewable energy by ending handouts to Big Oil.

You have received nearly $200,000 from the oil and gas industries for your presidential campaign. Are you afraid of alienating your donors by voting for clean energy legislation?

For former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Fox News Sunday): To explain your role in the parole of convicted rapist Wayne Dumond, who then committed murder, your aide emailed conservative blog Hot Air and said: "the idea that Dumond was railroaded was a live topic in AR for many years."

Yes it was a live topic -- among Bill Clinton-hating conspiracy theorists. As blogger Duncan Black wrote in January:

Wayne Dumond wasn't just any criminal, he was a minor player in the grand epic of Clinton-era wingnuttery, and a cause célèbre of Freepers, a Village Voice writer, authors, and most of all NY Post columnist Steve Dunleavy, who had made Dumond his personal cause and even went as far as claiming that Stevens wasn't raped.

What does all this have to do with Clinton? Well, Stevens is a distant relative of Clinton and this happened in Arkansas and... well, that was about it. Still, by the rules of the time, there must have been some grand conspiracy.

Why did you embrace the arguments of conspiracy theorists in supporting the parole of Dumond?

***

Email Fox News Sunday at FNS@foxnews.com

Contact NBC's Meet The Press by clicking here

Remember: always be brief, polite and respectful when contacting the media, so our voices will be taken seriously.

Hate Crimes Expansion Dropped from Defense Bill

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:54:03 -0800

Congressional maneuvering caused Democratic leadership to drop a measure expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation and gender identity from a defense appropriations bill.

IRS Investigating Whether Hedge Funds, Buyout Firms Are Abusing Tax Laws

Anne Thompson — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:40:32 -0700

Student Loan Deal Was Illegal, Claims Fired Executive's Lawsuit

Alexandra Walker — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:31:54 -0700

Ex-CEO Of Military Body-Armor Maker Charged With Securities Fraud

Bill Scher — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:43:23 -0700

Iraq Revokes Immunity For Foreign Security Firms

Anne Thompson — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:08:38 -0700