tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39690119699721357972012-02-17T12:23:39.716-05:00Centre of Criminology Library BlogCentre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto: News, Research, OpinionTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.comBlogger12971100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-19823637254637618862012-02-17T11:50:00.002-05:002012-02-17T11:58:44.902-05:00Bill C-10 - Mini Film. [Prison population will go up]<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ttMQXRIlVJs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1982363725463761886?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-77413881596768371142012-02-17T11:48:00.000-05:002012-02-17T11:49:49.054-05:00The Price of Prisons<object id='cspan-video-player' classid='clsid:d27cdb6eae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000' codebase='http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0' align='middle' height='500' width='410'><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='true'/><param name='movie' value='http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.swf?pid=304397-6'/><param name='quality' value='high'/><param name='bgcolor' value='#ffffff'/><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'/><param name='flashvars' value='system=http://www.c-spanvideo.org/common/services/flashXml.php?programid=270738&style=full'/><embed name='cspan-video-player' src='http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.swf?pid=304397-6' allowScriptAccess='always' bgcolor='#ffffff' quality='high' allowFullScreen='true' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' flashvars='system=http://www.c-spanvideo.org/common/services/flashXml.php?programid=270738&style=full' align='middle' height='500' width='410'></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7741388159676837114?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-53433350339733920682012-02-17T09:51:00.003-05:002012-02-17T09:57:55.342-05:00Is a Top US Cop Helping "Reform" Bahrain's Police?<div class="node-master-image blog-master-image"><img src="http://mjcdn.motherjones.com/preset_16/bahrainprotester.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-master-tall imagecache-default imagecache-master-tall_default" /><span class="master-image-caption">Tear gas used during the Bahrain protests in Feb. 2011.</span> <span class="byline photo-byline"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32834977@N03/5445906254/">Sara Hassan</a>/Al-Jazeera English<br /><br /></span>A veteran US law enforcement official recently began advising the Bahraini police, who on Tuesday engaged in another harsh crackdown as protesters took to the streets. John Timoney, fomerly Miami's police chief, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-bahrain-police-timoney-idUSTRE81C15020120213">agreed</a> in December to join Bahrain's effort to reform its police; a brutal government response to protests there <a target="_blank" href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/whats-happening-in-bahrain">last year included fatalities</a>. The tiny Gulf Kingdom also recruited a former top police official from Britain to help with the process. Timoney has since <a target="_blank" href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/18/145413376/timoney-discusses-bahraini-police-force">claimed</a> that Bahrain is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-bahrain-police-timoney-idUSTRE81C15020120213">changing</a> its police tactics for the better. Tuesday's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/us-bahrain-protests-anniversary-idUSTRE81D0J220120214">events</a> cast doubt on that, with protesters once again facing tear gas, stun guns, and armored vehicles aimed at stifling the demonstrations.<br /><br />The police attempted to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2106787,00.html">prevent</a> protesters from even entering Manama's Pearl Roundabout, the site of mass protests and brutal police response last year. One protester described the use of tear gas to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/us-bahrain-protests-anniversary-idUSTRE81D0J220120214"><i>Reuters</i></a>: "They fired straight at us, they weren't even shooting in the air." Andrew Hammond, a reporter at <i>Reuters</i> and one of the only journalists who covered yesterday's protests, <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/Hammonda1/status/169406690222018560" target="_blank">wrote on Twitter</a> that police "chased everyone down road, firing straight at ppl fleeing." Some protesters reportedly threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at police, who <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-14/bahrain-police-arrest-demonstrators-on-protest-anniversary.html">arrested</a> at least 25 protesters in Manama. More than 100 protesters were <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/us-bahrain-protests-idUSTRE81E1SM20120215" target="_blank">injured</a>. In Shia villages, Bahraini police reportedly even entered homes in hopes of finding protesters. Opposition activist Mohamed al-Maskati <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-14/bahrain-police-arrest-demonstrators-on-protest-anniversary.html">described</a> the scene to <em>Bloomberg</em>: "They are storming houses suspected of harboring demonstrators, using tear gas, closing roads and arresting people."<br /><br /><a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/why-top-us-cop-leading-bahrain-crackdown">Read on...</a><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5343335033973392068?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-84391061820196859852012-02-17T09:27:00.003-05:002012-02-17T12:23:39.727-05:00The Occupy Chicago Arrests: Rahm Emanuel's 'Dry Run' for G8 and Nato?<h3 style="font-style: italic;" class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">Never mind free speech, Chicago's mayor wanted to show protesters who was boss ahead of May's summits, says attorney</span></h3><p>The most interesting revelation from Wednesday's <a href="http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/15/occupy-chicago-protesters-arrested-last-fall-want-charges-tossed/" rel="nofollow"><em>mass</em> court hearing</a> at the Daley Center in Chicago on the Occupy arrests – probably the single largest joined criminal case in the Chicago's history – was the suggestion that <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-occupy-chicago-arrests-0216-20120216,0,4811652.story" rel="nofollow">Rahm Emanuel may have personally ordered the arrests</a> of the peaceful Occupy Chicago protesters back in Grant Park in October 2011. At least one of the affidavits submitted by <a href="http://www.durkinroberts.com/thomasdurkin.html" rel="nofollow">Thomas Durkin</a>, a lead attorney for the defendants, suggested that. <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8545583" rel="nofollow">As Durkin argued</a>:</p><blockquote> <p>"This was Mayor <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/rahm-emanuel" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Rahm Emanuel" rel="nofollow">Rahm Emanuel</a> being Mr Tough Guy to show the world that they can come for <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/g8" title="More from guardian.co.uk on G8" rel="nofollow">G8</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Nato" rel="nofollow">Nato</a>. It's as simple as that. There was no need to make mass arrests on this night. There was no need to show Mr Tough Guy. It was a show of force. It was stupid."</p> </blockquote> <p>The evidence is starting to point that way. Shortly before 11pm, on Saturday 15 October, a police supervisor with rank told the Occupy protesters that they were going to be allowed to stay in Grant Park and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Protest" rel="nofollow">protest</a>, so long as they kept the volume down. It was actually an ironic moment when the "human microphone" started urging protesters, in its uniquely reiterative way, to be quiet so that guests in the neighboring hotels could sleep. It had a surreal element to it – but that fit nicely with the performative aspects of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/occupy-movement" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Occupy movement" rel="nofollow">Occupy movement</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/17-3">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">They've got to stop having these G8, G20, NATO meetings. Period. Or at least stop having them in cities. Couldn't they just video conference on Skype....for free?</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8439106182019685985?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-73977559212750269212012-02-17T09:21:00.001-05:002012-02-17T09:24:13.570-05:00How Violence Protects the State<h3 style="font-style: italic;" class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">'Violence is the modus operandi of the State. To build a free society, we will have to use different means.'</span></h3><p>On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/16-6" rel="nofollow">he spoke passionately in a sermon</a> at Riverside Church in New York about the war in Vietnam. In this gripping speech about the hypocrisy of bringing democracy through napalm and the audacity of fostering a brotherhood through war and killing, he made a daring confession: “I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today —my own government.”</p> <p>The most significant social movement in the US in the coming months will be the Occupy movement, as it returns in some numbers to the street. As the Occupy movement grows more polarized between strategies in light of its upcoming spring activities, it might do well to reflect on the logic of Dr. King’s brave statement. Contrary to what Peter Gelderloos and others <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/09/the-surgeons-of-occupy/" rel="nofollow">have claimed</a>, it is violence and the stasis of a dysfunctional system of oppression that protects the state, not nonviolence. How does violence protect the state? Do a few general internet searches on the Occupy movement in images to see how that movement is visually narrated (not to mention how it feels to see the portrayed reduction of a promising national movement into a series of police confrontations).</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/17-1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7397755921275026921?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-56939604811744421932012-02-16T10:44:00.001-05:002012-02-16T10:47:39.988-05:00Is NYPD Running Wild? Patterns of Brutality Raise Questions About Mayor's Control of Police<span style="font-style: italic;">Behind the NYPD's beating of Jateik Reed and the killing of Ramarley Graham is a long history of police harassment.<br /><br /></span> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1329345639_jateikpic.jpg_640x480_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div> <p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1">A series of incidents last year, in some cases where police broke the law, has sullied the reputation of the NYPD. From the department’s <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/12/06/nadler-wants-federal-probe-of-nypds-occupy-wall-street-response/">handling</a> of Occupy protesters and journalists, to officers’ participation in <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/10/25/nyc-cops-arrested-in-connection-with-gun-smuggling-take-down/">illegal gun sales</a> and a <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/new_york_city_police_department/ticketfixing_scandal/index.html">ticket-fixing scandal</a>, to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/28/large-crowds-protest-nypd-rape-acquittal_n_868355.html">rape charges</a> and reports that allege the <a href="http://ap.org/nypd/">targeting of Muslims</a>, the NYPD’s pattern of abuse, law-breaking, and poor judgment is raising questions about whether some of New York’s finest are operating as rogue units. A disturbing series of events, including beatings and the shooting death of an unarmed teenager in the Bronx, are causing some to wonder whether Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg are condoning the behavior or are unable to impose discipline on the department.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">Along with the patterns of violence, new reports show that stop-and-frisk rates went through the roof in 2011, making it a <a href="http://www.nyclu.org/news/nyclu-analysis-reveals-nypd-street-stops-soar-600-over-course-of-bloomberg-administration">record-breaking year</a> for the controversial practice. Stop-and-frisks may only legally be used when police have reasonable suspicion someone has a gun, but they are widely abused, and have been targeted as the source of aggressive, race-based policing and what many consider to be <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/low-level-marijuana-arrests-rise-for-seventh-straight-year/">illegal marijuana arrests</a>. </p><p name="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/drugs/154161/is_nypd_running_wild_patterns_of_brutality_raise_questions_about_mayor%27s_control_of_police/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5693960481174442193?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-62462987342733894462012-02-16T10:29:00.001-05:002012-02-16T10:31:08.261-05:00Tennessee Police Training Seminar Taught By Notorious Anti-Muslim Activist<p>A number of police officers in Tennessee attended a training seminar in Murfreesboro this week that was taught by a known Islamophobe who claims that Muslims should not get First Amendment rights.</p> <p>In a free training session on Monday, John Guandolo, a former FBI agent and the vice president of the Virginia-based Strategic Engagement Group (SEG), spoke to law enforcement officers in Rutherford County, Tennessee, at the World Outreach Church. </p> <p>The seminar was part of a three-day training course about Islam and the threat of terrorism, and was attended by roughly 100 law enforcement officers in the area, according to <a href="http://wmot.org/post/company-claims-islamic-insurgency-underway-us">Middle Tennessee Public Radio</a>. The Sheriff’s Department in Rutherford County confirmed that 25 of its officers had attended the training course.</p> <p><a href="http://www.wsmv.com/story/16930386/group-that-opposes-islamic-movement-trains-deputies-murfreesboro">WSMV-TV </a>attempted to film the event, and their camera was pushed away by Guandolo. But, according to reporter Nancy Amons, “Guandolo talked about Hamas and its plan to destroy Western civilization from within, and spoke of Islamic centers as potential military compounds.”</p><p><a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/tennessee_police_training_seminar_taught_by_notori.php?ref=fpnewsfeed">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6246298734273389446?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-85663111895795915252012-02-15T21:41:00.002-05:002012-02-15T22:02:22.456-05:00Facing a backlash, Ottawa moves to retool cybercrime bill<p>The Harper government has blinked in the face of a backlash over legislation that would give authorities new powers to police the Web, saying it’s now prepared to accept a broad range of changes to a bill criticized as a major intrusion into Canadians’ privacy.</p><p>The government’s new conciliatory tone comes only two days after Public Safety Minister Vic Toews beat back criticism of the legislation by declaring that critics either stood with the Conservatives “or with the child pornographers.”</p><p>The climb-down came the same day that some Conservative MPs, in a rare display of candour, went public with their concerns over Bill C-30, which the Harper government has named the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.</p><p>“I think it’s too intrusive as it currently stands and does need to be looked at,” said New Brunswick Tory MP John Williamson, one of several MPs to talk to reporters. “There’s a lot of concern, I think, across the country as well.”</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/facing-a-backlash-ottawa-moves-to-retool-cybercrime-bill/article2339856/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Do you trust them to make this right?</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8566311189579591525?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-5297430815438141132012-02-15T21:35:00.001-05:002012-02-15T21:38:54.585-05:00Push To Privatize US Prisons Lurks in Corporate Investment Scheme<h3 style="font-style: italic;" class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">Firm will purchase facilities from states in exchange for guaranteed 90% occupancy rate</span></h3><p>The privatization of US prisons is in the news today after a close vote in the Florida state senate on Tuesday defeated an attempt to privatize a huge swath of correctional facilities in the southern state. Also, a report in the <strong>Huffington Post</strong> on Tuesday highlighted how Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's largest operator of private prisons, has a plan in place to purchase public prisons from 48 states.</p><p><strong>Huffington Post</strong>'s Chris Kirkham <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/private-prisons-buying-state-prisons_n_1272143.html" rel="nofollow"><strong>reports</strong></a>: </p><blockquote> <p>As state governments wrestle with massive budget shortfalls, a Wall Street giant is offering a solution: cash in exchange for state property. Prisons, to be exact.</p> <p>Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets." In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full, according to <a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/ccaletter.pdf" target="_hplink" rel="nofollow">a copy of the letter obtained by The Huffington Post</a>.</p> </blockquote> <p>The CCA letter cites a new program called the "Corrections Investment Initiative" that has earmarked $250 million for purchasing state facilities. The requirements, according to the letter, include (emphasis added):</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/15-0">Read on...</a></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-529743081543814113?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-15488212953401026792012-02-15T21:32:00.000-05:002012-02-15T21:34:46.948-05:00Amnesty International Urges Stricter Limits on Police Taser Use as U.S. Death Toll Reaches 500February 15 - Two days after the death of a Georgia man who was shocked with a police Taser -- raising the known death toll from tasers to 500 in the United States -- Amnesty International today repeated its call for tighter limits on police use of the weapons.<br /><br />According to data collected by Amnesty International, at least 500 people in the United States have died since 2001 after being shocked with Tasers either during their arrest or while in jail. Amnesty International recorded the largest number of deaths following the use of Tasers in California (92), followed by Florida (65), and Texas (37). The Oklahoma City Police Department led all law enforcement agencies in deaths (7) following by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, Harris County Sheriff’s (Tx), Phoenix, Az and San Jose, Ca., all with six deaths.<br /><br />On Monday, Johnnie Kamahi Warren was the latest to die after a police officer in Dothan, Al. deployed a Taser on him at least twice. The 43-year-old, who was unarmed and allegedly intoxicated, reportedly stopped breathing shortly after being shocked and was pronounced dead in a hospital less than two hours later. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/02/15-5">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1548821295340102679?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-30643299507139624522012-02-14T13:45:00.001-05:002012-02-14T13:48:52.238-05:00Santorum+OCCUPY Hecklers=Tasered by CopsRicky didn't like the Occupy Tacoma protesters at his speech in Tacoma yesterday. He called them radicals, called the protesters intolerant, and said Obama supported the 99% over the 1% (though some of the occupy movement members might object to that characterization of the President and Democrats in general). In general, he essentially called the Occupy Tacoma members heckling him <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Santorum-fights-to-be-heard-at-a-raucous-Tacoma-3316478.php">scum of the earth</a>. <p> </p>The former Pennsylvania senator was cheered by the largest public outdoor rally in Western Washington that a Republican White House hopeful has seen in years. But Santorum fought to make himself heard over chants from protesters.<p> The candidate tried to link together President Obama and the demonstrators, declaring: "They're fundamentally trying to remake our country into a country that our Founders wouldn't recognize." </p><p> The Santorum rally, at the Washington State History Museum, was the state's the most raucous political event since conservative talk radio activists provided a loud bump in the 1994 Hillary Clinton health care caravan. [...]</p> The 9th Circuit decided anyone who disagrees with these folk," said Santorum, apparently referring to marriage equality supporters among the hecklers, "is irrational and bigoted . . . What they represent is true intolerance, (that) the only possible reason to disagree is that they are a hater or bigoted."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/2/14/122730/110">Read on...</a><br /><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Is one of these guys really going to be the GOP candidate for President. Wow.</span> Tom<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3064329950713962452?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-79348639393046058152012-02-14T13:03:00.001-05:002012-02-14T13:06:17.234-05:00In challenge to Ottawa, judge refuses to impose mandatory sentence<img src="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01338/web-crime-jail0_1338713cl-4.jpg" alt="An inmate bides his time at a Toronto jail on Feb. 24, 2011. - An inmate bides his time at a Toronto jail on Feb. 24, 2011. | Peter Power/The Globe and Mail" title="An inmate bides his time at a Toronto jail on Feb. 24, 2011. | Peter Power/The Globe and Mail" width="300" height="168" /><br /><br /><p> Legislation that would give police and spies easier access to information about Internet users threatens to turn Canada into a surveillance society, the Official Opposition says.</p><p>“We are against this bill and we will fight this bill all the way,” NDP MP Charlie Angus told reporters in Ottawa. “Canadians are not criminals.”</p><p>The bill tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons would allow authorities access to Internet subscriber information – including name, address, telephone number and email address – without first getting a court's go-ahead.</p><p>The proposed measures pit the desire of intelligence and law-enforcement officials to have ready access to information about people online against the individual's right to privacy.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/opposition-bristles-as-tories-table-online-surveillance-bill/article2337775/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7934863939304605815?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-74551952117566985092012-02-14T12:57:00.002-05:002012-02-14T13:02:47.220-05:00'With us or with the child pornographers' doesn't cut it, Mr. Toews<img src="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01373/web_vic_toews_j_1373984cl-4.jpg" alt="Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. - Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. | Michelle Siu for The Globe and Mail" title="Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. | Michelle Siu for The Globe and Mail" width="300" height="168" /><br /><br /><p> What you think of the Conservatives’ new bill to expand police surveillance of the web may depend on what you think of the long-gun registry and the long-form census. </p> <p> Public Safety Minister Vic Toews will argue that the new legislation, to be introduced Tuesday afternoon, will grant the government access to nothing more than the Internet equivalent of a telephone book, which police need to help track criminals and terrorists.<br /></p><p> Mr. Toews takes a dim view of anyone who would question the need for that access. In the Commons, Monday, he said people “can either stand with us or with the child pornographers.” </p> <p> Privacy commissioners in Ottawa and the provinces will not like being called such vile names. They have warned that the Conservatives are violating privacy rights by demanding the authority to collect IP addresses, email addresses, mobile phone numbers and other identifying information on anyone who interests them without a warrant.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/with-us-or-with-the-child-pornographers-doesnt-cut-it-mr-toews/article2337425/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Just listening to right-wing talk radio in Kitchener (570 News) and every caller is against the government on this issue.</span> Tom<br /></p><br /><div class="typephotooveralymed"> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7455195211756698509?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-71772523818538371932012-02-14T12:44:00.000-05:002012-02-14T12:46:22.327-05:00Occupy Protesters Sue NYC over Pepper Spray Incident<span class="image-right" style="width: 520px;"><img alt="" src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/ows_suit.jpg" style="width: 520px; height: 304px;" title="Chelsea Elliott (right) and Kaylee Dedrick (2nd from left on knees) scream in pain after they and two others were sprayed with pepper spray by NYPD Dep. Inspector Anthony Bologna on 12th St. near Union Square. (Jefferson Siegel for New York Daily News)" border="0" /><span class="caption">Chelsea Elliott (right) and Kaylee Dedrick (2nd from left on knees) scream in pain after they and two others were sprayed with pepper spray by NYPD Dep. Inspector Anthony Bologna on 12th St. near Union Square. (Jefferson Siegel for New York Daily News)<br /><br /></span></span><p>Two protesters who were pepper sprayed by Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna of the NYPD last fall during a peaceful march against Wall Street crimes and corporate greed, have sued the city for damages.</p>The lawsuit states, "Anthony Bologna maced the plaintiffs as they were exercising their constitutionally protected rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/14-1">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7177252381853837193?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-38206267298188456702012-02-14T12:33:00.000-05:002012-02-14T12:34:59.649-05:00Private Prison Corporation Offers Cash In Exchange For State Prisons<div id="potd_block" class="float_left clear_first"> <div class="big_photo"> <img src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/497397/thumbs/s-PRIVATE-PRISONS-large300.jpg" alt="Private Prisons" width="300" height="217" /> <div class="caption"> A June 2005 file photo of the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut, Ohio, which the state sold to Corrections Corporation of America last year.<br /><br /><p>As state governments wrestle with massive budget shortfalls, a Wall Street giant is offering a solution: cash in exchange for state property. Prisons, to be exact.</p> <p>Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets." In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full, according to <a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/ccaletter.pdf" target="_hplink">a copy of the letter obtained by The Huffington Post</a>.</p> <p>The move reflects a significant shift in strategy for the private prison industry, which until now has expanded by building prisons of its own or managing state-controlled prisons. It also represents an unprecedented bid for more control of state prison systems.</p><p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/private-prisons-buying-state-prisons_n_1272143.html">Read on...</a><br /></p><br /></div> </div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3820626729818845670?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-50211308237761669662012-02-10T10:55:00.002-05:002012-02-10T10:58:40.287-05:00Hose streets? Our streets! Belgian firefighters soak police in protest<span style="font-style: italic;">Hundreds of Belgian firefighters hose down the prime minister's office as part of a protest against retirement plans<br /><br /></span><span class="inline wide"> <img src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/2/10/1328878587516/Belgian-firefighters-007.jpg" alt="Belgian firefighters" height="276" width="460" /> <span class="caption" style="width: 460px;"> Belgian police get wet as they guard the entrance to the cabinet office from protesting firefighters. Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features </span> <br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/10/hose-belgian-firefighters-soak-police">Read on....</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Finally a level playing field for the protesters</span>. Tom<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5021130823776166966?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-27929224767911114572012-02-10T10:39:00.001-05:002012-02-10T10:41:16.920-05:0050 Years of Innovation - Vera Institute<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0tWPJ0zL-4s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />The Vera Institute of Justice has been partnering with leaders in government and civil society for 50 years. This report provides an overview of its work, along with highlights of some of the current projects extending Vera's remarkable record of accomplishments.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2792922476791111457?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-38102343210689143042012-02-10T10:22:00.003-05:002012-02-10T10:26:03.601-05:00The 10 Most Seductive Drugs -- And Their Fascinating HistoryA brief journey through time, from ancient Sumeria to modern New Jersey, uncovers the mysterious origins of the world's most beloved substances.<br /><br /><div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_picture17_1291763327.jpg_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /><br /><br /><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2"><strong>1) Alcohol: Ancient Sumeria</strong></p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">Fans of alcohol are in good company; this is a drug that's been in use since the dawn of human time—if carbon dating of jugs found in Jiahu, China to around 8,000 BC is to be believed. But it wasn’t until we settled into agricultural societies that the wine really got flowing. Written records from ancient Sumeria document the uses and quantity of the beer—called "kash"—that was brewed. They even indicate that Sumerians had regulated drinking places similar to modern-day bars. The booze, for its part, was considered worthy of offering to the gods, and even thought to have a civilizing effect: The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/">Epic of Gilgamesh</a>mentions a wild man named Enkidu who was seduced to join civilization after he drank seven jugs of beer, “became expansive and sang with joy.” (A harlot was also, apparently, involved.)</p><p name="paragraph4" id="paragraph4"><strong>2) Peyote: Mexico</strong></p><p name="paragraph5" id="paragraph5">Mescaline—the psychoactive ingredient in the peyote plant that's native to Mexico and the Southwest US—has probably been used in religious ceremonies since 3780–3660 BC, according to carbon dating of dried buttons found in a cave on the Rio Grande in Texas. Written records began once Catholic Spanish conquerors arrived in Mexico and were alarmed by the practice of eating or drinking peyote during religious festivals. In an effort to discourage use, priests were in the habit of asking their new congregationalists to confess to having experienced the drug’s hallucinogenic effects, right after they asked “Have you eaten the flesh of man?” and “Do you suck the blood of others?”</p><p name="paragraph5"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/drugs/154067/the_10_most_seductive_drugs_--_and_their_fascinating_history/">Read on...</a><br /></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3810234321068914304?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-17974280240796631302012-02-10T09:55:00.001-05:002012-02-10T09:57:57.109-05:00Republicans Retreat on Domestic Violence<p itemprop="articleBody"> Even in the ultrapolarized atmosphere of Capitol Hill, it should be possible to secure broad bipartisan agreement on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, the 1994 law at the center of the nation’s efforts to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The law’s renewal has strong backing from law enforcement and groups that work with victims, and earlier reauthorizations of the law, in 2000 and 2005, passed Congress with strong support from both sides of the aisle. </p> <p itemprop="articleBody"> Yet not a single Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor last week when the committee approved a well-crafted <a title="The Leahy bill (PDF)." href="http://www.leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/BillText-ViolenceAgainstWomenReauthorizationAct.pdf">reauthorization bill</a> introduced by its chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy, and Senator Michael Crapo, a Republican of Idaho, who is not on the committee.<br /></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/opinion/republicans-retreat-on-domestic-violence.html?_r=1&ref=opinion">Read on...</a></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><span style="font-style: italic;">This is a New York Times editorial. </span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1797428024079663130?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26722755811256517552012-02-10T09:49:00.001-05:002012-02-10T09:51:53.720-05:00Let cops carry tasers, deputy chief urges<p> Front-line officers in Toronto should be allowed to carry tasers but provincial regulations prohibit them from doing so, said Deputy Chief Michael Federico in response to questions about how police respond to mentally ill people in crisis. </p> <p> On Thursday, the Toronto police held a rare demonstration of how they are trained to deal with such situations. The news conference at the police college came less than a week after a man carrying two pairs of scissors and wearing a hospital gown was fatally shot on a street during an altercation with police. The event was organized before the death and police say they aren’t permitted to discuss that incident while it is being investigated by the Special Investigations Unit.<br /></p><p> Tasers are an option all trained officers should have, Deputy Chief Federico said in an interview, but Ontario regulations set out that only supervisors and specialized units can carry them. </p> <p> There’s a supervisor on the road during every shift, the Deputy Chief said. “Police officers are not completely without access to a [taser]. But again, situations may unfold too quickly for a supervisor to arrive.”<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/let-cops-carry-tasers-deputy-chief-urges/article2333370/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2672275581125651755?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-17389809146106787932012-02-07T15:16:00.001-05:002012-02-07T15:26:20.558-05:00The price of prisons: what incarceration costs taxpayers.Staff from Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections and Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit developed a methodology to calculate the taxpayer cost of prisons, including costs outside states’ corrections budgets. Among the 40 states that participated in a survey, the cost of prisons was $39 billion in fiscal year 2010, $5.4 billion more than what their corrections budgets reflected. States’ costs outside their corrections departments ranged from less than 1 percent of total prison costs in Arizona to as much as 34 percent in Connecticut. The full report provides the taxpayer cost of incarcerating a sentenced adult offender to state prison in 40 states, presents the methodology, and concludes with recommendations about steps policy makers can take to safely rein in these costs. Fact sheets provide details about each of the states that participated in Vera’s survey.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.vera.org/?q=pubs/price-prisons">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1738980914610678793?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-13118261742731720982012-02-07T15:13:00.001-05:002012-02-07T15:16:01.793-05:00The Citizens United catastrophe<div class="article_body"> <article> <p>We have seen the world created by the <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf">Supreme Court’s</a> <i>Citizens United</i> decision, and it doesn’t work. Oh, yes, it works nicely for the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, especially if they want to shroud their efforts to influence politics behind shell corporations. It just doesn’t happen to work if you think we are a democracy and not a plutocracy.</p> <p>Two years ago, <i>Citizens United</i> tore down a century’s worth of law aimed at reducing the amount of corruption in our electoral system. It will go down as one of the most naive decisions ever rendered by the court.<br /></p><p>The strongest case against judicial activism — against “legislating from the bench,” as former President George W. Bush liked to say — is that judges are not accountable for the new systems they put in place, whether by accident or design.</p><p>The <i>Citizens United</i> justices were not required to think through the practical consequences of sweeping aside decades of work by legislators, going back to the passage of the landmark Tillman Act in 1907, who sought to prevent untoward influence-peddling and indirect bribery.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-citizens-united-catastrophe/2012/02/05/gIQATOEfsQ_story.html">Read on...</a><br /></p></article> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1311826174273172098?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-72514208162939142902012-02-07T15:07:00.002-05:002012-02-07T15:11:18.716-05:00Nerve Gas To Be Used for Crowd Control in the UK?<h3 style="font-style: italic;" class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">Royal Society scientists tell of 'incapacitating chemical agents' investigation</span></h3><p>A neuroscience research team has announced that the UK may be planning on implementing nerve gas and other chemical agents for domestic law enforcement. Scientists commissioned through Royal Society, the UK's national academy of sciences, says that the government commissioned them to research new developments in neuroscience that would 'be of use to the military'. The group of scientists has become aware that the government may be preparing to use incapacitating chemical agents for crowd control.</p><blockquote>Leading neuroscientists believe that the UK Government may be about to sanction the development of nerve agents for British police that would be banned in warfare under an international treaty on chemical weapons.</blockquote> <p>A high-level group of experts has asked the Government to clarify its position on whether it intends to develop "incapacitating chemical agents" for a range of domestic uses that go beyond the limited use of chemical irritants such as CS gas for riot control.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/07-4">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Governments and the police continue to gear up to wage war on the people. I wonder why.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7251420816293914290?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-38956341537045290252012-02-06T10:39:00.001-05:002012-02-06T10:42:25.054-05:00Elsevier Publishing Boycott Gathers Steam Among Academics<div class="abstract"> <div class="entry-content"> <div id="attachment_35218" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px;"><a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/files/2012/01/320px-Timothy_Gowers_Washington_2009.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-35218" title="320px-Timothy_Gowers_Washington_2009" src="http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/files/2012/01/320px-Timothy_Gowers_Washington_2009-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The eminent mathematician Timothy Gowers vows to do no work for Elsevier.</p><p>Elsevier, the global publishing company, is responsible for <em>The Lancet</em>, <em>Cell</em>, and about 2,000 other important journals; the iconic reference work <em>Gray’s Anatomy,</em> along with 20,000 other books—and one fed-up, award-winning mathematician.</p> <p>Timothy Gowers of the University of Cambridge, who won the Fields Medal for his research, has organized a boycott of Elsevier because, he says, its pricing and policies restrict access to work that should be much more easily available. He asked for a boycott in a<a href="http://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/elsevier-my-part-in-its-downfall/"> blog post</a> on January 21, and as of Monday evening, on the boycott’s Web site <a href="http://thecostofknowledge.com/">The Cost of Knowledge,</a> nearly 1,900 scientists have signed up, pledging not to publish, referee, or do editorial work for any Elsevier journal.</p><p>The company has sinned in three areas, according to the boycotters: It charges too much for its journals; it bundles subscriptions to lesser journals together with valuable ones, forcing libraries to spend money to buy things they don’t want in order to get a few things they do want; and, most recently, it has supported a proposed federal law (called the <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Gets-to-See-Published/130403/">Research Works Act</a>) that would prevent agencies like the National Institutes of Health from making all articles written by its grant recipients freely available.</p><p><a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/elsevier-publishing-boycott-gathers-steam-among-academics/35216">Read on...</a><br /></p></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3895634153704529025?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-90224733257442739442012-02-04T19:14:00.001-05:002012-02-04T19:17:05.582-05:00The New Canada: Fomenting Fear at Home and Abroad<p>Why base policy on facts and evidence when you can exploit fear instead? It doesn’t take a psychologist to know that fear is a much more powerful motivator than boring old rational argument. Political scientists have long studied the use of fear-based appeals as techniques that “entrepreneurial” politicians may use to mobilize support. The Harper government seems to understand this intuitively, based on the comments of senior ministers this week, both at home and abroad. </p> <p>Imagine a split screen image. On the one side is Vic Toews, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, testifying Wednesday before a Senate committee on the government’s omnibus crime bill.</p> <p>During the 2011 election campaign, the Conservatives <a href="http://www.conservative.ca/media/ConservativePlatform2011_ENs.pdf">promised</a> to make Canada a place in which “law abiding” folks “don’t have to worry when they go to bed at night; where they don’t have to look over their shoulders as they walk down the street.” However, the tough-on-crime agenda ran into an awkward fact: Canada’s crime rate had been falling for years. According to <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2011001/article/11523-eng.htm#a1">Statistics Canada</a>, police-reported crime continued declining in 2010 (the last year for which statistics are available) and reached its lowest level since 1973.<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.opencanada.org/features/fear-harper/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="breadcrumbs"> </div> <a href="http://www.opencanada.org/features/fear-harper/"><img src="http://www.opencanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/baird-1024x522.jpg" class="border alignleft wp-post-image" alt="baird" title="baird" height="225" width="442" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9022473325744273944?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-2291983354083640992012-02-03T08:50:00.000-05:002012-02-03T08:52:45.022-05:00Tasering: "just made of awesome"<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/01/1059702/-Occupy-Erick-Erickson:-Watching-A-Hippie-Protester-Get-Tased-Just-Makes-My-Day">Via Jesse LaGreca</a>, I see that the fine, upstanding mainstream CNN political pundit who once claimed that a Supreme Court justice was a "goat-fucking child molester" has once again shown his gravitas:<br /><blockquote>Erickson: "Here is a story to make you laugh for the day, an Occupy DC protester, believe it or not these people are still occupying places. McPherson square near the White House, an Occupy DC protester was shocked by stun gun yesterday afternoon at McPherson Square . . .<br /><br />They arrested him. They took him to the hospital because of a medical condition. He was charged with disturbing the peace. Now I would play the video for you because it was caught on film, it's hilarious, I mean you should just watch this video, if you go to wtpo.com you can watch it, I won't play it on the radio because the number of F-bombs the guy just starts yelling as they're tazing him . . hahahah . . ahh, but watching that hippy protester get tazed just made my day, wtpo.com, you can watch it for yourself, it is just made of awesome."<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/tasering-just-made-of-awesome.html">Read on...</a><br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-229198335408364099?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-42306462598836148372012-02-03T08:47:00.000-05:002012-02-03T08:49:18.365-05:00SWATTING Fratboys<a href="http://nineronline.com/2011/unc-charlotte-swat-team-%E2%80%93-an-asset-we-hope-to-never-use/">Fergawdsakes:</a><br /><br /><blockquote><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iuOsYEyGNrE/TyrpiTPVfeI/AAAAAAAADGk/AiLOaeOj1XI/s1600/UNCCSwat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iuOsYEyGNrE/TyrpiTPVfeI/AAAAAAAADGk/AiLOaeOj1XI/s400/UNCCSwat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704628653507575266" border="0" /></a></blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote>“The purpose for creating the UNCC SWAT Team is to protect the community and prevent the loss of life,” said Lieutenant Josh Huffman of Campus Police. “We must be prepared to respond to high risk situations such as those tragedies that occurred at Virginia Tech and Columbine.” . . .</blockquote><br /><br />Right. As <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2007/07/26/preparing-for-that-once-in-twe">Radley Balko points out</a>:<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/swatting-fratboys-police-state-goes-to.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4230646259883614837?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-15362074955801795032012-02-03T08:15:00.001-05:002012-02-03T08:21:08.751-05:00Ottawa must consider cost of prison expansion -- in addition to pension reform<p>If everything is on the table – including the Old Age Security benefit of roughly $540 a month – why do the billions of dollars being added to the federal corrections budget feel untouchable?</p>As the Senate begins hearings on the government’s omnibus crime bill, and the almost certain prospect of huge, long-term budgetary increases in the jails moves a step closer, it seems an odd juxtaposition: trying to ensure the long-term health of the retirement security system, and spending like crazy, in the short, medium and long terms, on prison cells.<br /><br />The government is right to be forward-looking – but why does it not question the long-term sustainability of the corrections system? If Canada can talk about the long-term challenges facing health care and seniors benefits, what about the long-term costs of jail expansion?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/ottawa-must-consider-cost-of-prison-expansion----in-addition-to-pension-reform/article2324562/">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1536207495580179503?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-50183764569819877982012-02-03T08:08:00.001-05:002012-02-03T08:12:36.434-05:00Spanking your kid: Does it help or hurt?<p>Spanking is a thorny issue. Has what seems like a Dickensian practice been slain by liberal parenting practices? Or is it Canadians’ dirty secret?</p><p>Whatever the case, the issue is on the table again, courtesy of outspoken London Mayor Boris Johnson.</p><p>Mr. Johnson has sparked a debate in Britain by suggesting that worrying about fine distinctions – a smack on the hand. A spank on the bottom. When is it okay, when is it bad parenting, and when it is outright assault? – limits parents’ right to discipline their kids.</p><p>“People do feel anxious about imposing discipline on their children, whether the law will support them...,” he told the BBC. The comments were in support of other politicians’ statements that last summer’s London riots were, in part, caused by lax parenting.</p><p>Here in Canada, the issue of spanking children remains a relatively private and elusive issue.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/young-children/discipline/spanking-your-kid-does-it-help-or-hurt/article2324686/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5018376456981987798?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-71538425955412608292012-02-03T07:53:00.001-05:002012-02-03T07:55:07.157-05:00Brian Stewart: America's 'prison nation,' must we follow suit?<p><strong>For over a quarter century</strong> the U.S. political system has dodged and weaved its way around one of the great scandals of our times — the mass incarceration of millions of its citizens.</p> <p>But in all the theatrics and thunder of recent political debate barely a peep has been heard about the astonishing 2,284,000 Americans currently behind bars or why an unprecedented six million are under "correctional supervision," meaning in prison or on parole or probation.</p> <p>Indeed, some argue that the number snared in the U.S. criminal justice system even surpasses those condemned to Stalin's gulag prison empire at its height.</p> <p>No nation on Earth locks up more people than the U.S., which incarcerates at a rate seven times that of other developed nations. The U.S. has less than five per cent of the world's population, but it has 23 per cent of those behind bars around the globe.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/02/02/f-vp-stewart.html?cmp=rss">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7153842595541260829?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-2159182571200836292012-02-02T12:35:00.002-05:002012-02-02T12:37:47.833-05:00Crime victims should have more rights at parole hearings, ombudsman says<p>The federal ombudsman for crime victims says they should have a right to attend parole hearings and get more information about the offenders who preyed on them.</p><p>Sue O’Sullivan also says the federal government should double the $100 surcharge levelled against criminals to finance restitution for victims.</p><p>She says that surcharge is routinely waived in the courts, but should be made mandatory.</p><p>Ms. O’Sullivan’s first report since her appointment in August 2010 notes crime victims now may attend parole hearings, but are limited to reading a pre-approved statement.</p><p>She says they should have an automatic right to attend and should be given the option of video-conferencing or access to transcripts or recordings if they cannot attend in person.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crime-victims-should-have-more-rights-at-parole-hearings-ombudsman-says/article2323894/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-215918257120083629?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-1319782463301984272012-02-01T09:21:00.001-05:002012-02-01T09:24:24.880-05:00RCMP boss asserts his independence<p>RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is backtracking on his call for MPs and senators to go through the Department of Public Safety to hold a meeting with him, saying he will safeguard his independence from the rest of government “like a terrier.”</p><p>Commissioner Paulson told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday he intends to give notice to his political bosses only about meetings that might be of interest to them, such as with diplomats or politicians. He added that he has no obligation to debrief the government after he meets with RCMP outsiders.</p><p>Regarding an e-mail in which he recently called on Liberal Senator Colin Kenny to “route” his request through Public Safety, Commissioner Paulson suggested that it was a polite brush-off.</p><p>“I’d just as soon not meet with Senator Kenny, to be honest with you,” Commissioner Paulson said of the former president of the Senate committee on national security.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/rcmp-boss-asserts-his-independence/article2321799/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-131978246330198427?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-16576916626482459732012-02-01T09:08:00.003-05:002012-02-01T14:20:41.437-05:00Police ‘whitewashing’ crime stats, study says<p>The majority of Canadian police forces are “whitewashing” crime statistics by refusing to provide information about the race of people they come into contact with, says a new report by two Ontario criminologists.</p> <p>Only a minority of police agencies — 20 per cent — have policies restricting them from releasing the data, but nearly 60 per cent suppress it anyway, the report says.</p> <p>The findings are to be published Wednesday in the <em>Canadian Journal of Law and Society.</em></p> <p>Withholding the information makes police less accountable and makes it more difficult for researchers to study how race may influence policing, said Paul Millar, a Nippissing University criminal justice professor, who conducted the study with Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto Centre for Criminology.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1124558--police-whitewashing-crime-stats-study-says?bn=1">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Akwasi, co-author of this report is a Centre doctoral candidate.</span> Here is a link to a CBC radio interview with Akwasi: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2012/02/01/whitewashing/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow"><br /></a><a class="fixed" href="http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2012/02/01/whitewashing/" target="_blank">http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2012/02/01/whitewashing/</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">And Akwasi will be on Global News tonight at 6:30.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1657691662648245973?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-52838615715581699822012-01-31T10:50:00.001-05:002012-01-31T10:51:51.243-05:00Congress Stood Up for Fairer Sentencing. The Supreme Court Should Too.<p>Today we filed a <a href="http://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/dorsey-v-us-and-hill-v-us-aclu-amicus-brief">friend-of-the-court brief</a> in two Supreme Court cases that deal with the <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/justice-served">Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA)</a>, which reduced the disparity between federal mandatory minimum sentences for crack versus powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1. <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/will-supreme-court-render-fair-sentencing-act-less-fair">As we’ve written before</a>, this was a significant step in the direction of fairness. </p> <p>In <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/hill-v-united-states/"><em>Hill v. United States</em></a> and <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/dorsey-v-united-states/"><em>Dorsey v. United States</em></a>, the Court will decide whether people whose offenses predate the enactment of the FSA but who were sentenced afterwards should get the benefit of the new, fairer 18:1 ratio (the fairest ratio would be 1:1), or instead be sentenced under the old 100:1 ratio, which had no basis in science and resulted in racially biased sentencing. In our brief, we join Hill and Dorsey — as well as the Obama administration — in urging the Court to hold that Congress intended the FSA to apply in all sentencing proceedings that occur after its enactment.</p> <p>The FSA was passed to correct the problems with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which created a sentencing scheme that unequally punished comparable offenses involving crack and powder cocaine — two forms of the same drug. Relying on perceived differences in the harmfulness and dangerousness of crack versus powder cocaine amid media hysteria surrounding crack cocaine, the 1986 law created a 100:1 disparity between the amounts of crack versus powder cocaine necessary to trigger particular sentences. Thus, for example, someone convicted of an offense involving just five grams of crack cocaine was subject to the same five-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence as someone convicted of an offense involving 500 grams of powder cocaine. But empirical evidence has demonstrated that there is no scientific basis to support the supposed differences between crack and powder cocaine which Congress had relied upon in devising the 100:1 ratio.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/congress-stood-fairer-sentencing-supreme-court-should-too">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5283861571558169982?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-66640400787289127802012-01-31T10:44:00.002-05:002012-01-31T10:47:59.777-05:00Is Prison Worse for Women?<div class="sl-article-tools slb-post-mini-tools"> <div class="sl-article-tools-fb-like"> <div class="facebook_like facebooklike"> <span></span> </div> </div> <div class="sl-article-tools-twit"> <div class="left twitter_share"> </div> </div> <div class="sl-article-tools-linkedin"> <span class="in-widget-top"> <span class="IN-widget" style="line-height: 1; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="padding: 0pt ! important; margin: 0pt ! important; text-indent: 0pt ! important; display: inline-block ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; font-size: 1px ! important;"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0"><a id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-link"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-logo"><br /></span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-title"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-mark"></span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1328024600719_0-title-text"></span></span></a></span></span></span></span>In case you missed it, the Jan. 30 issue of <em>The New Yorker</em> contained <a target="_blank" href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all">a powerful essay</a> by Adam Gopnik on the staggering number of people (disproportionally of color) we have imprisoned—often, with sentences absurdly out of whack with the severity of their crimes—in this country. Here’s a brief taste:<div class="text parbase section"><div class="text"> </div> </div> <div class="text parbase section"> <div class="text"> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">Over all, there are now more people under “correctional supervision” in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height. That city of the confined and the controlled, Lockuptown, is now the second largest in the United States.</p> </div> </div> <div class="text parbase section"> <div class="text"> <p>Gopnik goes on to trace the intellectual history of our contemporary zeal for lengthy, impersonal, probably ineffective confinements, concluding that what’s needed is not a revolutionary throwing-over of the prison system, but instead a concerted, multifaceted effort to starve the beast though small measures: for example, the legalization and regulation of marijuana.</p> </div> </div> <div class="text parbase section"> <div class="text"> <p>While this is all very compelling, one thing is missing from Gopnik’s harrowing portrait of “Lockuptown”—he doesn’t really acknowledge that city’s female residents.</p><p><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/01/30/is_prison_worse_for_women_.html">Read on....</a><br /></p> </div> </div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6664040078728912780?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-90147462204509694132012-01-31T10:37:00.001-05:002012-01-31T10:40:28.621-05:00Illinois’ Injustice System<span style="font-style: italic;">Budget cuts are hard on ex-cons trying to make good.<br /><br /></span>From where he stands today, Kerry Owens is optimistic. He was released from an Illinois prison in November, after serving a year for retail theft. Owens, 41, has been in and out of the criminal justice system before, but his most recent sentence, for his first felony conviction, has changed his life forever. <p>He resolved to live differently by volunteering, kicking the addiction that led him to steal $300 worth of merchandise, and enrolling at a local community college. But as a convicted felon, it is now harder than ever to get a job, find an apartment and receive social services. </p> <p>Owens previously worked as a custodian, and while in prison he earned a certificate for commercial custodian services. But persistent high unemployment and his felony record have left him looking for work. “There’s nothing out there,” he says. “They’re certifying us for jobs that don’t exist.”<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/12577/illinois_injustice_system">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9014746220450969413?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-11605959448374242942012-01-31T09:40:00.001-05:002012-01-31T09:45:03.145-05:00GOP Seeks Big Changes In Federal Prison Sentences<p>Every year, federal judges sentence more than 80,000 criminals. Those punishments are supposed to be fair — and predictable. But seven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court threw a wrench into the system by ruling that the guidelines that judges use to figure out a prison sentence are only suggestions.</p> <p>Republicans in Congress say that has led to a lot of bad results. They're calling for an overhaul of the sentencing system, with tough new mandatory prison terms to bring some order back into the process. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin, brought up the subject at a recent hearing.</p> <p>"A criminal committing a federal crime should receive similar punishment regardless of whether the crime was committed in Richmond, Va., or Richmond, Calif., and that's why I am deeply concerned about what's happening to federal sentencing," Sensenbrenner said.</p><p><a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/31/146081922/gop-seeks-big-changes-in-federal-prison-sentences">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1160595944837424294?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-74050502483026777972012-01-30T10:11:00.001-05:002012-01-30T10:15:00.262-05:00Understanding the dynamics of a 'crime of honour'<p> The murders of four women at the hands of their closest relatives may serve as a wakeup call for wider Canadian society to the social ills that those closer to traditionalist communities have long grappled with. </p> <p> The convictions of Mohammad Shafia, his wife, Tooba Yahya, and his eldest son, Hamed, on Sunday followed a long trial in which evidence showed that teachers, police and social services saw repeated warning signs that the teenaged daughters of the family were at risk of life-threatening violence.<br /></p><p> The three were found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of sisters Zainab, Sahar and Geeti Shafia, aged 19, 17 and 13, whose bodies were found in a submerged car at a Rideau Canal lock east of Kingston in 2009. The fourth found dead in the vehicle was Mr. Shafia’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 53, who had entered Canada illegally, posing as his cousin. </p> <p> “These women were aware of the threat on their lives and they reached out but nobody listened,” said Shahrzad Mojab, a University of Toronto professor. She appeared as an expert witness at the Shafia trial and spoke to The Globe and Mail after the verdict.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/understanding-the-dynamics-of-a-crime-of-honour/article2319090/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7405050248302677797?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-47364231757891663932012-01-29T14:40:00.003-05:002012-01-29T14:43:59.646-05:00300 Arrested at Occupy Oakland -- Corporate Media Dutifully Report City Officials' Version of EventsPolice once again ratcheted up the tension by using force against an entire crowd of protesters.<br /><br /> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1327864128_67828466350db00887c0.jpg_640x425_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> <div class="story-image-sourcing"> <div class="story-image-source"><i><small>Photo Credit: Oakland Local</small></i></div> </div> </div> <p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1">Downtown Oakland turned ugly once again on Saturday, as Occupy activists attempting to squat in a long-abandoned city building were met by lines of heavily-armored riot police. Police officials said that 300 arrests followed – a number that may represent as much as 30 percent of everyone who participated in the day's actions, according to police estimates of the crowd's size.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">Occupy Oakland organizers said some protesters were hospitalized, but the exact number of injuries is unknown as if this writing. According to organizers, four journalists were swept up by police, including AlterNet contributor Susie Cagle and Mother Jones correspondent Gavin Aronsen. Cagle was reportedly cited and released; organizers say Aronsen was jailed overnight.</p><p name="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/153936/300_arrested_at_occupy_oakland_--_corporate_media_dutifully_report_city_officials%27_version_of_events/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4736423175789166393?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-89302313596155155562012-01-28T11:33:00.002-05:002012-01-28T11:44:14.772-05:00North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls For Bringing Back Public Hangings, Starting With Abortion Providers<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gallows.jpg"><img src="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gallows.jpg" alt="" title="gallows" class="alignright size-full wp-image-413756" width="200" height="267" /></a><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/apr/010430.execution.html">last legal public hanging</a> in America took place in 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky. The “event” attracted 20,000 people and turned into such a sickening spectacle that many <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/apr/010430.execution.html">credit it with ending the practice</a> in the U.S. <p>But one North Carolina Republican believes that as a country we’ve grown soft since banning public hangings and is calling for them to <a href="http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10649801/">reinstated</a> as a deterrent to crime. If Rep. Larry Pittman had his way, “abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers” would be first in <a href="http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10649801/">line for the gallows</a>:<br /></p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/01/27/413611/north-carolina-gop-lawmaker-calls-for-bringing-back-public-hangings-starting-with-abortion-providers/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">U.S. politicians getting scarier and scarier.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8930231359615515556?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-51092543527623146212012-01-26T15:59:00.001-05:002012-01-26T16:01:33.079-05:00Gun owner ID cards soar in Chicago<p class="NormalParagraphStyle">Chicago has seen a 16 percent spike in the number of people holding state firearm owner’s identification cards in the past two years, state officials said Wednesday.</p> <p class="NormalParagraphStyle">About 122,000 people possessed FOID cards at the beginning of this year compared to 105,000 at the beginning of 2010, said Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police.</p> <p class="NormalParagraphStyle">Illinois residents must possess a FOID card to buy guns in the state.</p> <p class="NormalParagraphStyle">Illinois State Police officials check an applicant’s identification and background before issuing a card.</p><p class="NormalParagraphStyle"><a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/10234844-418/gun-owner-id-cards-soar-in-chicago.html">Read on...</a></p><p class="NormalParagraphStyle"><span style="font-style: italic;">I wonder why? </span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5109254352762314621?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-49915998682536451712012-01-26T11:40:00.001-05:002012-01-26T11:43:57.583-05:00Ex-detective accuses police of ignoring Pickton<p>The Vancouver police could have stopped serial killer Robert Pickton more than two years before he was finally caught if the force had taken the case more seriously and devoted the resources such a massive investigation would require, a public inquiry has heard.</p><p>Former detective Kim Rossmo, who was a geographic profiler with the force, said Mr. Pickton wasn’t caught sooner because senior police management resisted the theory that the women were being murdered by a serial killer.</p><p>“I think there was a good chance it could have been solved by the end of 1999 if the appropriate resources were deployed and the Vancouver police department was properly engaged in this and had accepted the serial killer theory,” Mr. Rossmo told the inquiry on Wednesday, stressing it was a rough estimate.</p><p>“I don’t want to give overemphasis to my estimate of the end of ‘99, but it certainly should have been solved much sooner. ... I believe my evidence from the other day was I think this case could have been solved one to two years earlier than it was.”</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/ex-detective-accuses-police-of-ignoring-pickton/article2315397/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4991599868253645171?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-45583305043303114492012-01-26T10:02:00.001-05:002012-01-26T10:05:37.630-05:00After Occupy Journalist Arrests, US Plummets in Global Press Freedom Rankings<a href="http://en.rsf.org/" rel="nofollow">Reporters Without Borders</a> has released its annual <strong><a href="http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html" rel="nofollow">World Press Freedom Index</a></strong> and the United States fell 27 points to No. 47 on the list. Why? "more than 25 [reporters] were subjected to arrests and beatings at the hands of police" during Occupy movement protests.<br /><br />"The worldwide wave of protests in 2011 also swept through the New World. It dragged the United States (47th) and Chile (80th) down the index, costing them 27 and 47 places respectively. The crackdown on protest movements and the accompanying excesses took their toll on journalists. In the space of two months in the United States, more than 25 were subjected to arrests and beatings at the hands of police who were quick to issue indictments for inappropriate behavior, public nuisance or even lack of accreditation."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/25-6">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4558330504330311449?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-84247231749961266282012-01-26T09:50:00.002-05:002012-01-26T09:55:44.645-05:00OPP report on G8-G20 policing outlines problemsORILLIA, Ont. — A report on security at the G8 and G20 summits in 2010 says there was some confusion when Ontario Provincial Police were unexpectedly redeployed to help police in Toronto. <p> The provincial police report says the force's primary role was perimeter security at the G8 in the Huntsville, Ont., area.</p> <p> When violence and vandalism erupted in Toronto on June 26, 2010, provincial police were called in to bolster the G20 interdiction zone in Toronto.</p> <p> The report says there was confusion because it was not clear if the provincial police officers were supporting Toronto police or the RCMP.</p><p><a href="http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120125/opp-report-g20-outlines-problems-120125/20120125/?hub=TorontoNewHome">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Here is a</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.opp.ca/ecms/files/265483322.4.pdf"> link to this report.</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> Here is a link to an </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/publications/files/reports/g20_after_action_review.pdf">ealier report by Chief Blair.</a> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8424723174996126628?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-5509724425276938482012-01-26T08:55:00.000-05:002012-01-26T08:57:14.860-05:00Female inmates can fear release as much as sentenceFor many of us, the prospect of jail time is a frightening thing. But for some incarcerated women, it’s getting released that’s the scary part. <p>Georgina Poirier knows all about that. The 40-year-old Cambridge woman was let out of the Grand Valley Institution For Women in 2007 after a three-year sentence for dealing drugs.</p> <p>She went from an institution where all her needs where taken care of, to a world where suddenly she needed money, a job and a place to live. </p> <p>Poirier, who was the keynote speaker at a packed forum on housing for female inmates Wednesday, felt on her own.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/ontario/article/661092--female-inmates-can-fear-release-as-much-as-sentence">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-550972442527693848?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-44714932765738339252012-01-26T08:26:00.002-05:002012-01-26T08:30:27.400-05:00Canadians finally getting it: crime is on the decline<p>Canadians are finally getting the message that crime rates are falling.</p><p>New poll results show the public is abandoning a stubborn belief that crime is on the rise, bringing public opinion into alignment with a 20-year trend of declining crime rates.</p><p>The long-standing disconnect between public fears and reality has confounded criminologists and fuelled federal get-tough policies.<br /></p><p>However, the Environics Focus Canada poll – obtained by The Globe and Mail and scheduled for release Thursday – shakes conventional wisdom even more by finding growing support for the use of crime prevention rather than punishment. </p><p>“This doesn’t mean that people want to lay off criminals,” said Keith Neuman, executive director of the Environics Institute. “But what people would like to see is more crime prevention. They feel that this is the right thing to do.”</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadians-finally-getting-it-crime-is-on-the-decline/article2315266/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A+Social+Network+%2F+Media&utm_content=2315266&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Doob, quoted in this story, is a prof at the Centre.</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4471493276573833925?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-54322872516182313572012-01-25T11:17:00.000-05:002012-01-25T11:19:55.737-05:00Hateful FilmThere is absolutely no excuse for the New York Police Department’s <a title="A Times article" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/nyregion/in-police-training-a-dark-film-on-us-muslims.html">decision to show a hate-filled film about Muslims</a> to more than 1,400 city police officers.<br /><br /><p itemprop="articleBody"> Relations between police and the diverse Muslim community are already tense after The Associated Press uncovered aggressive surveillance of Muslims, including American citizens. The propaganda of this film will only damage those relations further and make law enforcement more difficult. </p><p itemprop="articleBody"> <a href="http://s2.thethirdjihad.com/">The film</a> shows some of the grisliest jihadist terrorists attacks in recent years and argues that the real agenda for Islamists in America is to infiltrate and dominate the country. The department said at first that it was shown to only a handful of officers, but that proved to be false when the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University obtained police records through the courts after a nine-month struggle. Police documents show some confusion over where the film, “The Third Jihad,” came from — possibly a contractor — and how it kept running for three months to a year in a conference area.<br /></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/hateful-film.html?_r=1&ref=opinion">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5432287251618231357?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-60504316053644999762012-01-24T11:26:00.001-05:002012-01-24T11:29:30.569-05:00Taking DNA From All Criminals Should Be Standard Procedure<p itemprop="articleBody"> WE have a tool that can prevent hundreds of murders, rapes and robberies each year at minimal cost to taxpayers. But we’re not using it in a majority of cases because a state law restricts its use. </p> <p itemprop="articleBody"> DNA evidence solves crimes. Since 1996, when New York State’s DNA<a href="http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/forensic/index.htm#none"> databank</a> opened with strong support from my predecessor, Robert M. Morgenthau, the bank’s DNA samples have been linked to more than 3,500 sexual assaults, 860 murders, 1,100 robberies and 3,400 burglaries. Thousands of criminal convictions have resulted. Today, however, we are hamstrung by a law that does not authorize the collection of DNA following convictions of certain misdemeanors. This has meant that we can’t use DNA technology in more than half of our cases. By expanding the collection of DNA to include those convicted of all crimes in New York State’s penal law, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has called for, we will be better able to identify the guilty, exonerate the innocent, bring justice to crime victims and prevent additional crimes from occurring.<br /></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/opinion/collect-dna-samples-even-when-its-just-a-misdemeanor.html?_r=1">Read on...</a></p><p itemprop="articleBody"><span style="font-style: italic;">This is a New York Times op-ed. Not sure. What do you think?</span> Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6050431605364499976?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-41428493858418516352012-01-24T10:52:00.001-05:002012-01-24T10:54:17.374-05:00More guns in Canada now, but fewer owners: RCMP<p>Canadians own more than half a million more firearms than they did in 2006, according to the 2010 annual report from the RCMP’s Canadian Firearms Program.</p> <p>But while federal firearms data shows that the number of registered gun owners in Canada is dropping, the arsenal of each is getting bigger and bigger.</p> <p>But many gun owners — and a Tory MP — say the government’s estimates are off the mark, and that there may be twice as many firearms, and firearms owners, in Canada as the RCMP says. They say many Canadian gun owners are “going underground,” due to fears they will face increased police scrutiny and the seizure of their weapons.</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/23/more-guns-in-canada-this-year-but-fewer-owners-rcmp/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4142849385841851635?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-20384285894562750602012-01-24T10:44:00.001-05:002012-01-24T10:47:05.696-05:00Conservative crime bill would cost Ontario more than $1-billion<p> Ontario says the omnibus federal crime bill will cost the province's taxpayers more than $1-billion in increased police and correctional service costs. </p> <p> Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur says there are about 8,500 inmates in Ontario correctional facilities, which are at 95 per cent capacity.<br /></p><p>Ms. Meilleur warns the Conservatives' crime bill could add another 1,500 inmates to the system by 2016, pushing populations to 150 per cent of capacity at some jails.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-crime-bill-would-cost-ontario-more-than-1-billion/article2311667/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2038428589456275060?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-21477847140669198932012-01-23T21:32:00.001-05:002012-01-23T21:34:12.208-05:00Supreme Court: Warrants needed in GPS tracking<div class="article_body"> <article> <p>The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously restricted the police’s ability to use a GPS device to track criminal suspects in a first test of how privacy rights will be protected in the digital age.</p> <p>The court rejected the government’s view that long-term surveillance of a suspect by GPS tracking is no different than traditional, low-tech forms of monitoring. But its decision was nuanced and incremental, leaving open the larger questions of how government may use the information generated by modern technology for surveillance purposes.</p><p>Still, the decision reversing the conviction of suspected D.C. drug kingpin Antoine Jones was a “landmark ruling in applying the Fourth Amendment’s protections to advances in surveillance technology,” said Washington lawyer Andrew Pincus, who filed a brief on Jones’s behalf.</p><p>The court without dissent <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf">agreed that prosecutors violated Jones’s rights </a>when they attached a GPS device to his Jeep and monitored his movements for 28 days. In one of the Washington region’s most celebrated drug trials, the nightclub owner was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.</p><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-warrants-needed-in-gps-tracking/2012/01/23/gIQAx7qGLQ_story.html?hpid=z4">Read on...</a><br /></p></article> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2147784714066919893?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-27916680022802091022012-01-23T21:18:00.001-05:002012-01-24T19:59:19.763-05:00Colorado Republicans Push Bill To Allow Guns In Elementary SchoolsAbandoning any pretense that they’re focused on job creation, Colorado Republicans have clarified their priorities for the new legislative session: guns rights. Specifically, they are doing their best to ensure that citizens have the <a href="http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/97564b9cc6814092a510922a96558039/CO-XGR--Colorado-Gun-Bills/">unfettered ability</a> to carry guns anywhere — including into elementary, middle, and high schools: <p>Colorado Republicans are reloading previous attempts to expand gun rights, <strong>bringing back legislation that would allow concealed weapons in schools and let businesses use deadly force against intruders</strong>.</p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/23/408931/colorado-republicans-push-bill-to-allow-guns-in-schools/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2791668002280209102?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-24868156188852218662012-01-20T11:28:00.000-05:002012-01-20T11:30:12.365-05:00G20 officers should be charged in Nobody arrest, police watchdog says<p>Five Toronto police officers should be charged with using unnecessary force against protester Adam Nobody during the G20 summit 19 months ago, <a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/284487-siu-investigativereport-nobody.html#document/p1" target="_blank">an independent police review</a> says.</p> <p>The 174-page report by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) is based on interviews with a dozen police witnesses, the five officers involved, five civilian witnesses and Nobody himself.</p> <p>The allegation that Constables Michael Adams, Babak Andalib-Goortani, Geoffrey Fardell, David Donaldson and Oliver Simpson used unnecessary force “is substantiated and is of a serious nature,” the report says.</p> <p>Nobody suffered a broken right cheekbone and broken nose in the takedown on June 26, 2010.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1118596--g20-officers-should-be-charged-in-nobody-arrest-police-watchdog-says?bn=1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2486815618885221866?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-35417433909291009012012-01-20T10:04:00.001-05:002012-01-20T10:06:22.266-05:00Harm-reduction programs threatenedHEALTH / Activists say federal omnibus bill will put drug users, prisoners at greater risk<br /><br /><div>Local advocates for successful harm-reduction programs are arguing that the federal omnibus crime bill places drug users at a higher risk of contracting diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.</div> <div> </div> <div>They say that Bill C-10, reintroduced last September by the Conservative Party, has more consequences than simply being “tough on crime.”</div> <div> </div> <div>It’s a “regressive piece of legislation,” says Sandra Chu, senior policy analyst at the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, noting that infection rates are 10 times higher for HIV and 30 times higher for hepatitis C in prisons.</div> <div> </div> “The tough-on-crime bill is going to be tough on people who use drugs,” says Rob Boyd, director of the Oasis program at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre. “We need to use a health approach to the issue of addictions, rather than a criminal approach.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.xtra.ca/public/Ottawa/Harm_reduction_programs_threatened-11383.aspx">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-3541743390929100901?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-12810494380155848762012-01-20T09:57:00.002-05:002012-01-20T10:01:13.915-05:00Our Dangerous Devotion to Eyewitness Testimony<img alt="" src="http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/user/20/troy_davis_ap_img.jpg" width="615" height="191" /><br /><em>The eyes of Troy Anthony Davis as he entered a courtroom on January 16, 1991. (AP Photo/Savannah Morning News)<br /><br /></em>"We see what we want to see,” my grandmother used to say. This insight visited me recently after I ran across the mall chasing a woman I thought was my cousin. It wasn’t, as it turned out, but I didn’t realize that until after I had puffed up behind her, bopped her amiably on the shoulder and cried out, “Boo!”<br /><br /><p>How was it possible, I thought in retrospective embarrassment, to so wrongly misidentify someone I know so well? Empirically my experience was all too common. I’d been thinking about my cousin a few moments before and saw the woman through the lens of those thoughts. We often project our life’s associations onto the faces of strangers. Constantly—if mostly unconsciously—we familiarize them with learned stereotypes. If we are wise, we learn to take caution with our assumptions. We recognize this innate fallibility, and most of the time it doesn’t matter very much.</p> <p>Oddly enough, however, we reverse that supposition in the one context where fallibility matters most: in criminal cases, eyewitness testimony is viewed as the <em>ne plus ultra</em> for the prosecution, despite a century’s worth of psychological and sociological studies revealing that, from Sacco and Vanzetti to Troy Davis, witnesses misperceive a startling percentage of the time. “Human beings are not very good at identifying people they saw only once for a relatively short period of time,” writes Cornell law professor Michael Dorf. “The studies reveal error rates of as high as fifty percent—a frightening statistic given that many convictions may be based largely or solely on such testimony. These studies show further that the ability to identify a stranger is diminished by stress (and what crime situation is not intensely stressful?), that cross-racial identifications are especially unreliable, and that contrary to what one might think, those witnesses who claim to be ‘certain’ of their identifications are no better at it than everyone else, just more confident.”</p><p><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/165725/our-dangerous-devotion-eyewitness-testimony">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1281049438015584876?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-61829770301161510292012-01-20T09:28:00.001-05:002012-01-20T09:31:10.846-05:00Tasers a ‘new urban terrorism’ against ‘downtrodden’: Canadian study<p>The use of Tasers by Canada’s police forces represents a “teething new urban terrorism” that targets society’s “downtrodden,” says a study published this month that looked at more than two dozen deaths involving the stun guns.</p> <p>Those most likely to get “tased” include the poor, mentally ill and chronic drug users, according to the study, led by Temitope Oriola, who received a Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence upon the completion of his doctoral studies at the University of Alberta last year.</p> <p>“It is beneath the integrity of the RCMP — a well-respected organization by international standards — and other police establishments in Canada to continue to use the Taser without conclusive independent scientific evidence succinctly demonstrating its effects or consequences on the human body,” the study, published in the journal Social Identities, concludes.</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/19/tasers-a-new-urban-terrorism-against-downtrodden-canadian-study/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6182977030116151029?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-42859468801203601222012-01-20T08:46:00.002-05:002012-01-20T08:49:15.943-05:00Surveillance City: New Body Scanners Head to NYC<p>New plans for monitoring people in New York City has civil liberties advocates up in arms.</p><p>The <strong><em>International Business Times</em></strong> <a href="http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles/283902/20120118/nypd-gun-scanner-technology-75-ft-range.htm" rel="nofollow">reports</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>In a speech to the New York City Police Foundation Tuesday morning, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced the NYPD was working with the Department of Defense to develop a scanner that is capable of detecting concealed firearms.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>The device picks up on the heat energy produced by people or objects, measured in terahertz, to pinpoint objects that are blocking that view of energy, like a gun. "If something is obstructing the flow of that radiation, for example, a weapon, the device will highlight that object," Kelly explained. "This technology has shown a great deal of promise as a way of detecting weapons without a physical.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/19">Read on....</a><br /></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4285946880120360122?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-41784141453369673652012-01-20T08:37:00.003-05:002012-01-20T08:42:42.495-05:00BREAKING: Anonymous Takes Down DOJ, MPAA, RIAA, and Universal Music over Megaupload ShutdownHell hath no fury like an activist scorned. <p>The internet collective known only as Anonymous are out for blood in the wake of the <a title="Megaupload Shut Down: NO SOPA REQUIRED" href="http://www.blippitt.com/megaupload-shut-down-no-sopa-required/">government’s shutdown of Megaupload.com earlier today</a>.</p> <p>The group has waged an all-out war on those responsible, attacking the websites of the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="White House" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">White House</a>, the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="United States Department of Justice" href="http://www.justice.gov/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Department of Justice</a>, <a title="Universal Music Group" href="http://www.blippitt.com/tag/universal-music-group/">Universal Music Group</a>, the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="Recording Industry Association of America" href="http://www.riaa.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)</a>, and the <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="Motion Picture Association of America" href="http://www.mpaa.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Motion Picture Association of America</a> (MPAA).</p> <p>The hackers managed to successfully shut down the websites of the DOJ, Universal Music, RIAA, ad MPAA.</p> <p>“It was in retaliation for <a class="zem_slink external external_icon" title="Megaupload" href="http://www.megaupload.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank">Megaupload</a>, as was the concurrent attack on Justice.org,” Anonymous operative Barrett Brown said on Thursday, <a href="http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-doj-universal-sopa-235/" target="_blank" class="external external_icon">according to Russia Today</a>.</p> <p>Megaupload.com, a huge file-sharing site with a reported 50 million daily users, was <a title="Megaupload Shut Down: NO SOPA REQUIRED" href="http://www.blippitt.com/megaupload-shut-down-no-sopa-required/">taken offline by federal agents earlier today</a>. Four people linked to Megaupload were arrested in New Zealand and at least 20 search warrants were served around the world.</p><div style="overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;"><br /><a href="http://www.blippitt.com/breaking-anonymous-takes-down-doj-mpaa-riaa-and-universal-music-over-megaupload-shutdown/">Read on...</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There is little doubt that SOPA is about censorship</span>. Tom<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4178414145336967365?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-12784498083103171612012-01-18T11:42:00.000-05:002012-01-18T11:45:06.203-05:00Majority of Canadians support legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, new poll suggests<p>Canadians have green on their minds, but not in the environmental sense, according to a new poll.</p> <p>Released on Tuesday, the poll suggests 66% of Canadians are in favour of the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana, with just 20% supporting leaving the laws as they are now.</p> <p>The poll, conducted by Toronto-based Forum Research Inc., showed that residents of British Columbia were the most likely to support marijuana laws reform, with 73% of respondents indicating laws should be changed. Quebec had the lowest support for reforms, though the majority of respondents, 61%, supported changing marijuana legislation.</p> <p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-130431" title="Forum research" src="http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/pot.jpg" alt="" height="384" width="620" /></p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/17/majority-of-canadians-support-legalizing-or-decriminalizing-marijuana-new-poll-suggests/">Read on...</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1278449808310317161?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-68447550923235002542012-01-18T11:28:00.000-05:002012-01-18T11:30:43.137-05:00Federal oversight of state prison healthcare to end<h2 style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A report on how to wrap up six years of receivership is due by April 30. Many of the program's goals have been accomplished, judge says.</span></h2><p>Reporting from Sacramento -- Federal oversight of prison healthcare in California is nearing an end, a judge said Tuesday, six years after he ruled that abysmal medical conditions were contributing to an inmate death every week.<br /><br />U.S. District Court Judge Thelton E. Henderson said Tuesday that healthcare in state lockups has improved significantly since he seized control of the system, a move that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars.<br /><br /> "While some critical work remains outstanding — most notably on construction issues — it is clear that many of the goals of the receivership have been accomplished," Henderson wrote in a three-page order.<br /><br />State officials were rebuffed when they sought to end the receivership in 2009. On Tuesday, Gov. <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="PEPLT007547" title="Jerry Brown" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/jerry-brown-PEPLT007547.topic">Jerry Brown</a> applauded the judge's decision.</p><p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-prisons-20120118,0,2810936.story">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6844755092323500254?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-51356534945219697112012-01-18T11:22:00.001-05:002012-01-18T11:24:07.259-05:00New Batch Of Ron Paul Newsletters Just As Racist As The First<p>A brand new batch of Ron Paul newsletters raises questions for the libertarian Republican — as well as a host of embarrassing fresh passages to go along with such classics as “the coming race war” and “the federal-homosexual cover up on AIDS” from earlier reports.</p> <p>Ron Paul claims “probably ten sentences out of 10,000 pages” were objectionable in his long-published newsletter series, even as he denies having ever written the content in question (or even having seen most of it). But, as <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-only-eight-to-ten-sentences-from-newsletter-were-offensive.php">TPM has reported</a> and a new collection of Ron Paul newsletters posted by <a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/99666/ron-paul-newsletters-part-two?page=0,1">The New Republic</a> confirms, racism, homophobia, and fringe conspiracy theories seem more like the newsletters’ raison d’etre than a rare aberration. In fact, even <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-only-eight-to-ten-sentences-from-newsletter-were-offensive.php">short promotional letters</a> for the publication name-checked many of the most toxic passages.<br /></p><p><a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/new-batch-of-ron-paul-newsletters-just-as-racist-as-the-first.php">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5135653494521969711?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-67275824505178439332012-01-18T11:16:00.001-05:002012-01-18T11:18:08.984-05:00The Web to “Go Dark” January 18th to Protest Censorship BillsINTERNET TO SHUT DOWN WEDNESDAY TO PROTEST CENSORSHIP <p>Less than 24 hours after I <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/01/weve-won-a-brief-period-of-breathing-room-on-iran-and-sopa-lets-use-the-time-wisely.html" title="noted">noted</a> that we’ve won a brief respite from SOPA, the bill’s chief sponsor said <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120117/12563317437/its-baaaaaaaaack-lamar-smith-says-sopa-markup-to-resume-february.shtml" target="_blank" title="it’s back on track">it’s back on track</a> for mark up in February.</p> <p>But a number of the world’s most popular websites – including Wikipedia, Twitpic, Reddit, Imgur, Mozilla and WordPress – are “going dark” on Wednesday January 18th to protest the censorship bills (SOPA and PIPA).</p> <p>In addition, Google and other web titans will place prominent messages on their front pages urging their readers to oppose the draconian bills.</p> <p>For example, Google has replaced its normal logo with this image (which links to an anti-SOPA page):</p><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/web-%E2%80%9Cgo-dark%E2%80%9D-january-18th-protest-censorship-bills">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6727582450517843933?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-48370097009332942172012-01-16T13:57:00.000-05:002012-01-16T13:59:48.846-05:00Top Ten Civil Rights Songs<p>In honor of Monday's national holiday marking the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., I embarked on the impossible task of selecting a top ten list of songs about civil rights. The theme has resonated deeply with generations of artists of all stripes and inspired considerable musical tribute so this list is meant simply as a starting point for discussion (and listening!) Please use the comments field below to let me what I missed.</p> <p>In random order:</p> 1. <strong>Mavis Staples</strong>, <em>We Shall Not Be Moved<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/165627/top-ten-civil-rights-songs">Read on....</a><br /></em><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4837009700933294217?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25106768080957413552012-01-16T13:52:00.000-05:002012-01-16T13:54:59.127-05:00The FBI's War against Dr. King Revisited<div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-blog-image"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <img src="http://www.aclu.org/files/imagecache/blog_image/blog_images/mlk-marquee.jpeg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-blog_image imagecache-default imagecache-blog_image_default" height="200" width="200" /> </div> </div> </div> <p>Over the course of two decades, the FBI went to war against Dr. Martin Luther King, even though the civil rights leader never knew he was under attack.</p> <p>As Dr. King’s political power, stature and influence grew, the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, grew increasingly obsessed with King. In turn, they used various tactics in the ‘50s and ‘60s to try and discredit him, such as mounting a full-court press to portray him as a Communist provocateur, attempting to disrupt tributes after Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and repeatedly bugging his hotel rooms.</p> <p>The FBI so viewed Dr. King as a threat that they even tried to covertly besmirch his reputation after his assassination, when Congress in 1969 first considered making his birthday a national holiday.</p><p><a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/fbis-war-against-dr-king-revisited">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2510676808095741355?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-52379659767499474202012-01-16T10:03:00.001-05:002012-01-16T10:06:25.690-05:00Shocker: Is Our World Becoming Less Violent?<span style="font-style: italic;">Many believe the 20th century represents the pinnacle of human violence, but psychologist Steven Pinker argues that the opposite is true.<br /><br /></span>Humanity's lust for violence has undergone a long, precipitous decline at every level of social interaction, from domestic abuse to violent crime to interstate wars. That's the sweeping and somewhat counterintuitive thesis of psychologist Steven Pinker's new book, <em><a href="http://www.powells.com/partner/32513/biblio/9780670022953">The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined</a></em>. The pacification of humanity, says Pinker, is “a fractal phenomenon, visible at the scale of millennia, centuries, decades, and years.”<p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">Pinker writes that the “very idea invites skepticism, incredulity and sometimes anger.” He sets out to overcome that barrier by surveying a broad swath of data, from examinations of ancient bones unearthed in peat bogs and on long-forgotten battlefields, to homicide statistics based on European coroners' inquests and local records dating back 800 years, to databases of modern interstate conflicts and civil wars.</p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">Does Pinker's research validate his thesis? And if so, what forces might explain such a profound shift in human society?</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/books/153762/shocker%3A_is_our_world_becoming_less_violent/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5237965976749947420?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26709299083881885242012-01-16T09:58:00.001-05:002012-01-16T10:00:51.376-05:00On MLK Day: How a Racist Criminal Justice System Rolled Back the Gains of the Civil Rights Era<span style="font-style: italic;">For Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Democracy Now! hosts a discussion of mass incarceration among African-Americans and how it has created a new Jim Crow era.<br /><br /></span>On this eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, we host a wide-ranging discussion with TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson and author Michelle Alexander about the mass incarceration of African Americans that has rolled back many achievements of the civil rights movement. Today there are more African Americans under correctional control, whether in prison or jail, on probation or on parole, than there were enslaved in 1850. And more African-American men are disenfranchised now because of felon disenfranchisement laws than in 1870. Alexander, whose book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" is newly released in paperback, argues that "[n]othing less than a major social movement has any hope of ending mass incarceration in America or inspiring a recommitment to [Martin Luther] King's dream... My view is that this has got to be a human rights movement. It’s got to be a movement for education, not incarceration; for jobs, not jails; a movement that acknowledges the basic humanity and dignity of all people, no matter who you are or what you have done."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153782/on_mlk_day%3A_how_a_racist_criminal_justice_system_rolled_back_the_gains_of_the_civil_rights_era/">Read on....</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2670929908388188524?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26482657772757036022012-01-15T12:09:00.001-05:002012-01-15T12:11:34.148-05:0010 Reasons the US is No Longer the Land of the Free<div class="author"> by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/author/jonathan-turley">Jonathan Turley</a> </div> <p>Every year, the State Department issues <a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/index.htm" rel="nofollow">reports on individual rights</a> in other countries, monitoring the passage of restrictive laws and regulations around the world. Iran, for example, has been criticized for denying fair public trials and limiting privacy, while Russia has been taken to task for undermining due process. Other countries have been condemned for the use of secret evidence and torture.</p> <p>Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider unfree, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of free. Yet, the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state. The most recent example of this was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-signs-defense-bill-pledges-to-maintain-legal-rights-of-terror-suspects/2011/12/31/gIQATzbkSP_story.html" rel="nofollow">the National Defense Authorization Act</a>, signed Dec. 31, which allows for the indefinite detention of citizens. At what point does the reduction of individual rights in our country change how we define ourselves?</p> <p>While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian. Americans often proclaim our nation as a symbol of freedom to the world while dismissing nations such as Cuba and China as categorically unfree. Yet, objectively, we may be only half right. Those countries do lack basic individual rights such as due process, placing them outside any reasonable definition of “free,” but the United States now has much more in common with such regimes than anyone may like to admit.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/14-6">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2648265777275703602?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-87500466249715211132012-01-12T14:06:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:09:10.735-05:00A Conversation with Sudhir Venkatesh<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SbQVdDx6848" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />Sudhir Venkatesh, William B. Ransford Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, talks with Vera director Michael Jacobson about his 18 months advising the FBI on working with local law enforcement agencies to deal with gang-related crime and his current research on informal justice systems in urban communities. This podcast is part of the 2011-2012 Neil A. Weiner Research Speaker Series.<br /><br />Professor Venkatesh is author most recently of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets. He is completing an ethnographic study of policing.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8750046624971521113?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-18538774235659888552012-01-12T14:03:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:04:28.400-05:00David Garland: Peculiar Institution: America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C6QEZ0EMjeo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1853877423565988855?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-84508316389853949372012-01-12T13:53:00.001-05:002012-01-12T13:56:31.538-05:00Why California's Prisoners Are Starving Themselves<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">On 19 December 2011, three prisoners at Corcoran State Prison <a href="http://sfbayview.com/2011/new-hunger-strike-petition-for-improved-conditions-in-administrative-segregation-unit-at-corcoran-state-prison/">wrote a letter to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) threatening to go on hunger strike</a> if improvements were not made to their living conditions. Evidently, they received no response from the CDCR: the hunger strike began on 28 December.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">This latest hunger strike, the third in less than six months, is small potatoes compared to the previous two, which were state-wide and involved thousands of inmates. According to Terry Thornton, a CDCR spokeswoman, it may already be over. But the fact that Californian prisoners have once again resorted to starving themselves to protest the conditions of their confinement does suggest that something is rotten in the Golden State's penal system. </p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">The first hunger strike began on 1 July 2011, and ended three weeks later when the CDCR agreed, in theory at least, to address the participants' five core demands, which amounted to better living conditions, adequate food and clothing, an end to group punishments and most importantly, an end to the gang validation policy that sentences inmates to endless terms in solitary confinement cells, known as SHUs.</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/761553/why_california%27s_prisoners_are_starving_themselves/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8450831638985394937?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-6571639271089376752012-01-12T10:15:00.001-05:002012-01-12T10:17:42.303-05:00The black hole of GuantanamoWhen killing becomes routine, I guess they feel the need to desecrate. There's nothing particularly new in this --- except the laws against it.<br /><br />That's just awful. That it comes on the <span style="font-style:italic;">10th anniversary</span> of the opening of Guantanamo makes it all the worse.<br /><br />Dahlia Lithwick <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/01/what_we_might_want_to_remember_about_forgetting_on_the_10th_anniversary_of_the_prison_camp_at_guantanamo.html">has an excellent piece</a> up about that tragic decision and the legal fallout, which contains many insights, this one especially:<br /><br />The paradox of Guantanamo has always been that it’s been invisible to so many Americans, and yet the only thing the rest of the world sees. The whole point of the prison camp there was to create a legal black hole. We’ve fished our wish: The world sees only blackness; we see only a hole.<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/black-hole-of-guantanamo.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-657163927108937675?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-83671681375753593742012-01-12T10:05:00.001-05:002012-01-12T10:07:39.921-05:00Canadians trust Mounties, but leadership an issue<p>More than 80 per cent of Canadians believe Canada's Mounties are honest and work with integrity and professionalism, according to an annual survey gauging satisfaction with the national police force.</p><p>However, the same survey showed Canadians have a dimmer view of the force when it comes to its leadership and its ability to communicate. And less than 60 per cent of First Nations respondents said the force was responsive to aboriginal issues.</p><p>The Harris/Decima survey involving 7,000 Canadians took place over June and July 2011, prior to the appointment of a new commissioner and before the emergence of a sexual harassment scandal involving the force. A margin of error was not provided.</p><div style="overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;"><a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadians+trust+Mounties+leadership+issue/5981418/story.html">Read on...</a><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8367168137575359374?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25620900455412024742012-01-09T15:50:00.001-05:002012-01-09T15:52:56.554-05:00My Guantánamo Nightmare<h6 class="byline">By LAKHDAR BOUMEDIENE</h6><p> ON Wednesday, America’s detention camp at Guantánamo Bay will have been open for 10 years. For seven of them, I was held there without explanation or charge. During that time my daughters grew up without me. They were toddlers when I was imprisoned, and were never allowed to visit or speak to me by phone. Most of their letters were returned as “undeliverable,” and the few that I received were so thoroughly and thoughtlessly censored that their messages of love and support were lost. </p><p> Some American politicians say that people at Guantánamo are terrorists, but I have never been a terrorist. Had I been brought before a court when I was seized, my children’s lives would not have been torn apart, and my family would not have been thrown into poverty. It was only after the United States Supreme Court <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/washington/13scotus.html">ordered the government</a> to defend its actions before a federal judge that I was finally able to clear my name and be with them again.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/my-guantanamo-nightmare.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2562090045541202474?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-46224837176545621502012-01-09T09:28:00.002-05:002012-01-09T09:32:27.547-05:00Use of Solitary Confinement Scrutinized by Prison Watchdogs<p>RICHMOND — At Red Onion State Prison, built on a mountaintop in a remote pocket of southwest Virginia, more than two-thirds of the inmates live in solitary confinement.</p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/solitary-confinement.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" width="275" height="206" /> <span class="caption"><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"><span class="caption"> </span></span>In a state where about 1 in 20 prisoners are held in solitary, Red Onion, a so-called supermax prison, isolates more inmates than any other facility, keeping more than 500 of its nearly 750 charges alone for 23 hours a day in cells the size of a doctor’s exam room.</p> <p>Virginia, one of 44 states that use solitary confinement, has 1,800 people in isolation, a sizable share of the estimated 25,000 people in solitary in the nation’s state and federal prisons.</p> <p>As more becomes known about the effects of isolation — on inmate health, public safety and prison budgets — some states have begun to reconsider the practice, among them Texas, which, like Virginia, is known as a law-and-order state.</p> <p>Mississippi, New York and Texas have begun to scale back the use of solitary confinement under pressure from prison watchdogs.</p><p><a href="RICHMOND%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20At%20Red%20Onion%20State%20Prison,%20built%20on%20a%20mountaintop%20in%20a%20remote%20pocket%20of%20southwest%20Virginia,%20more%20than%20two-thirds%20of%20the%20inmates%20live%20in%20solitary%20confinement.%20%20As%20more%20becomes%20known%20about%20the%20effects%20of%20isolation%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20on%20inmate%20health,%20public%20safety%20and%20prison%20budgets%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20some%20states%20have%20begun%20to%20reconsider%20the%20practice,%20among%20them%20Texas,%20which,%20like%20Virginia,%20is%20known%20as%20a%20law-and-order%20state.%20Mississippi,%20New%20York%20and%20Texas%20have%20begun%20to%20scale%20back%20the%20use%20of%20solitary%20confinement%20under%20pressure%20from%20prison%20watchdogs.%20In%20a%20state%20where%20about%201%20in%2020%20prisoners%20are%20held%20in%20solitary,%20Red%20Onion,%20a%20so-called%20supermax%20prison,%20isolates%20more%20inmates%20than%20any%20other%20facility,%20keeping%20more%20than%20500%20of%20its%20nearly%20750%20charges%20alone%20for%2023%20hours%20a%20day%20in%20cells%20the%20size%20of%20a%20doctor%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s%20exam%20room.%20%20Virginia,%20one%20of%2044%20states%20that%20use%20solitary%20confinement,%20has%201,800%20people%20in%20isolation,%20a%20sizable%20share%20of%20the%20estimated%2025,000%20people%20in%20solitary%20in%20the%20nation%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s%20state%20and%20federal%20prisons.%20%20As%20more%20becomes%20known%20about%20the%20effects%20of%20isolation%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20on%20inmate%20health,%20public%20safety%20and%20prison%20budgets%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94%20some%20states%20have%20begun%20to%20reconsider%20the%20practice,%20among%20them%20Texas,%20which,%20like%20Virginia,%20is%20known%20as%20a%20law-and-order%20state.%20%20Mississippi,%20New%20York%20and%20Texas%20have%20begun%20to%20scale%20back%20the%20use%20of%20solitary%20confinement%20under%20pressure%20from%20prison%20watchdogs.">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4622483717654562150?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-28869297096261296382012-01-09T09:15:00.001-05:002012-01-09T09:18:18.108-05:00Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline<em>Every man in my family has been locked up. Most days I feel like it doesn’t matter what I do, how hard I try—that’s my fate, too.”</em> —11th-grade African American student, Berkeley, Calif.<br /><br /><p>This young man isn’t being cynical or melodramatic; he’s articulating a terrifying reality for many of the children and youth sitting in our classrooms—a reality that is often invisible or misunderstood. Some have seen the growing numbers of security guards and police in our schools as unfortunate but necessary responses to the behavior of children from poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods. But what if something more ominous is happening? What if many of our students—particularly our African American, Latina/o, Native American, and Southeast Asian children—are being channeled toward prison and a lifetime of second-class status?</p> <p>We believe that this is the case, and there is ample evidence to support that claim. What has come to be called the “school-to-prison pipeline” is turning too many schools into pathways to incarceration rather than opportunity. This trend has extraordinary implications for teachers and education activists. It affects everything from what we teach to how we build community in our classrooms, how we deal with conflicts with and among our students, how we build coalitions, and what demands we see as central to the fight for social justice education.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/08-0">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2886929709626129638?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-83253964413817164892012-01-09T09:01:00.001-05:002012-01-09T09:03:58.556-05:00Police learn how to deal with the mentally ill in crisisMichael’s manic episodes started after an injury stopped him from doing what he loved most – playing hockey. Feeling like he had lost his identity, he took a job as a bouncer at a nightclub, and started abusing drugs and alcohol. His volatile lifestyle came to a head one night when a scuffle with police landed him in Mental Health Court.<br /><br />Police say he assaulted an officer. Michael, who asked to be identified by his first name, says he was the one hurt in the encounter. But the result, court-ordered participation in recovery groups and therapy combined with medication, gave him a new lease on life. Ontario’s Mental Health Court is a court system designed for people with mental illness. “The opportunity that was awarded to me through Mental Health Court was great. I wish it didn’t have to be my head bouncing off cement that got me there,” Michael said. “I wish it was something a little softer.”<br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/police-learn-how-to-deal-with-the-mentally-ill-in-crisis/article2295503/"><br />Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8325396441381716489?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-67318206137982460852012-01-08T09:20:00.001-05:002012-01-08T09:23:18.940-05:00Dispatch from torture nation: execution by pepper sprayby digby<br /><br />No this isn't a story from North Korea or Pinochet's Chile. <a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/florida-man-tortured-and-pepper-sprayed-to-death-by-police.html#ixzz1io2pz85w">I swear</a>:<br /><br />It has been two and half years since 62-year old Nick Christie was tortured and pepper-sprayed to death by police at the Lee County Jail. Although the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, the law enforcement officers who kept him strapped naked to a chair and then pepper sprayed him until he died have not been charged in his death.<br /><br />On January 20, 2010, the Injury Board’s National News Desk reported that Nick Christie’s wife, Joyce Christie, and her son, were planning to file a federal lawsuit because the police violated her husband’s constitutional rights. The article describes what allegedly happened when Christie was arrested for trespassing:<br /><br /><a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/dispatch-from-torture-nation-execution.html">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6731820613798246085?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-74446444791273787622012-01-06T12:35:00.000-05:002012-01-06T12:37:06.802-05:00FBI changes definition of rape to include men as victimsThe <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Federal+Bureau+of+Investigation" title="More news, photos about FBI">FBI</a> is changing its long-standing definition of rape for the first time to include sexual assaults on males following persistent calls from victims advocates who claim that the offense, as currently defined in the agency's annual crime report, has been undercounted for decades.<br /><br /><p class="inside-copy">Under the current definition, established 85 years ago, many of the sex crimes alleged in the ongoing prosecution of former <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Schools/Penn+State+University" title="More news, photos about Penn State">Penn State</a> assistant football coach <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Jerry+Sandusky" title="More news, photos about Jerry Sandusky">Jerry Sandusky</a> would not be counted in the bureau's Uniform Crime Report, one of the most reliable measures of crime in the <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Countries/United+States" title="More news, photos about United States">United States</a>. Sandusky is accused in alleged assaults and sexual misconduct involving 10 male victims.</p><p class="inside-copy">Rape is currently defined as the "carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will."</p><p class="inside-copy"> The new provision will define rape as any kind of penetration of another person, regardless of gender, without the victim's consent. It also includes a broad range of rapes involving both males and females in which attackers use objects to penetrate their victims.</p><p class="inside-copy"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-01-06/fbi-rape-definition-adds-men/52398350/1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7444644479127378762?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-4223014436793565562012-01-06T09:16:00.001-05:002012-01-06T09:18:54.731-05:00The CourtsThe conservative takeover will be complete.<br /><br />For anyone considering the 2012 election’s importance to the future of the American judiciary, one fact stands out: next November, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be seventy-nine years old. If a Republican wins the presidential election, he or she may have an opportunity to seat Ginsburg’s successor, replacing the Supreme Court’s most reliably liberal jurist with a conservative. That would mean that the Court—currently balanced almost elegantly between four liberals, four conservatives, and the moderate conservative Anthony Kennedy—would finally tilt decisively to the right, thereby fulfilling Edwin Meese’s dream, laid out in his famous 1985 speech before the American Bar Association, of reshaping the Court around one coherent “jurisprudence of original intention.” Meese, who was then Ronald Reagan’s attorney general, wanted nine conservative constitutional originalists on the Court. He may soon get his wish. A 2008 study by Richard Posner, a federal appeals court judge, and William Landes, a law professor at the University of Chicago, examined the voting records of seventy years of Supreme Court justices in order to rank the forty-three justices who have served on the Court since 1937. They concluded that four of the five most conservative justices to serve on the Supreme Court since 1937 sit on the Supreme Court today. Justice Clarence Thomas ranked first.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january_february_2012/features/the_courts034474.php">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-422301443679356556?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-49260251813245845752012-01-06T09:07:00.001-05:002012-01-06T09:09:59.015-05:00Why You Can Be Branded a Terrorist for Fighting Animal AbuseThe Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act has had a chilling effect on activists scared to participate in what should be constitutionally protected activity.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1">Five longtime activists are challenging a federal law that defines a wide spectrum of peaceful – and in some cases, otherwise lawful – animal rights activism as acts of terrorism. They say that the <a href="http://abolishtheaeta.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/the-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act.pdf">Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act</a> (AETA) violates their First Amendment right to free speech and has had a chilling effect on activists who are refraining from participating in what should be constitutionally protected activity out of fear of being labeled a terrorist.</p><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">They have good reason to worry. In 2009, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested and indicted four California protesters for terrorism, each of whom faced 10 years in prison. Their crimes? They “<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/aeta-arrests/1070/">marched, chanted, and chalked</a>” sidewalk slogans outside the homes of animal researchers and distributed fliers about their campaign.</p><p name="paragraph2">In 2010, federal judge Ronald M. Whyte <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/judge-dismisses-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-indictments-against-activists">dismissed</a> the indictments, agreeing with the defense that the charges were too vague because the “behavior in question spans a wide spectrum from criminal conduct to constitutionally protected political protest.” Nevertheless, AETA continues to pose a threat to those participating in animal rights advocacy.</p><p name="paragraph2"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/rights/153650/why_you_can_be_branded_a_terrorist_for_fighting_animal_abuse/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-4926025181324584575?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-24264549664913675832012-01-05T12:16:00.001-05:002012-01-05T12:19:16.055-05:00Jails don’t keep people out of jail<p>Collectively, we have nearly 10 decades of experience in the area of corrections and conditional release. There are many issues we have disagreed over, but we are united in our concerns with the direction of the Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda.</p><p>In a country that prides itself on fairness, compassion and the pursuit of equality, why do we accept the idea that community safety will be enhanced through increased incarceration?</p><p>At both the federal and provincial levels, Canadian jails are overcrowded. It is becoming common to see double- and triple-bunking of inmates in cells designed for one. This overcrowding limits access to already scarce rehabilitative programming and increases the incidence of institutional violence. The fastest-growing portions of the inmate population continue to be those most marginalized within our society: the mentally ill, women and aboriginals. Decades of reports have detailed our correctional systems’ failure to reasonably address the needs of these offenders and limit their numbers.</p><p><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/jails-dont-keep-people-out-of-jail/article2291589/">Read on...</a></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">This is an opinion piece from the Globe and Mail</span>. Tom<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2426454966491367583?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-24295028831166246782012-01-05T09:26:00.002-05:002012-01-05T09:30:26.326-05:00Despite weak economy, crime in Los Angeles County still declines<h2 style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">There were thousands fewer crimes reported in 2011 than 2010 in areas the LAPD and Sheriff's Department patrol. The trend puzzles some but reinforces a common police view that other factors are at play.</span></h2><p>Even since the economy began stalling several years ago, there have been dire warnings that crime would rise.<br /><br />But in Southern California, crime continues its long decline despite the weak economy. Indeed, 2011 brought new worries about a "double dip recession," yet streets in many parts of the region were the safest they've been in decades.<br /><br /> The trend continues to puzzle some criminologists but has reinforced the view of many in law enforcement that factors other than the economy determine the rise or fall of crime.<br /><br />Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said crime rates are determined largely by how well police do their job and the "informal social standards" set by communities — that is, what kind of behavior people are willing to tolerate from others.</p><p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crime-stats-20120105,0,518472.story">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2429502883116624678?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-53781261419564846402012-01-05T08:56:00.003-05:002012-01-05T09:31:35.933-05:00Canaries in the Data MinesCivil libertarians raise alarm over America’s national surveillance network<br /><br />We’re going to have a little chat,” the plain-clothed officer said to Susan Barney as he fastened handcuffs around her wrists and led her from the cell at the Boston police station, where she was being held with three other political activists. It was January 2009, and they had been arrested after refusing to move from the lobby of the building that houses the Israeli consulate while taking part in a “die-in” to protest Israel’s invasion of Gaza. <p>This is odd, Barney thought. She had been arrested for civil disobedience several times and never before had the police wanted to chat.</p> <p>Barney was led to a small room where the officer joined three other medvbzcvzkdvn around a table. They introduced themselves–she remembers someone from the Boston Police Department (BPD) and another from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)–and then began questioning her about her political activities and associations. Barney, schooled in civil disobedience and keenly aware of her rights, turned her back to the table and refused to answer, but not before one of her interrogators said, “I’m sure you recognize us. We come to all your protests.” She didn’t recognize them at the time, but now reports that two of them have shown up regularly at subsequent protests, including Occupy Boston.</p><p><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/12427/canaries_in_the_data_mines">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-5378126141956484640?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-7683617144843007422012-01-03T10:07:00.000-05:002012-01-03T10:09:10.258-05:00USA – Doubts surface as Chicago police sharply increase Taser use: Electroshock weapons fired more frequently by city, suburban cops (2012-01-01)<p><em><strong>[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Chicago police were deploying tasers at a rate of more than twice a day in 2011; taser use has jumped fivefold in the city since 2008. The author of an official National Justice Dept. report says: “"It's a wonderful tool, when used properly. But they've just got to be used judiciously, and in many departments, they aren't." One problem is reporting difference between Chicago precincts, but the trend toward more frequent use was clear. Amnesty International says there have been 490 taser-related deaths in the USA.]]</strong></em></p> <p>Chicago Tribune, by Dan Hinkel</p> <p>The traffic stop began peacefully three hours into New Year’s Day 2010, with the woman driving the SUV telling the officer that she hadn’t been drinking and her husband merrily exclaiming he was the source of the alcohol smell.</p> <p>But the situation soured when Steven Kotlinski, 55, stepped out to watch his wife’s sobriety test, provoking the Mundelein officers to order him into the SUV. He reluctantly obeyed, but one officer said Kotlinski had obstructed his efforts. He ordered him back out, then tried to pull him out.</p> <p>Next came the electric crackle of a Taser, a sound heard far more often in Chicago and many suburbs than it was just a few years ago.</p><p><a href="http://www.globalshock.org/2012/01/01/usa-doubts-surface-as-chicago-police-sharply-increase-taser-use-electroshock-weapons-fired-more-frequently-by-city-suburban-cops-2012-01-01/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-768361714484300742?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26789334373350642612012-01-03T09:37:00.001-05:002012-01-03T09:38:51.533-05:00THE EFFECTS OF PRISON VISITATION ON OFFENDER RECIDIVISMResearch Summary<br />Following recent studies in Florida (Bales and Mears, 2008) and Canada (Derkzen, Gobeil, and Gileno, 2009), this study examines the effects of prison visitation on recidivism among 16,420 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2007. Using multiple measures of visitation (any visit, total number of visits, visits per month, timing of visits, and number of individual visitors) and recidivism (new offense conviction and technical violation revocation), the study found that visitation significantly decreased the risk of recidivism, a result that was robust across all of the Cox regression models that were estimated. The results also showed that visits from siblings, in-laws, fathers, and clergy were the most beneficial in reducing the risk of recidivism, whereas visits from ex-spouses significantly increased the risk. The findings suggest that revising prison visitation policies to make them more “visitor friendly” could yield public safety benefits by helping offenders establish a continuum of social support from prison to the community. It is anticipated, however, that revising existing policies would not likely increase visitation to a significant extent among unvisited inmates, who comprised nearly 40 percent of the sample. Accordingly, it is suggested that correctional systems consider allocating greater resources to increase visitation among inmates with little or no social support.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.doc.state.mn.us/publications/documents/11-11MNPrisonVisitationStudy.pdf">Read on...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2678933437335064261?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-2998413636656621052012-01-03T09:19:00.001-05:002012-01-03T09:21:07.426-05:00The NDAA's Historic Assault on American Liberty<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size:100%;">By signing into law the NDAA, the president has awarded the military extraordinary powers to detain US citizens without trial</span></h3><div class="author"> by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/author/jonathan-turley">Jonathan Turley</a> </div> <p>President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment, to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country … and citizens partied in unwitting bliss into the New Year.</p> <p>Ironically, in addition to breaking his promise not to sign the law, Obama broke his promise on signing statements and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/with-reservations-obama-signs-act-to-allow-detention-of-citizens/" rel="nofollow">attached a statement that he really does not want to detain citizens indefinitely</a> (see <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/31/statement-president-hr-1540" rel="nofollow">the text of the statement here</a>).</p> <p>Obama insisted that he signed the bill simply to keep funding for the troops. It was a continuation of the dishonest treatment of the issue by the White House since the law first came to light. <a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2011/12/15/obama-breaks-promise-to-veto-bill-allowing-indefinite-detention-of-americans/" rel="nofollow">As discussed earlier</a>, the White House told citizens that the president would not sign the NDAA because of the provision. That spin ended after sponsor Senator Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan) went to the floor and disclosed that it was the White House and insisted that there be no exception for citizens in the indefinite detention provision.</p><p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/02-7">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-299841363665662105?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-78144506581995371792012-01-02T10:18:00.001-05:002012-01-02T10:21:07.731-05:00Montana High Court Says 'Citizens United' Does Not Apply In Big Sky StateState Supreme Court Issues Remarkable Ruling Against Corporate Speech<br /><br />Montana’s Supreme Court has issued a stunning <a href="http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/MT-expenditures-decision.pdf">rebuke</a> to the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission"><em>Citizens United</em> </a>decision in 2010 that infamously decreed corporations had constitutional rights to directly spend money on ‘independent expenditures’ in campaigns.<br /><br />The Montana Court vigorously upheld the state’s right to regulate how corporations can raise and spend money after a secretive Colorado corporation, Western Tradition Partnership, and a Montana sportsman’s group and local businessman sued to overturn a 1912 state law banning direct corporate spending on electoral campaigns.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph4" id="paragraph4">“Organizations like WTP that act as a conduit for anonymously spending by others represent a threat to the political marketplace,” wrote Mike McGrath, Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, for the majority. “Clearly the impact of unlimited corporate donations creates a dominating impact on the political process and inevitably minimizes the impact of individual citizens.”</p><p name="paragraph5" id="paragraph5"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153623/montana_high_court_says_%27citizens_united%27_does_not_apply_in_big_sky_state/"> Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7814450658199537179?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-70375034569543878532012-01-02T10:04:00.001-05:002012-01-02T10:06:35.671-05:00NYPD Rings In New Year With Arrests, Press Harassment<p class="p1"> Occupy Wall Street returned to Zuccotti Park this weekend for a planned New Year's Eve celebration in which protesters, according to the Facebook event page, would "reclaim" the park, "and the area around it."</p> <p class="p1"> Hundreds turned out for the protest, <a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/01/01/occupy_the_new_year_hundreds_clash.php#photo-8" target="_blank">documented</a> by vigilant tweeter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/newyorkist" target="_blank">Newyorkist</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p class="p1"> "There is a small tent in Liberty. Toy sized. Police tried to remove. Ppl locked arms around it," "Police turning ppl away from park. Is it closed, I asked. No, one said. Can ppl come in? No, same said. Who's enforcing it? No one answered," "Just spoke w/ Captain Duffy of NYPD. Tells me NYPD closed park because 'going to be impending arrests. We don't want anymore ppl inside,'" "Officer told man who asked, as soon as tent is put away, Zuccotti Park will reopen," "Now 25 ppl circling park, chanting "we are unstoppable another world is possible," and "Via mic check: deal discussed btw mom, kids w/ tent and NYPD. Hand tent over & police will open park. Kids to personally hand tent over."</p> </blockquote> <p class="p1"> Gothamist has a nice <a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/01/01/occupy_the_new_year_hundreds_clash.php#photo-8" target="_blank">recap</a> of the night's events here. At one point, protesters tore down the metal barricades that have been set up around the park since the early days of the now-destroyed Liberty camp.<br /></p><p class="p1"><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/uprising/entry/12474/nypd_rings_in_new_year_with_arrests_press_harassment/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7037503456954387853?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-15204112012647108032012-01-02T09:23:00.000-05:002012-01-02T09:25:16.043-05:00Homicides plunge in Toronto to lowest level in 25 years<p>Toronto has closed the book on 2011 with the lowest homicide total in a quarter century.</p> <p>The city recorded 45 homicides, the lowest number since 1986 when there were 37 murders. In 2010 there were 61 homicides.</p> <p>This is also the fourth straight year of declines since 2007 when the city recorded its deadliest year (matched in 1991) with 86 homicides.</p> <p>The big drop in Toronto numbers no doubt bolsters Chief Bill Blair’s image, which took a hit in 2010 following the mass arrests during the meeting of G20 leaders and the controversy that followed.</p> <p>Blair says there’s still more work to do.</p> <p>“I think we can make this city safer,” the chief told the<em> Star</em>.</p><p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1109315--homicides-plunge-in-toronto-to-lowest-level-in-25-years?bn=1">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-1520411201264710803?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-82964592668119288692011-12-31T12:02:00.001-05:002011-12-31T12:05:32.096-05:00Defense Act Affirms Indefinite Detention of US Citizens<p><span>ATLANTA, Georgia - Civil liberties groups and many citizen activists are outraged over language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA) that appears to lay the legal groundwork for indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial.</span></p><p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"> <img src="https://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/106339-20111230.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" height="206" width="275" /> <span class="caption"> Activists in Washington DC demand the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. (Credit:Matt Daloisio/100dayscampaign.org/CC By 2.0) </span></span>David Gespass, president of the <a href="http://www.nlg.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">National Lawyers Guild</a>, called it an "enormous attack on the U.S. and our heritage" and a "significant step" towards fascism, in an interview with IPS.</p> "For a very long time the U.S. has been moving towards what I personally think of as fascist - the integration of monopoly capital with state power, that's combined with an increased repression at home and greater aggression around the world. I don't think we're there yet, but I do see that we're going in that direction," Gespass said. "I think the... act is a significant step in that direction."<br /><br />"It's quite severe. If this continues, people will not be able to count on constitutional protections at all," Debra Sweet, national director of the group <a href="http://www.worldcantwait.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">World Can't Wait</a>, told IPS.<br /><br />Subtitle D of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">act</a> contains several controversial provisions on indefinite detention of terrorism suspects.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/30-8">Read on...</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And of course the sheeple apparently could care less.</span> Tom<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8296459266811928869?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-3303555716713701042011-12-31T11:56:00.001-05:002011-12-31T11:57:48.371-05:00Omnibus crime bill will target gangs not teens, Justice Minister saysCanadian jail cells are not going to be filled with teenagers and college students who share marijuana with friends, according to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who says his crime bill has been grossly misrepresented. <p>In a year-end interview with Postmedia News, he said mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana production are designed to target organized crime, gangs and grow-ops. They don’t apply to youths — and even new provisions that aim to penalize adults who are trafficking drugs around schools mean perpetrators would have to be caught with an “eight-pound joint” to be saddled with a mandatory minimum under the safe streets and communities act, he argued.</p> <p><span id="more-125076"></span></p> <p>“For the most part the laws with respect to marijuana aren’t changed, but they are changed with respect to trafficking associated with organized crime, gangs and grow-ops for the purpose of trafficking,” he said. “I want to make that very clear because it was not clear in some of the criticisms. If somebody was thrown in jail under this bill, they were in the business of trafficking.”</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/30/omnibus-crime-bill-will-target-gangs-not-teens-justice-minister-says/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-330355571671370104?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-91351038331190986542011-12-31T11:40:00.002-05:002011-12-31T11:42:55.182-05:00Police Tactic: Keeping Crime Reports Off the BooksJill Korber walked into a drab police station in Queens in July to report that a passing bicyclist had groped her two days in a row. She left in tears, frustrated, she said, by the response of the first officer she encountered.<br /><br /><p> “He told me it would be a waste of time, because I didn’t know who the guy was or where he worked or anything,” said Ms. Korber, 34, a schoolteacher. “His words to me were, ‘These things happen.’ He said those words.” </p><p> Crime victims in New York sometimes struggle to persuade the police to write down what happened on an official report. The reasons are varied. Police officers are often busy, and few relish paperwork. But in interviews, more than half a dozen police officers, detectives and commanders also cited departmental pressure to keep crime statistics low. </p><p> While it is difficult to say how often crime complaints are not officially recorded, the Police Department is conscious of the potential problem, trying to ferret out unreported crimes through audits of emergency calls and of any resulting paperwork.<br /></p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/nyregion/nypd-leaves-offenses-unrecorded-to-keep-crime-rates-down.html?_r=1&hp">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9135103833119098654?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-89623970166245846002011-12-22T09:26:00.001-05:002011-12-22T09:29:45.467-05:00Bill Black's Handy Guide to Bankster Fraud, From 'Small Fraudulent Fry' to 'Septic Tank Scum'<span style="font-style: italic;">The white collar criminologist calls out Bush and Obama for not prosecuting financial fraud and demands an end to the free pass for campaign contributors.<br /><br /></span><p name="paragraph1" id="paragraph1"><i>Sixty Minutes</i>' December 11, 2011 <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57341024/interview-with-president-obama-the-full-transcript/?tag=contentMain;contentBody"> interview of President Obama</a> included a claim by Obama that, unfortunately, did not lead the interviewer to ask the obvious, essential follow-up questions.</p><blockquote class="tr_bq"> “I can tell you, just from 40,000 feet, that some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street, in some cases, some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street, wasn't illegal.”</blockquote><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">Obama did not explain what Wall Street behavior he found least ethical or what unethical Wall Street actions he believed was not illegal. It would have done the world (and Obama) a great service had he been asked these questions. He would not have given a coherent answer because his thinking on these issues has never been coherent. If he had to explain his position he, and the public, would recognize it was indefensible. I offer the following scale of unethical banker behavior related to fraudulent mortgages and mortgage paper (principally collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)) that is illegal and deserved punishment. I write to prompt the rigorous analytical discussion that is essential to expose and end Obama and Bush’s “Presidential Amnesty for Contributors” (PAC) doctrine. The financial industry is the leading campaign contributor to both parties and those contributions come overwhelmingly from the wealthiest officers – the one-tenth of one percent that thrives by being parasites on the 99 percent.</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/153524/bill_black%27s_handy_guide_to_bankster_fraud%2C_from_%27small_fraudulent_fry%27_to_%27septic_tank_scum%27_/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-8962397016624584600?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26262865251339317722011-12-22T09:22:00.001-05:002011-12-22T09:25:18.874-05:00Madness: Even School Children Are Being Pepper-Sprayed and Shocked with Tasers<span style="font-style: italic;">An alarming series of incidents offers some insight into how casual police have become about deploying "less lethal" weapons.<br /><br /></span> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1324511287_taserx26.jpg_640x368_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div>There is something truly disturbing about a society that seeks to control the behavior of schoolchildren through fear and violence, a tactic that harkens back to an era of paddle-bruised behinds and ruler-slapped wrists. Yet, some American school districts are pushing the boundaries of corporal punishment even further with the use of Tasers against unruly schoolchildren. <p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">The deployment of Tasers against “problem” students coincides with the introduction of police officers on school campuses, also known as School Resource Officers (SROs). According to the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>, as of 2009, the number of SROs carrying Tasers was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/02/local/me-taser2/2">well over 4,000</a>.</p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">As far back as 1988, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Congress of Parents and Teachers, American Medical Association, National Education Association, American Bar Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/policy_statements/corporal_punishment_in_schools">recognized</a> that inflicting pain and fear upon disobedient children is far more harmful than helpful. Yet, we continue to do it with disturbing results, despite mountains of evidence of more effective methods of discipline.</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/rights/153536/madness%3A_even_school_children_are_being_pepper-sprayed_and_shocked_with_tasers_/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2626286525133931772?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-23665612841754444772011-12-18T17:15:00.002-05:002011-12-18T17:18:47.392-05:00Battlefield America: Is Gitmo in Your Future?A retired top CIA analyst ponders if he could be arrested and held under the Senate's new military detention policy.<br /><br /> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyteaser_gitmoprisoner_1252428309.jpg_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div> <div class="article_insert_container" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px !important;"> <div class="insert_border_bottom"> Ambiguous but alarming new wording, which is tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was just passed by the Senate, is reminiscent of the “extraordinary measures” introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933.</div></div>And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched the erosion of the rights that had been guaranteed by their own Constitution. As one German writer observed, “With sheepish submissiveness we watched it unfold, as if from a box at the theater.”<p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">The writer was Sebastian Haffner (real name Raimond Pretzel), a young German lawyer worried at what he saw in 1933 in Berlin, but helpless to stop it since, as he put it, the German people “collectively and limply collapsed, yielded and capitulated.”</p><p name="paragraph4" id="paragraph4">“The result of this millionfold nervous breakdown,” wrote Haffner at the time, “is the unified nation, ready for anything, that is today the nightmare of the rest of the world.” Not a happy analogy.</p><p name="paragraph4"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153321/battlefield_america%3A_is_gitmo_in_your_future/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-2366561284175444477?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-91208670048615662782011-12-18T17:09:00.003-05:002011-12-18T17:13:44.551-05:00The 13 Best Political Films of 2011Looking back at the movies that moved us most.<br /><br /> <div class="story_images_top"> </div> <div class="story_images" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px !important;"> <img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1323819319_wewereheremain11.jpeg_640x480_310x220" style="width: 310;" class="story-image" /> <div class="story-image-sourcing"> <div class="story-image-caption"><small>We Were Here</small></div> <div class="story-image-source"><i><small>Photo Credit: wewerehere.com</small></i></div> </div> </div> <div class="article_insert_separator"> </div>This year was defined by anxiety: the economy roiled, the GOP was increasingly hostile, the government careened towards shutdown more than once. And while these things all still seem to loom, 12 months later, there is a landscape of renewed hope and empowerment. The Arab Spring set off revolutions across the Middle East, which first inspired the Western world to rise up into Occupy Wall Street. Now the ripple effect of people power travels further, as we see the germination of the Russian Winter. Culturally, we’re gearing for a seismic shift: In 2012, expect to see the effects of the year manifested in film, music, and art. But in 2011, we felt the tremors, and a clutch of political films and documentaries both presaged and inspired the increasing awareness and resolve we’ve seen smattering across the globe. You’ll see some of these in the Oscar nomination lineup, but all of them are must-see.<br /><br /><p name="paragraph2" id="paragraph2">1. <a href="http://margincallmovie.com/">Margin Call</a> (dir. JC Chandor)</p><p name="paragraph3" id="paragraph3">As Occupy Wall Street was congealing—and the scrutiny surrounding Wall Street's robbery and subsequent bailout was occupying America's consciousness—an intensely disquieting thriller called <em>Margin Call</em> was released. Set over the course of 24 hours inside an ostensibly fictional Wall Street firm in the hot zone that was 2008, it's an intimate look at the decision-making that precipitated the financial crisis, "inspired" by real events, including the ultimate meltdown of mortgage securities. The all-star ensemble cast is collectively brilliant at portraying the nuance of the morality, and lack of it, that these firms displayed—Zachary Quinto's troubled math genius acts as a compass against the supreme evil embodied in the CEO and other top-level employees, portrayed by Jeremy Irons, Simon Baker, and Demi Moore, whose Machiavellian greed leads them to sacrifice not only company employees, but the American people. Though the technical aspects of the financial crisis can sometimes seem arcane, <em>Margin Call</em> threaded together an idea of how it could happen—as interpreted by writer/director JC Chandor, who'd never made a film before this one—and gave us a clearer view into what exactly we were protesting. Stunning. (Currently in theaters.)</p><p name="paragraph3"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153423/the_13_best_political_films_of_2011/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-9120867004861566278?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-78614223005477728742011-12-18T16:59:00.001-05:002011-12-18T17:01:50.442-05:00The Silent Treatment<h3 class="dek"><span style="font-size:100%;">Imagine serving decades in prison for a crime your sibling framed you for. Now imagine doing it while profoundly deaf. </span></h3><p>"This is a collect call from a correctional institution," says the robotic female voice at the other end of the line. After a moment of confusion, I realize it must be Felix Garcia, whom I'd visited several weeks earlier in a northern Florida prison. He is serving a life sentence for a robbery-murder for which his own brother now admits to framing him. I'd sent him a card for his 50th birthday. It had a picture of flowers—something he probably hasn't seen in 30 years—and some lame words of encouragement. Now he's calling to thank me and to plead for help. His words seem surreal, relayed in the emotionless drone of a TTY operator: Four of his fellow deaf inmates have tried to commit suicide—one somehow managed to swallow a razor blade. It sounds like he's thinking about doing the same. "Please,'' the voice intones, "will you phone my lawyers? I can't get through to them."</p> <p>Felix has been deaf, for all practical purposes, since childhood. For most of his three decades behind bars, which began when he was 19, he's been housed in the general population with few special services for his disability. His experiences are the stuff of TV prison dramas: He's ignored or taunted by guards, raped and brutalized by other prisoners. Last year, he tried to hang himself.</p> <p>"Felix," I plead awkwardly. "You are not going to kill yourself. Please, please, hold on."</p> <p>"I won't do it,'' he says finally. "I have Jesus."</p><p><a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/deaf-prisoners-felix-garcia">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-7861422300547772874?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-69853108435193692172011-12-18T16:55:00.001-05:002011-12-18T16:57:59.045-05:00Private Prisons Gone WildLegal challenges are no match for Arizona politicians determined to privatize the state’s correctional services.<br /><br /><p>The recent dismissal of a lawsuit filed against both Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is the latest step in the state’s hell-bent plan to roughly double its number of privately managed prison “beds.”</p> <p>The suit, filed in an Arizona Superior Court by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on September 12, sought an injunction against ADC and the governor’s pending award of 5,000 new prison beds to be operated by a for-profit vendor. The state currently contracts out more than 6,500 minimum- and medium-security beds at seven facilities with Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison operator, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).<br /></p><p>AFSC argued that ADC is negligent in its statutorily required duty to conduct biennial cost and quality assessments of the state’s private prisons. The purpose of these assessments is to determine whether the state is receiving the same quality of service from private prison operators as provided by public facilities. </p> <p>Nevertheless, ADC has not completed a single survey.</p><p><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/12423/private_prisons_gone_wild">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6985310843519369217?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-61361601203860590692011-12-15T11:24:00.000-05:002011-12-15T11:26:40.128-05:00The Return Of Debtor’s Prisons: Thousands Of Americans Jailed For Not Paying Their BillsFederal imprisonment for unpaid debt has been illegal in the U.S. since 1833. It’s a practice people associate more with the age of Dickens than modern-day America. But as more Americans struggle to pay their bills in the wake of the recession, collection agencies are using harsher methods to get their money, ushering in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/22/debtors-prison-legal-in-more-than-one-third-of-us-states_n_1107524.html">the return of debtor’s prisons</a>. <p>NPR <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/12/143274773/unpaid-bills-land-some-debtors-behind-bars">reports</a> that it’s becoming increasingly common for people to serve jail time as a result of their debt. Because of “<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704396504576204553811636610.html">sloppy, incomplete or even false documentation</a>,” many borrowers facing jail time <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/12/143274773/unpaid-bills-land-some-debtors-behind-bars">don’t even know they’re being sued</a> by creditors:</p><p><strong>Take, for example, what happened to Robin Sanders in Illinois. She was driving home when an officer pulled her over for having a loud muffler. But instead of sending her off with a warning, the officer arrested Sanders, and she was taken right to jail</strong>.And I didn’t know what it was about.” <strong>Sanders owed $730 on a medical bill. She says she didn’t even know a collection agency had filed a lawsuit against her</strong>. [...]</p><p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/13/388303/the-return-of-debtors-prisons-thousands-of-americans-jailed-for-not-paying-their-bills/">Read on...</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6136160120386059069?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-62235545182566699172011-12-14T17:52:00.001-05:002011-12-14T17:54:33.893-05:00Stanley Cup riot proceedings should be televised: B.C. attorney generalThe Crown gave notice in court Wednesday that the attorney general wants to televise proceedings involving accused Stanley Cup rioters. <p>Prosecutor Patti Tomasson told a judge that the Crown would apply to have the proceedings televised involving people accused of participating in the June 15 riot. B.C. Premier Christy Clark has said she wants to see riot-related court proceedings televised for the public.</p> <p>The prosecutor gave notice Wednesday at the bail hearing of Ryan Dickinson, who remains in custody. His case was adjourned until Friday at 9 a.m. at Vancouver Provincial Court.</p><p><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/stanley-cup-riot-proceedings-should-be-televised-crown-prosecutor/">Read on....</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3969011969972135797-6223554518256669917?l=crimbrary.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15145634702414231472noreply@blogger.com0