The Obama administration stumbled badly in recent months as it
repeatedly overstepped its authority in seeking information from news
organizations. Prosecutors swept up phone records tracking calls by
reporters and editors of the Associated Press, suggested that a Fox News
reporter might be criminally prosecuted and continued their vigorous
pursuit of information held by reporters in ferreting out alleged leaks.
For that, the administration has been properly excoriated.
On Friday, however, Atty. Gen Eric H. Holder Jr. unveiled
new guidelines to govern the department's behavior in cases involving
news organizations. Those guidelines represent a historic step toward
restraining the reach of government and affirming the rights of a free
press. The administration got to this place only because of the outrage
it brought on itself, but it got to the right place anyway.
Most important, the new guidelines ensure that news organizations, in
almost all instances, are given notice when prosecutors seek records
related to news gathering. Notice, which was not given to the Associated
Press, allows organizations to discuss the request with the Justice
Department and, if necessary, to contest it in court.
Read on...
Your resource for news, research, opinion and comment in the world of Criminology and Criminal Justice, brought to you by the Criminology Library, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
Showing posts with label Obama administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama administration. Show all posts
Judges Needed for Federal Courts
There has been a severe breakdown in the process for appointing federal
judges. At the start of the Reagan years, it took, on average, a month
for candidates for appellate and trial courts to go from nomination to
confirmation. In the first Obama term, it has taken, on average, more
than seven months.
Seventy-seven judgeships, 9 percent of the federal bench (not counting the Supreme Court), are vacant;
19 more seats are expected to open up soon. The lack of judges is more
acute if one considers the growing caseload. The Judicial Conference,
the courts’ policy-making body, has recommended expanding the bench by
88 additional judgeships.
President Obama must make fully staffing the federal courts an important
part of his second-term agenda — starting with the immediate Senate
confirmation of the 18 nominees approved by the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
This is an editorial from the NY Times. Tom
The Courts: How Obama Dropped the Ball
In his novel King of the Jews, Leslie Epstein sets his story
in the wartime ghetto of Lodz, Poland, where the Gestapo ruled through
an appointed council of Jewish elders. Epstein, researching the book,
tracked down the gallows humor of the time. In one such joke, told by a
character in the novel, two Jews are facing a firing squad. The
commandant asks if they would like blindfolds. One of the condemned
whispers to the other, “Don’t make trouble.”
“Don’t make trouble” could have been the credo of the first year of the Obama Administration. The White House calculated that if the president just extended the hand of conciliation to the Republicans, the opposition would reciprocate and together they would change the tone in Washington. This was the policy on everything from the stimulus to health reform to judicial nominations. It didn’t work out so well.
Now, spurred by the tailwind of a re-election victory and the realization that public opinion is on his side, President Obama has displayed a new toughness in his budget battle. He has declared that he won’t negotiate against himself, and the strategy is working. But the White House is still stuck in don’t-make-trouble mode on the crucial issue of judicial appointments, where the pace of nominations is only now catching up with that of Obama’s predecessors and the strategy for avoiding partisan confrontation gives Republicans something close to a veto over who is nominated.
Read on....
“Don’t make trouble” could have been the credo of the first year of the Obama Administration. The White House calculated that if the president just extended the hand of conciliation to the Republicans, the opposition would reciprocate and together they would change the tone in Washington. This was the policy on everything from the stimulus to health reform to judicial nominations. It didn’t work out so well.
Now, spurred by the tailwind of a re-election victory and the realization that public opinion is on his side, President Obama has displayed a new toughness in his budget battle. He has declared that he won’t negotiate against himself, and the strategy is working. But the White House is still stuck in don’t-make-trouble mode on the crucial issue of judicial appointments, where the pace of nominations is only now catching up with that of Obama’s predecessors and the strategy for avoiding partisan confrontation gives Republicans something close to a veto over who is nominated.
Read on....
Twenty Examples of the Obama Administration Assault on Domestic Civil Liberties
The Obama administration has affirmed, continued and expanded almost all of the draconian domestic civil liberties intrusions pioneered under the Bush administration. Here are twenty examples of serious assaults on the domestic rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience that have occurred since the Obama administration has assumed power. Consider these and then decide if there is any fundamental difference between the Bush presidency and the Obama presidency in the area of domestic civil liberties.
Patriot Act
On May 27, 2011, President Obama, over widespread bipartisan objections, approved a Congressional four year extension of controversial parts of the Patriot Act that were set to expire. In March of 2010, Obama signed a similar extension of the Patriot Act for one year. These provisions allow the government, with permission from a special secret court, to seize records without the owner’s knowledge, conduct secret surveillance of suspicious people who have no known ties to terrorist groups and to obtain secret roving wiretaps on people.
Read on...
Obama is a big disappointment. Tom
Patriot Act
On May 27, 2011, President Obama, over widespread bipartisan objections, approved a Congressional four year extension of controversial parts of the Patriot Act that were set to expire. In March of 2010, Obama signed a similar extension of the Patriot Act for one year. These provisions allow the government, with permission from a special secret court, to seize records without the owner’s knowledge, conduct secret surveillance of suspicious people who have no known ties to terrorist groups and to obtain secret roving wiretaps on people.
Read on...
Obama is a big disappointment. Tom
Recommendations for Juvenile Justice Reform
Opportunities for the Obama Administration
The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC) brings together a collaborative array of youth‐ and family‐ serving, social justice, law enforcement, corrections, and faith‐based organizations, that work to ensure healthy families, build strong communities and improve public safety by promoting fair and effective policies, practices and programs for youth involved or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
NJJDPC achieves its mission by engaging a broad spectrum of opinion leaders and
stakeholders, including the voices of those most affected by the juvenile justice system, to:
• advocate for sensible and safe solutions to crime and delinquency;
• build and leverage policy leadership in the field; and
• serve as a clearinghouse for research and best practices within our nation’s juvenile
and criminal justice systems.
For more information, please contact the Coalition Co‐Chairs:
Ashley Nellis, The Sentencing Project
202‐628‐0871 or anellis@sentencingproject.org
Tara Andrews, Coalition for Juvenile Justice
202‐467‐0864 or andrews@juvjustice.org
February 15, 2011
Read on...
The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC) brings together a collaborative array of youth‐ and family‐ serving, social justice, law enforcement, corrections, and faith‐based organizations, that work to ensure healthy families, build strong communities and improve public safety by promoting fair and effective policies, practices and programs for youth involved or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
NJJDPC achieves its mission by engaging a broad spectrum of opinion leaders and
stakeholders, including the voices of those most affected by the juvenile justice system, to:
• advocate for sensible and safe solutions to crime and delinquency;
• build and leverage policy leadership in the field; and
• serve as a clearinghouse for research and best practices within our nation’s juvenile
and criminal justice systems.
For more information, please contact the Coalition Co‐Chairs:
Ashley Nellis, The Sentencing Project
202‐628‐0871 or anellis@sentencingproject.org
Tara Andrews, Coalition for Juvenile Justice
202‐467‐0864 or andrews@juvjustice.org
February 15, 2011
Read on...
It's Time For Our Nation To Be Smart on Crime
Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress provides the 112th Congress and the Obama administration with analysis of the problems plaguing our state and federal criminal justice systems and a series of recommendations to address these failures. The report examines the entire criminal justice system, from the creation of new criminal laws to ex-offenders’ reentry into communities after serving their sentences. Our comprehensive recommendations range from helping to restore and empower victims to identifying ways to protect the rights of the accused.
Due to the undeniable human costs and the overwhelming fiscal costs, Americans from diverse political perspectives--particularly professionals with experience in all aspects of the criminal justice system--recognize that the system fails too many, costs too much, and helps too few. Smart on Crime provides the most promising recommendations for resolving our nation’s criminal justice crisis.
Leading Criminal Justice Experts Share Insights
Several Smart on Crime report contributors discussed America’s broken criminal justice system and shared their hopes for concrete reform. We invite you to hear what some of the nation’s leading experts have to say about a system of justice that they are passionate about—in their own words.
The Last Thing We Need is More Money for Prisons, But That Is What Obama Wants
At the same time the Obama administration is talking about a dramatic "spending freeze," it's requesting more money to lock people up.
Photo Credit: Creative Commons
At the same time the Obama administration is talking about a dramatic "spending freeze" on any and all projects unrelated to war-making, it is quietly increasing the federal budget for even more prisons.
On February 1, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the administration would request $2.9 billion for the Department of Justice 2011 budget -- "a 5.4 percent increase in budget authority," according to the DOJ. Approximately $527.5 million would go to the federal Bureau of Prisons, a chunk of which would provide “bed space” to house prisoners currently at Guantanamo Bay (and ostensibly slated for transfer to the supermax prison in Thomson, IL).
Read on...
At the same time the Obama administration is talking about a dramatic "spending freeze" on any and all projects unrelated to war-making, it is quietly increasing the federal budget for even more prisons.
On February 1, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the administration would request $2.9 billion for the Department of Justice 2011 budget -- "a 5.4 percent increase in budget authority," according to the DOJ. Approximately $527.5 million would go to the federal Bureau of Prisons, a chunk of which would provide “bed space” to house prisoners currently at Guantanamo Bay (and ostensibly slated for transfer to the supermax prison in Thomson, IL).
Read on...
ACLU Issues Report On Obama Administration's Civil Liberties Record
January 19, 2010
First Year Saw Civil Rights Advances And End Of Torture But Continuation Of Overbroad Domestic Surveillance Practices
NEW YORK – The Obama administration's record on restoring civil liberties during its first year in office is mixed, according to a new report analyzing the administration's performance released today by the American Civil Liberties Union. Of a set of 145 detailed recommendations the ACLU made to the new president upon his election, the administration has acted on just over one-third of them.
"Starting with bold executive orders to end torture and close the prison at Guantánamo, and continuing with positive actions in areas like open government and civil rights, the Obama administration has made some significant strides toward restoring civil liberties and the rule of law," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "But in other areas, the administration has fallen short by allowing some of the Bush administration's most troublesome practices to continue and by failing to take steps that would restore some very fundamental rights and values to American life."
Bush's Third Term? You're Living It
It sounds like the plot for the latest summer horror movie. Imagine, for a moment, that George W. Bush had been allowed a third term as president, had run and had won or stolen it, and that we were all now living (and dying) through it. With the Democrats in control of Congress but Bush still in the Oval Office, the media would certainly be talking endlessly about a mandate for bipartisanship and the importance of taking into account the concerns of Republicans. Can't you just picture it? 
There's Dubya now, still rewriting laws via signing statements. Still creating and destroying laws with executive orders. And still violating laws at his whim. Imagine Bush continuing his policy of extraordinary rendition, sending prisoners off to other countries with grim interrogation reputations to be held and tortured. I can even picture him formalizing his policy of preventive detention, sprucing it up with some "due process" even as he permanently removes habeas corpus from our culture.
Executive pay limits don't make it into stimulus legislation
By SilentPatriot Friday Feb 13, 2009 5:14am
I really have no problem with executives getting bonuses when they do a good job. But when they apply for government assistance, by definition they aren't perfoming up to standards that merit extra pay. It's really not a tough concept to understand, but apparently it's over the heads of our elected representatives.
Washington Post:
Congressional efforts to impose stringent restrictions on executive compensation appeared to be evaporating yesterday as House and Senate negotiators worked to fine-tune the compromise stimulus bill.
Read on...
I really have no problem with executives getting bonuses when they do a good job. But when they apply for government assistance, by definition they aren't perfoming up to standards that merit extra pay. It's really not a tough concept to understand, but apparently it's over the heads of our elected representatives.
Washington Post:
Congressional efforts to impose stringent restrictions on executive compensation appeared to be evaporating yesterday as House and Senate negotiators worked to fine-tune the compromise stimulus bill.
Read on...
A Fresh Start for a New Administration: Reforming Law and Justice Policies
Now that the 2008 Presidential election is over, Americans can begin to focus on the policy changes the new administration can and should make. The inauguration of the Forty-Fourth President and installation of a new Administration will bring an opportunity for a fresh evaluation of federal law and policy in every area. It is therefore important and timely to offer ideas and recommendations for a new Administration to consider as it undertakes this important task.
On October 16th and October 30th, ACS released a package of proposals for a new Administration – of either party – and hosted a panel discussion on the topics they address. The proposals, contained in two dozen papers, cover a range of law and justice policy areas, including:
Read on...
Lots of links to interesting papers on how to undo the damage wrought by 8 years of Bush. Tom
On October 16th and October 30th, ACS released a package of proposals for a new Administration – of either party – and hosted a panel discussion on the topics they address. The proposals, contained in two dozen papers, cover a range of law and justice policy areas, including:
Read on...
Lots of links to interesting papers on how to undo the damage wrought by 8 years of Bush. Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)