National District Attorneys Association. Newsclips. December 12, 2012

Transcription

1 National District Attorneys Association Newsclips December 12, 2012 Today s Clip Headlines For Lesser Crimes, Rethinking Life Behind Bars Georgia sex offender tracking falls off Concealed weapons: Illinois s last-in-the-nation ban must go, US court rules Illinois Supreme Court rules Quinn can close state prisons Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller wants to hire more lawyers Overall caseloads dip at Nevada courts but appeals and family law cases rise Governor, attorney general may seek registration changes for sex offenders moving to NM Wyoming Supreme Court hears life sentence arguments D.A. s office admits letting slaying suspect avoid prison Exploring the Use of Pell Grants To Go From Prison to College Brownback to merge juvenile and adult corrections in Kansas Clip Synopses and Links New York Times For Lesser Crimes, Rethinking Life Behind Bars Her sentence reflected a revolution in public policy, often called mass incarceration, that appears increasingly dubious to both conservative and liberal social scientists. They point to evidence that mass incarceration is no longer a cost-effective way to make streets safer, and may even be promoting crime instead of suppressing it. Three decades of stricter drug laws, reduced parole and rigid sentencing rules have lengthened prison terms and more than tripled the percentage of Americans behind bars. The United States has the highest reported rate of incarceration of any country: about one in 100 adults, a total of nearly 2.3 million people in prison or jail. But today there is growing sentiment that these policies have gone too far, causing too many Americans like Ms. George to be locked up for too long at too great a price economically and socially. The criticism is resonating with some state and federal officials, who have started taking steps to stop the prison population s growth. The social scientists are attracting attention partly because the drop in crime has made it a less potent political issue, and partly

2 because of the states financial problems. State spending on corrections, after adjusting for inflation, has more than tripled in the past three decades, making it the fastest-growing budgetary cost except Medicaid. Even though the prison population has leveled off in the past several years, the costs remain so high that states are being forced to reduce spending in other areas. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia sex offender tracking falls off An estimated 258 dangerous sexual predators are not being monitored as closely as they should be because Georgia s system of classifying sex offenders based on their danger to the community is seriously backlogged. Such sexual predators, who are considered likely to commit more sex crimes, are required under a state law passed in 2006 to wear a GPS monitor the rest of their lives and update their sex offender registration twice yearly. Although they are listed in the publicly available registry, the GPS monitoring requirement makes these violent sexual predators accountable for their whereabouts, providing greater assurance that they will stay away from areas where children gather. Officials on the special state review board said the classification process has been hindered because their analysts who investigate cases were stretched too thin. Five analysts at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are currently slogging through 4,300 pending cases while also getting anywhere from 120 to 150 new cases a month, and officials can t say how long it will take to eliminate the backlog. The Christian Science Monitor Concealed weapons: Illinois s last-in-the-nation ban must go, US court rules Within six months, lawful citizens in Chicago the site of 2,364 shootings and 487 homicides so far this year can carry concealed weapons in public for defense, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The closely watched ruling, which said it s unconstitutional for Illinois to keep citizens 2

3 from carrying legal weapons in public, struck at the last bastion of gun prohibition in America. All other states allow people to carry concealed weapons, with some states demanding that authorities shall issue permits if applicants meet stated requirements. The question of whether more guns in the hands of lawful citizens increases or reduces crime continues to be hotly debated throughout the United States, highlighted by incidents like the Trayvon Martin shooting earlier this year and the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide that ended at the Kansas City Chiefs training facility on Dec. 1. Chicago Tribune Illinois Supreme Court rules Quinn can close state prisons The state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Gov. Pat Quinn can move forward with the closure of several prisons and juvenile justice facilities. In its ruling, the court ordered an Alexander County judge to dissolve a preliminary injunction that stopped the Quinn administration from completing the closures, which were initially scheduled to go into effect by Oct. 31. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had sued to prevent the closures, arguing they would worsen prison overcrowding and put employee s lives in danger. AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said the union was extremely disappointed by the ruling. Slated for closure is the state s only super max prison in Tamms in far southern Illinois, along with the Dwight Correctional Center for women in central Illinois and juvenile justice centers in Joliet and Murphysboro. Three transitional centers for inmates, including one on Chicago s West Side, also will be closed. Lawmakers had set aside enough money in the budget to keep the facilities open, but Quinn vetoed the money out, arguing it would be better spent in the state agency that oversees child welfare

4 Des Moines Register Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller wants to hire more lawyers Attorney General Tom Miller says he needs to hire more lawyers to handle prosecutions and criminal appeals. He told Gov. Terry Branstad during a state budget hearing on Monday that he is requesting $200,000 to pay for two experienced area prosecutors, who will assist county attorneys with serious crimes, particularly murder and sexual assault. Prosecutors are stretched to the limit, traveling an average of 1,000 miles a month, but the number of general criminal attorneys has been reduced from 10 to 7.5 over the last four years, he said. In addition, Miller said he is requesting an additional $150,000 to pay for two entry-level criminal appeals attorneys. Competently defending criminal convictions obtained by county attorneys in a crucial part of the criminal justice system and is critical for public safety, he said. The caseload for such appeals has increased dramatically the past four years, largely because of a recent rule of the Iowa Supreme Court requiring the briefing of dozens of appeals previously considered frivolous, Miller said. But unlike the state public defender s office, which can hire outside lawyers to handle criminal appeals, Miller said his office doesn t have this option. The Republic Overall caseloads dip at Nevada courts but appeals and family law cases rise The number of cases filed in Nevada district, justice and municipal courts fell slightly in 2012, but the caseload at the Nevada Supreme Court and matters involving family law increased, court administrators said. An annual report on the Nevada Judiciary, released Monday, shows filings statewide were lower in criminal, civil and juvenile cases. At the District Court level, only cases involving family law increased, growing by 1,676 cases to 69,328. The Nevada Supreme Court saw 2,500 matters filed in 2012, 105 more than the previous year, keeping it one of the busiest appellate courts in the country. Cases per justice totaled 357, the highest in the nation in states, like Nevada, that do not have an 4

5 intermediate appeals court. West Virginia was second with a per-justice caseload of 334, the report said. Nevada-Courts The Republic Governor, attorney general may seek registration changes for sex offenders moving to NM Gov. Susana Martinez and Attorney General Gary King may ask the Legislature to clarify registration requirements for out-of-state sex offenders who move to New Mexico. Sex offenders are required to register with law enforcement for certain New Mexico crimes or the equivalents of those crimes in other states. The state Supreme Court ruled last week that a Las Cruces man could withdraw his guilty plea for not registering after moving to New Mexico. The court said there wasn t enough evidence to show the man s sex offense in California was the same as a New Mexico sex crime. The man was required to register as a sex offender in California. Offenders Star Tribune Wyoming Supreme Court hears life sentence arguments The lawyer for a man convicted of sexual abuse of a minor told the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday that it was improper for the trial judge to allow the jury to hear testimony from the man s previous sexual assault victim. Kenneth James Huckfeldt, 59, was sentenced in Sweetwater County to life without parole this year on convictions for sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl in Lawyer Keith Goody, representing Huckfeldt on appeal, told the Wyoming Supreme Court that District Judge Nena James shouldn t have allowed testimony at his trial in February from the victim in a 1994 child sexual assault case in which Huckfeldt was convicted. Goody said it was prejudicial for the jury to hear that Huckfeldt had been convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in He said allowing the victim, now an adult, to testify about Huckfeldt s assault was the same as James explicitly telling the jury 5

6 to find Huckfeldt guilty. The Los Angeles Times D.A. s office admits letting slaying suspect avoid prison The Los Angeles County district attorney s office admitted Monday that its prosecutors erred in allowing a suspect now accused in the killing of four people in Northridge to receive drug treatment instead of prison time during a September court hearing. The suspect, Ka Pasasouk, was in Van Nuys Superior Court after being arrested on suspicion of drug possession. He was on probation at the time, and the L.A. County Probation Department had urged that he be sent back to state prison for long-term detention because of his lengthy criminal record. But prosecutors told the judge that Pasasouk was eligible for a drug diversion program under Proposition 36. The judge ordered him to drug treatment rather than prison. Two months later, authorities alleged, Pasasouk killed four people outside a home in Northridge. The district attorney s office said it completed an investigation Monday into how that hearing was handled. The review shows that the office inadvertently erred in indicating the defendant was eligible for a Proposition 36 drug program, said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons in a statement. Training issues raised during the review will be addressed by the District Attorney s office countywide. Youth Today Exploring the Use of Pell Grants To Go From Prison to College Recidivism could be cut and public dollars could be saved if lawmakers lifted a longstanding federal ban on Pell grants to prisoners. Those were some of the key arguments made at Rutgers University last week by a group of academics, criminal justice reformers and formerly incarcerated individuals in a fledgling program meant to serve as a bridge from a youth correctional facility to college. 6

7 John J. Farmer, Jr., former New Jersey attorney general and now Dean and Professor of Law at the Rutgers School of Law, called the restoration of Pell grants for prisoners one of the most important dialogues we can have in the context of law enforcement. I think that education in our prisons is the key to preventing recidivism, Farmer said. Farmer made his remarks Thursday at the Rutgers University Paul Robeson Campus Center during an event titled Pell Grants and Prison Education: How Pell Grant Access in Prison Transforms Lives. Among those who spoke in support of lifting the ban on Pell grants to prisoners was Dallas Pell, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell, father of Pell grants. Pell, who is founder of an organization called Pell Grants for Public Safety, said providing education for individuals in prison is a no-brainer and one of the most effective tools we have to make our community safe. Kansas City Star Brownback to merge juvenile and adult corrections in Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback announced Monday that he intends to merge Kansas juvenile justice agency with the adult Department of Corrections system, arguing that two critical legislative audits show the need to abandon a failed social services approach to handling young offenders. Brownback contends that the juvenile programs would be better managed and that money now going toward administration of the Juvenile Justice Authority could be diverted into programs for offenders. The Republican governor plans to issue an executive order early next year to the GOPcontrolled Kansas Legislature, a move immediately endorsed by incoming Senate majority leader Terry Bruce, a former county prosecutor. 7

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