Results matching “first”

Sheila Kumar reports for AP:

Legislation intended to give juveniles a second chance after they have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole has failed in the state Assembly.

SB9 by Democratic Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco received 36 votes Thursday, five short of the majority needed.

However, last tally I received showed the bill up to 40, just one short.

California judges already have the discretion to sentence any 16- or 17-year-old first-degree murderer to life-with-parole instead of life-without-parole.  The cases at issue are only those where the sentencing judge determined that life-without-parole was appropriate.

Update (8/26):  The final tally is 36-36 with 8 members not voting.  Four members listed as voting "aye" in an electronic vote-board snapshot yesterday afternoon are listed as not voting in the final tally:  Alejo, Campos, Hall, and Mendoza.  (In the California Legislature, there is no practical difference between not voting and voting no.  An affirmative vote of a majority of the membership is required for passage.)  Once an unpopular bill can be seen not to pass, a member can turn down the political heat by changing his vote.  Not exactly "profiles in courage" material.  Even so, it will be that much harder for these members to flip and vote for essentially the same bill next year (an election year) when Yee brings it up again.

Update 2:  Karen de Sa has this story in the San Jose Mercury News.

Legislator, Victims' Group Demands Released Inmates Return to Prison: Red Bluff Daily News (CA) reports California Assemblyman Jim Nielsen and Crime Victims United of California are calling for the return to custody of dozens of inmates released on parole.  The inmates' releases were dictated by a 2010 Ninth Circuit decision that was overruled by the Supreme Court earlier this year. (See Swarthout v. Cooke.)  Nielsen says the Ninth Circuit ruling "has placed the public in danger," and the Governor and state parole board should take appropriate action to rescind the inmates' early releases.

With Death Penalty No Longer an Option, Charges Dropped: Prosecutors will "reluctantly" dismiss charges in two cases against Paul Runge, 41, an Illinois inmate serving life in prison for the sexual assault and murders of Yolanda Gutierrez, 35, and her daughter, Jessica Muniz, 10. Citing Illinois's recent abolition of the death penalty, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that "it would not be a prudent use of the resources" of the office to try Runge for the 1995 murders of sisters Dzeneta and Amela Pasanbegovic. In March, Cook County prosecutors dropped three murder charges against Runge, also citing the state's abolishment of the death penalty. Lisa Balde of NBC Chicago has this story.

A murderer a day shy of his 18th birthday is categorically exempt from a death sentence.  Should that arbitrary cut-off based on chronological age alone similarly exempt him from a true life-without-parole sentence, regardless of the circumstances of the crime and regardless of the length of his criminal record?  Incredibly, a bill to do just that has made it to the floor of the California Assembly.

Margaret Bengs has this article in the Sacramento Bee:

Prosecutors and judges already have discretion in seeking and imposing life-without-parole sentences and have reserved it for the "worst of the worst." Most teen criminals in California are tried in the juvenile court system and must be released at age 25. Of those tried in adult court, only first-degree murder with special circumstances can result in life without parole, and only for 16- and 17-year-olds. All states allow juveniles to be tried as adults in criminal court under certain circumstances, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Proposed California Bill Would Reform State Parole System: Maria L. La Ganga of the Los Angeles Times reports a bill introduced Wednesday by Sen. Ted Gaines (R-Roseville) to reform California's parole system was inspired by the Jaycee Dugard case. Senate Bill 391 would reverse a 2008 state Supreme Court decision that requires the California parole board to to look at a convicted felon's behavior in prison and not the crimes that put them there. If the bill is passed, the state parole board would be allowed to place more emphasis on the prisoner's crime and prior convictions. "Let's keep our worst criminals behind bars and keep California safe," said Gaines yesterday during a press conference, supported by several district attorneys and other California legislators.  Nanette Miranda of KABC Sacramento has more here.

Virginia Scheduled to Execute Murder-Rapist: Matthew A. Ward reports in Reuters that Jerry Terrell Jackson, 30, is scheduled to be executed in Virgina at 9pm local time today by a drug cocktail that includes pentobarbital.  Jackson has been on death row since 2003 for the 2001 rape and murder of a 88-year-old woman. Jackson has an appeal currently before the Supreme Court. Governor Bob McDonnell declined to grant clemency last week. Jackson will be the first inmate executed in Virgina this year.

Prison Population in England and Wales Hits New High: The prison population of England and Wales has hit a new record high of 86,608 inmates after nearly 700 rioters were arrested this week, reports Alan Travis in the Guardian (UK). 65 percent of those arrested for riot-related offenses have been remanded in custody - a sharp increase from the "normal" remand rate for serious offenses of 10 percent, according to the Ministry of Justice. Prison governors say the system faces "an unprecedented situation" that will require emergency contingency measures if the number continues to rise, but that they are confident the situation can be handled safely.

California Supreme Court Affirms "Ninja Prowler" Death Sentence: Richard K. De Atley of The Press-Enterprise (CA) reports the California Supreme Court has upheld the 1998 death sentence of 40-year-old David Lynn Scott, the so-called "Ninja Prowler" who terrorized Riverside County with a series of sexual assaults nearly 20 years ago. Scott was sentenced to death for the 1992 murder of Brenda Gail Kenny, 38, whom he raped and stabbed to death during a burglary of her apartment. Witnesses say Scott would break into apartments or houses at night, dressed in dark clothing like a ninja and carrying a pistol and two swords. He was convicted of a total of 15 counts stemming from six attacks. 

Liberals are arguing that, in order to save money (they've recently discovered that saving money is important), we need to cut back on the number of criminals we imprison.  They've spent years losing the argument that criminals don't deserve to be in the slammer, but they're increasingly winning the argument that it costs too much to keep them there.

What to do?  Well, we could remind ourselves that securing the physical safety of our citizens from dangerous people is government's first obligation.  We could also remind ourselves that just punishment should not be left to accountants, however important accountants might be in other contexts.

Failing that, however, we could quit giving hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists and criminals and use that money to fight them instead of reward them.

The story, Taliban, criminals get $360 million from US taxes, is here.

Social critic Peter Hitchens adds his voice to the chorus pointing to England's overgrown welfare state as the godfather of the riots:

Say to [the Prime Minister]...that the police (and responsible adults) should be free to wallop louts and vandals caught in the act, that the police should return to preventive foot patrols, that prisons should be austere places of hard work, plain food and discipline without TV sets or semi-licit drugs, and that wrongdoers should be sent to them when they first take to crime, not when they are already habitual crooks, and he will throw up his well-tailored arms in horror at your barbarity

Water cannon and plastic bullets indeed. What an utter admission of failure, that after 50 years of the most lavish welfare state in the solar system, you cannot govern your country without soaking the citizenry in cold water and bombarding them with missiles from a safe distance. Except, of course, that it is because of the welfare system that this is so.

Hitchens' piece, published in the Mail Online, is here.

Kent and I have blogged about the increasingly undeniable fact that the riots in England take root in a culture of grievance and entitlement.  It's the culture pushed upon us by an overgrown welfare state, where handouts count and morals don't.

As if to make the point in bold relief, the Telegraph has this article about the mother of a 13 year-old rioter.  Momma has identified the source of the trouble, that being  --  guess what  -- the state.

Not all of her thinking is distorted.  She turned her son in to the police, no longer able to control him.  She is also correct in thinking that the state has a hand in his dysfunctional life  --  but not in the way she conceives of it.

Other than that, her attitude is a case study in what welfare state culture has brought us.  It's ugly, and it's coming to a city near you (if it hasn't already):

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was one of the very few defendants to walk free from court, after receiving a nine month referral order for burglary and violent disorder.... 

[His mother] is on benefits, does not live with the boy's father and has 10 other children, the court heard.

Outside court she told reporters she was ''ashamed'' of her son.... 

But the woman also suggested her son was not entirely at fault, when asked who she blamed for the looting.

''The government,'' she replied, her son by her side, adding: ''There is f*** all for them to do.''

The boy's father claimed his son suffered ''police brutality'' because his parents appeared to be under the impression when they took him to police on Friday he would be released before going to court.

Instead he was kept in police cells over the weekend.

And there you have it.  She's on the dole, doesn't live with the father and has ten other children.  The father, wherever and with whomever he might be hanging out just now, thinks the kid is a victim of police brutality because he was held in jail for the weekend.

We don't need to know "why they hate us."  What we need to know is why we think so little of ourselves that we continue to finance an unaffordable, standards-free welfare state that produces a child who, at 13, may already be an irredeemable criminal disaster.

 

Is DNA Testing of Arrestees Unconstitutional?   Laws in 25 states which allow DNA testing of people arrested for felonies prior to conviction are under attack by defendant's rights and privacy advocates as reported by Ashby Jones in today's WSJ.  While laws which require DNA testing of convicted felons have withstood legal challenges so far, in recent weeks conflicting rulings have been announced regarding testing after an arrest.  Last week a California appellate court ruled that such testing violates the 4th Amendment.  In late July the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a similar federal law did not.  Although the ACLU and other defendant's rights groups are quick to champion DNA testing when it helps overturn a conviction or delay an execution, they are criticizing testing following an arrest as an unwarranted invasion of privacy.  

Witness Killed During Florida Gang Trial:  Kelli Kennedy of the AP reports a South Florida gang trial turned deadly earlier this week when police discovered the bloodied body of a witness in a parking lot on the day he was supposed to testify against Futo Charles, the alleged leader of the Palm Beach County's "Top 6" gang.  Top 6 began as a small group of Haitian teens in the mid-1990s, but has grown to an estimated 400-450 members and is now the most violent gang in the county's history.  Charles, whom authorities first noticed in 1996, was arrested during a 2008 sting using RICO charges.  After this week's shooting, a judge ordered jurors to be partially sequestered and escorted by armed guards to and from the courthouse.

Texas Executes Gang Killer:  Texas executed convicted murderer Martin Robles last night, reports Cody Stark of The Huntsville Item (TX) (see also yesterday's News Scan post). Robles is the ninth death row inmate to be executed in Texas this year.

Arizona Appeals Immigration Ruling to Supreme Court:  David G. Savage reports in the Los Angeles Times that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to revive the state's controversial illegal immigration law, SB 1070, which would allow police to check the immigration status of people lawfully stopped and suspected of being in the country illegally.  The law was put on hold after rulings from a federal judge in Phoenix and the 9th Circuit.  Former Solicitor General Paul Clement, on behalf of Arizona, is arguing to the high court that states have a general police power that will allow them to enforce the law within the state, and that the "disproportionate impact" of illegal immigration on Arizona justifies extra enforcement measures.

Former Inmate Caught Breaking into Prison:  Authorities caught a 48-year-old parolee sneaking into a California prison yesterday, reports Paul Janes at News10.com (Sacramento).  Marvin Ussrey claimed he was reminiscing, but authorities believe he may have entered the prison grounds to drop off contraband.

In People v. Lowery, S179422, decided today, the California Supreme Court considered the criminal punishment of threats post Virginia v. Black.  In doing so, it split from a recent Ninth Circuit decision, United States v. Bagdasarian.

Timothy Stanley of Royal Holloway College has this article in the London Telegraph:

Britain is talking seriously about the death penalty for the first time in over a decade. It was last discussed in Parliament when the Human Rights Act was passed in 1998, and now blogger Paul Staines (of Guido Fawkes fame) is petitioning for another House of Commons debate in 2011. We can expect anti-death penalty campaigners to point to America as an example of why it should stay banned. The usual images will be invoked of pot-bellied, racist, white judges sentencing innocent saints to death by chainsaw in some Alabama charnel house. Accepting the many obvious injustices in the US legal system, there is an instinctive British snobbery towards Americans that renders any comparison between our two countries unflattering. Amnesty International, Liberty and the New Statesman will probably ask, "Why would we endorse a system of retribution practiced by those knuckle-dragging, Bible bashing, toothless crazies over in Texas?" Well, here's one good reason: it works.

CJLF's collection of abstracts on deterrence is here.

In theory, at least, death row inmates should be able to donate their organs after death the same as anyone else.  Winston Ross of the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard has this story on some of the problems involved in the request of Christian Longo to donate his organs.

The most immediate problem is the three-drug protocol currently used by all death penalty states except Ohio and Washington.  It ruins the organs.  States should go to the one-drug protocol now that Ohio has blazed the trail, but Oregon hasn't yet, and it won't do so just to accommodate Longo.

The other practical problems involve the lack of facilities to harvest the organs immediately after death, which occurs within a prison.

Richard Dieter of DPIC predictably weighs in with nonsense about difficulty in ensuring the donation is genuinely voluntary.  Of course, we routinely take steps to insure that waivers are voluntary in a variety of contexts in criminal law.  We know how.  Then there is this:

There's also a queasiness factor, especially for the families of victims. To the family members and friends of Longo's victims, the idea that his organs will live on after he finally is put to death is a horrifying one.

"I just think they ought to kill every ounce of him," said Cathy Shukait, a close friend of the relatives of Longo's murdered wife and children. "Every inch of him is bad."

As much as I support the interests of the victim's family in these matters -- and it's been a large part of my career -- I just can't buy that.  Criminality resides in the brain, not the heart or kidney.  If the donation of one of those organs could save an innocent life, it doesn't matter how depraved the brain of the donor was.  A heart is just a pump.  A kidney is just a filter.

Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island named his son Lincoln, but maybe he should have named him Calhoun, after the South Carolina leader who believed states could nullify federal laws.  George Wallace would have been an even better namesake, but Wallace's infamous stand in the schoolhouse door did not come until a decade after Lincoln Chafee was born.

So now Lincoln Chafee wants to keep a murderer out of the hands of the federal government because that government wants to enforce a law that Chafee happens to disagree with, the law providing for capital punishment for certain federal offenses resulting in death.

Sheri Qualters has this story in the NLJ on oral argument in the First Circuit last Thursday in United States v. Pleau.

In November 2010, Pleau was charged in federal court for the Sept. 20, 2010, murder and robbery of David Main in Woonsocket, R.I, as he was making a deposit at a bank.

The Dec. 14, indictment included three charges: robbery affecting interstate commerce; conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce; and possessing, using, carrying, and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, death resulting.

Now if someone wanted to argue that Congress cannot make this crime a federal offense, that would be a principled position, although contrary to post-1937 Supreme Court precedent.  But that is not Chafee's objection.  He only objects to the death penalty because Rhode Island has chosen not to have it.  But Rhode Island does not get to veto the United States's choice of punishment for federal offenses that happen to occur within the boundaries of Rhode Island.  So the argument involves technical questions on the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act.

New York Law Limits Purchase of Firearms: NY1 News reports New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a new state law that prevents the purchase of firearms by those convicted of domestic violence. The law closes a gap between state and federal statutes by sending the information of people convicted on domestic violence charges to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the database that is checked before someone buys a gun. Previously, those convicted of domestic violence in New York state were not added to the database.

Acquitted Man Confesses to Murder: Mike Donoghue of the Burlington Free Press reports Isaac Turnbaugh called Vermont police last month and confessed to the murder that he was acquitted of in 2004. Turnbaugh was acquitted of a first-degree murder charge for the 2002 shooting of a co-worker outside a pizza restaurant. In July Turnbaugh called local police and said he shot Declan Lyons in the head with a rifle and wanted to surrender to authorities. At trial, the defense argued that Turnbaugh repeatedly claimed responsibility for the crime because he was mentally ill, not because of his involvement with the murder. Despite his admission to the crime, state authorities say there is nothing they can do. Attorney General William Sorrell made reference to double jeopardy, and said that after an acquittal, "you can go out on the courthouse steps and confess, and the state can't do anything."

Registered Sex Offender Sues City for Right to Live With Parents: Loretta Kalb of The Sacramento Bee reports Michael Steven Escobar, a registered sex offender on parole for child molestation, is suing the city of Elk Grove, California. Escobar served nearly nine years in prison for the molestation of a child under age 14. Escobar complains that a city ordinance restricting where he is allowed to live violates state and federal constitutions, which leaves him few choices other than homelessness. Elk Grove's city ordinance prohibits a registered sex offender from living within 2,000 feet of schools, day care centers, playgrounds, parks, amusement centers, or youth sports facilities. Elk Grove Councilman Gary Davis says, "our ordinance is intentionally strong, and we take seriously our obligation to protect our community members." Under a temporary court order Escobar is allowed to live in his mother's house less than 1,000 feet from a public park while the case goes forward.

Ten Most Stolen Vehicles in the U.S.: The National Insurance Crime Bureau today released "Hot Wheels," its list of the ten most stolen vehicles in the U.S for 2010. Topping the list are the 1994 Honda Accord, the 1995 Honda Civic, and the 1991 Toyota Camry.

DNA Test Requested by Innocence Project Proves Murderer's Guilt:  Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli says DNA testing confirms that Pennsylvania inmate Scott D. Oliver raped and strangled to death an 11-year-old girl in 1989, reports Riley Yates of The Morning Call (PA).  Oliver was sentenced to life in prison, but maintained his innocence and enlisted the help of the New York-based Innocence Project.  Attorneys last year requested further DNA testing in Oliver's case, which recently showed that his hair was found on the victim's body.  This is the second case in which the Innocence Project successfully petitioned for further DNA testing in Northampton County.  In November 2008, the group sought testing on behalf of Daniel Williams, convicted for kidnapping, raping, and murdering an eight-year-old girl in 1973.  The test showed that sperm in the girl's underwear was consistent with Williams' DNA.

Ted Bundy's DNA to be Added to National Database:  The AP reports the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will add a full DNA profile of serial killer Ted Bundy to the national FBI database, after investigators recently discovered a vial of Bundy's blood taken as evidence in 1978.  Previous forensic samples from Bundy had revealed only a partial profile.  Tim Haeck reports on MyNorthwest.com that detectives in Tacoma are hopeful that having Bundy's DNA sample in the system will lay to rest their oldest cold case murder, the 1961 death of eight-year-old Ann Marie Burr.  Bundy was 14 at the time, and Burr would likely have been his first victim. 

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in "Grim Sleeper" Case:  The Los Angeles District Attorney's office announced today that it will seek the death penalty against accused "Grim Sleeper" serial killer Lonnie Franklin Jr.  Franklin has been charged with the murders of ten women in South L.A., with a 13-year gap between slayings.  But after police discovered photographs and identification cards of other women at Franklin's home, investigators now suspect Franklin was involved in the disappearance of eight additional women.  The L.A. Times has this story. 

Brian Carney has this article in the WSJ with the above title, subtitled, "Prison psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple asks why we feel compelled to understand monsters like Anders Breivik, but no need to explain others' righteous behavior."  The whole article is well worth reading, but here is an excerpt (emphasis added):

Your garden-variety convicts, he contends, are much simpler subjects than a man like Breivik. To ask them why they steal, he says, "is like asking you why you have lunch." They want something, so they take it. "And since in Britain," he adds with a smirk, "the state does very little to discourage [thieves]," or to incarcerate them when they are caught, "the question is not why there are so many burglars, but why there are so few."

A Breivik is a deeper mystery. Of him, "you can say, 'This man is highly narcissistic, paranoid and grandiose,'" and this may lead you to seek reasons for that in his past--"his father disappeared at the age of 15 and so on and so forth." But uncovering such facts doesn't solve the mystery because "whatever you find, you would also find among hundreds or thousands or even millions of people who didn't do what he did." There is, he says, "always a gap between what is to be explained and your alleged explanation. So there's always a mystery, and I think that's going to remain."

The human impulse to explain the inexplicably horrific is revealing, according to Dr. Dalrymple, in two respects--one personal, one political. First, it says something about us that we feel compelled to explain evil in a way that we don't feel about people's good actions. The discrepancy arises, he says, "because [Jean-Jacques] Rousseau has triumphed," by which he means that "we believe ourselves to be good, and that evil, or bad, is the deviation from what is natural."

For most of human history, the prevailing view was different. Our intrinsic nature was something to be overcome, restrained and civilized. But Rousseau's view, famously, was that society corrupted man's pristine nature. This is not only wrong, Dr. Dalrymple argues, but it has had profound and baleful effects on society and our attitude toward crime and punishment. For one thing, it has alienated us from responsibility for our own actions. For another, it has reduced our willingness to hold others responsible for theirs.

Delaware Executes Ax Murderer:  Jessica Gresko of the AP reports Delaware today carried out its first execution since 2005, putting to death convicted ax murderer Robert Jackson III shortly after midnight (see also yesterday's post).  Jackson maintained his innocence to the end, saying during his final words that his accomplice in the crime is "laughing his ass off right now because you're about to watch an innocent man die.  This isn't justice."  The U.S. Supreme Court and Delaware Governor Jack Markell both denied last minute requests to stay the execution.

Supreme Court Lets Florida Stay of Execution Stand:  The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to lift a stay of execution ordered by the Florida Supreme Court for Manuel Valle, who was originally scheduled for execution by lethal injection next Tuesday.  The Florida Supreme Court ordered a hearing on the state's switch to pentobarbital.  The hearing began yesterday and will continue next week.  Valle was sentenced to death for murdering a police officer 33 years ago.  The AP has this story.

No Pink Underwear for Edmonton Oilers Goalie:  Conal Pierse of The Vancouver Sun reports Nikolai Khabibulin will be enjoying some fun in the sun during his stay at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tent city, after an Arizona judge ordered the sheriff to take it easy on the Edmonton Oilers goalie.  Khabibulan was sentenced to 15 days in jail for a drunk driving offense, but was made eligible for work release.  Despite Arpaio's assurances to the contrary, Khabibulin will not receive the same treatment as the other inmates: as long as he abides by the tent city's rules, he will not be forced to wear a black and white striped jumpsuit or pink underwear (the jail's standard uniform) and he will be free to spend his days as he chooses.

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled this week that a police officer unlawfully entered a Connecticut man's home while searching for a missing teenager and that the trial court should have granted the defendant's motion to suppress the subsequently discovered evidence, to wit, a large crocodile:

[The officer] testified that based on the facts as he knew them to be, he believed that the missing [teenager] may be in danger inside the house.

*                         *                        *

The officers searched the first floor of the house for [the missing teenager] and then proceeded upstairs.  At one point . . . [one of the officers] went into a bathroom on the second floor and noticed what appeared to be a dark figure though the bathtub shower door. ... He testified that he believed the dark figure was the missing [teenager].  In this regard, he testified as follows: I slid the door open to the tub.  To the greatest bit of relief, just a crocodile or a large lizard [was] in the tub. [The officer] estimated that the reptile was six or seven feet in length. 

The defendant was charged with illegal possession of a reptile and risk of injury to a child, but the state's high court ordered that the motion to dismiss be granted and all charges dismissed because the circumstances did not justify the officer's warrantless entry. 

[The officer] closed the shower door, and he and . . . [another officer present] continued to search the rest of the residence for the [teenager]. ... The officers, have completed their search . . . exited the residence and left the reptile still in the bathtub where they found it.

AP story here.  Hat tip to How Appealing.

Rhode Island Refuses to Hand Over Murder Defendant: Laura Crimaldi of the AP reports the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard argument today regarding Rhode Island's refusal to turn over a murder defendant to federal authorities in an attempt to protect him from facing the death penalty. Jason W. Pleau was indicted in federal court last year for the September 2010 robbery and fatal shooting of a gas station clerk at a bank. If convicted, Pleau could face the death penalty. Rhode Island Governor Lincoln D. Chafee refused a request to turn over Pleau, citing the state's longtime opposition to the death penalty. Governor Chafee filed a request after the hearing seeking to join the case.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Five Years Later: Emanuella Grinberg of CNN reports on the status of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, signed by President George W. Bush five years ago this week. The law set forth national standards for monitoring sex offenders in U.S. communities. This week also marks the deadline for states, tribes, and U.S. territories to meet the act's requirements or face a 10% cut in federal justice assistance funding. Fourteen states have implemented SORNA, with many making last minute submissions. According to Linda Baldwin, director of the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking, the biggest hurdles for most states are implementing technology and adjusting statutes.

Utah Law Enforcement Agencies Launch Anonymous Crime Tipping Program: PR Newswire reports more than 50 law enforcement agencies in Utah today have launched an anonymous crime tipping program that allows the public to send secure and anonymous tips to law enforcement through their web browser, text message, or smart phone. Rep. Greg Hughes says, "in this day of shrinking state budgets and downsizing of resources, it's important for law enforcement to find new ways to fight crime." The program, TipSoft, is already being used by more than 800 law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Delaware Set to Have First Execution Since 2005:  Esteban Parra of The News Journal (DE) reports that Delaware death row inmate Robert W. Jackson III is set to be executed between midnight and 3 a.m. Friday.  Jackson was sentenced to death for killing 47-year-old Elizabeth Girardi with an ax during a robbery of her home in 1992.  Two different juries voted on a death sentence for Jackson.  Jackson's attorneys have continued to seek a stay of execution, challenging the use of the drug Pentobarbital that Delaware plans to use, along with new claims that he is innocent.  Adam Taylor of the News Journal has this update on the Third Circuit panel which will hear arguments on the claims via telephone at 5 p.m. in the Philadelphia Federal Courthouse.  
 

New iPhone App Fights Back: The San Francisco Chronicle has this article from PRWeb about Thugs Mug, the first safety protection app for the iPhone and iPad 2. When activated the app sends photos to the user's safety contacts along with the GPS coordinates of where the crime is occurring while simultaneously calling 911. The goal of the app is to capture evidence and deter criminals.

No Pensions for Pedophiles: Catherine Lucey and Michael Hinkelman of the Philadelphia Daily News report Pennsylvania state Reps. Brendan Boyle (D) and Kevin Boyle (D) are working on a bill that would disqualify state and municipal workers from getting a public pension if they have been convicted of a sex crime against a minor. Under the state's current pension law, forfeiture rules could cover crimes committed while on duty, but sex crimes committed on employee's own time don't disqualify them. No official action can be taken until September when the state House is back in session.

First Death Row Hearing Under Racial Justice Act: Paul Woolverton and Gregory Phillips of The Fayetteville Observer (NC) report Marcus Reymond Robinson will be the first North Carolina death row inmate to argue to a judge that his sentence should be converted to life without parole under the Racial Justice Act. Robinson was convicted for the 1991 robbery and murder of a 17-year-old boy. Robinson was set to be executed in January 2007, but all executions in the state were postponed indefinitely while the courts sorted out other controversies regarding North Carolina's execution procedures. The Racial Justice Act of 2009 says that death row inmates can seek to have their sentenced converted to life without parole if they have evidence that their sentence was racially motivated. 151 of the 158 inmates on North Carolina's death row are pursuing claims under the Racial Justice Act. Robinson's hearing is scheduled for September 6.

Florida Attorney Asks Supreme Court Justice to Lift Stay of Execution: Bill Kaczor of the AP reports the Florida Supreme Court on Monday ordered a month-long stay of execution for Manuel Valle to allow a trial judge to conduct a fact-finding hearing on whether Valle would feel pain from a new drug Florida plans to use for lethal injection.  Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a request to ask U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to lift the stay. Valle was sentence to death for killing a Coral Gables police officer and was originally scheduled to be executed on August 2.

Lockerbie Bomber Makes an Appearance at a TV Rally: BBC News reports that Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi made a televised appearance at a rally of members of Megrahi's tribe broadcast live from Tripoli.  Megrahi was released in August 2009 on compassionate grounds because he suffered from prostate cancer and was thought to have only three months to live.  A presenter at the rally introduced Megrahi and announced that "half of the world conspired against" Megrahi.

"Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce." -- Karl Marx

Hands down, the worst mistake of Jerry Brown's first round as Governor of California was his disastrous appointment of the vehemently anti-death-penalty, pro-criminal Chief Justice Rose Bird.  It was a tragedy because there were enough Justices on the California Supreme Court at that time with similar inclinations to wreak havoc in criminal law.

President Obama's nomination of Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit was correctly blocked by Senate Republicans.  As I have noted many times on this blog, Liu fails his own test.  His views are too far out of the mainstream (further by far than Samuel Alito's), provided that one measures "mainstream" by the obvious benchmark of the median voter.  Liu's deplorable attack on Justice Alito on the death penalty tells us all we need to know about his views on the subject.

Campaigning first for Attorney General and then for Governor, Brown repeatedly assured the voters he had learned his lesson.  He cited President Eisenhower and Governor Reagan for judicial appointments they came to deeply regret.  For my own part, I was deeply skeptical that he had really learned.

I was right.  Today Brown announced the appointment of Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court.  There is no chance of blocking this nomination, given that two of the three members of the Commission on Judicial Appointments are kindred spirits.

I hope this is farce rather than tragedy.  The California Supreme Court has six other Justices.  The Chief Justice, appointed by the Governator on his way out the door, is a person of sense, is relatively young, and will likely be there a long time.  For the time being, Liu's votes to erroneously reverse proper criminal judgments will be mostly dissents and frequently solo.  Let us hope that the other five associate justices hang in there and Brown gets no more appointments.

Scott Douglas Gerber has this article in the National Law Journal (emphasis added):

The liberal media have published a flood of stories in recent months criticizing what they consider the ethical problems of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas....

The media would have the American people believe that we are in the midst of Thomas-gate: a series of ethical problems so sinister and serious that they make Thomas unfit to serve on the bench. In reality, however, we are simply witnessing the latest episode of the media's 20-year crusade against the nation's highest-ranking African-American jurist. Bluntly put, it is apparently an unforgivable sin in the eyes of the media for Thomas to be both black and conservative. It is difficult to forget, for example, that the Times famously editorialized that Thomas was "the youngest, cruelest justice" only four months into his first term on the Court and that the Times has also opined on several occasions, and without credible supporting evidence, that Thomas is not an impartial judge. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The author bio at the end of the article:

Scott Douglas Gerber is professor of law at Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law and senior research scholar in law and politics at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center. His eight books include First Principles: The Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas (New York University Press 1999; expanded ed. 2002)....

For two examples of misleading coverage of Justice Thomas, see posts here and here.

Bryon Johnson of Baylor University has this op-ed in the Houston Chronicle titled "The factor of faith in crime reduction."  Johnson is the author of "More God, Less Crime: Why Faith Matters and How it Could Matter More" (2011).

Put simply, increasing religiosity tends to be associated with decreasing crime. The weight of this evidence is especially intriguing in light of the fact that religion continues to be overlooked by so many. For example, one will look in vain to find any references at all to religion in criminology and criminal justice textbooks.

Senators Joseph Lieberman and Kelly Ayotte have this op-ed in the WaPo:

The United States has a first-rate, professionally run facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that is designed for terrorist detentions, interrogations and military trials. So why would a suspected Somali terrorist, captured half a world away, be held on a Navy ship for two months of interrogations and then brought to a New York federal court for trial? In our opinion, there is no good reason.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:

A Georgia man convicted of killing his parents and sister has been executed after the courts allowed what was likely the nation's first video-recorded execution in almost two decades.

Andrew DeYoung was put to death by lethal injection Thursday night at the state prison in Jackson after courts turned down his appeals.

 

The 37-year-old was pronounced dead at 8:04 p.m. DeYoung blinked his eyes and swallowed for about two minutes, then his eyes closed and he became still.

DeYoung murdered his parents and 14 year-old sister in order to gets his hands on the estate and insurance proceeds.

Over at Sentencing Law & Policy, the debate has been raging all day about whether the videotaping is a good thing.  Personally  --  and putting privacy concerns to one side  --  I have no great objection to it so long as we make sure that, if and when the videotape is played publicly, it's accompanied by a montage of equal length of photographs of the murder scene, including the victims' corpses, plus photographs of their autopsies.

If we're going to be taking a look at the result, we had best take an equally graphic look at the cause.

But for however that may be, tonight's execution did not live up to abolitionists' hopes.  The idea was to show the condemned thrashing about in pain.  From the news account, neither that nor anything similar happened.  This, of course, is all to the good, and not primarily because the abolitionist strategy was thwarted.  DeYoung earned his execution, but he was still a human being.

Judge Stands by Order to Videotape Georgia Execution:  Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Superior Court Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane upheld her order to allow the videotaping of tonight's execution of Georgia death row inmate Andrew DeYoung.  Judge Lane ordered that the execution be taped after hearing claims that the state's lethal injection process caused unnecessary pain.  The state Attorney General sought to block the videotaping, arguing that the order may conflict with state law and interfere with security.  DeYoung was sentenced to death for the 1993 stabbing deaths of his parents and 14-year-old sister.  If carried out, the taping of DeYoung's execution will be the first such recording in almost two decades. 

California County Agrees to Minimize Collaboration with Feds:  The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office reached a settlement in a 2008 lawsuit accusing its officers of unlawfully detaining illegal immigrations, reports Brett Wilkison of The Press Democrat (CA).  As part of the settlement, the sheriff's office agreed to minimize collaboration with federal operations and programs that target law-abiding illegal immigrants, promising that before any local-federal cooperation takes place, federal authorities must agree not to arrest illegal immigrants solely for civil immigration or minor traffic violations.  The sheriff's office also agreed to consider accepting identification cards from the Mexican consulate as a way to avoid arrests for lack of a valid ID.

Prison Resumes Forcible Medication of Tuscon Shooter, Attorneys Say: Attorneys for accused Tuscon shooter Jared Loughner say prison officials have resumed forcibly medicating their client on an emergency basis, reports the AP.  In filings submitted to the Ninth Circuit today, Loughner's attorneys say this violates an earlier order by that court to halt forced medication pending the outcome of his appeal on the issue.

Protest in San Francisco Over Fatal Police Shooting:  The AP reports 35 people were arrested after a march through San Francisco protesting the police shooting of 19-year-old parolee Kenneth Harding over the weekend.  Harding was on parole for promoting prostitution in Washington state and was a person of interest in a fatal shooting in Seattle last week.  The march occurred on the same day investigators said tests indicated that Harding had fired the first shot at police, prompting the police to fire back.

Arizona Allowed to Build Border Fence from Private Donations:  A law effective today will allow Arizona to build a fence along its border with Mexico as long as it can raise enough private donations and receives permission from private landowners to use their property.  Much of the Arizona border is on federal land or Indian reservations, and Sen. Steve Smith (R), who sponsored the bill, says the easiest path would be for the federal government to grant the state an easement along the border.  Smith hopes to raise at least $50 million from donors across the nation, stressing that the country's security "is an American problem, not an Arizona problem."  Alia Beard Rua has this story in The Arizona Republic.

Oregon Court Denies Request to Reinstate Death Row Inmate's Attorneys: The Oregon Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by the former lawyers of Oregon death row inmate Gary Haugen to be reinstated, reports Helen Jung of The Oregonian.  Haugen, who is on death row for murdering a fellow inmate in 2003, has asked to waive his appeals and be executed.  A county judge last week granted Haugen's request to replace his attorneys after finding that their attorney-client relationship had been "irretrievably broken."  Though Haugen's former attorneys said they would not make any more filings in the case, they later submitted a request to be reinstated.  Haugen will now be represented by a public defender and will undergo a full competency hearing before a final execution date is set.

28-Year Inmate on Alabama's Death Row Files Another Appeal:  M.J. Ellington of the Times Daily reports attorneys for Alabama death row inmate Tommy Douglas Arthur filed a petition last week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Alabama court's denial of a new trial.  Arthur was sent to death row in 1983 for the murder of businessman Troy Wicker, committed while Arthur was on work release for a previous homicide.  Arthur has been scheduled for execution three times, but all dates have been delayed due to appeals.  Alabama Assistant Attorney General Clay Crenshaw filed a petition with the state supreme court to proceed with the execution, arguing that waiting for a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court would add a significant and unnecessary delay.

Death Toll for Police Officers on the Rise:  A report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund finds that law enforcement fatalities rose sharply during the first half of 2011 (press release here).  40 officers were killed by gunfire, the highest number in two decades.  Firearms-related fatalities have even outpaced traffic-related fatalities, which have been the leading cause of officer deaths for 13 years in a row.  Douglas Stanglin of USA Today has this story. 

Wisconsin Governor Repeals Early Release Program: The Associated Press reports Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has signed a bill that will end an early release program put in place two years ago. The program, proposed by former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, allowed well-behaved inmates to move onto extended supervision sooner. About 500 inmates have been released through the program between October 2009 and March 2011.

Illegal Re-Entry Top Federal Crime: Poder 360 has this report about a study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University which indicates the most common federal charge in the U.S. involves illegal immigration. Justice Department data shows during the first half of Fiscal Year 2011, prosecution for the crime of illegal re-entry into the U.S. made up almost one quarter of all federal prosecutions and almost half of all immigration prosecutions. Illegal entry is the second most common immigration crime.

Facebook to the Rescue: Terra Sullivan of KXAN (TX) reports that Renny Harvard, 32, is facing second-degree felony charges of robbery by assault after he was identified by his alleged victim on Facebook.  Harvard met the victim at a low income housing organization while she was counting money from a recent fundraiser.  Pretending that he was deaf, he wrote a note asking the woman for water.  When she returned from retrieving the water she saw Harvard grab some money and her car keys.  The two struggled but Harvard managed to escape.  The woman did provided the police with the description of Harvard, who had a unique arm sleeve tattoo.  After later seeing Harvard's picture on Crime Stoppers advertisement she discovered he had a Facebook page with several photos of him.  After she notified the police Harvard was arrested.

The US Supreme Court argument calendar for October, the beginning of the new term, is now available.  The criminal and related cases are:

Monday, October 3:  Reynolds v. United States, standing to challenge rules under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

Tuesday, October 4:  Three habeas cases:

Maples v. Thomas:  Ineffective assistance of counsel on state collateral review as cause for a procedural default.

Martinez v. Ryan: Similar to Maples.  Also whether the constitutional right to counsel extends to the first collateral review.

Howes v. Fields:  When a prisoner incarcerated for another crime is "in custody" for the purpose of Miranda.

Tuesday, October 11:  Greene v. Fisher:  As of what time does a federal court ask whether the law was "clearly established" as contrary to a state court decision for the purpose of federal habeas review.

Wednesday, October 12:  Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders:  Strip searches in jail.

The long overdue execution of Thomas Paul West in Arizona is scheduled for tomorrow.  A panel of the Ninth Circuit today denied leave to file a successive petition.  This is the same panel (Judge O'Scannlain, Wardlaw, and Callahan) who affirmed denial of West's first habeas petition a year ago.

West is also litigating Arizona's abrupt switch from thiopental to pentobarbital.  His US Supreme Court petition for certiorari to review the state court's rejection of that claim is here.  The docket on his stay application is here.  AP has this story on the Arizona Supreme Court's rejection of that claim.

Update (7/19 @ 07:30 PDT):  KVOA Tucson has this story on the reaction of the family of Donald Bortle, who was beaten, bound, robbed, and left to die by West 24 years ago.

Update 2 (7/19 @ 10:40):  US Supreme Court orders denying a stay are here and here.  No dissent is noted.

Update 3:  Mission accomplished.  Catherine Holland has this story at azfamily.com.

The US Supreme Court's next term does not formally begin until October, but we can already see a major theme shaping up.  There are five cases on the right to counsel, and none of them directly involves counsel's representation in a criminal trial.