Recent Arrest Highlights Issues with Realignment: A Long Beach man recently arrested for carjacking has put the spotlight on Governor Brown's Realignment plan, and how local police departments are left to deal with the influx in criminal activity it has caused. Jonathan Van Dyke of Gazettes
reports that 30-year-old Raymond Moreno is just one of many convicted felons whose criminal history represents the dark side of Realignment. Moreno was sentenced to 180 days in county jail on January 2, was released on February 8, and re-arrested February 9 for felony carjacking. The Long Beach Police Department reported that during 2013, there were more than 800 arrests from Realignment offenders- two were for murder, 10 for assault with a deadly weapon, and a host of other serious felonies.
Plea Deal Reached in Ball Park Beating Case: Two men charged with the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan at Dodger Stadium in 2011 have accepted plea deals in the case, with one man being sentenced to eight years in prison and the other sentenced to four years. Jonathan Lloyd and Patrick Healy of NBC Los Angeles
report that the men beat and kicked 45-year-old Bryan Stow so severely that he has been left permanently disabled and in the 24-hour care of his parents. 31-year-old Louie Sanchez 32-year-old Marvin Norwood were originally charged with mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury, but had those charges reduced felony mayhem and assault respectively. As part of the plea deal, all other charges will be dropped.
Man Attacks Woman After Release From Jail: A Northern California woman was attacked in her home Tuesday morning by a man who authorities say was released from county jail the night before. Patty Guerra of the Modesto Bee
reports that 18-year-old Aaron Modisett-Hollie was arrested in December 2013 on charges of kidnapping, assault with the intent to commit felony mayhem or rape, and false imprisonment and a judge sentenced him on February 10 to a year in county jail for the assault charge. A judge reduced the sentence to 89 days after he factored in time served and good behavior credits. But due to jail overcrowding caused by Realignment, Modisett-Hollie was released on Monday after serving only seven days. Sheriff Adam Christianson said that the crime was a direct consequence of Realignment, "We house the worst of the worst and we're forced to release the best of the worst, all due to realignment and jail bed capacity," he said.
Finally! The Reason Behind Increased Crime Revealed: A recent study has shed light on the cause of crime increases between 2010 and 2099. It's global warming. Louis Sahagun of the Los Angeles Times
reports that the study, conducted by Matthew Ranson of Abt Associates, suggests that climate change, also known as global warming, can be expected to cause an additional 22,000 murders, 180,000 cases of rape, 1.2 million aggravated assaults, and several thousands more incidents of other serious crimes between 2010 and 2099- costing society up to $115 billion. The research firm, which used data collected from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report along with temperature records from thousands of counties, is encouraging an immediate 4 percent increase in the size of the U.S. police force in order to prepare for the climate-caused increase in crime.