Abusers Take Classes, Effectiveness Questioned: In an effort to reduce domestic violence, some cities in Nebraska have been employing intervention programs for the past 20 years to teach hundreds of violent and abusive men about healthy relationships. Riley Johnson of the Lincoln Star Journal reports that attending the programs are often a requirement made by a judge in place of jail time, but there has not been sufficient tracking of how many of these men that complete the program go on to reoffend. Minimal local research has been conducted, revealing that in 2008, 14 percent of the 184 men enrolled in a program committed another act of domestic violence upon completion, with some reoffending while still in the program.
Boston Residents Prefer Life For Bomber: A new poll of Boston residents released by WBUR reveals that 62 percent would sentence surviving Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to life in prison while only 27 percent advocate for the death penalty. Katherine Q. Seelye of the New York Times reports that despite the grim details of the bombings shared during Tsarnaev's trial by victims, the poll results are a reflection of the region's "longtime opposition to capital punishment." However, the fact that Tsarnaev's crime is federal and not state, he is facing a death sentence that the Justice Department is pursuing.
Discretion for Judges Sentencing Juvenile Offenders: SF 448, a bill passed by the Iowa Senate, gives judges "wide discretion" in the sentencing of persons under the age of 18, to comply with the US Supreme Court's ruling in Miller v. Alabama which held that mandatory life sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual punishment. Karl Schilling of The Des Moines Register reports that a judge can take certain factors into account on an individual case-by-case basis, such as the offender's maturity or frontal lobe development. If appropriate, a juvenile can still face a life sentence at the discretion of the judge.
Girl's Mother Wants Death In Run-to-Death Case: Heather Walker, the mother of Savannah Hardin, the 9-year-old girl who was run to death by her grandmother Joyce Hardin Garrard as punishment for telling a lie, wants to see her former mother-in-law face the death penalty. Jay Reeves of the AP reports that during Walker's testimony on Monday at Garrard's capital murder trial, she testified that Garrard shouted at Savannah as she lay dying in a hospital bed and has shown no signs of remorse for her death. Savannah's stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, is also facing murder charges for sitting by as Garrard ran the girl to her death.
Boston Residents Prefer Life For Bomber: A new poll of Boston residents released by WBUR reveals that 62 percent would sentence surviving Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to life in prison while only 27 percent advocate for the death penalty. Katherine Q. Seelye of the New York Times reports that despite the grim details of the bombings shared during Tsarnaev's trial by victims, the poll results are a reflection of the region's "longtime opposition to capital punishment." However, the fact that Tsarnaev's crime is federal and not state, he is facing a death sentence that the Justice Department is pursuing.
Discretion for Judges Sentencing Juvenile Offenders: SF 448, a bill passed by the Iowa Senate, gives judges "wide discretion" in the sentencing of persons under the age of 18, to comply with the US Supreme Court's ruling in Miller v. Alabama which held that mandatory life sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual punishment. Karl Schilling of The Des Moines Register reports that a judge can take certain factors into account on an individual case-by-case basis, such as the offender's maturity or frontal lobe development. If appropriate, a juvenile can still face a life sentence at the discretion of the judge.
Girl's Mother Wants Death In Run-to-Death Case: Heather Walker, the mother of Savannah Hardin, the 9-year-old girl who was run to death by her grandmother Joyce Hardin Garrard as punishment for telling a lie, wants to see her former mother-in-law face the death penalty. Jay Reeves of the AP reports that during Walker's testimony on Monday at Garrard's capital murder trial, she testified that Garrard shouted at Savannah as she lay dying in a hospital bed and has shown no signs of remorse for her death. Savannah's stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, is also facing murder charges for sitting by as Garrard ran the girl to her death.
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