MA Officer Killed, Suspect Dead: Jorge Zambrano killed Officer Ron Tarentino Jr. during a routine traffic stop in Massachusetts on Sunday and injured an 18-year state trooper veteran. Fox News reports that after an 18-hour manhunt, Zambrano was killed in a shootout with Massachusetts police when he opened fire on state troopers in an Oxford duplex. The state trooper sustained a gunshot wound in the left shoulder and is expected to make a full recovery. Zambrano had numerous previous arrests and court appearances, including a hearing for motor vehicle charges just four days before fatally shooting Officer Tarentino, who is the second Massachusetts police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year.
Obama's Reintegration Plan Sparks Fear: President Obama is pushing for administrative reforms to better integrate ex-offenders into society, sparking concern that such reforms could jeopardize public safety. Andrea Noble of the Washington Times reports that some of the reforms include the removal of questions regarding criminal history on federal job applications and college applications, and making it a federal violation for landlords to disqualify a renter only due to their criminal history. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, at least one half of 25,000 federal offenders released will be rearrested and at least one quarter will be re-incarcerated within eight years of their release.
TX Family Killed by Drunk Driver with Previous DUI Conviction: Three members of a Houston family were killed early Saturday morning when a drunk driver with a previous drunk driving conviction blasted through a red light and broadsided the driver's side door of the family's vehicle. Bob Price of Breitbart reports that the suspect, Jeremy Valdez, 25, attempted to flee the scene of the crash but was chased down by a witness, who held him until deputies arrived. Valdez, who was previously convicted of drunk driving in January 2011, has been charged with three counts of felony murder in the deaths of Emilio Avila, 33, Adla Nolasco, 41, and high school senior Mauricio Ramires, 18, who was scheduled to graduate on June 4.
Obama's Reintegration Plan Sparks Fear: President Obama is pushing for administrative reforms to better integrate ex-offenders into society, sparking concern that such reforms could jeopardize public safety. Andrea Noble of the Washington Times reports that some of the reforms include the removal of questions regarding criminal history on federal job applications and college applications, and making it a federal violation for landlords to disqualify a renter only due to their criminal history. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, at least one half of 25,000 federal offenders released will be rearrested and at least one quarter will be re-incarcerated within eight years of their release.
TX Family Killed by Drunk Driver with Previous DUI Conviction: Three members of a Houston family were killed early Saturday morning when a drunk driver with a previous drunk driving conviction blasted through a red light and broadsided the driver's side door of the family's vehicle. Bob Price of Breitbart reports that the suspect, Jeremy Valdez, 25, attempted to flee the scene of the crash but was chased down by a witness, who held him until deputies arrived. Valdez, who was previously convicted of drunk driving in January 2011, has been charged with three counts of felony murder in the deaths of Emilio Avila, 33, Adla Nolasco, 41, and high school senior Mauricio Ramires, 18, who was scheduled to graduate on June 4.
I hope Bill Otis might give the last ugly story here, repeat drunk driver killing a family, as much attention as he has given to the Wendell Callahan case.
Just very briefly:
1. I'm not sure that Jeremy Valdez deserves the death penalty (although I wouldn't shed any tears, either). I'm quite sure calculating child slasher Wendell Callahan deserves it.
2. But for the 2010 federal sentencing reform bill, Callahan's victims would be alive today. That is not true of this case. The difference is highly pertinent when even broader federal sentencing reform is under consideration at this moment.
3. Lies by Obama's DOJ to the court have been much in the news lately, including (quite justifiably) on your blog. The Callahan case featured two blatant lies -- one by the defense lawyer (that Callahan posed no danger to the community), and the other by another Obama administration prosecutor (agreeing that the first lie was accurate). It's astounding. Do these people have no shame? Has either expressed any regret whatever? They're both right there in Columbus.
So far as I know, Valdez was not on the street because of such lies.
4. There are many, many cases and articles deserving my attention that I never get to. It's no exaggeration to say that I pass on 90% of the stories I could blog about.
5. I'd still like to know either (1) that there will be no more Callahan-type episodes if we enact additional sentencing reform, or (2) if we cannot be sure there won't be any more, precisely how many we should accept as the price of giving sentencing breaks to federal felons.
Like most rational people, I'm not going to buy anything important until I know its full price.