Death Penalty Not an Option in CA Girls' 1973 Killings: Two men arrested and charged in the murders of two young girls in Yuba County, Calif., over 40 years ago can't face the death penalty because it wasn't an option at the time of the slayings. Don Thompson of the AP reports that 65-year-old cousins William Lloyd Harbour and Larry Don Patterson were arrested for the November 1973 sexual assault and killings of Valerie Janice Lane, 12, and Doris Karen Derryberry, 13, after a forensics lab matched DNA from the two suspects to semen found on Derryberry. Both girls died of shotgun wounds fired at close range. Prosecutors cannot pursue the death penalty against Harbour and Patterson because their cases must be tried under the law as it existed in the state in 1973, when the death penalty was not available. If convicted, the most time the cousins could face is a life sentence, and the law in 1973 provided the consideration of parole after serving seven years. Harbour and Patterson each face six counts of murder, three for each victim, which includes one count of premeditated murder, one count of murder committed during a rape or attempted rape and one count of murder committed while molesting a child.
House Approves Bill to Ban Gitmo Transfers: The House passed a bill on Thursday banning the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay for the remainder of Obama's term. Jacqueline Klimas of the Washington Examiner reports that the bill, introduced by Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., passed the House by a 244-174, and bars the transfer of any Guantanamo Bay prisoner until the next administration takes office or until the passage of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, whichever comes first. The bill comes after much heated debate following Obama's announcement of a plan to close the prison before the end of his presidency. Republicans argue that the plan puts U.S. national security in jeopardy if detainees go on to engage in terrorism after their transfer, which happened in two confirmed cases this year. Sixty-one detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, 20 of whom have been cleared for release.
Unaccompanied Minors Swelling Ranks of U.S. Gangs: The influx of unaccompanied minors across the southern border could be swelling the ranks of America's most dangerous gangs, most notably MS-13, say experts. Joseph J. Kolb of Fox News reports that in the past six years, approximately 227,149 unaccompanied alien children, mostly from Central America, have been apprehended at the border. Under federal law, the minors must be detained until they are released to a sponsor, usually a relative, while their cases are adjudicated. They are often sent to communities where they are ripe for recruitment by MS-13 and other Latino gangs, given their lack of supervision and English language deficiencies, or they were already initiated into gangs prior to arriving to the U.S. Maryland, Texas and Virginia have seen notable spikes in MS-13 crime this year. Texas specifically blames the increase on the surge of unaccompanied minors placed in the state.
House Approves Bill to Ban Gitmo Transfers: The House passed a bill on Thursday banning the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay for the remainder of Obama's term. Jacqueline Klimas of the Washington Examiner reports that the bill, introduced by Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., passed the House by a 244-174, and bars the transfer of any Guantanamo Bay prisoner until the next administration takes office or until the passage of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, whichever comes first. The bill comes after much heated debate following Obama's announcement of a plan to close the prison before the end of his presidency. Republicans argue that the plan puts U.S. national security in jeopardy if detainees go on to engage in terrorism after their transfer, which happened in two confirmed cases this year. Sixty-one detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, 20 of whom have been cleared for release.
Unaccompanied Minors Swelling Ranks of U.S. Gangs: The influx of unaccompanied minors across the southern border could be swelling the ranks of America's most dangerous gangs, most notably MS-13, say experts. Joseph J. Kolb of Fox News reports that in the past six years, approximately 227,149 unaccompanied alien children, mostly from Central America, have been apprehended at the border. Under federal law, the minors must be detained until they are released to a sponsor, usually a relative, while their cases are adjudicated. They are often sent to communities where they are ripe for recruitment by MS-13 and other Latino gangs, given their lack of supervision and English language deficiencies, or they were already initiated into gangs prior to arriving to the U.S. Maryland, Texas and Virginia have seen notable spikes in MS-13 crime this year. Texas specifically blames the increase on the surge of unaccompanied minors placed in the state.
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