December 2018 Archives

Mr. Kelling says one problem is that his critics often don't understand what broken-windows policing is. Some complain that it makes criminals of young African-American men over minor infractions. Others conflate it with tactical approaches such as "zero tolerance" or "stop and frisk."

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Gov. Brown Sues to Block Anti-Crime Initiative:  Last Spring, after several counties failed to meet the deadline for verifying its signatures in time to qualify for the November 2018 ballot, the "Safe California Act" was cleared for the November 2020 ballot.  The measure makes some modest adjustments to Jerry Brown's 2016 Proposition 57, which is allowing the early release of hundreds of serious and violent habitual felons.  Now, on his way out the door, the Governor has filed a lawsuit to remove the "Safe California Act" from the ballot, claiming that the Secretary of State did not require the correct number of signatures to qualify the initiative.  Michele Hanisee, head of the Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys Association has this post on the suit, writing "What is notable about the lawsuit is that it reinforces the utter duplicity Brown used to gain passage of Proposition 57.  Brown deliberately repeated the falsehood during the campaign that only "non-violent" inmates would be eligible for early release under Prop 57, knowing full well the voters would never have approved an initiative granting early release to inmates convicted and sentenced for violent crimes."   In this instance falsehood is too soft a word.  The Governor was either lying about Prop 57, or he was ignorant about what it would do. 

But having passed the First Step Act, lawmakers should be cautious about the next step. Progressives believe that the U.S. overincarcerates and needs to cut back sharply on the number of people in jails and prisons. But the "mass incarceration" claim doesn't withstand much scrutiny.

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What about overpunishment? Are penalties so harsh that American prisons are filled with men and women who are languishing there for decades because of some youthful indiscretion? That is the image the disincarceration movement wants to conjure up. But it is false.

First, 23% of felons convicted of violent crimes are sentenced to no incarceration whatever. Second, nearly 80% of state prison inmates are released before serving their full terms. If we measure punishment by actual time served, the picture is not disturbing. Some might argue that America has an underpunishment problem.

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The risk in the second step of criminal-justice reform is that it goes too far. The justice system, flawed though it is, provides incentives to desist from crime. The weaker it gets, the greater the risk of a significant crime increase. That happened in the late 1960s: When the crime tsunami began, the system caved in. Police arrested fewer offenders, and courts imposed fewer and lighter punishments. That contributed to the 20th century's worst sustained violent-crime wave.

Senate Passes Sentence Reduction Bill:   The U.S. Senate passed a sweeping sentencing reduction bill 87-12 yesterday which should pass quickly in the House and go to the President's desk for signature, probably before the end of the year.  The Associated Press reports that the so-called First Step Act will cut sentences for drug dealers, cut enhancements for prior convictions, increase sentence reductions for "good behavior," give more discretion on sentencing to unelected federal judges and provide at least 2,600 crack dealers the opportunity for early release.  Proponents claim that leaving drug dealers in communities for rehabilitation will reduce crime and save millions in federal tax dollars.  California, which passed similar sentencing reductions seven years ago has had the exact opposite experience.  Violent crime in California increased for the third year in a row in 2017, and the state's corrections budget has increased by billions of dollars, even though the state's prison population dropped by roughly 30,000 inmates.  At a time when fatal drug overdoses are at historic levels, releasing drug dealers early and reducing the consequences for new convictions is suicidal.  When the President signs this bill, the drug cartels and domestic traffickers will be celebrating.  

Illegal Arrested for Murder:  An illegal alien previously deported 8 times is facing charges for murder.  Jason Hopkins of the Daily Caller reports that Deciderio Vargas-Ortiz was arrested for the November 26 killing of a coworker at a Oregon dairy.  An ICE spokesperson told reporters that the name given by the suspect is an alias and that his real name is Antonio Vasquez Vargas, a citizen of Mexico.  In 2004 Vargas was convicted of Aggravated Felon Re-Entry after Deportation and sentenced to three years in prison.  He is currently charged with murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

The California Supreme Court decided today in People v. Superior Court (Smith), No. S225562 that the District Attorney may obtain otherwise confidential treatment records in a case of civil commitment of a "sexually violent predator."

Murder/Rapist Executed:  A Texas criminal who murdered a man and raped his wife in 1993, was put to death Tuesday without incident.  Hanna Wiley of the Texas Tribune reports that Alvin Braziel has intended to rob newlyweds Lora and Douglas White while the young couple were taking an evening walk around their college campus, ten days after their marriage.  Instead he shot and killed Douglas, dragged his 23-year-old wife into some bushes and raped her.  Eight years later, Braziel was in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl when detectives matched his DNA from a blood sample with a sample taken from Lora after her rape.  After 17 years of appeals and review on habeas corpus, where the defense never disputed Braziel's guilt, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his last petition for a say 30 minutes before his execution.  Last Week WBIR in Tennessee reported on the execution of murderer David Miller via the electric chair.  Miller murdered 23-year-old Lee Standlerl, who was disabled, with a fireplace poker and a knife in 1981.  On December 4, habitual criminal Joseph Garcia was put to death without incident for the 2000 murderer of a 29-year-old Texas police officer.  CBS news reports that Garcia was serving a 50-year prison sentence for another murder when he and six other inmates escaped from prison and began a crime spree that ended with their arrests in Colorado.  The young officer had just finished Christmas dinner with his family when he responded to a robbery at a sporting goods store where he was ambushed and shot 11 times by Garcia and his fellow escapees.   

On Friday, President Trump signed into law the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 (AVAA). The Act will help victims of what are frequently referred to as "child pornography" crimes obtain full restitution. The Act helps to resolve a thorny legal issue about how to provide restitution to victims -- an issue that was addressed in a 2014 case I argued before the U.S. Supreme Court with co-counsel James Marsh, Paroline v. United States. In rejecting our position that each defendant should pay the "full amount" of a victims losses, the Court articulated a confusing view on the partial restitution to which victims like Amy were entitled. The new law will help ensure victims ultimately receive full restitution from defendants who have harmed them.

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    The Armed Career Criminal Act requires a federal sentencing judge to impose upon certain persons convicted of unlawfully possessing a firearm a 15-year minimum prison term. The judge is to impose that special sentence if the offender also has three prior convictions for certain violent or drug-related crimes. 18 U. S. C. §924(e). Those prior convictions include convictions for "burglary." §924(e)(2)(B)(ii). And the question here is whether the statutory term "burglary" includes burglary of a structure or vehicle that has been adapted or is customarily used for overnight accommodation. We hold that it does.